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NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series
Race #3
World Financial Group 200
Atlanta Motor
Speedway
Friday
March 18, 2005
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The two biggest qualifying sessions in the history of Atlanta have occurred during the last two fall race weekends … when the qualifying sessions have been at night, under the lights. In fact, night qualifying has been such a huge hit with fans that Atlanta Motor Speedway has added a second night qualifying session to the yearly calendar. When the NASCAR drivers return to Atlanta next month, they’ll kick off the Golden Corral 500 weekend with Georgia Power Qualifying Night on Friday, March 18.
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Five-time Cup winner turns first laps at Atlanta in Craftsman Truck - Even though Bobby Labonte has more wins than any other full-time driver at Atlanta Motor Speedway, he’ll be a rookie on Friday, March 18. That’s when Bobby Labonte will compete for the first time at Atlanta in a NASCAR Craftsman Truck race. It will be his fourth career truck race and third in the No. 47 Chevy All-Stars Silverado, which he will try to drive to victory in the World Financial Group 200. Labonte will be pulling double duty that weekend, also driving his usual No. 18 Interstate Batteries Chevrolet in the March 20 Golden Corral 500 NEXTEL Cup race.
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Kerry Earnhardt’s name was still above the door, but it was Shane Hmiel testing the No. 15 Billy Ballew Chevrolet Wednesday at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Only two days ago, Hmiel had no plans to compete this year in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck series. But he received a call on Tuesday to return to the vehicle he drove last year in time for the March 18 World Financial Group 200 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
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New!
Who are the men and women that make the calls, turn the wrenches and get it done at the track? Find out in our 2005 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Crew List.
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The term “weekend warrior” has become all but extinct in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup, Busch and Craftsman Truck series. Drivers in the three national touring series now make their living through racing, and it’s easy to see why, with this spring’s purse topping $6.2 million. This year’s Golden Corral 500 weekend awards will offer a spring event record of $6,268,978, a whopping 21 percent increase over last year’s total prize money.
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ETC. …
Shane Hmiel will drive Billy Ballew’s No. 15 Chevrolet at Atlanta. Hmiel, a NASCAR Busch Series regular, won in the Atlanta resident’s truck last September at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Kerry Earnhardt drove for the team in the season’s opening two races.
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Jimmy Spencer will triple his chances of heading to Victory Lane during next weekend’s Golden Corral 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, since he will be competing in all three of the NASCAR series races. Spencer will begin his weekend on Friday, March 18, with the World Financial Group 200. He has returned full-time this season to the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, where he is concentrating on trying to win a championship with his No. 2 Team ASE Dodge.
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NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series entrant Dave Malcolmson (Largo, Fla.) proudly announces the signing of open wheel racing standout Jimmy Kite (Stockbridge, Ga.) to race for MRD Motorsports in the World Financial Group 200 at Atlanta Motor Speedway (AMS). Kite, a four-time Indianapolis 500 starter and regular on the IndyCar Series since 1997, will be making his debut in a NASCAR-sanctioned event driving the No. 06 MRD Motorsports Chevrolet Silverado at his home track on March 18th. MRD Motorsports, of Concord, N.C., entered ten Craftsman Truck Series races in its debut last season. Atlanta will be MRD’s first start of 2005.
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“Welcome to Atlanta NASCAR Weekend” Features NASCAR Drivers, Hip-Hop Recording Artists, Fashion Elite and Other Urban Celebrities -
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) today announced the “Welcome to Atlanta NASCAR Weekend,” a celebration of music, fashion and motorsports to be held March 16-21, 2005. The weekend was created by Mauldin Brand Agency to raise awareness about NASCAR, infuse the excitement of NASCAR into the urban community and entertain Atlanta-area residents with special events.
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Ron Hornaday has raced at Atlanta Motor Speedway before, but that in no way prepared him for Thursday’s test in his No. 6 GM Goodwrench Chevy Silverado. “I had heard that you could run flat-out here, but I didn’t believe it until today,” Hornaday said. “I’m not surprised – I’m shocked. I can’t believe you can run these trucks like that. It's great. I held my breath for the first lap and then I got comfortable.”
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Kelly “Girl” Sutton grew up around race cars and decided at an early age that nothing was going to stand in the way of her dream of racing, including a diagnosis of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis. That dream fueled years of competition, which brought her from the dirt tracks to the superspeedways, and now brings a wiser and more experienced Sutton back to Atlanta for her sophomore season, in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.
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Brevak Racing announced that veteran NASCAR driver Steve Grissom will drive the No. 31 RepairOne Dodge at Atlanta Motor Speedway, round three of the 2005 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series schedule on Friday, March 18th.
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“Atlanta is usually a good race for us. Last year I chose to run the high line during the race and my truck seemed faster up there. I don’t always think that is the case, but I’m sure I will try it again this time. If it works, then I’ll use it. If it doesn’t, then I’ll find another groove to race on. I’m usually pretty simple when it comes to my racing. I like the track and the speed that we have in Atlanta. It makes a great race for the fans. Last year’s ending proved that."
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“For a driver Atlanta Motor Speedway can be a lot of fun, but it can be a miserable night if you don’t have a good-handling truck. It is a very fast multiple-groove race track that gives us a lot of room to pass and race side-by-side. That is what I love the most about Atlanta. In fact, one of the most exciting finishes of last year happened when Bobby (Hamilton) went to the outside of Mike Skinner on the last lap to win the race."
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“In the past I have run good at Atlanta. It is a racetrack that I really like, so I am looking forward to racing there with this Bailey’s Dodge team. The truck we had at California should be just right for Atlanta. It has a lot of down force which helps at Atlanta because there is so much corner there and you run so hard into them."
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Todd Kluever was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the American Racing Wheels 200 at California Speedway. Kluever finished fourth, his best finish in two career Craftsman Truck Series starts. He is the first Raybestos® Rookie to score a top-five finish this season and owns the best finish by a freshman driver in the series this season.
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Atlanta in the last five years has become one of my favorite tracks because it's driver friendly and offers several options. The bottom will be the fast way around in qualifying, and as the race unfolds the middle groove will become an option as early as the green flag.
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"I'm excited about racing at Atlanta. We tested there at the end of January for two days so at least I have some experience there. I also tested my ASA car there last year, although I ended up not running the race for financial reasons."
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This weekend Rick Crawford and the Circle Bar race team will have a special guest in the pits at Atlanta. Lonnie Mixon, a local racer from Crawford’s hometown, will be the “extra man” on the Circle Bar team at Atlanta Motor Speedway. While the definition of hero describes Mixon perfectly, he doesn’t see it that way, he just helped a friend. January is the 1 year anniversary of Mixon’s gift, the gift of life, the gift of a kidney to a friend’s daughter who wouldn’t live long without one.
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Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue, Rep. Mike Barnes and Sen. John Douglas will host the 3rd Annual Atlanta Motor Speedway Day on Wednesday, March 16, at the Georgia State Capitol. Fans are invited and encouraged to attend and show their support for Atlanta’s racing industry.
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The World Financial Group 200 will be the second NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series (NCTS) race at Atlanta Motor Speedway. There will be nine Toyota Tundras in the field. In the most recent NCTS race at California Speedway, Robert Huffman and Johnny Benson were the first Tundra drivers to cross the finish line. Huffman, started fourth and finished ninth in the No. 12 Darrell Waltrip Motorsports Tundra. Benson, driver of the No. 23 Bill Davis Racing Tundra, started eighth and led one lap en route to a 12th-place finish.
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2000 NASCAR Cup Champion Bobby Labonte will kick off the 2005 Chevrolet Silverado All Star program behind the wheel of the Chevrolet “Nashville” All Star Phil Vassar Silverado on March 18 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The World Financial Group 200 will be Labonte’s fourth NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series (NCTS) start and his third as the driver of the Morgan-Dollar Motorsports fielded No. 47 Silverado.
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Brandon Whitt and the #38 McMillin Homes/Cure Autism Now Toyota Tundra team head to the high-banked 1.5-mile Atlanta Motor Speedway, located in Hampton, Ga., for Friday night’s World Financial Group 200.
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Matt Crafton made his first NASCAR Truck Series start on October 28, 2000 at the California Speedway. Driving the No. 88 Chevrolet out of the ThorSport Racing shops, Crafton zipped to an impressive ninth-place finish in his series debut, completing all 100 laps on the two-mile oval. Fast forward four and a half years later. Ninety-eight races later, Crafton is ready to reach an important NASCAR Truck Series landmark at the Atlanta Motor Speedway.
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Chevy Trucks Silverado Driver to Make 200th NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Start – Three-time NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Champion Jack Sprague is poised to set another milestone in his racing career. Sprague will become only the second driver in series history to make 200 NCTS starts when the green flag waves over the field of the World Financial Group 200 March 18th at Atlanta Motor Speedway. “It is always an honor to set a record or achieve a milestone in NASCAR racing,” said Sprague.
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Jimmy Spencer (No. 2 Team ASE Dodge) goes for the triple this week entering Atlanta's NASCAR Craftsman Truck, NASCAR Busch Series and NASCAR NEXTEL Cup events. ... NASCAR and Atlanta Motor Speedway will host 100 urban youth for the World Financial Group 200 as one component of a community-focused "Welcome to Atlanta NASCAR Weekend" celebration. ... Crawford's truck will carry the logo of the National Kidney Foundation, which is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the first kidney transplant in the United States. The team's "extra man" in Atlanta will be Lonnie Mixon, a Mobile, Ala. donor whose gift extended the life of a chronic kidney disease sufferer in 2004.
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David Reutimann (No. 17 NTN Bearings Toyota) had a decent season in 2004 but recognizes it could have been much better. Despite capturing 2004 Raybestos Rookie of the Year honors, Reutimann failed to reach other goals, such as a race win and a spot in the top 10 (he finished 14th) in the final points standings. For that reason, any talk of a sophomore jinx is the furthest thing from the 34-year-old competitor's mind. "I try not to think about that stuff ... I feel more confident this year than last year." Reutimann, who heads to this week's World Financial Group 200 as the defending Bud Pole winner, went on to finish third in the 2004 race, the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series' first at Atlanta Motor Speedway.(High Sierra Photo)
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Chad is coming off two disappointing finishes to start the 2005 season. Despite having strong runs at both Daytona and California, the Nashville, TN native has come home with results that have not reflected the solid runs for his #30 Toyota.
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Deborah is coming off a strong performance last time out after finishing 20th at the California Speedway. “Although I have been very busy since the last race in California, I can’t wait to get back into our #8 Easy Care DODGE for the Atlanta race. This will be my first time racing at the track but I did test a truck there last year.
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In only a month’s time, Darrell Waltrip Motorsports assembled a new NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series team for Robert Huffman. After a strong showing at Daytona International Speedway and a top-10 finish at California Speedway, Huffman is eager to race his No. 12 Toyota Tundra at Atlanta Motor Speedway this Friday evening.
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After a required rehab following the Daytona event Brendan’s favorite truck, Lonestar returns to action at Atlanta this week. The truck needed a new nose along with other sheetmetal work, but the frame and front clip were undamaged in the Daytona incident. The truck has been deemed “better than new” by crew chief, Billy Wilburn.
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After a week off the #62 Orleans Racing team arrives at Atlanta Motor Speedway as the most recent winners of a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series event. The victory energized the team and they look to keep a strong roll going this weekend.
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Brad Keselowski’s No. 29 Ford F-150 will be sporting a new paint scheme for the event at the Atlanta Motor Speedway with the words ‘Don’t Be Blah’ emblazoned on the quarter panels of the truck. Keselowski is not referring to staying away from the back of the pack; he is promoting a new marketing campaign for Pork.
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Shane Hmiel and Billy Ballew are once again relying on support from the greater Atlanta area in order to field Hmiel's NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series entry in this Friday's World Financial Group 200 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Six different Georgia based companies have pooled their funds to provide the much needed sponsorship dollars to allow Hmiel to wheel the No. 15 Billy Ballew Motorsports Chevrolet Silverado this weekend.
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“The Germain/Arnold team is ready to race in Atlanta. We had problems in Fontana and want to have a solid run this week in the No. 9 AISIN /AISIN AW NASCAR Craftsman truck. The schedule was so quick and the temperatures on the track were totally different in California from practice to qualifying then the race."
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Award-winning country music artist and songwriter Phil Vassar will be the Grand Marshal and sing the national anthem for Friday’s World Financial Group 200 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Vassar’s new album, Shaken Not Stirred, will also highlight the paint scheme of Bobby Labonte’s No. 47 Morgan-Dollar Motorsports Silverado, along with the Nashville Convention and Visitor’s Bureau.
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“We had the right truck with our Spears Chevrolet Silverado in California. It’s just the way it played out. We were awesome right from the start. We led 57 laps. It’s a shame we had a pretty good hotrod that night. I thought we could have won the race but it wasn’t meant to be. I was coming off turn 2, got underneath someone and my Silverado just broke loose. I should have spun it because I kind of tried to save it, but we caught the fence. Hopefully we’ll put our Spears Manufacturing Chevrolet in Victory Lane this weekend in Atlanta.”
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Last season, David Reutimann showcased his talent at Atlanta Motor Speedway by capturing his first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Bud Pole Award and finishing third in the No. 17 NTN Bearings Toyota Tundra.
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Chevrolet Team Silverado drivers Dennis Setzer, Jack Sprague and David Starr have one NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series (NCTS) race under their belts at Atlanta Motor Speedway (AMS) but Ron Hornaday will be a “rookie” when the green flag flies on Friday night for race three of the 2005 season.
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When race weekend kicks-off with the Craftsman Truck Race at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Friday, March 18th, race fans will not only see America’s Pork Producers as a new team sponsor, but they will also see a new twist on the extremely effective Pork. The Other White Meat.® marketing campaign. America’s Pork Producers will be the primary sponsor for 21-year-old Brad Keselowski, driver of the #29 “Other White Meat” Ford F-150.
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Cook finished 18th in last year’s inaugural NCTS race at Atlanta Motor Speedway (AMS). Cook was lucky to finish 18th because when the ppc Racing crew changed four tires and added gasoline on lap 42, they found an equalized right-rear tire. Cook returned to the track and ran in the top 25 most of the day following the path of eventual winner, Bobby Hamilton.
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Terry Cook spent Wednesday morning at the Georgia State Capitol surrounded by many Georgia dignitaries, including Governor Sonny Perdue at the Third Annual Atlanta Motor Speedway Day at the Capitol. Cook, driver of the No. 10 Power Stroke Diesel by International Ford made a stop at the two-seat racing simulator to greet the Paws With A Cause staff and a few die-hard race fans that braved the Wednesday’s inclement weather. (PR Photo)
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Jimmy Kite grew-up in Stockbridge, Ga., less than 30-minutes from the Atlanta Motor Speedway (AMS). Even while pursuing his own open wheel racing career in everything from quarter-midgets to IndyCars, he hasn’t missed a NASCAR Nextel Cup race at the track in years. Friday he will wake in his own bed, travel the familiar path to the 2.54-mile quad-oval and, instead of slipping into his grandstand seat at NASCAR’s fastest track, he’ll slide into the window of the No. 06 MRD Motorsports Chevrolet Silverado to make his first start in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.
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“I grew up down here in Georgia and grew up watching the stock cars. When I went up north and started running USAC stuff the doors opened up to do into the Indy car series. Now it just so happened that there have been some pretty good doors open over here.
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Rick Crawford won the pole for Friday night’s World Financial Group 200 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, knocking former series champion Mike Skinner off the top of the sheet and holding off a furious charge from Shane Hmiel late in the qualifying session. Crawford’s quick lap of 30.339 seconds translates to a 182.735 mile per hour average around the 1.54-mile banked quad-oval. Hmiel, driving for Atlanta resident Billy Ballew, was the second-to-last driver to take to the track and ran the fastest first lap of the 40 qualifiers to take time, but couldn’t pick up enough on his second lap to give Ballew his second pole of the young season. Skinner, the Bud Pole winner at California three weeks ago, held on for third, followed by Johnny Benson in fourth and Bill Lester in fifth. (High Sierra Photo)
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Rick Crawford, driver of the No. 14 Ford F-150, captured his third career Craftsman Truck Series pole this afternoon in qualifying for the World Financial Group 200. Crawford, who will make his 201st consecutive start tonight, last won a pole at Phoenix International Raceway in November 2002.
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Team Silverado Driver David Starr Qualifies Tenth for NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series World Financial Group 200 - Shane Hmiel watched 39 of the 41 entrants in the World Financial Group 200 make their qualifying attempts before he took to the track in his No. 15 Earl Small’s Harley-Davidson Silverado for his two laps around Atlanta Motor Speedway.
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Ron Hornaday claimed his 27th career NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series victory in the World Financial Group 200 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Friday night, holding off a furious charge from 6-time Nextel Cup Series Atlanta winner Bobby Labonte on the final lap. Hornaday took the win by a nose, driving to victory for the first time since the 2002 season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Hornaday and Bobby Hamilton swapped the lead several times in the late stages before Hornaday took the lead for good on lap 124. His drive to victory was interrupted by a late race crash by pole sitter Rick Crawford, which extended the race by five laps. Labonte made a hard charge after taking the white flag and powered to the outside of Hornaday down the backstretch, very reminiscent of the finish in this race last season. The two bumped coming to the line, which stopped Labonte’s momentum and allowed Hornaday to win by a nose.
(High Sierra Photo)
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Hamilton has finished third, second and first in the first three NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series races in 2005, and the defending series champion retained his points lead by 60 points over Ted Musgrave. “I ran the right front off and I decided to cool ‘em. I was catching Ron and then the caution flew. My transmission was torn up. I only had third and fourth gear. If I could have gotten going on the restart we would have won it hands down, but we’ve got a first, second and third and there’s not a scratch on the truck. I lost the transmission on the second restart. I blew a right rear and got a lap down. We had a good truck. I’m not going to panic when I get a lap down. The owner likes me.
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“I’m beat up pretty good; that was a hard hit. The tire blew out and there’s really nothing you can do about it. I knew something wasn’t right after that last restart. It’s tough having bad races. The Circle Bar Truck Corral Ford had the total package going on tonight. We led the most laps, and it was an easy race for us. You lay it in your lap and you self inflict a situation like that. It’s hard to deal with.” - Rick Crawford
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“Man, is this special for us. I can’t thank Kevin and Delana Harvick for the opportunity to drive this GM Goodwrench Silverado. Bobby (Labonte) and I raced each other so clean those last two laps. He got a pretty good run on me there on the top but the RCR power under my hood let me pull him by just enough out of four as we came down for checkered."
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In the third NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series (NCTS) race of the 2005 season at Atlanta Motor Speedway Friday evening, Toyota drivers Chad Chaffin and Robert Huffman recorded top-10 finishes, and Tundra pilot Mike Skinner led the second most laps. Chaffin, who started 13th, led the field for 11 laps en route to a seventh-place finish in the No. 30 Germain Toyota/Arnold Development Tundra. Huffman, driver of the No. 12 Darrell Waltrip Motorsports Tundra, crossed the finish line 10th.
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There wasn’t a youngster among those left standing when the dust settled on Friday night’s World Financial Group 200 with 46-year-old Ron Hornaday Jr. winning for the 27th time in NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series competition. Each of the top four finishers never will see their 40th birthday again. Neither will sixth place Ted Musgrave, who turns 50 in December. No worries, said defending series champion Bobby Hamilton, 49, a top-three finisher for the third time in 2005 and the points leader by 65 over Musgrave.
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It didn’t take Ron Hornaday long to remember the way to victory lane in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. In just his third start behind the wheel of the No. 6 GM Goodwrench Silverado, the former two-time series champion scored his 27th NCTS victory in an exciting green-white-checkered finish by just eight thousandths of a second over fellow Team Silverado driver Bobby Labonte.
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A focused Ron Hornaday Jr. didn’t know who he’d beaten Friday night – he just knew that he’d won.
Hornaday, who prevailed in the World Financial Group 200 by the width of his GM Goodwrench Chevrolet’s front bumper cover for a record-extending 27th NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series victory, believed right up to his victory lane TV interview that his last-lap, Atlanta Motor Speedway adversary had been fellow series veteran Dennis Setzer. Instead, Hornaday edged Setzer’s teammate Bobby Labonte – driving an identically painted Morgan-Dollar Motorsports Chevy - in a dramatic duel that saw their trucks circle the final, 1.54-mile lap virtually side-by-side.
(Ronda Greer Photo)
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Bobby Hamilton finished first at Daytona International Speedway, second at California Speedway and then kept his streak alive by finishing third at Atlanta Motor Speedway in the third race of the 2005 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season. Hamilton battled back in his Bailey’s Dodge from being one lap down to leading the World Financial Group 200 on the 1.54-mile oval. The 2004 NCTS Champion still sits atop the Championship points standings by 65 points over second-place Ted Musgrave.
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After a two-week sabbatical the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series returned to action Friday night at what is quickly becoming one of the series’ most exciting tracks, the 1.5-mile Atlanta Motor Speedway, for the World Financial Group 200.
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Team Silverado claims four of the five top spots in the World Financial Group 200 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway. David Starr contributed to that success by driving his Team Silverado No. 75 Spears Manufacturing NASCAR Craftsman truck to a 5th place finish after qualifying 10th for the one day event.
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NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series driver Shige Hattori racing in only his third race in a stockcar qualified 7th for the running of the World Financial 200 race at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Hattori battled an ill handling race truck the entire day but the rookie managed to bring the No. 9 AISIN/AISIN AW Toyota Tundra across the line without incident.
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No. 2 Team ASE/Ultra Wheels Dodge driver Jimmy Spencer was relegated to a 17th-place finish in the World Financial Group 200, the third NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Friday evening. Spencer started from the 17th position, quickly making his way up to fight for the lead before a late-race pit road penalty forced him to the back with little time to make up lost ground.
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A focused Ron Hornaday Jr. didn’t know who he’d beaten Friday night – he just knew that he’d won. Hornaday, who prevailed in the World Financial Group 200 by the width of his GM Goodwrench Chevrolet’s front bumper cover for a record-extending 27th NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series victory, believed right up to his victory lane TV interview that his last-lap, Atlanta Motor Speedway adversary had been fellow series veteran Dennis Setzer. Instead, Hornaday edged Setzer’s teammate Bobby Labonte – driving an identically painted Morgan-Dollar Motorsports Chevy - in a dramatic duel that saw their trucks circle the final, 1.54-mile lap virtually side-by-side. (Ronda Greer Photo)
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The third race of the 2005 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season was a charm for Chad Chaffin and his Germain / Arnold Racing team. For the third race in a row the No. 30 Toyota Tundra was solid all day and finally Chad and the team got a much deserved finish as they came home seventh in the running of the World Financial Group 200 at the Atlanta Motor Speedway. “We had an awesome truck all night and positioned ourselves to be in victory lane,” said Chaffin.
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Deborah Renshaw continues the growth process in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and with her new BHR2 team. Another chapter in this growth saw the Bowling Green, Kentucky native safely pilot her No. 8 Easy Care DODGE to a 25th place finish in the running of the World Financial Group 200 at the Atlanta Motor Speedway.
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Matt Crafton drove the No. 88 Menards Chevrolet to a 14th-place finish in Friday night’s NASCAR Truck Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Crafton qualified 27th for the 130-lap race, but was forced to take the green flag from the back of the field after his ThorSport Racing team had to change the engine after qualifying.
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Tracy Hines drove the No.13 ThorSport Racing/David Zoriki Motorsports Chevrolet to a 16th-place finish in the World Financial Group 200 Friday night at the Atlanta Motor Speedway. Hines made a pit stop before the green flag to adjust tire pressures and was forced to start from the back of the pack, but quickly made his way into the top-20.
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Robert Huffman’s tenth-place finish in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series event at Atlanta Motor Speedway positioned the No. 12 Toyota Tundra driver in the top-10 series points standings for the first time in his career. “It’s just great to come out of Atlanta with a top-10 finish and be able to advance into the top-10 in points,” said Huffman, who is now tenth in the points standings. “We ran good and had a respectable finish at Atlanta. We were just a little tight, but that’s probably because our front end got tore up a little.”
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With the No. 17 NTN Bearings Toyota Tundra pinned one lap down after an unscheduled pit stop, David Reutimann had to settle for a 24th-place finish in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series event at Atlanta Motor Speedway. “The guys were making major changes on the No. 17 NTN Bearings Toyota Tundra and we just didn’t get all of the lug nuts tight on the left rear,” said Reutimann. “They were making a lot of changes because the truck was really free. The guys kept working on it to make it better and it got better.”
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Johnny Benson and his No. 23 Toyota Racing team put on a great show at Atlanta Motor Speedway Friday, wrapping up the day with an 11th-place finish and an eighth-place position in the overall NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series standings. Benson and crew packed a lot of speed all day at Atlanta, as did his Bill Davis Racing teammates Mike Skinner and Bill Lester. All three BDR drivers were at the top of the speed charts during the morning practice sessions, then followed suit during the evening qualifying session.
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Bill Lester and the Waste Management Toyota team entered Atlanta with high hopes of a strong finish. The No. 22 team tested at the fastest speedway on the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series schedule the week before the race and thought it would have a chance to race for the win.
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The No. 5 Toyota Tundra team entered Atlanta Motor Speedway with high hopes of a strong finish. Skinner slid through the infield to a second-place finish last year at the fastest track on the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series schedule. This year, he hoped to come across the start/finish line in first with his Bill Davis Racing teammates right behind him.
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A caution flag with just a handful of laps to go set up an incredible last-lap finish which saw Kyle Busch bounce off the wall and Jack Speague go sliding while fighting for the lead, and Busch picked up his third win of the 2005 season after making to the line first as a massive crash broke out as the field was racing across the finish line. Busch, who came to pit road under the last caution, restarted ninth with four laps to go but made minced meat of those eight drivers in front of him to give Billy Ballew a hometown win. Sprague was the dominant truck in the final stages of the race, leading by nearly three seconds within sight of the finish. But after series point leader Ted Musgrave suffered his second flat tire of the day with just seven laps to go, several of the leaders came to pit road for fresh tires. Sprague was able to hold off a hard charging Johnny Benson for the lead, but neither driver could hold off Busch. Sprague tried to make his truck as wide as he could and slid up the track, shoving Busch into the wall coming off turn four. Sprague then spun wildy out of control, sweeping up Benson, fourth-place runner Bobby Labonte, Todd Kluever, and David Starr. (High Sierra Photo)
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