NASCAR WWEST/Trucks: Starr to double down in Las Vegas
18 September 1999
David Starr plans to double down in Las Vegas, but not at one of their legendary blackjack tables. Instead, Starr's double will be as a participant in both the NASCAR Craftsman Truck and Winston West events at the 1.5-mile facility. A full-time competitor in the Truck Series, Starr will first take to the 12-degree banks in the No. 73 Sonntag Redi-Mix Concrete for the Orleans 250. Scheduled for 250.5-miles, this is the longest race on the Craftsman Truck Series schedule. The event will take place on Friday, September 24, at 8:30 p.m. Eastern and will be broadcast live on ESPN. The following day will see Starr behind the wheel of the No. 35 Big Daddy's BBQ Sauces Chevrolet Monte Carlo for the running of the Gold Coast 150. This is Starr's third race of the Winston West season. "I had a bad qualifying run last year and started 30th," Starr confessed, "But I knew that I had a good car. It didn't take me long for me to work through the field and my car was handling really good. At the end of the race I had to hold back because the tires were going away but I finished in seventh, not too bad for my very first Winston West race." Starr is hoping that he can duplicate the feat, though his past two Winston West appearances have not been as kind to the Team Texas Motorsports team. In February, Starr qualified 29th but finished 32nd at Las Vegas when his car blew a tire and he hit the wall. In May, at the California Speedway, an engine failure after just ten laps relegated him to 35th place despite an eighth place qualifying run. "You could say I feel like I'm overdue for a good run in the Big Daddy's car," Starr said. The past couple of races have not been kind to us even though the car has been setup to run fast. Now that I have had a couple of races at Las Vegas and put in lots of practice time at the track I think that I should be able to run real well in both the car and the truck." The green flag will fly for the Gold Coast 150 at 8:30 p.m. Eastern on Saturday, September 25. Tickets are still available and can be purchased by contacting the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. This is the 12th event in the Winston West schedule. The double will mark the first time in Starr's career that he has competed in two events the on the same weekend, and while enthusiastic, he admits that it won't be easy. "This is going to be a long, tough weekend jumping back and forth between the car and the truck but the track time I will get is going to be invaluable and will help both programs. Besides, I love to race so it won't be too hard to get behind the wheel," Starr said. "But when it is all over on Saturday night I doubt that it will be hard to go to sleep," he joked. A resident of Ft. Worth, Texas, Starr runs a limited schedule in the Winston West Series due to his Truck Series commitments. By virtue of just starting two events this season he currently sits in 60th position in the Winston West points standings. For more information visit his web site at www.davidstarr.com. # # # David Starr Winston West Career Statistics Las Vegas Motor Speedway (Las Vegas, NV) Date Completed Laps Laps Led Start/ Finish Status Money Qualifying Speed 11/07/98 125 of 125 0 30/7 Running $5,000 158.140 03/05/99 25 of 100 0 29/29 Handling $1,350 159.641
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