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TrackSideLive!
| Florida Dodge Dealers 250
Daytona International Speedway| February 16-18, 2005
TrackSideLive! brings you exclusive online coverage of the tough
trucks and even tougher drivers of the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.
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TrackSideLive! From Daytona!
01-14-2005 7:46 pm
TrackSideLive! Presented by Team ASE coverage from Daytona International Speedway and the 2005 Daytona Preseason Thunder test sessions for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series will begin Saturday, January 15th!
Watch!
SPEED Channel on Sunday, January 16th at 7 pm ET for a special show on NCTS Open Test sessions from Daytona International Speedway.
More...
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Craftsman Trucks Series Testing Sunday, January 16th 7 pm
First Air!
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Craftsman Trucks Series Testing Sunday, January 16th at Midinight
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Craftsman Trucks Series Testing Monday, January 17th at 8 am
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Craftsman Trucks Series Testing Monday, January 17th at Noon
All Times Eastern - Subject to Change
NASCAR Announces 2005 Preseason Thunder Dates
More...
Good Morning from Daytona
02-16-2005 9:32 am
Good morning from the infield at Daytona International Speedway! It is a brilliant day with the track bathed in warm sunlight and a gentle breeze blowing across Lake Lloyd. The teams are busy making their final preparations to get their trucks through tech inspection to make it on the track for today's first practice session. We'll have all of the news leading up to practice, and give you times and follow up on all the action during that 90-minute session starting at 3 pm ET this afternoon exclusively here at TrackSideLive!
Happy Birthday to you
02-16-2005 9:38 am
The NCTS community had a couple of birthdays here in Daytona the past couple of days. Brad Keselowski celebrated his 21st birthday in grand style at the World Center of Speed on Saturday. Brad will be making his first career start here at DIS on Friday. Also celebrating a birthday yesterday was crew chief Rick Gay. Rick recently signed on with ppc Racing and will be calling the shots for last year's pole sitter Terry Cook.
Trouble with templates
02-16-2005 9:55 am
Many teams struggled making it through NASCAR's "room of doom" yesterday, needing to make subtle changes to the body of their trucks to meet NASCAR's stringent template inspections. The teams still have about five hours before the first practice to get their inspection sticker and make the start of the first session.
TruckShots
02-16-2005 9:57 am
Don't forget to check out our exclusive TruckShots gallery from yesterday's tech day here at Daytona. You'll get a sneak peek at all the trucks entered here and the many new looks in the series for 2005. Click the link on the right side of the page to check it out!
Fiddleback to one truck in Daytona
02-16-2005 11:09 am
Fiddleback Racing expected to be running two trucks in 2005, however a late change from Ford to Toyota left the team with no alternative but to cut back to one truck for the first part of the season.
"All of this just came together really late," said Gary Showalter. "We only have four trucks ready to go back in the shop, and we only got this truck from Hopkins a few weeks ago. This chassis was still on the jig when they were down here testing in January."
The team will try to field a second entry later in the season.
"We'd like to get back to our original plan of running two trucks, and we'll try to do that once we get all caught up," Showalter said.
Today's NCTS schedule
02-16-2005 11:14 am
Here is today's schedule at Daytona:
2 pm ET: Mandatory Spotter and Rookie meetings
2 pm ET: Draw for Bud Pole Qualifying
3 pm-4:25 pm ET: NCTS Practice
5 pm ET: NCTS Garage closes
Several drivers at New Smyrna Speedway last night
02-16-2005 11:20 am
Many members of the NCTS community made the trek to New Smryna Speedway last night to watch a full night of stock car racing on the tight, high-banked half-mile. The ThorSport No. 88 team including driver Matt Crafton spent the evening in the infield with Ed Berrier and his late model team. Meanwhile, Ultra Motorsports drivers Ted Musgrave and Jimmy Spencer greeted the sizeable crowd at the front gate signing autographs then stepping inside to enjoy the races. Todd Bodine spent the evening chatting with fans and offering advice to young drivers in the turn three pit grandstands. NASCAR Whelen Modified Series standout Ted Christopher won both the super late model feature and the Tour-style modified feature.
Entry list changes...
02-16-2005 11:24 am
There are now 42 teams entered for the Florida Dodge Dealers 250 at Daytona. All of the usual cast of characters are entered, as well as some teams new to the series.
Casey Atwood is here in the No. 4 truck and Bobby Hamilton has taken the reins of the No. 04 entry to ensure both trucks make the field. Hamilton is entitled to a past champions provisional, and with the No. 4 truck also guaranteed to be in the field, Hamilton's move guarantees Atwood's position in the field.
Wayne Edwards is entered in the No. 24 after purchasing the number and points from Bang! Racing.
Mike Harmon is entered in the No. 21 after purchasing the number and points from Innovative Motorsports.
Tracy Hines moves to the No. 13 truck and Matt Crafton slides back into the No. 88 machine. Ron Hornaday is in the KHI No. 6 truck, and Jason Rudd is here in the Brevak Racing No. 31 Dodge, and David Ragan is here in the Rosenblum Racing No. 28.
Kerry Earnhardt makes his series debut in Billy Ballew's No. 15 Chevrolet, and Regan Smith hops into the second Xpress Motorsports truck, the No. 19. Brad Keselowski is back in the family-owned No. 29 Ford, and Rick Markle is entered in the No. 45 Chevrolet.
Robert Pressley makes his return to the series in Jim Harris' No. 59 Dodge, and former Daytona 500 winner Derrike Cope teams up with Ron Rhodes to wheel the No. 48 Dodge. The Roush Racing teammates make their debuts for the team here this weekend with Todd Kluever in the No. 50 and Ricky Craven in the No. 99. Brendan Gaughan makes his comeback to the series in the No. 77 Dodge.
Eric Jones was expected to wheel the No. 63 Ford for the Mittler Brothers team, but his commitments with his Busch Series team have not given him the time to give both efforts 100 percent attention. Instead, J.R. Patton will take over and make his first career start here at Daytona.
Eric McClure has withdrawn the No. 89 entry.
NCTS drivers find rough going in ARCA race at Daytona
02-16-2005 11:39 am
Three drivers attempting to make the Florida Dodge Dealers 250 found rough going in last Saturday's Advance/Discount Auto Parts 200 here at Daytona. The most spectacular of course was Todd Kluever, who took a wild tumble down the backstretch. While Kluever was on his roof, he was hit by Ken Weaver who had no where to go, ending what to that point was a strong run for him. Also involved in a wild accident was young David Ragan, who was hit in the right rear corner going through turn one and made heavy right-front contact with the retaining wall. All drivers were uninjured in their respective accidents and have been cleared to race here this week.
Another birthday...
02-16-2005 11:43 am
Also celebrating a birthday while in Daytona is Jimmy Spencer, driver of the No. 2 Dodge. Birthday wishes go out to all!
Pre-Practice Audio
02-16-2005 1:22 pm
AUDIO!
TrackSideLive! goes to the garage for pre practice comments from Rick Crawford, Sean Murphy, Robert Pressley and Brandon Whitt.
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For those lucky enough to be near a TV...
02-16-2005 1:24 pm
Don't forget that Speed will have live coverage of today's first practice session for the NCTS starting at 3 pm ET. As always, keep it locked right here to TrackSideLive for continuous timing updates and reports on all the action as it happens.
Extra set of tires for NCTS...
02-16-2005 1:28 pm
The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series normally has a limit of four sets of tires per race event. However, with the continuing tire issues here at Daytona this week, NASCAR has allowed an additional set to be used during the race only. Once the teams have completed qualifying on Thursday and are impounded, NASCAR will release a fifth set to the teams. Many teams are planning on scuffing all of their tires for use in the race, although since the trucks will be impounded after qualifying, the added fifth set will be sticker tires when they are bolted on.
Less than an hour to go!
02-16-2005 2:07 pm
The Cup cars are now on the track for their second and final practice of the day. When they pull into the garage when the red and black flags wave, the next on track action will be what we have anxiously been awaiting: the first practice for the NCTS Florida Dodge Dealers 250.
Former Truckers Top Cup Speed Charts
02-16-2005 2:36 pm
A look at the times from the first NASCAR Nextel Cup Series practice finds former NASCAR Camping World Truck Series drivers at and near the top of the sheet.
Scott Riggs was the fastest, with Jamie McMurray second quick. Boris Said was fifth, Mike Wallace sixth, and Greg Biffle 16th. Kerry Earnhardt was 18th, and Mike Bliss rounded out the top-20.
Trucks are in line!
02-16-2005 2:53 pm
The trucks are pushed to the line, the drivers are strapped in, and we are ready to go with the first practice session for the season-opening Florida Dodge Dealers 250 here at Daytona. We'll let you know who's the first to roll onto the track the instant it happens and keep you updated with all the news and times throughout the next 90 minutes. Kepp it locked right here on TrackSideLive!, found exclusively on TruckSeries.com.
All right pit road...
02-16-2005 2:57 pm
The call was just made..."all right pit road, turn 'em loose, trucks on the racetrack." We are now underway for the first practice for the Florida Dodge Dealers 250. The first to roll was the No. 38 driven by Brandon Whitt...
They Said It, No. 1
02-16-2005 3:00 pm
MattCrafton, No. 88 Chevrolet: "I am going to let those guys in the big pack get away from me. We want to run with a group, but not that big."
Dennis Setzer, No. 46 Chevrolet: "I want to take a few laps to get up to speed before I jump in one of those big packs."
They Said It, No. 2
02-16-2005 3:09 pm
Terry Cook, No. 10 Ford: "Right now we are doing a little bit of scraping on the track. It might be valence, it might be tailpipes, I really can't tell right now."
Tracy Hines, No. 13 Chevrolet: "I want to go out in a group of about four of five and let them all get pass me and see if I can work my way back up to the front."
Practice 1, Rundown 1
02-16-2005 3:15 pm
1. Gaughan, 47.673
2. Hornaday, 47.705
3. Musgrave, 47.764
4. Bodine, 47.847
5. Crawford, 47. 977
6. Reutimann, 48.012
7. Huffman, 48.030
8. Skinner, 48.169
9. Cook, 48.178
10. Ragan, 48.518
11. Hines, 48.621
12. Kluever, 48.637
13. Pressley, 48.724
14. Hattori, 48.936
15. Renshaw, 49.029
16. Keselowski, 49.091
17. Chaffin, 49.106
18. Park, 49.128
19. Murphy, 49.132
20. Patton, 49.173
21. Setzer, 49.202
22. Crafton, 49.205
23. Sutton, 49.254
24. Whitt, 49.496
25. Smith, 49.553
26. Benson, 49.572
27. Atwood, 49. 582
28. Earnhardt, 49.780
29. Sprague, 49.797
30. Wallace, 49.809
31. Craven, 49.821
32. Spencer, 49. 855
33. Weaver, 49.904
34. Starr, 50.095
35. Harmon, 50.312
Reminder to all spotters...
02-16-2005 3:22 pm
NASCAR just offered the spotters on the roof a little reminder: "We want to remind you all to keep your drivers above the yellow line."
Several drivers had dipped their left side tires below the line in drafting practice to make passes, which come race day is cause for a stop-and-go penalty.
Crawford nearing 200 straight
02-16-2005 3:27 pm
Rick Crawford has been a fixture on the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series since 1997. In fact, he has been around long enough that he leads the series in all-time starts and is closing in on 200 consecutive series starts. When he takes the green on Friday night, he will reach start number 199, and the 200th straight start will come next week in Fontana.
Practice 1 Rundown 2
02-16-2005 3:33 pm
1. Hines, 47.458
2. Bodine, 47.485
3. Spencer, 47.498
4. Crawford, 47.503
5. Musgrave, 47.563
6. Skinner, 47.581
7. Crafton, 47.629
8. Gaughan, 47.673
9. Hornaday, 47.705
10. Reutimann, 48.012
11. Huffman, 48.030
12. Cook, 48.178
13. Lester, 48.231
14. Whitt, 48.253
15. Chaffin, 48.291
16. Starr, 48.343
17. Sprague 48.366
18. Setzer, 48.413
19. Craven, 48.435
20. Benson, 48.501
21. Ragan, 48.518
22. Kluever, 48.582
23. Pressley, 48.724
24. Hattori, 48.936
25. Renshaw, 49.029
26. Keselowski, 49.032
27. Park, 49.128
28. Murphy, 49.132
29. Patton, 49.173
30. Sutton, 49.254
31. Smith, 49.553
32. Atwood, 49.582
33. Earnhardt, 49.780
34. Wallace, 49.809
35. Weaver, 49..904
36. Markle, 49.975
37. Harmon, 50.312
38. Montgomery, 50.893
39. Edwards, 51.057
Red Flag Out for Crash
02-16-2005 3:40 pm
The red flag is out here at Daytona for a crash through the tri-oval. Involved are 07, 15, and the 50. Drivers are all moving inside their trucks and will be taken to the infield care center for evaluation. The accident started when Kerry Earnhardt (#15) drifted in front of Steve Park (#62) and both trucks went to the outside wall. Earnhardt spun towards the bottom and collected Todd Kluever (#50). As the trucks following slowed, Sean Murphy (#07) was not able to avoid Deborah Renshaw (#8) and caved in the nose of his truck.
Back to Green
02-16-2005 4:23 pm
The track has been cleaned, the drivers have cooled off, and the trucks are back on the speedway. We'll have a timing report shortly.
Spencer to the top of the charts; Practice 1 Rundown 3
02-16-2005 4:24 pm
1. Spencer, 46.988
2. Craven, 47.002
3. Reutimann, 47.029
4. Crawford, 47.114
5. Starr, 47.267
6. Hines, 47.458
7. Bodine, 47. 485
8. Huffman, 47.501
9. Musgrave, 47.563
10. Skinner, 47.581
11. Hornaday, 47.596
12. Renshaw, 47.607*
13. Crafton, 47.629
14. Gaughan, 47.669
15. Park, 47.679*
16. Wallace, 47.686
17. Earnhardt, 47.694*
18. Kluever, 47.709*
19.Chaffin, 47.876
20.Murphy, 47.901
21. Cook, 47.938
22. Whitt, 47.965
23. Lester, 48.023
24. Atwood, 48.160
25. Sprague, 48.366
26. Setzer, 48.377
27. Hamilton, 48.437
28. Hattori, 48.485
29. Benson, 48.501
30. Pressley, 48.512
31. Ragan, 48.518
32. Keselowski, 48.551
33. Harmon, 49.039
34. Edwards, 49.156
35. Patton, 49.173
36. Sutton, 49.254
37. Montgomery, 49.480
38. Smith, 49.553
39. Rudd, 49.835
40. Weaver, 49.904
41. Markle, 49.975
Practice has ended...
02-16-2005 4:36 pm
The Truck Series drivers are back in the paddock, and the practice has been over. Teams only had a limited chance to get on the track this afternoon as the accident involving Kerry Earnhardt, Steve Park, Deborah Renshaw, Todd Kluever, and Sean Murphy kept the trucks parked in the garage for almost a half and hour.
Jimmy Spencer ended the session the fastest, followed by Ricky Craven, David Reutimann, Rick Crawford, and David Starr. Forty-one of the forty two trucks entered took time, with only Derrike Cope not making a lap during the session.
Back from the garage...
02-16-2005 6:06 pm
We've been pounding the pavement in the garage to get the scoop on today's practice session, the big crash, and the tire problems that may or may not crop up with the Truck Series over the course of the next couple of days.
End of day coverage from Daytona starts now...
Notable Quotables, Todd Kluever
02-16-2005 6:08 pm
Todd Kluever, No. 50 Ford:
WHAT HAPPENED?
“Somewhere between the 15 and the 62 somebody got together and got turned into the wall. Once the 15 truck got into the wall he came back across the track and there was no place to go, man. He came right in front of me. Saturday night in the ARCA race I had the same situation, almost, getting off of two. I saw a car spin and I tried to steer away from them and I got bit there really bad and this time I saw him spinning and I tried to lift and get around him but it bit me here, too.”
WHAT DID JACK ROUSH SAY TO YOU?
“He said the first time Kurt came here he drove down into turn 1 and looped the truck and crashed it, too, so he doesn’t seem too upset. I feel bad for him. I feel bad for all my guys. We’ve had a really good couple of weeks here and a couple of good tests. It just seems like something bites us. We had a really good ARCA car and thought that we were going to have a chance to win that race and got in that bad wreck on the back straightaway and then here we had a really good truck when we tested here in January. I was really excited to get it back. We’ve got our new motors. Then thing was phenomenal and right away we get stuck in this kind of a situation. We’ll have to battle through it. I’m still not worried about the horsepower. We’re going to get the motor out of that truck and put it in our backup truck which I don’t know will be as good or not. I’ve never driven it. We’ll find out soon enough, I guess.”
WERE AERODYNAMICS A FACTOR IN THE ACCIDENT?
“I really don’t know what happened between those two up there. All I know was that I was kind of riding in line and I saw the 15 truck spin and the next thing I know he was coming down the track in front of me. What do you do? Just the wrong place at the wrong time. The trucks do move around a little bit. I’m actually more comfortable in the truck than I was the ARCA car. The trucks make so much downforce they drive really good here.”
Notable Quotables, Ford
02-16-2005 6:10 pm
Robert Brooks, Ford Racing Craftsman Truck Series Program Manager:
WHAT IS THE SIGNIFICANCE OF HAVING THE D3 CYLINDER HEAD IN THE TRUCK SERIES THIS YEAR?
"The biggest thing is that it puts us back on the same playing as the other manufacturers because we were at a horsepower deficit the last few years, and now we're comparable to where they are and it allows our guys to be able to race with something that they know they're going to be able to match the other manufacturers with."
FORD DRIVERS HAVE WON THE PAST TWO TRUCK RACES AT DAYTONA IN SPITE OF A HORSEPOWER DEFICIT.
"Obviously, it's about having the total package and we were working in other areas to make up for the deficit that we had in terms of horsepower. Daytona is a quite an interesting race. You have to be very smart the way you drive Daytona, and you can be at a horsepower deficit and be competitive just because these trucks are so big and punch such a big hole in the air that you get sucked in the draft and you're able to keep up. The truck race here is a totally different type of race compared to the cars, but you also have to be quite smart about how you race. Strategy is paramount in the truck races here and we've seen that the last two years with Rick Crawford's win in 2003 and Carl Edwards' win last year. It requires a lot of discipline and a lot of patience. You can't go out of
line and pass somebody on your own. Many of these drivers tried that last year, and they went out to try to pass him (Edwards), but they didn't have the horsepower to finish the deal. It takes a considerable amount of horsepower to make up for the drag that these trucks have, and that's why you have to get out front early or wait until the last lap to make your move."
WILL THE GAIN IN HORSEPOWER FORM THE NEW CYLINDER HEAD BE MORE EVIDENT IN QUALIFYING THAN THE RACE?
"We got the pole here last year, so it's hard to do better than that. You should see it here in qualifying with more Fords qualifying in the top 10, where we only had two last year. You'll see the gains more at the intermediate tracks, where we had our struggles last year because there's less emphasis on the draft. If you have a lot of horsepower you don't have to put all of your resources on the aero or chassis side of it, and you can allocate your resources more equally and that makes you more competitive at all of the tracks. When you're underpowered you're doing a lot of things aero-wise and chassis-wise to compensate for horsepower and that's only relevant at a few tracks. We feel the this will make us a more competitive truck at all of the venues this year from Daytona to Texas to Mansfield."
WILL THE FACT THAT THE D3 CYLINDER HEAD WAS USED IN NEXTEL CUP COMPETITION LAST YEAR SHORTEN THE DEVELOPMENT TIME IN TRUCKS?
"I think it helps tremendously knowing what they needed to do to make the power and not sacrifice reliability. We don't expect to have any reliability issues at the start of the season even with the new head. This motor is basically the same motor they have on the Cup side; we just had to change the cams and change the carburetor."
Rick Crawford, No. 14 Ford:
YOU WERE ABLE TO POST THE FOURTH QUICKEST TIME OF THE SESSION.
"We've got our new D3 Ford engine from Yates-Roush and we did our clean kill first and when we went out for
our final drafting session of practice, it's in the top five on the board. I'm pretty pleased with "Cowboy" Kevin Starland, our new crew chief this year, and it's a total team effort, and I'm having fun driving it."
HOW MUCH EMPHASIS IS THERE ON QUALIFYING HERE THIS YEAR?
"Qualifying doesn't mean much here. We're going to put it in the field. The one we won here, we started 26th and last year we finished fourth after starting at the tail end of the field because we had to go to a backup truck after a Happy Hour practice crash. I think this is the best truck that I've ever had here and it's sure proving to be."
TALK ABOUT THE IMPACT OF THE IMPOUND RULE THIS YEAR?
"When the impound rule came into being, it puts you in race mode right off the bat. You qualify to get what you can and with the minor adjustments you can do to vehicle, but as soon as they impound them after qualifying, you can't do your tricks for qualifying because you have to race them. It just gets you in the mode to race right off the bat. You have to see how it is in race trim, so that's the reason everybody is drafting right off the bat."
WHAT IS THE IMPACT OF THE NEW CYLINDER ON THE TRUCK HERE AT DAYTONA?
"This D3 engine package from Yates-Roush is what I call a deep-toned engine. It's just pulling all the way down the straightaway and it gives you something to work on your chassis a little bit now and keep it wide open. The engine
under the hood is doing a great job and we're working on the gearing right this minute and the jetting - the mixture in the carburetor."
WHAT DOES THE ADDED HORSEPOWER ALLOW YOU DO NOW THAT YOU COULDN'T DO IN PREVIOUS YEARS?
"We've out ourselves in position to win two years ago because of the drafting situation you always have here, but back then we had a Roush powerplant and it did it's job. It's not as critical at Daytona for the power as it is for Texas, Charlotte or California, but we're trying to sell Monday what we're racing here Friday night and Ford Motor Co. sees howimportant it is to keep trucks number one."
WHAT IS IT LIKE TO WIN A RACE AT DAYTONA?
"It's awful special. It'd probably be like a quarterback winning the Super Bowl for the first time. It's a total effort. A lot of these guys on the team this year won that race two years ago, and, then, Cowboy came in after winning last year with Carl Edwards, so maybe him and me can win this thing together this year."
Notable Quotables 2, Dodge
02-16-2005 6:15 pm
Jimmy Spencer, No. 2 Dodge:
“What happens now is our trucks are impounded after qualifying. But, when you qualify you’re going to be two seconds slower than you race. That’s what’s so much fun about the Truck Series. You’ve got what you got, and when you qualify it doesn’t mean a whole lot. It’s just lining up and picking positions. But the key is, you didn’t see many guys make single-lap runs, simply from the standpoint that they need to get their truck handling good. Our Dodge Ram is handling really good. We got really good push from the No. 99, and it just shot us to the top of the board, and that’s the key. But when you’re by yourself you’re probably three-quarters of a second or a half-second slower than that. But the draft is so neat, it’s like when I first started speedway racing. And you’ve got to really be careful because you can get yourself in situations sometimes when you’ve got to lift and you’ve got to wait a lap or two. It’s going to be an interesting race. Team ASE right now is pretty good. We’ll see what happens tomorrow in qualifying.”
What goes through your head when you see guys getting into each other 45 min. into the season?
“I don’t agree with what NASCAR did with the one driver there. He’s never raced a speedway and they put him in a truck. I don’t care what manufacturer it is. That’s not right. I don’t think that kid is qualified to be in the Truck Series off at Daytona. I’m not saying there’s not a driver that’s qualified, but I’m saying for him to be at his first race, I don’t think that’s right. I don’t know what caused the accident, but he was involved in it, so he’s still part of it. In his defense somebody else did spin out. But, I think a lot of the guys’ trucks are really free, and that’s what’s causing some of this. And it’s a little windy. But, I also think that you’ve got to respect one another. You’ve got to give a little more room. And that’s the key to being at Daytona. When you’re running that fast, you’ve got to have total respect for your fellow competitors. Give them a little more room. We’re not racing at Richmond or New Hampshire, where a rub doesn’t hurt. A rub here, you will spin out and you will probably go with him.”
Brendan Gaughan, No. 77 Dodge:
“We brought Lone Star, which is probably the most famous truck in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. It happens to be our Texas winner. It’s really fast. I can’t believe how happy I am in it. We had to take some of the good raciness out of to make it qualify better, because you’ve got to qualify in race trim. But it’s still racing like a champ. We put it to the top of the board for a while early – some guys got a good suck up lap. But, our Dodge Ram right now is probably one of the top three or four trucks out there. I’m pretty happy.
“What’s going to happen is, there’s 13 guys battling for six positions, so you’re going to have a couple of those 13 guys go in a full qualifying mode and not care about how they race. NASCAR has created this monster and they’re going to have to live with it because what’s going to happen is some of these guys that aren’t quite as good are going to just go in a full-qualifier, which makes guys like us say, ‘Okay, we have to be a little better to qualify.’ It also means that when they get to the race, they’re going to be a little bit more dangerous in the race.”
Ted Musgrave, No. 1 Dodge:
“Well, it’s the truck that we brought down testing and got wrecked a little bit and re-bodied it. It just doesn’t have the speed, but it has the handling good right now. So, we’re just kind of concerned because we can’t really lead a pack at all for no more than one straightaway. But from there on if you’re in the middle of the pack, you’re running second, third, fourth in line, it’s pretty decent. So, I don’t know what we’re going to play with right now. We’re going to do a little drag issue tomorrow in practice, to see if we can take a little drag off of it without losing too much downforce. I don’t know. We’ll just kind of play it out. Every time I’ve been here it seems like downforce kind of wins. Right now you just kind of get a little jumpy because you’re getting passed. Later on we’ll see.”
“We saw some wrecks down here in testing. That’s why we redid this truck differently. It’s just that they’re pretty out of control. We saw that during testing, and right now with the racetrack being as greasy and slick as it is, we kind of put a little emphasis on it. If it gets a little worse, I’ll actually feel a little better because that’ll play back into my hands a little bit more. Maybe as time wears on the light will shine towards us a little bit better.”
“It’s good to get going again. You sit around for a few months and you start questioning things, or you might over engineer things. It’s good to get back into the routine of racing, and have everybody get back into that form again – even myself. It’s good to get out and start running, and get back to running these trucks again. Thank goodness I didn’t have to change colors or uniforms again.”
Steve Park, No. 62 Dodge:
“It’s just ignorance. I don’t know. I’ve been racing here a long time, and we’re out there just getting drafting practice. There’s a couple guys I didn’t want to draft with, and I obviously chose the wrong person to draft with again. It’s just ignorance. The Orleans Dodge Ram is torn up. I’m pretty disappointed. We’ve got a good Dodge Ram, and we just can’t even get to the race. It just frustrates me, and it makes more work for these guys. It’s an impound race, which is supposed to make guys work a little bit less, but if I walk down pit road you’re going to see people working twice as hard as they did before. I think it’s a good rule. It’s just that people need to use their heads out there on the race track. What can I say? I’m just very disappointed
Notable Quotables 3, Crafton and Starr
02-16-2005 6:31 pm
Matt Crafton, No. 88 Chevy: "We feel like the Menards Chevrolet is pretty good. It's reasonably stable in the draft. We'll come back in the morning and make a run or two and get it ready for qualifying and the race."
David Starr, No. 75 Chevy: “I have the right truck but my Chevy Silverado is loose off the corner. The ones that can run fast can stay on the throttle. I’ve had to let off the throttle a little bit and it is hurting me. My truck isn’t sucking up to the pack that well in the draft. Not really pleased with my Silverado right now I think the guys are going to make some changes and we look forward to the practice in the morning to make it better. I’m not real happy with it but we just need to make it better to be competitive in the race.”
Check our Sights and Sounds Section
02-16-2005 6:36 pm
After today's practice, TrackSideLive! heads to the garage for comments from the drivers involved in the late practice crash, Jimmy Spencer who was fastest in practice and Ricky Craven, driver of the Roush Racing No. 99 truck driven last year by Carl Edwards. Click on "Wrap Up" for the whole story.
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Good Night Everybody...see you bright and early tomorrow!
02-16-2005 8:08 pm
We're going to call it a night from Daytona Beach...the teams have gone, the media center is quiet, and they're telling us to get out or pull out a sleeping bag. We'll fire up more real-time TrackSideLive! coverage first thing tomorrow morning in preparation for the early 9 am ET practice session. Until then, good night everybody!
Good Thursday Morning!
02-17-2005 7:49 am
Wake up sleepy heads! It's Thursday, which means it's qualifying day here at DIS. With the new qualifying proceedures reserving positions for the top-30 in last year's NCTS owner points, today's qualifying will be nerve wracking for the 12 drivers not locked in the field. Luckily for them, it's a beautiful day here in coastal Florida with sunny skies and temperatures expected in the uppers 70s. We have practice first thing this morning, and we'll have all the action for you right here on TrackSideLive. So to heck with work...keep the monitor shaded from the bosses and give your complete attention to what takes priority here!
Thursday schedule
02-17-2005 7:53 am
Here is today's schedule:
7 am ET: NCTS Garage Opens
9-9:50 pm ET: NCTS Practice
6:30 pm ET: NCTS Bud Pole Qualifying
9 pm ET: NCTS Garage Closes
Wrapping up Wednesday: Notable Quotables 4, Chevrolet
02-17-2005 7:55 am
Dennis Setzer, No. 46 Chevrolet: “The fenders are still on our Chevrolet Silverado and it is headed straight which is really important with the limited track time we are getting this week. We did a little bit of drafting so Eric (Phillips, crew chief) can learn how much tape we can run on the front during the race. That is really important to get as much tape as possible. Here you really have to be ready to run what you unload with because there really isn’t much you can change. We didn’t want to take any chances doing too much drafting because you can’t take a chance and draft with the wrong people and get in trouble. We tested enough and have a good baseline and know exactly where out truck is so once we get comfortable with where we need the tape to be we will be ready to qualify and start the race.”
Kerry Earnhardt, No. 15 Chevrolet: “It was unfortunate that we had the incident out there. Ritchie (Wauters, crew chief) and the guys have worked so hard on our Chevrolet Silverado and it was a really good truck. The truck was really fast, and we were happy with how we had tested down here. We had a little problem with the carburetor but got that fixed all that and had just gone back out and were getting back up to speed. I am not really sure exactly what happened, I might have come up a little bit but he had an entire clear lane up above him. He (No. 62) just got in the right rear a little bit and turned me and away we went. We pulled out the backup truck which we did test down here. I won’t know until tomorrow how good it is.”
Jack Sprague, No. 16 Chevrolet: “Right now our Chevy Trucks Silverado is probably going to qualify pretty good but we were way too loose in the draft. It would be good to have a solid qualifying run but we need to get the truck to settle down in a pack of trucks. The guys are pretty sure they know what the problem is and will work on it. We will know more in the morning. Having the early morning practice will probably be closer to how track and weather conditions will be when we race. I know by race time, we will be fine.”
Ron Hornaday, No. 6 Chevrolet: “I didn't have a choice but to check up. Deborah got into me a little but it wasn't her fault. We just had a little bit of damage and the guys have already taken care of that.”
Wally Rogers-Crew chief: “I think we are fine. Nothing to serious. We aren't quite ready to show everything we have just yet but as far damage to the truck, it is nothing we can't take care of.”
David Starr, No. 75 Chevrolet: “I have the right truck but my Chevy Silverado is loose off the corner. The ones that can run fast can stay on the throttle. I’ve had to let off the throttle a little bit and it is hurting me. My truck isn’t sucking up to the pack that well in the draft. Not really pleased with my Silverado right now I think the guys are going to make some changes and we look forward to the practice in the morning to make it better. I’m not real happy with it but we just need to make it better to be competitive in the race.”
Tracy Hines, No. 13 Chevrolet: “We have a really good truck. We were at the top of the score sheet for quite awhile, but then late in practice five of those guys went out there and hooked and went to the top of the chart. Our truck sucks up really well. It is very stable by itself as well as in a pack of trucks. I was behind about a nine or ten truck draft, quite a few truck lengths behind them and we caught them without a problem. I think we will qualify in the top ten and race up front all night. I am really excited about this race.”
Kelly Sutton, No. 02 Chevrolet: “It is great to be back at Daytona. The truck felt great for the first few laps, but starting jumping out of fourth, so we are going to change the trannie. Our times were pretty good for non-drafting times, and we're looking forward to the morning practice.”
Wrapping Wednesday: Notable Quotables 5, Terry Cook
02-17-2005 7:59 am
Terry Cook, No. 10 Ford: “I’m very excited to get back on the track with the No. 10 Power Stroke Diesel by International Ford. The truck was good on the track during practice and the crew made some slight adjustments there toward the end to make the truck run really good. Early on we made some big changes to the truck; gears, shocks and tire pressures. The crew worked hard to put us back on the track and I feel like we have a top-10 truck for qualifying. We focused on a race trim package during practice because we got the qualifying trophy last year. I’m here to win the race.”
Impound Procedures
02-17-2005 8:02 am
After qualifying, all trucks must return directly to the height inspection station in the paddock. The crew may then remove tape from the grille, and once it has passed the height inspection, cowls and fuel inlets may be taped over. Two crew members may then cover the truck; once it is covered no one is allowed near the truck overnight.
Generators will be permitted as soon as the garage opens on Friday night. NASCAR will allow the teams to uncover the trucks at 4:30 pm on Friday.
The following adjustments will be permitted, under NASCAR supervision, from 5-6 pm on Friday:
*Add/remove tape from grille
*Prime the oil system
*Oil heater transfer valves may be adjusted
*Trucks may be started
*Track bar may be adjusted using the track bar/frame end adjuster only
*Windshield tear-offs may be removed, if needed
*Tire pressure
*Radios may be installed
*Diver water bottle added
*Five gallons of fuel added
*Shocks may be adjusted (clicked only)
*Rear wedge bolts may be adjusted at height station only
NASCAR will not permit the trucks to be jacked up. Rear sway bars cannot be added or hooked up after qualifying. Hoods cannot be opened unless approved by NASCAR. Rear spoilers cannot be adjusted. Tires cannot be changed. Any unauthorized adjustments will result in loss of starting position.
Practice results review
02-17-2005 8:14 am
1. Spencer, 46.988
2. Craven, 47.002
3. Reutimann, 47.029
4. Crawford, 47.114
5. Starr, 47.267
6. Hines, 47.458
7. Bodine, 47. 485
8. Huffman, 47.501
9. Musgrave, 47.563
10. Skinner, 47.581
11. Hornaday, 47.596
12. Renshaw, 47.607
13. Crafton, 47.629
14. Gaughan, 47.669
15. Park, 47.679
16. Wallace, 47.686
17. Earnhardt, 47.694
18. Kluever, 47.709
19.Chaffin, 47.876
20.Murphy, 47.901
21. Cook, 47.938
22. Whitt, 47.965
23. Lester, 48.023
24. Atwood, 48.160
25. Sprague, 48.366
26. Setzer, 48.377
27. Hamilton, 48.437
28. Hattori, 48.485
29. Benson, 48.501
30. Pressley, 48.512
31. Ragan, 48.518
32. Keselowski, 48.551
33. Harmon, 49.039
34. Edwards, 49.156
35. Patton, 49.173
36. Sutton, 49.254
37. Montgomery, 49.480
38. Smith, 49.553
39. Rudd, 49.835
40. Weaver, 49.904
41. Markle, 49.975
42. Cope, No Time
Drivers listed in red have moved to backup trucks following an accident in yesterday's practice but are locked into the field; qualifying will set their starting position but they are guaranteed to make the field.
Drivers listed in blue must qualify into the field on time.
Drivers listed in black are locked into the field; qualfying will set their starting position but they are guaranteed to make the field.
Practice on it's way next!
02-17-2005 8:44 am
NASCAR officials are doing their pre-practice radio checks, and safety vehicles and personnel are being directed to the appropriate places around the speedway. We should be underway with final practice for the Florida Dodge Dealers 250 at the top of the hour.
Green flag at Daytona
02-17-2005 8:55 am
The green flag is out Daytona and the final practice is underway. We'll have all the updates for you as they happen so keep it locked to TrackSideLive...
More race practice...
02-17-2005 8:57 am
Looks like the focus of this morning's session is going to be working in the draft. While many teams said they would work qualifying setups, all the drivers on the track now are working on race setups and drafting practice.
Wreck in one brings out the red
02-17-2005 9:00 am
Brandon Whitt has crashed his No. 38 Toyota in turn one to bring out the red flag. He was under another truck entering turn one when it appeared he lost the air on the spoiler and darted to the apron. As he corrected, he shot back up track and made hard contact with the right side. He is driving his truck back to the garage and appears to be uninjured. His team is unloading the backup truck now.
Practice 2 Rundown 1
02-17-2005 9:06 am
1. Lester, 47.258
2. Whitt, 47.281
3. Skinner, 47.296
4. Benson, 47.391
5. Gaughan, 47.544
6. Hines, 47.844
7. Chaffin, 47.907
8. Starr, 47.919
9. Craven, 47.932
10. Musgrave, 47.971
11. Sprague, 48.007
12. Hornaday, 48.020
13. Keselowski, 48.115
14. Bodine, 48.190
15. Wallace, 48.319
16. Montgomery, 48.520
17. Earnhardt, 48.745
18. Cook, 48.948
19. Reutimann, 49.197
20. Hattori, 49.549
21. Crawford, 49.678
22. Setzer, 49.720
23. Weaver, 49.822
24. Crafton, 50.053
25. Patton, 52.721
26. Harmon, 53.157
Red Flag for Debris
02-17-2005 9:13 am
NASCAR spotters have indicated there is some debris on the front stretch near the flag stand, so we will stop the trucks quickly while the cleanup crew makes a track inspection.
Practice 2 Rundown 2
02-17-2005 9:24 am
1. Lester, 47.258
2. Whitt, 47.281
3. Skinner, 47.296
4. Benson, 47.391
5. Gaughan, 47.544
6. Hines, 47.844
7. Chaffin, 47. 907
8. Atwood, 47.918
9. Starr, 47.919
10. Craven, 47.932
11. Weaver, 47.936
12. Musgrave, 47.971
13. Sprague, 48.007
14. Hornaday, 48.020
15. Earnhardt, 48.021
16. Keselowski, 48.115
17. Bodine, 48.190
18. Pressley, 48.245
19. Wallace, 48.257
20. Rudd, 48.507
21. Montgomery, 48.520
22. Cook, 48.616
23. Setzer, 48.776
24. Crafton, 48.935
25. Harmon, 48.951
26.Reutimann, 49.197
27. Ragan, 49.301
28. Kluever, 49.395
29. Hattori, 49.549
30. Crawford, 49.678
31. Smith, 49.796
32. Sutton, 49.811
33. Cope, 49.912
34. Patton, 49.941
35. Markle, 50.048
36. Spencer, 50.148
37. Edwards, 51.416
Red Flag for Stalled Truck in Three
02-17-2005 9:30 am
Regan Smith's truck stalled on the bottom of turn three bringing out the third red flag of the morning session. Shortly after the red came out, he was able to get it cranked and drive it back to the paddock. The green flag is already back out.
Practice 2 Rundown 3
02-17-2005 9:48 am
Practice has ended...here is the final rundown:
1. Lester, 47.258
2. Whitt, 47.281
3. Skinner, 47.296
4. Benson, 47.391
5. Gaughan, 47.544
6. Hines, 47.844
7. Chaffin, 47.907
8. Atwood, 47.918
9. Starr, 47.919
10. Craven, 47.932
11. Weaver, 47.936
12. Musgrave, 47.971
13. Bodine, 47.994
14. Sprague, 48.007
15. Hornaday, 48.020
16. Earnhardt, 48.021
17. Setzer, 48.069
18. Keselowski, 48.115
19. Pressley, 48.245
20. Wallace, 48.257
21. Rudd, 48.507
22. Montgomery, 48.520
23. Harmon, 48.601
24. Cook, 48.616
25. Crafton, 48.935
26. Reutimann, 49.197
27. Ragan, 49.301
28. Huffman, 49.312
29. Kluever, 49.356
30. Smith, 49.487
31. Park, 49.490
32. Hattori, 49.549
33. Spencer, 49.559
34. Edwards, 49.592
35. Crawford, 49.678
36. Sutton, 49.811
37. Markle, 49.860
38. Cope, 49.912
39. Patton, 49.941
40. Renshaw, 50.827
Drivers listed in blue must qualify into the field on time; drivers listed in black are guaranteed starting positions and their qualifying times will determine their starting position only.
Backup up trucks not to the back...unless...
02-17-2005 10:12 am
The drivers that were involved in practice crashes that have reverted to backup trucks will not be forced to start at the back of the field for tomorrow's Florida Dodge Dealers 250 since they have not removed a qualifed truck from the starting field. However, NASCAR's one engine rule is still in effect, so in order to maintain the starting position earned in this evening's qualifying session, they must run the engine they presented for inspection yesterday. So far, only one team has not made the change to their original engine, that being the Roush Racing No. 50 with driver Todd Kluever.
Engine changes
02-17-2005 2:41 pm
Two teams have been busy making engine changes this afternoon. After getting tied up in the accident yesterday, the engine in Sean Murphy's truck tied up and froze on his first lap of practice this morning, forcing Murphy to miss the remainder of the morning session.
After practice, Dennis Setzer's team found some damage to the valve train in the engine forcing them to pull it out and replace it with a fresh one. Both teams will forfeit the starting positions they earn in qualifying and start the Florida Dodge Dealers 250 from the rear.
Cook to be featured on Animal Planet this evening
02-17-2005 2:44 pm
Terry Cook, driver of the No. 10 Power Stroke Diesel by International Ford and Paws With A Cause will be featured on Animal Planet tonight at 8 p.m. EST. The show, “NASCAR: Animal Crew” will feature several of NASCAR’s top drivers and their pets. Cook, owner of twin beagles, Abby and Toby, was selected for his involvement with Paws With A Cause, a not-for-profit organization that trains Assistance Dogs for people with mobility and hearing disabilities.
“Animal Planet contacted us early last year because of our partnership Power Stroke Diesel by International and I have with PAWS,” said Cook. “We found more than 75 percent of the Power Stroke Diesel owners have an emotional tie or an ownership with a dog and we wanted to give back to the community at a national level with through the motorsports program. PAWS gives these people with disabilities a chance to live an independent life and it is amazing what the Assistance Dogs can do. I am grateful Animal Planet and the NASCAR fans have recognized Paws With A Cause and look forward to continuing the ‘Racing for Independence’ program again in 2005."
TruckShots!
02-17-2005 3:53 pm
Don't forget to log on to our exclusive TruckShots! photo gallery. We have canvassed the garage area for the past three days and have over 200 images posted for your enjoyment.
Click here to log in and check it out!
Check out the audio!
02-17-2005 5:26 pm
Well, it's been a slow news day here at the track, but that hasn't stopped us from scouring the garage area looking for drivers to talk to. We've tracked down Brendan Gaughan, Jason Rudd, Dennis Setzer, Brandon Whitt, Ted Musgrave and more. Look at the box to the left and click on the driver's name to hear the interview. You must have a media player installed to listen.
Cook says he doesn't need the butter knife this year
02-17-2005 5:31 pm
Last season leading up to Bud Pole Qualifying at Daytona, Terry Cook wanted us to believe his chances were slim to none to sit on the pole for the Florida Dodge Dealers 250. In fact, he said he felt like he was taking a butter knife to a gun fight. This year, while he may not have a chance a the pole, he says he won't need the butter knife this year.
"We tore up the truck we wanted to race here in January and had to total it out," he said. "That was the truck we sat on the pole with here last year. It was a good piece, but I tell you, I think this truck we have down here now is even better. I am really confident we'll have a great truck to race with here. We got our bad luck out of the way back in January. If you have to wreck one, it's better to do it when nothing is on the line. We got it out of the way, and now we can focus on winning the race down here."
Less than an hour to go...
02-17-2005 5:36 pm
...before the first truck rolls in our first Bud Pole Qualifying session of the year. Remember, you can watch all the action live on Speed Channel, but we expect you all to keep it locked right here and follow all the action with our exclusive on-line coverage.
Click here to log on to our Bud Pole Qualifying coverage.
Coverage will begin at 6:30 pm ET, with Bill Lester expected to be the first truck to roll off the grid.
Ruttman's Track Record Likely Not in Jeopardy
02-17-2005 5:41 pm
Joe Ruttman set the track qualifying record at Daytona International Speedway when the trucks raced here for the very first time in 2000. His lap of 47.984 seconds translates into 187.563 miles per hour. NASCAR has since instituted several rule changes to limit the speed of the Trucks here at Daytona, including limiting the airflow into the cold air box, mandating the shocks and springs in the rear of the trucks, and mandating a steep minimum spoiler angle.
While several teams were well below Ruttman's record in practice, all of the quick times were set in drafting packs. The lack of solo runs due to NASCAR's new qualifying procedures that lock in the top-30 eligible owners and the elimination of practice after qualifying means no one made any significant solo runs. Furthermore, those teams that did make solo runs did so after setting their quick lap in the draft making it virtually impossible to judge what time they turned alone.
Speaking of Ruttman...
02-17-2005 5:48 pm
Speaking of Joe Ruttman, he is here at the track today walking the garage area and visiting old friends. Ruttman has a tremendous record here at Daytona, nearly winning the Daytona 500 twice and picking up the checkered in the second running of the Florida Dodge Dealers 250 back in 2001.
The Racetrack is Ready
02-17-2005 6:18 pm
That was the call just moments ago from the safety crew to the tower...we are just moments away from the first Bud Pole Qualifying session of the season. Lock it on to our Live! Bud Pole Qualifying coverage, and don't forget to keep it here on TrackSideLive! for all the news, notes, and quotes to follow.
Qualifying their way in...
02-17-2005 7:13 pm
After 41 qualifiers, here are drivers that have to race their way in to the field have made their qualifying attempts thus far:
Shige Hattori, currently sixth, 49.650
Regan Smith, currently sevent, 49.729
Chad Chaffin, currently eightth, 49.758
Brendan Gaughan, currently ninth, 49.760
Johnny Benson, currently 16th,
Robert Pressley, currently 19th, 50.087
Mike Wallace, currently 22nd, 50.196
Bobby Hamilton, currently 28th, 50.360
J.R. Patton, currently 29th, 50.558
David Ragan, currently 35th, 50.720
Jason Rudd, currently 38th, 51.411
Derrike Cope, currently 40th, 51.968
Only six positions are availalbe to be filled through qualifying. We will update you as to who is in, and who is on the bubble, throughout qualifying.
Drivers listed in green are in, the driver in blue is on the bubble, and drivers listed in red are going home.
Notable Quotables, Post-Qualifying 1: Toyota
02-18-2005 1:27 am
Bill Lester, No. 22 Toyota: “I’m pretty pleased about qualifying tonight. I’m excited -- and optimistic -- about tomorrow night’s race. We were the fastest truck in drafting practice this morning and the truck was very stable. We had the balance we wanted, and there was nothing we could do to make the truck better, so we decided to leave it alone and put the cover on until tonight. I think tomorrow is going to be a big night. The guys over at Bill Davis Racing have obviously done their homework during the off-season. My Tundra is strong, the engines are strong, and we’re good aero-wise. The important thing is not how you start, it’s how you finish. What we’re going to try to do, in light of all the things we’ve seen here during Speedweeks -- in terms of the ARCA race and today’s races -- is be there at the end. A lot of teams here in the Craftsman Truck Series have already brought out backup trucks. We’ve made it through practice and qualifying and I think we’ll roll off in the top-10. Then, I’m looking for us Tundra drivers to take care of each other in the race and we can battle it out at the end.”
David Reutimann, No. 17 Toyota: “I don’t really know what happened out there. I’m pretty disappointed. I felt like we had a pretty good handle on things, but we lost a little speed and don’t really know why it happened. Even though we didn’t qualify as well as I would have liked, I think we have a truck that’s going to race good.”
Chad Chaffin, No. 30 Toyota: “I really didn’t have any problems out there. My Tundra was really good and we had a terrific run. I’m looking to win the race tomorrow. I think we have plenty of truck to win. If a little luck will play in our favor – we have a shot. But, of course there are no guarantees. If we can’t do it, I really hope to at least see a Tundra win the race.”
Shige Hattori, No. 9 Toyota: “I’m very happy with the run. I want to thank Germain/Arnold Racing for giving me an opportunity to be in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and for all their hard work. I also want to thank TRD for a powerful engine. I’m really surprised and very happy. All I can say is – Wow!”
What is your goal for the race? “My main goal is to finish the race tomorrow. This is my first NASCAR race and my first race at Daytona, and I really want to finish.”
How is a Craftsman Truck different than an open-wheel car?
“This is completely different than the open-wheel racing I’m used to. I really enjoyed driving this track and especially driving at night. It was great.”
Johnny Benson, No. 23 Toyota: “You always hope you can run a little better, but that’s about what we’ve run in practice. The Tundra ran the same tonight as it did this morning. I’m glad we qualified and now we can go racing.”
Mike Skinner, No. 5 Toyota: “We’re racing for points. I’m proud of our Tundra. We ran a good lap. I just can’t wait until tomorrow."
Brandon Whitt, No. 38 Toyota: Were you concerned taking out your backup Toyota Tundra without any practiced after crashing your primary truck in practice? “It was no big deal. I knew the guys would give me a good truck. The speeds weren’t what we had hoped for, but at least we’ve got a truck to go racing with and I think we can be competitive.”
Robert Huffman, No. 12 Toyota: “I felt really good about this run. All you can do is hold it wide open and try not to turn the steering wheel a whole lot because it scrubs off speed. The race is all about survival. We’ll be starting in the back (after changing a motor) and you can either charge to the front or sit back a bit and take your time making it to the front of the pack. Starting in the back it’s going to be a race of survival. This is a good team and they raced good here last year. We were able to talk to Jason Overstreet (David Reutimann’s crew chief) and learn some things before our run that helped us out.”
Todd Bodine, No. 66 Toyota: “The Tundra ran fast in practice this morning but it was a little hard to drive. So we gave a little back when we put it in race trim for qualifying. It should race fast tomorrow.”
Notable Quotables, Post-Qualifying 2: Ford
02-18-2005 1:29 am
Terry Cook, No. 10 Ford: "We knew what we had and we backed up exactly what we ran in practice. You come
down here to Speed Weeks with a new format, and half of the people are drafting, two people are doing single-truck runs, and it's kind of all over the board. We knew exactly what we had and we backed it up exactly. We're
happy with that; maybe we would have liked to pick up a little bit, but we're pleased with that lap time. We worked on race trim. We actually worked the entire time on race trim. We made one single-truck run just to see what kind of tape configuration we needed, and everything did its job. I hit a little bit of a headwind on backstretch on the first lap, and I think it maybe hurt a little bit, but overall I'm still pleased with the effort."
ARE YOU COMFORTABLE WITH THE IMPOUND RULE HERE AT DAYTONA?
"I am comfortable with it, but the only thing that concerns me is exactly what happened in testing down here and exactly what's happened twice since we've been here, and that's the wrecks. Unfortunately you get out there and some people don't want to draft, some do, some are making single-truck runs, and you've got 36-plus trucks scattered all over the track in different modes, and unfortunately we've had some wrecks. Maybe that wasn't attributed to that, but when you spend most of your time down here in drafting trim, you can't draft at half-speed or quarter-speed. If you're going to draft you have to draft like you're in race simulation, and when you do that you put yourself in some positions you shouldn't be in. There are a lot of drivers that are smart enough not to do that, but there are a lot that aren't, and that's what's causing the wrecks."
Rick Crawford, No. 14 Ford: "We had a little bit of headwind down the back straightway, and the way that we've got the Circle Bar Ford geared, we actually lost a little bit of RPMs going down the back straightaway and that hurts your speed. I'd like to be four or five spots ahead of where we are, but we'll be fine."
ARE YOU COMFORTABLE WITH THE NEW POST-QUALIFYING PROCEDURES HERE?
"We've had enough practice here. People started right off the bat drafting because they wanted to see what they were in race trim and we did the same thing. This morning we ran by ourselves and saw what we had for qualifying, so we were basically ready for the race. You need to come down here and test when testing is available by NASCAR, and we did that and worked on race trim. We're ready for tomorrow."
Brad Keselowski, No. 29 Ford: YOU WENT WITH A DIFFERENT STRATEGY FOR QUALIFYING AND RODE THE HIGH LINE ON YOUR FIRST TIMED LAP TO GO FOR A QUICKER SECOND LAP.
"I had a theory on that today. I was going to check my water temp down the backstretch while running the high
line coming off four, and if I had good water temp, which I did, so that's why the first lap wasn't so fast. I kind of killed that as a driver, but if you run the high side on the end of your first lap you can get a good run down the frontstretch and it's worth about a mile an hour. There's a little bit of compromise there, but in the end it looks like it's going to stack up pretty well."
ARE YOU READY TO MAKE YOUR FIRST TRUCK SERIES START AT DAYTONA TOMORROW?
"Oh yeah. We've been here testing for days and days, and Talladega, so it's about time to go and race."
Todd Kluever, No. 50 Ford: THAT WAS A GOOD QUALIFYING RUN FOR YOUR BACKUP TRUCK.
"I guess I'm happy with that. It's a backup truck and we didn't have much time on it. We were a little bit faster than that I think. I was really excited and thought we had a shot at the pole, but we had to change gears to make the truck good in race trim instead of qualifying trim."
IT SOUNDS LIKE A LOT OF TEAMS HAD TO SACRIFICE A CHANCE AT THE POLE TO GET THE TRUCK READY FOR THE RACE. DO YOU EXPECT TO SEE SOME OF THE TRUCKS STARTING UP FRONT FALL BACK AT THE START OF
THE RACE?
"I really don't know, but I'd like to hope so. We had a gear in the truck earlier today that I think we would have had a really good shot a winning the pole. When you get in the draft these things are going so fast and you pick up so much RPM being unrestricted. We had to worry about tomorrow and not today."
HAVE YOU DISCUSSED ANY TEAM STRATEGY BETWEEN YOU AND CRAVEN?
"A little bit. We've talked about a little bit of stuff, but I'm sure we'll talk more about it tonight and tomorrow morning. Me and Ricky have done a lot of work together already, so hopefully we can do it again."
Ricky Craven, No. 99 Ford: "I'm a little disappointed with that, but you really never know what you're going to get
because we spend so much time in race trim. We'll see what we get."
THIS IS THE SAME TRUCK THAT EDWARDS DROVE TO VICTORY HERE LAST YEAR. IS IT BETTER IN RACE TRIM?
"The truck has run good in race trim, but it's a mystery to me right now because I expected it to run faster than that."
DID YOU HAVE TO SACRIFICE ON YOUR GEARING IN QUALIFYING FOR THE RACE?
"It's a compromise. The new rules have certainly made it a compromise, but what you lose in qualifying you probably get back in the race. I think we paid the price a lot, but I think we'll get it back in the race."
DRIVERS HAVE TALKED ABOUT SEEING THE AIR AT THE SUPERSPEEDWAYS. HAVE YOU BEEN ABLE TO EXPERIENCE THAT IN YOUR CAREER?
"Not at all. I've been doing this long enough, so I have a pretty good idea of the positions I want to be in and
don't want to be in, but as far as seeing the air, I'd like to experience that."
Notable Quotables, Post-Qualifying 3: Dodge
02-18-2005 1:31 am
Brendan Gaughan, No. 77 Dodge: “We felt like the Jasper Dodge Ram would qualify really well, and we think we did. This new qualifying procedure that NASCAR has is a little weird to us. We had to walk a pretty fine line. We had to, one, make sure that it would make the show, but two, make sure it was a good race truck. The main thing was to make sure that the guys who don’t have points didn’t qualify in front of us. But, I think we should be all right. Bill Lester is always fast in qualifying. But, Jasper Engines is going to pick up a win here pretty soon, because this truck is pretty awesome in race trim.
“I’m not taking a team owner’s role this year, just a teammate, a real teammate. It’s going to be a lot of fun this year. Steve and I have two identical trucks right now. They’re both really good, and we’re having a lot of fun. Our Dodges are quick. We’re really good in race trim.”
Casey Atwood, No. 4 Dodge: “We knew our truck didn’t run really good by itself, but it drafts good and it drives really good. Most everybody out there is pretty loose, so I think if we can just keep it driving good we’ll be somewhere up front.
“You don’t have to do a whole lot here in qualifying anyway. Whatever the truck’s got, is all it’s got. The main thing is I think there’s going to be a few crashes, so we’ve just got to keep all the fenders on our truck and I think we’ll be somewhere up there in front.”
“Bobby Hamilton and I have been really good friends since I was probably 12 or 13 years old. He’s helped me on my late-model cars back home for a long time. He’s got this deal where Timothy Peters brought the Bailey’s sponsor over, but he’s not eligible to run the first three races because they’re speedways. Bobby just called me and asked me to do these races, so it’s pretty cool for me.”
“I ran in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series one time in 1997 or 1996 at the old Nashville track. I think I only ran like four laps and wrecked, so this will be my first official races, I guess. I don’t want bump and bang out here in Daytona – we can do that out on the short tracks. But the trucks are a lot of fun. The schedule’s not as hectic, and of course, I’m only doing three, so it doesn’t really matter. But I think Bobby’s having a good time over here running. It’s a lot of stress of him, and it looks like a pretty fun series.”
Chase Montgomery, No. 18 Dodge: “You’d love to go out there and qualify good, but this is Daytona. Last year I started out here on the front row, and I think by the first lap I was 12th or 15th, somewhere back there. It doesn’t really matter. If it was up to me, I’d drop back and let those guys wreck, and I’ll be there at the end. We really worked hard on getting this thing good in the draft, good running with other trucks. It’s pretty solid. Kip McCord and these guys worked hard. They gave me an awesome truck. What can I say? This is the best opportunity I’ve ever had. It’s awesome equipment and the people are great, so I’m happy.
“It’s refreshing. I’ve driven family-owned stuff for awhile. I had a deal with Brewco Motorsports and BHR2 and those are both great organizations with good people, and they’re learning. They’re really getting to be a good team. But, just to have this opportunity with and established team – I’ve got guys who are ready to win. Kip McCord’s gotten how many guys their first win? That’s cool, and I get to drive their truck every week. It’s the best stuff I feel I’ve ever been in. I’m ready to go win some races.”
Bobby Hamilton, No. 04 Dodge: “We’ve done so much testing and so much race run stuff, then we saw all this tire issues that were going on… We knew Goodyear has always had a good tire here. But, I think what’s happened is the racetrack has gotten really grippy, and everybody’s running so much faster and tearing the darned tires off of it.
“That’s better than I thought I’d end up. So, I’m pretty happy with that. I love the impounding rule. I wish they’d just unload us by points, not let us make a practice lap and start the race, period. I wish they’d do that, but you can’t do it because of some of the young guys coming out. I think it’s great. I like it as an owner.
“I’ve just got a lot of confidence in my drivers. You know, if you surround all those kids with good people, they ought to produce at some time or another. Chase has already gotten his feet wet one year with it. He’s won on these big tracks already in a car, so we know that he can do it. We just need to make sure that we still work as a unit in whole, and it will be good for everybody.”
Steve Park, No. 62 Dodge: “Usually you don’t have a lot of friends here on these superspeedways, but Brendan’s a guy that you’d hope you can rely on. We’ll try to push each other the front at some point. If we finish one-two, it doesn’t really matter what order it is, as long as we’re in front.
“The only good thing is this is the truck that we tested in down here, and really did all of our practice for the two or three days that we tested. So, it’s not like we went to an unproven race truck. But, we just know that after the test that we needed to go back and come back with a better truck, which we did, but unfortunately, it got torn up in practice. We know that the truck we have here is not the best. The best that we had is the one that we got in trouble with yesterday. Now we’ll rely on the backup truck, and the backup truck for the Orleans Dodge team is actually not too bad. It’s driving good, but we’ll see how it is tomorrow night. It drafted good in testing. So, we’re pretty optimistic it’ll be a truck that drives good tomorrow night.”
Notable Quotables, Post-Qualifying No. 4: Chevrolet
02-18-2005 1:35 am
Kerry Earnhardt, No. 15 Chevrolet: “This is a pretty awesome deal for our Billy Ballew Motorsports team. Ritchie (Wauters, crew chief) and the guys just gave me an awesome truck. This is my very first pole ever; this is just a great start for our season. I was a little down about not making the Daytona 500; we struggled in the Dual 150 qualified today. We had a little problem there at the start but we took care of it on our first pit stop and took four tires. Went back out there and worked our way back to the front, we had a good run going there on the highside and a car washed up in front of me a little bit and I had to get on the binders and that let the 00 car get by and take us out of the Daytona 500.
“But it was so awesome to come over here in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and put the No. 15 Billy Ballew Kraft/Albertson Chevrolet Silverado on the pole. The truck is really fast. We had that little problem yesterday when I got a little loose and washed up in front of Steve Park in practice and we both got wrecked. Unfortunately for him, it was my fault and I can’t apologize enough for putting him in that position but Ritchie and the guys put such great equipment together that the backup was just as good as the primary truck. It is a little faster than the primary.
“I couldn’t have picked a better track than Daytona to win my first pole. It was a bummer not to make the 500 but my philosophy is that if it is not meant to be, then it is not meant to be and when the time is right, it will happen. I always live by that, there are reasons I am not in the Daytona 500 but it will happen when it is supposed to.
“It is the hard work that Ritchie and all the guys do on these trucks that got us here. They work really hard on these trucks; this is a brand new truck that we pulled out as a backup truck. The one we had was awesome, this one is ever better because these guys work so hard. The primary was one we had last year. We are sitting there with 10 trucks. 10 brand new trucks, how hard of work is that? I had to redeem myself with those guys, this is what the crew did. I was just the lucky guy that got to mash the gas and turn left. It is easy when you have the equipment to do it with. I never ask for lap times, I never want to know but just before I went out, I asked my crew guy Steve to call me out a time after the first lap. He tells me the time for the first lap and I said “Wow, that’s what I am talking about.”.
“It just feels good to be on the pole anywhere. Robert (Huffman) has been there a lot and so has Dennis (Setzer). He and I go way back to Hickory Motor Speedway in late models. These two are guys I have raced against before so it is pretty cool to be up there in the middle of them.”
Dennis Setzer, No. 46 Chevrolet:
"This was a great effort by this Morgan-Dollar Motorsports team today. The driver doesn't have much to put into this deal its a lot like interstate driving out there for us when its time to qualify. This is the same truck that we raced here last year and it drove really good for us.
It’s pretty exciting for us to be on the front row in our Chevrolet Silverado here at Daytona. I really wanted to get that pole for all the guys on the team and with GM Racing because they have put so much effort into this race. Its good to see their efforts are starting to pay off."
How about coming from the back of the field?
"This track is one of those places where you can come from the back and go to the front and go to the back in a matter of laps. We are just going to have to be patient and pick our spots tomorrow night. The truck is really handling well in traffic and unfortunately if we are going to get to the front our Silverado is going to have to battle quite a bit of traffic."
Tracy Hines, No. 13 ThorSport Racing Chevrolet: “Our ThorSport Silverado has been good since we unloaded. I am excited cause this is my best ever starting spot in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. We have drafted good in all of our practices so I am really looking forward to the race. We are looking for a sponsor for our truck so the faster we run, the better we look for our sponsors and the greater the chances we have to pickup a good partner for our team.”
Jack Sprague, No. 16 Chevrolet: "We spent all of our time working on our race setup so this is a very solid qualifying effort for our Chevy Truck Silverado team. The truck felt stable and I am excited about the race tomorrow night. We will draft good with our Chevrolet Silverado teammates. I feel good about how we will all race together tomorrow night.”
David Starr, No. 75 Chevrolet: “We were hoping to qualify a little better than this but we worked exclusively on our race setup for our Chevrolet Silverado. But we have the right truck so I am looking forward to tomorrow night’s race. Our Silverado is really stable in the draft so I feel good that we can take our Spears Silverado to the front.”
Kelly Sutton, No.02 Chevrolet: “Last year we missed the field by a fraction of a second, and this year we landed solidly in the top-25. I am so proud of this team. They put all they had into giving me a great truck, and it showed tonight. We're applying what we learned last year, and just know 2005 is going to be our year.”
Ron Hornaday, No. 6 Chevrolet:“The GM Goodwrench truck felt a little weird and we were a little tight. It felt like we weren't going anywhere. It is hard to tell exactly what we have only running two laps but after talking with Wally he isn't too concerned with speed. Our setup is nice and we plan on taking the Chevrolet Silverado to victory lane.”
Regan Smith, No. 19 Chevrolet:“I am so proud of everyone on this Xpress Motorsports Silverado team. We need to make it in on time and Doug (George) my crew chief and my crew gave me an almost perfect truck. Now I am really ready for the race. We need to finish all the laps and get to the checkered flag and gather points. Hopefully this will help bring us to the attention of a sponsor. I can’t say enough about this Silverado. This is a great feeling for everyone on our team.”
Notable Quotables, Post-Qualifying No. 5: Raybestos Rookies
02-18-2005 1:37 am
Sean Murphy, No. 07 Chevrolet: “It was all right. We got involved in the wreck in practice in that drafting accident and kind of hurt our aero a little bit. We set it up more for the race and we were just so loose drafting. We can qualify here and sit on the pole but you can go back just as quick as you sat on the pole. We were loose when we got up in the upper grooves drafting so we figured we’d put a little more downforce in it and tighten it up so it’d be good in the race. We’ve got to start at the back anyway because we did blow a motor.”
WHAT WOULD BE A GOOD FINISH FOR YOU HERE IN THE RACE?
“It’d be awesome to win the thing but if we come out of here in one piece, a top-10 finish, I think it’d be pretty decent. In practice we had a fast truck. We didn’t get to try anything in practice this morning but at least the truck drove straight and didn’t feel that aerodynamically bad and it didn’t feel unstable in qualifying, either. Hopefully we’ll be pretty good in the race.”
IS THE PLAN TO GO TO EVERY RACE THIS SEASON?
“We’re hoping to. There were a couple of sponsor opportunities that are hopefully coming on board for California and we hope it will be for the season.”
Regan Smith, No. 19 Chevrolet: “We’re going to be happy with it because I think it’s going to get us in the show but we would have definitely liked to have had a little more speed than that. After practice I felt like we could turn a little bit better here in the cool weather of the night. We’re going to take it and we’re going to get in the show and go race it. That was the main goal coming down here was that we didn’t need to tear anything up and we had to get in the show and go from there. I’m real excited to be driving for X-Press Motorsports and Chevy Silverado. All the people at Chevy have been great and I’m looking forward to this year.”
YOU ARE NOW WITH A TEAM THAT CAN WIN RACES.
“As a driver the only thing that you can hope for is to be in a situation where you know that it’s up to you. I think I’ve been fortunate enough to get in that situation and now if we can just make the best of it we’re going to hopefully have a good season.”
WHAT WOULD BE A GOOD RACE FOR YOU?
“The way practice looked, to finish . It looked pretty rowdy out there and I wasn’t drafting, I was just watching them. A good race would be to come home clean. I really think if you finish you’re going to be in the top-15 pretty easily. That’s just my personal opinion. The trucks are pretty loose in the draft but they are manageable so everyone is going to use their head. We just want to come out of here clean and gain some respect from these guys for the next time that we come back here.”
IS THERE A LOT OF PRESSURE TO GET POINTS AND A COMPETITIVE FOUNDATION FOR THE SEASON?
“I think the most pressure comes from inside. There’s no doubt that we’ve got the equipment and the stuff to do it with. I want to go out there and perform and prove to everybody that the past two years if they would have given me a shot, look what you could have done. I think more than anything the pressure comes from inside.”
Kerry Earnhardt, No. 15 Chevrolet: Notes: Earnhardt is the first Raybestos Rookie to win the pole for a Craftsman Truck Series race at Daytona since the series debuted at the 2.5-mile speedway in 2000 (six races).
“We had to turn things around. We were kind of frustrated after that deal [qualifying race]. We should have been in that race. We had a lot of help from Greg Biffle pushing us up front. It’s exciting to come over here and run this Kraft/Albertsons Chevrolet in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. It’s good to be on top, finally.”
WILL THIS BE A FAST TRUCK IN THE RACE?
“It’s going to be a fast truck. It’s just like we drafted. We’ll keep our fingers crossed. Todd Bodine ran pretty good in practice.”
“It’s pretty awesome to be on the pole. This is my very first pole ever. It’s a great start, you know? We struggled a little bit in the Duel 150s. We struggled a little bit in the beginning. We had a few little problems and we took care of that on our first pit stop and we took four tires. We got that back under us and come back up to the front. Right at the end I had a good run going on the high side and the 24 car washed up in front of me and I had to get on the binders a little bit and that let the 00 get by. It kind of wiped us out of the Daytona 500 but it was awesome to come over here on the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and run this truck. This is pretty awesome. The truck is fast. We had a real fast truck when we unloaded with the primary and I kind of got a little loose and washed up, or slipped up, into Steve Park and wiped both of us out. Unfortunately for him it was my fault. I can’t apologize enough to him. Billy Ballew Motorsports and Ritchie Wauters, them guys put such great equipment together, the backup truck was just as fast. A little bit faster, actually.”
YOU SAID THIS WAS YOUR FIRST POLE. COULD YOU PICK A BETTER TRACK TO DO IT AT THAN DAYTONA?
“No I couldn’t. This is the beginning of the season and you might as well start now. It was a bummer not to make the 500 but my philosophy is that if it’s not meant to me, it’s not meant to be and when the time is right it will happen. I always live by that. There’s reasons that I’m not in the Daytona 500. Maybe I drive too wild or something like that. I’m just using that as an excuse.”
WHEN YOU WERE FORCED TO A BACKUP TRUCK, DID THAT GIVE YOU EXTRA MOTOVATION?
“I could always show my face around here. The determination was all the hard work that Billy Ballew and Ritchie Wauters and Greg and Steve and Duze, all those guys; they work real hard on these trucks. This is a brand new truck that we pulled out as a backup truck. The one we had was the one they ran last year. The team is sitting there with 10 trucks. How much hard work is that? They’re all brand new trucks. I had to redeem myself with those guys. This is all for them. This is what they did. I just got in it, mashed the gas, and turned left. It’s easy when you’ve got the equipment to do it with. I think it was like seven-one hundredths of a second that I missed out on being in the 500. I never ask for times. I never want to hear times on my lap or my lap times at all. Just before I fired up to take off I asked one of my crew members, Steve, if he would read my out lap times as I crossed the line just so I’d know where I’m at. I was kind of curious. The first lap he said ’49.34’ and that’s what I mean; that’s what I’m talking about. Then I come across and he said ’49.32’ and that’s pretty big. It means a lot to be on the pole anywhere you go in any series. Robert has been there quite a bit in the Dash Series and he knows how it feels. It’s pretty awesome to be there. Dennis has been there. It’s funny because we go way back running Hickory Motor Speedway in late models and in Dash with Robert. It’s pretty cool to be up here in themiddle of them. I never thought I’d be able to race. I knew Dad was all about racing and Granddad was all about racing and me and Dale Jr. growing up, we were all about playing football and chasing girls. Girls got the best of me and I think football got the best of him and then finally racing come up. We decided to go racing when I was 21 years old. Once I drove the first race I knew that’s what I wanted to do and that’s where I’d be at. It’s people like Richard Childress Racing and Billy Ballew that’s given me the opportunity to show my talent so far and give me that chance to do what I’m doing.”
HOW FAR DOES THIS GO TOWARD MAKING UP FOR A PRETTY TOUGH WEEK?
“Well, could it get any worse? I guess I could have went home from the truck race. It helped a whole lot. To be on top you can’t describe it enough, what it feels like to be on top of the board. Whenever I made that first lap and they called that time, I was looking just to make sure that it was the fastest. I was trying to see the scoreboard to make sure that I was on top. When you’re driving out there it’s hard to see. It’s big uplift. I was kind of bummed out about not making the 500 but I didn’t really show it. I was all smiles and everything because I knew things happen for reasons. Maybe setting on the pole is a good reason.”
HOW DO YOU EXPLAIN SETTING ON THE POLE IN YOUR FIRST EFFORT IN THE TRUCK SERIES?
“With the people and the equipment and Dale Earnhardt Incorporated engines it’s easy to do. Like I say, these guys put these trucks together and if it’s a good truck here at Daytona, all you have to do is mash the gas and hold it left. It’s like my brother said, anybody can do it in the right equipment.”
Shige Hattori, No. 9 Toyota: “I’m very happy. The team gave me a really nice truck. I’m so happy. TRD gave me a really nice engine, pretty powerful and the mechanics did a lot of really hard work.”
WERE YOU SURPRISE TO RUN THAT WELL?
“I was thinking maybe top 10, top 15 but they said you were fourth and that’s a surprise. That’s a good surprise.”
WHAT WOULD BE A GOOD FINISH FOR YOU FRIDAY NIGHT?
“I really want to finish the race because this is my first race in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. I need to get more experience. My first goal for the race is to finish.”
IS THIS TYPE RACING COMPLETLEY DIFFERENT THAN ANYTHING YOU’VE DONE?
“Yeah, it’s completely different. My whole background is open wheel. This is my first time and it’s totally different. The Toyota Tundra is pretty good and I’m so happy driving it.”
Todd Kluever, No. 50 Ford: “We were a little faster than that in practice today by ourselves but we had to put a gear in the truck to race with and not go fast by ourselves. I was all excited because I think what we ran in practice would have put us on the pole. We need to worry about racing and not qualifying. I’m happy with it. Hopefully it will put us somewhere maybe in the top-10 and get us a decent starting spot.”
J.R. Patton, No. 63 Ford: “We ran a pretty good lap. We kind of backed up a little bit what we ran in practice. We had that headwind going down the back straightaway but we ran pretty good. We’re pretty happy with the lap. We’re kind of waiting and seeing because we’re out of the top-30 in points so we have to qualify in on this one.”
It's Race Day in Daytona
02-18-2005 12:07 pm
The wait is finally over! All the off season testing is done, all of the long hours have been spent, and all of the hype is coming to an end when the green flag waves over the 36-truck field at 8:20 pm ET tonight. The temperatures have cooled dramatically since yesterday, althought the sun is still brilliant in the mid-afternoon sky here at DIS. We'll preview the action for you leading up to the start of the Florida Dodge Dealers 250 and we'll stay until they tell us to leave tonight to bring you all of the post-race coverage once the checkered flag waves. Keep it locked on to TruckSeries.com for continuing real-time updates from here in Daytona, exclusively here on TrackSideLive! presented by Team ASE.
Daytona track specs
02-18-2005 12:13 pm
Daytona International Speedway is a 2.5-mile highbanked tri-oval with 31 degrees of banking in the turns, and 18 degrees of banking through the tri-oval. The backstretch is tilted at 6 degrees, and is 3,600 feet in length. The two short chutes through the tri-oval measure 1,200 feet in length. The 100-lap race distance translates into 250 miles, which is tied for the longest scheduled race length in the series.
Dayton Truck History
02-18-2005 12:50 pm
There have been five previous NCTS races here at Daytona. Here are the previous winners and pole sitters:
2000 - Pole: Joe Ruttman, 187.563 mph; Race: Mike Wallace, 130.152 mph
2001 - Pole: Joe Ruttman, 186.123 mph; Race: Joe Ruttman, 129.407 mph
2002 - Pole: Ted Musgrave, 187.215 mph; Race: Robert Pressley, 140.121 mph
2003 - Pole: Jason Leffler, 182.994 mph; Race: Rick Crawford, 127.642 mph
2004 - Pole: Terry Cook, 183. 643 mph; Race: Carl Edwards, 112.570 mph
Ruttman is the only driver to back up a pole win with a race win (2001). Two races have been won from outside the front row (2000, Wallace; 2002, Pressley). Edwards started 6th in 2004, and Crawford came from deepest in the field, 10th, to win in 2003.
Cook Consistent at Daytona
02-18-2005 12:57 pm
Only one driver has started every NCTS race run at Daytona and scored a top-10 finish in all five races. Terry Cook finished fourth in 2000, backed it up with consecutive sixth-place finishes in 2001 and 2002. In 2003, Cook battled for the lead on the final lap before getting freight trained and falling back to 9th. He rebounded last season to finish fifth after starting from the pole.
Daytona bests
02-18-2005 1:03 pm
Here are the best finishes for the drivers with at least one NCTS start at Daytona in the field for tonight's Florida Dodge Dealers 250:
Rick Crawford, 1st
Robert Pressley, 1st
Ted Musgrave, 2nd
Terry Cook, 4th
Bobby Hamilton, 4th
Dennis Setzer, 6th
David Starr, 7th
David Reutimann, 9th
Brendan Gaughan, 10th
Matt Crafton, 12th
Ron Hornaday, 12th
Jack Sprague, 12th
Chad Chaffin, 13th
Wayne Edwards, 15th
Bill Lester, 16th
Tracy Hines, 20th
Brandon Whitt, 22nd
Steve Park, 27th
Mike Skinner, 28th
Chase Montgomery, 31st
Ken Weaver, 35th
Robert Huffman, 36th
These are the drivers making their Daytona NCTS debuts: Kerry Earnhardt, Todd Bodine, Shige Hattori, Regan Smith, Todd Kluever, Brad Keselowski, Johnny Benson, Jimmy Spencer, Kelly Sutton, Ricky Craven, Sean Murphy, Casey Atwood, Deborah Renshaw, and Mike Harmon.
Two winners in the field
02-18-2005 1:45 pm
There are two previous Daytona NCTS winners in the field for tonight's Daytona Florida Dodge Dealers 250, Rick Crawford and Robert Pressley. Ironically, both will start side-by-side in row 10.
Daytona Races Summary
02-18-2005 1:50 pm
There have been five NCTS races here at Daytona. Here are some averages leading into tonight's 250-miler:
The average start of of the race winner is 7.6. The low start position is 1st, the high start position for a winner is 10th.
There are an average of 12 lead lap finishers, with a high of 17 in 2004 and a low of 7 in 2000.
There are an average of 24 lead changes, with a high of 31 in 2000 and a low of 12 in 2003.
There are an average of 11.2 leaders, with a high of 12 (2000-2002) and a low of 9 in 2003.
There are an average of 6.8 cautions, with a low of 6 twice and a high of 8 in 2001.
The cumulative average speed is 127.978 mph, with a fast average of 140.121 mph and a slow average of 112.570 mph.
2004 Daytona Archive
02-18-2005 2:16 pm
You can relive all of the action, from the 2004 Daytona Speedweeks by
clicking here to visit our 2004 Daytona Archive
. You will find images, race reports, and a complete timing and scoring report from the week, including practice, qualifying, and race results. Check it out!
Today's schedule
02-18-2005 2:26 pm
Here is the competition schedule for Friday here at DIS:
4 pm ET: NCTS Garage Opens
4:15 pm ET: NCTS Spotters Meeting
5:15 pm ET NCTS Driver/Crew Chief Meeting
6 pm ET: Start of International Race of Champions (40 laps, 100 miles)
8 pm ET: NCTS Driver Introductions
8:15: Start of NCTS Florida Dodge Dealers 250 (100 laps, 250 miles)
Driver's Meeting Notes
02-18-2005 6:12 pm
The Driver's Meeting for the Florida Dodge Dealers 25o just concluded, and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race director David Hoots cautioned all of the drivers to be respectful, give a lot of room to their fellow competitors, and race for the 100th lap versus the first lap.
Here are the notes from the meeting:
Driver Intros are 7:40 pm ET; the invocation is scheduled for 8:06 pm ET with the National Anthem to follow; the command to start engines will come at 8:14 pm ET.
There will be three pace laps on the initial roll-off...pit road speed is 55 miles per hour and the caution truck will pace the field under yellow at 70 miles per hour...on the start, the second place starter must not beat the pole starter to the green flag...the caution flag will freeze the field from lap 1 to lap 100, there will be no racing back to the caution flag...under green flag conditions, NASCAR asks that drivers signal to pit coming off turn two, touch the brakes entering turn three, and enter the pits coming off turn four...drivers must enter the pits single file, with the driver leading off turn four having the right of way...pit road speed starts at the pit commitment line, 180 feet before the first pit stall and ends 75 feet past the last pit stall...upon exiting the pits, drivers must stay below the yellow line until reaching turn one, they they must keep their left side tires on the yellow line through turns one and two...NASCAR will utilize electronic and manual timing systems to measure pit road speed...51.98 is tonight's minimum speed...the yellow line rule is in effect, drivers are not allowed to advance their position or block another competitor below the yellow line.
Driver Intros up next
02-18-2005 7:32 pm
Driver introductions are up next...the Dodge Ram trucks are lined up on pit road to take the drivers for a spin around the speedway...once pre-race ceremonies start the countdown to the green flag will quicken and we will be racing before you know it. There are less than 40 minutes remaining before the green flag is scheduled to fly.
Hamilton runs to third on IROC
02-18-2005 7:40 pm
Bobby Hamilton avoided a huge pileup with four laps to go and raced to a third place finish in the 100-mile IROC race that just conlcuded.
To the back...
02-18-2005 7:45 pm
Nine drivers will fall to the back for the start of the Florida Dodge Dealers 250:
Dennis Setzer, Sean Murphy, Ken Weaver and Johnny Benson will all fall to the back for changing engines.
Jimmy Spencer's team replaced a broken fuel linkage and Bobby Hamilton's team changed a tire and will be forced to the back for making unapproved adjustments. Brandon Whitt and Matt Crafton will also go to the back for making unapproved adjustments.
Mike Harmon missed the driver's meeting, and will also drop to the tail for the start.
Hines picks up a sponsor for tonight
02-18-2005 7:48 pm
Just moments before the trucks were rolled to the grid, the ThorSport Racing team was applying sponsor decals to the No. 13 Chevrolet that Tracy Hines qualified fifth. Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer and the John Boy and Billy radio show have come on board for tonight.
Race Preview Audio
02-18-2005 8:02 pm
Don't forget...click on the link to the right side of the page to hear our exclusive race preview audio!
Unofficial Florida Dodge Dealers 250 results
02-18-2005 8:15 pm
1. Hamilton
2. Spencer
3. Bodine
4. Craven
5. Musgrave
6. Weaver
7. Keselowski
8. Starr
9. Edwards
10. Benson
11. Crafton
12. Reutimann
13. Sprague
14. Atwood
15. Pressley
16. Setzer
17. Sutton
18. Harmon
19. Huffman
20. Cook
21. Chaffin
22. Hines
23. Park
24. Murphy
25. Skinner
26. Hornaday
27. Renshaw
28. Whitt
29. Lester
30. Gaughan
31. Mongtomery
32. Kluver
33. Smith
34. Hattori
35. Earnhardt
36. Crawford
Florida Dodge Dealers 250 Race Updates 1-10
02-18-2005 8:17 pm
1. Trucks are now rolling from the grid. Pole sitter Kerry Earnhardt's truck was showing some smoke on the grid. Jimmy Spencer's truck has not rolled from the grid and has now been passed by the field. He is now rolling down pit road and will join the field at the tail.
2. Expect at least two pit stops tonight. Fuel loads should get the teams around 30 green flag laps. Caution laps should mean the teams could make it on two stops.
3. Field has just taken the green flag.
4. Earnhardt leads lap one, Lester takes over for lap 2. Earnhardt falls back deep into the top-10 by lap 3.
5. Lester, Bodine, Cook, Smith, Gaughan the top-5 after 6 laps.
6. Park, Renshaw, Atwood, Sprague, Benson, and Starr dropped well behind the lead draft and run in positions 26-32 on lap 9.
7. Lap 10 - Rick Crawford is tapped out of the top-5 coming out of turn four and takes flight, lifting completely over and touching down on the roof before rolling back into his wheels. He came to a stop on the infield grass, cranked the engine and drove the truck away. The flip is the first ever "aero" flip in the NCTS. Every other time the Truck Series has had a truck flip over it has been the result of contact.
8. Lap 12 - Top 15 rundown: Lester leads, Cook, Bodine, Gaughan, Earnhardt the top-5. Craven is sixth, followed by Smith, Pressley, Hines, and Hattori. Chaffin is eleventh, followed by Skinner, Crafton, Whitt, and Reutimann. Jimmy Spencer has had to make a second pit stop to repair damage from pit road contact with Deborah Renshaw. Crawford's truck still sits in his pit stall with the team making repairs and NASCAR officials inspecting the damage.
9. Crawford's truck is pushed behind the wall as Gaughan takes the lead from Lester on lap 16.
10. Smith pulls out and leads lap 19. Gaughan, Earnhardt, Hattori, and Skinner are the top-5.
Race updates 11-20
02-18-2005 8:48 pm
20. Lap 38 - Caution No. 2 comes out when Mike Harmon spins into the infield wall off turn four. Chase Montgomery was on pit road when the caution waved.
19. Lap 37 - Keselowski gets really loose in traffic in the tri-oval and makes an incredible save not to turn back into traffic.
18. Lap 34 - Sezter, Smith, and Earnhardt pit. Hornaday takes over the lead.
17. Lap 33 - Craven, Cook, Hattori, Skinner, Gaughan, Sutton pit.
16. Lap 32 - Chaffin, Hines, Reutimann, Huffman, Bodine, Whitt and Lester pit. Crawford truck is retired with a broken oil line.
15. Lap 29 - Crafton makes a stop for fuel and tires while Setzer takes the lead.
14. Lap 25 - Top 5- Bodine, Craven, Smith, Gaughan, Hines
13. Regan Smith takes the lead back from Chaffin to lead lap 24, but Bodine sweeps to the outside to make it a side-by-side battle for the lead. Chaffin now drops back into the pack and will come off turn four in 8th.
12. Lap 22 - Pressley comes to pit road with damage to the right front fender. The team is changing right side tires.
11. Lap 20 - Chad Chaffin takes the lead from Smith. Craven to second with Smith, Bodine, Skinner the top-5.
Race Updates 21-30
02-18-2005 9:06 pm
30. Lap 70 - Ted Musgrave off the pace in turn two with a flat right front tire.
29. Lap 69 - Setzer takes over the top spot.
28. Lap 66 - Cook stays out as the rest of the pack comes down for tires and fuel with the one to go signal. Cook leads Sezter, Reutimann, Spencer, and Craven back to the green.
27. Lap 62 - Gaughan runs side by side with leader Skinner and gets loose fighting to get his lap back. He goes up the track and takes Benson and Skinner with him. Ken Weaver, Bill Lester, and Deborah Renshaw are also involved. Cook leads lap 64 with Hines, Spencer, Reutimann and Craven the top-5.
26. Lap 59 - Bodine takes the lead, Skinner, Benson, Craven, and Cook the top-5.
25. Lap 54 - The leaders pit and Keselowski slides through his pit and makes contact with the rear of Setzer's truck. Benson, Weaver, Bodine, Skinner, and Cook make up the top-5.
24. Lap 53 - Rundown: Setzer, Chaffin, Keselowski, Spencer, Benson, Sprague, Weaver, Musgrave, Edwards, Bodine, Skinner, Cook, Starr, Craven, Reutimann.
23. Lap 50 - "The Big One" hits off turn four. Involved are Earnhardt, Whitt, Kluever, Crafton, Hattori, Smith, Hornaday, Montgomery. Earnhardt got loose off four and turn right into traffic, taking Hornaday and Montgomery into the wall. Hines will receive the Lucky Dog pass under this caution.
22. Lap 45 - Huffman, Gaughan, and Hines run at the front of the pack at the tail end of the lead lap. Cook leads.
21. Lap 41 - Pressley is the Lucky Dog. The rundown of lead lap trucks: Cook, Reutimann, Montgomery, Hornaday, Skinner, Setzer, Kluever, Keselowski, Sprague, Spencer, Benson, Starr, Park, Murphy, Atwood, Hamilton, Weaver, Craven, Chaffin, Edwards, Renshaw, Crafton, Musgrave, Bodine, and Pressley.
Race Updates, 31-40
02-18-2005 9:52 pm
37. Lap 97 - Spencer leads, Bodine, Craven ,Hamilton, Crafton, Reutimann, Starr, Sprague, Atwood, and Benson the top-10. Cook's top-10 streak is over ans his crew pushes his truck behind the wall after involvement in this accident.
36. Lap 94 - Chad Chaffin flips on the backstretch after making contact in the lead draft. He rolls wheel to wheel in the air and lands on all fours then drives off. Cook and Setzer also spin without making contact. Spencer leads Bodine, Edwards, Hamilton, and Crafton. For never having an aero-induced flip in the history of the series, we have now had two in this race. Hines is retired with a broken suspension.
35. Lap 90 - Hines spins out of fifth with no caution. Coming to the pits, he stalls at the entrance to the pits and the caution comes out. Bodine leads.
34. lap 83 - The one to go signal is waved off and Steve Park's truck loses and engine under caution and he coast back to pit road dead stick. Top-15 are Pressley, Bodine, Chaffin, Reutimann, Hines, Sprague, Benson, Craven, Cook, Setzer, Edwards, Starr, Crafton, Spencer, Hamilton.
33. Lap 79 - Craven leads Cook, Pressley, Bodine, and Chaffin as the ffith caution waves for debris from Hornaday's damaged truck on the backstretch.
32. lap 78 - Bodine takes the lead.
31. lap 74 - Spencer black flagged for passing below the yellow line.
Notable Quotables, Post-race 1: Ford
02-19-2005 12:49 am
FORD RACING NOTES AND QUOTES Daytona 250 (Truck), Page 1
February 18, 2005 Daytona International Speedway
Rick Crawford, No. 14 Ford:
WHAT HAPPENED? "Coming off of four I had a good run on a loose truck. Todd Bodine, the 66 truck, got loose off of four and I had the inside lane and he
just came back across the race track and body slammed me, and I made it spectacular."
WHAT WAS IT LIKE FROM INSIDE THE COCKPIT?
"I hate to be in those, but the truck will fly; the Ford F-150 is tested tough. I didn'thurt it too bad. I was able to come back around here, but what put us out was an oil leak, and there's no sense in damaging the engine. I wanted to be over there in victory lane and this team put a truck under me that could
win tonight. I'll be fine and we'll get them next week in California. This team is focused on a championship run and it's a little setback, but we'll
rebound."
Terry Cook, No. 10 Ford:
TALK ABOUT WHAT PUT YOU BEHIND THE WALL AT THE END OF THE RACE?
"We were riding along there at the end of the race, and we avoided all of the wrecks and then finally right there inside of 10 to go guys starting losing their heads. I don't know what happened or who to blame at this point. Somebody in front of me got turned around a little bit and the 75 just checked up,
and, obviously, somebody stopped in front of him. I drilled him and as I hit him, I got drilled from behind and got sent spinning down in the
infield. It's just a tough day for the Power Stroke Diesel Ford."
WERE THE WRECKS A RESULT OF THE NEW RULES IMPLEMENTED FOR THIS SEASON?
"I don't know what to blame it on. I'll be honest with you, this is probably the worst race I've seen here as far trucks just sliding around. We typically come here to the garage here after the race and see a lot of damaged race trucks, but not this many wrecked race trucks. At the beginning of the race, as
much as everybody was sliding around, everybody was using their heads, and I was really impressed with that. Then, their heads just came off at the end
of the race, and it was on. I think 99 percent of the wrecks could have been avoided, so it's a shame."
Ricky Craven, No. 99 Ford:
THERE WAS NO SHORTAGE OF EXCITEMENT IN YOUR SECOND CAREER TRUCK RACE.
"There was not a boring moment, I'll tell you that. It's a lot of fun, but it's crazy fun with the trucks at Daytona. What's even worse is that halfway through the race under caution I said to myself, 'You're really enjoying this.' The bottom line is that I wanted to race for Jack Roush. He called me, and I'm thankful thathe did. I've got a great group that I'm working with and I'm looking forward to this. I'm reunited with Mike Beam and I think that's going to pay off."
THERE WERE A LOT OF VETERAN DRIVERS HERE AND A LOT OF ROOKIES. DID YOU KNOW WITH WHOM YOU COULD DRAFT WITH BEFORE THE START OF THE RACE?
"I pretty much made an arrangement with Terry Cook, as well as Jimmy Spencer. When we got here Terry's truck was tight and he had a hard time
hanging to the bottom. He worked with me probably a little more than I ended up working with him. But, I felt like I was a little faster, so I'd
get ahead of him and he was very gracious. I'm going to repay the favor. And then I worked with Jimmy towards the end of the race. It is a game of
strategy and you really do have to work with somebody. I had some help getting to the lead, and I created some help for him getting to the lead."
IS IT COINCIDENCE THAT FIVE FORMER CUP DRIVERS SWEPT THE TOP FIVE?
"I don't think that's by mistake. I think that over the long haul there's a time to go, a time to make things happen, and a time to wait for things to happen. There were a few times that waiting for something to happen was reasonable. It's just amazing how things unfolded for us, where we seemed to be right at the point of trouble and squeezed by. I'll take it."
Brad Keselowski, No. 29 Ford: "We broke a transmission there with about 40 to go and it was killing our restarts. I hated to see every one of these cautions, but that's what ended up happening. We lost a lot of ground on all of the restarts, and if it weren't for that we might have had a shot at a better finish today. We're still in the top 10, so we'll take it. We've got a new sponsor with SUBcrews and our little Ford team is looking pretty strong again."
AT ONE POINT YOU WERE RACING FOR THE LEAD.
"I had my fill of excitement trying to keep it up there. You're driving the wheels off as much as you can the whole race and trying to be smart. We got lucky a few times and caught the right breaks and we ended up finishing where we had a truck to finish - seventh place."
Notable Quotables, Post-race No. 2: Chevrolet
02-19-2005 12:54 am
Jack Sprague, No. 16 Chevrolet: “Man, I tell ya, that was the smartest race we have ever run. We just rode around in our Chevy Trucks Silverado all night in the back with a group of trucks I knew we could draft well with when it was time to go to the front. We were all set to get the best finish we’ve ever had at Daytona. Chris (Showalter, crew chief) and this entire Chevy Trucks crew worked so hard and we had the best truck a driver could ask for here. Man I hate it for everyone on our team and all the people at Chevrolet that give us such great support for this program. We were headed to the front and had something for them there at the end.
“We will just take this back to the shop and head for California. We aren’t starting as far back in the points as we did last season so we have something to work with.”
Tracy Hines, No. 13 Chevrolet:
NOTE: After running near the front of the field most of the race, Hines had a tire blow with ten laps to go damaging the front end beyond repair.
“Our ThorSport Silverado was awesome tonight. We have been good all week. We were running smart, staying in sight of the leaders and really felt like we were a strong contender for the win. I am so disappointed for my guys, they worked so hard. But we made a statement that this team is going to be a solid runner all season. There was just nothing I could do when the tire let go.”
Kelly Sutton, No. 02 Chevrolet:
“I am so happy about our run tonight. We ran with the lead pack all night, and clearly had a top-ten truck. Our team showed what we're capable of, and what better place to post a career best finish than at Daytona?”
Ron Hornaday, No. 6 Chevrolet: NOTE: Hornaday was involved in a multi-truck incident on lap 64. The crew made repairs and Hornaday returned to competition.
““We had a good truck. I am so disappointed. I was having such a good time racing tonight I hated the way it ended. I am so proud of the GM Goodwrench team tonight. Their hard work gained us at least five positions by getting us back on the track. That is the kind of thing that wins championships, which is our primary goal.”
Regan Smith, No. 19 Chevrolet: NOTE: Smith was involved in a multi-truck incident on lap 48 and damaged was too severe to return to competition.
"We had an awesome truck. My No. 19 Silverado was so stout. We were able to run up front with the leaders without any problems. We draft really well. We lost a lap on that yellow but weren't pushing too hard to get our lap back because you are pretty sure there are going to be more cautions and we should have been able to get back on the lead lap without any problems.
"There was a group of us that were in that lap down bunch but I am not sure exactly what happened but the track just got blocked with wrecking trucks and I had no where to go. So here we are in the garage.
"I sure was having a great time until this happened. Doug (George, crew chief) and the guys gave me just an awesome Silverado. It was definitely the right truck tonight. We just go on to California."
Matt Crafton, No. 88 Chevrolet: NOTE: Crafton was involved in the multi-truck incident on lap 97.
“We had a strong truck tonight. Our Menards Silverado was in the lead pack there near the end and we had a serious chance to contend for the win. I don’t know what happened exactly, I got hit and shoved across in front of the field as we were thundering for the white flag. I am disappointed for all the guys at ThorSports. Our truck has drafted good since we unloaded.
“Next week we are home in California so we will have lots of friends and family to cheer us on. We will just shake this off and go for a solid run out there.”
Kerry Earnhardt, No. 15 Chevrolet: NOTE: Earnhardt was involved in a multi-truck accident on lap 48 and damaged beyond repair.
“I had a good run going there. I was just trying to stay out of trouble up there and just stay in the lead pack, but for some reason ended up running out of gas. That put us two laps down and we got one lap back before that caution and came in and got fuel and everything. We were just trying to get our lap back and having to race harder than we wanted to at the beginning of the race. We just got the air taken off of our rear spoiler and around I went.”
(HOW FRUSTRATING HAS THIS BEEN FOR YOU? “It’s frustrating for me, but it’s really frustrating for these guys. They worked really hard and put a lot of hours in getting these trucks together and I tore up two of them this weekend.”
Dennis Setzer, No. 46 Chevrolet: NOTE: Due to an engine change following practice, Setzer will drop to the back of the field following the parade laps prior to the start of Friday night’s race. Setzer was involved in a multi-truck incident on lap 98 after running in the front of the field the majority of the race.
“Tough night for you guys after a good run?
"I am really disappointed, but this is what happens sometimes at Daytona. We really had a great truck tonight. I don't know how many times we drove from the back to the front, but our little Silverado was pretty strong."
You guys were involved in a few mishaps including a hard hit on the last lap, what happened?
"On the first deal there with the thirty truck, someone got into the back of me and I got into him. I think he backed off when I got into him and we both spun. Our Silverado was still good enough to finish well in this race after going through the grass there. (Crew Chief) Eric Phillips and I decided not to gamble and we came in and changed tires in case we picked up some debris."
"On the deal there at the end, I felt that I had cleared most of the wrecked trucks, but there was a lot of smoke. I saw a truck in the middle of the track at the last minute and tried to get slowed up, but I got hit again in the back and we hit the four cars a ton. I am glad Casey (Atwood) is all right, because it was a hard hit. My truck is torn up pretty bad and I know his was too. It’s a shame because this has been a really good truck at this place over the past two years. We just haven't gotten the finishes that the truck or the team is capable of at this track."
David Starr, No. 75 Chevrolet:
“My Chevrolet Silverado was the right truck tonight. Dave McCarty and the guys did a great job getting our race truck up front. We were working real hard there at the end with my teammate Dennis Setzer when it started getting crazy up front with less then ten laps to go. We wanted to hold on to the fifth place spot when the caution came out for another accident. I knew I was a sitting duck because green/white/checkers breed further cautions. With a few laps to go there was a crash right up front and I had no place to go. When the yellow was thrown I was in fifth but they have me listed as eighth. I am sure that NASCAR will review the tapes. Overall we had a great top-10 finish to start off the season right. We are looking forward to taking the Spears Manufacturing Silverado to Fontana and hopefully to Victory Lane.”
Notable Quotables, Post-race No. 3: Toyota
02-19-2005 12:55 am
Todd Bodine, No. 66 Toyota: “My truck looks like it’s been at a short track. We’re really pleased considering 30 days ago this race team didn’t exist. Everyone has worked real hard to get ready for Daytona and the season in such a short time. I have to especially thank Tom Eldredge (team owner), Tony Furr (team manager) and Gary Showwalter (crew chief). Also, I have to thank Toyota for all their help and hard work in helping us get off to this good start.
HOW WAS THE RACE?
“The race was pretty incredible. It was my first speedway race in a truck and my first race at Daytona in a truck. They’re a lot harder to driver than a car.”
HOW WERE THE LAST FEW LAPS?
“I was hoping for a green/white/checker at the end. I never expected Bobby (Hamilton) to come up through there like that on the bottom of the track. Ricky (Craven) had said he was going to stick with me and he slid up a little bit. Then Bobby got under him. I was running up the track to stick with Ricky. Bobby got under me and that’s way we got pushed back.”
HOW WAS THE TRUCK IN THE DRAFT?
“It was really tough. These trucks jump around a lot. They punch a big hole in the air. I’ll give credit to all these drivers tonight because these trucks are tough to drive when you get in a big pack.”
Johnny Benson, No. 23 Toyota: “My truck wasn’t too bad all night. We had a few hiccups here and there, but we tried to stay out of trouble all night. We got up front and led for a little bit, but then it got crazy and we backed off some. The only real mess we got in was after the white flag when everyone was going for the win. We were sitting in sixth-place or eight-place and got caught up in all that. This was my first truck race at Daytona and it was a pretty cool deal. At times you’re running up front in a four truck draft -- pulling away -- and you feel like a hero -- and next thing you know there pulling by us like we’re standing still.”
David Reutimann, No. 17 Toyota: “I’m really disappointed. I thought we had a shot at the win tonight. It’s really unfortunate. Matt (Crafton) came down the track and then shot back up right in front of me. I had nowhere to go. It’s a shame because we ran up front all night and didn’t need to make too many adjustments to the truck.”
Chad Chaffin, No. 30 Toyota: “I told these boys this truck would fly, but I should have said it would haul the mail because I was bragging on how good it would fly -- and it took off on me. I’m disappointed we ended up 21st
because we had a shot to win this race. There we were with three or four laps to go and we were running in second- or third-place. You come down here and you don’t know what hand you’re going to be dealt. We gave it all
we had and didn’t really destroy the truck. Although we took a good ride – we’re going to bounce back.”
“When the race began we were just trying to pick a line and not do anything crazy. Once things broke loose a little bit I was able to drive it right to the front. We led a few laps and then we kind of let them have it back because it was driving so bad in the lead that I didn’t want to stay out front.”
Mike Skinner No. 5 Toyota:
WHAT HAPPENED?
“I don’t know -- either he ran out of talent or brains or luck.”
Bill Lester, No. 22 Toyota: “It’s unfortunate. We had a really strong Tundra at the beginning of the race and were able to lead the race. Then, we had some problems and got a lap down, but we were able to get running good again.
WHAT HAPPENED?
“I saw the No. 77 got loose and was wiggling and just went right up the track.”
Brandon Whitt, No. 38 Toyota: “I don’t know. Stuff was starting to get pretty wild a couple of laps before that whole deal. You could kind of see it coming, but I didn’t want to stay too far back. It’s just unfortunate for the whole Clean Line team. It’s the second truck we’ve gone through this weekend. I hate it for the guys because they worked so hard all off-season to come down here for the race. To have something like this happen just breaks my heart. We’ll move on to California and put this one behind us and move on for the rest of the year.
HOW WAS BACK-UP TRUCK?
“It was unbelievable. It felt just as good as my primary truck. We were moving forward and we could run everywhere on the track.”
Shige Hattori, No. 9 Toyota: “We had a good truck and the handling was good. I was struggling a little
in the first 30 laps, but there was nothing I could do. It was pretty fun -- all the side-by-side racing. I had a really good truck and the engine was so strong. I had a lot of fun, but my goal today was to finish the race -- it’s sad. It was fantastic to race at Daytona. In the beginning couple of laps the truck slid a little. Later on, after 30 or 35 laps, the truck was perfect and I really enjoyed driving it.”
Notable Quotables, Post-Race 4: Dodge
02-19-2005 2:26 am
Bobby Hamilton, No. 04 Dodge:
Did you get a chance to talk to Jimmy?
“No. I hadn’t talked to him. I don’t really have a reason to talk to him. I know he said a few things or whatever. I had a clean run on him, I turned up underneath him, my nose was there and he turned down on me. I let off the gas and he was spinning around, and it wiggled his truck and I just pulled outside of him. I don’t know what the problem is. But, I’ve seen Jimmy Spencer drive for years, and that was mild.
Have you ever raced like this with the two finishes tonight?
“Not a double-header. That was pretty wild. The IROC race was a blast for me. Obviously, that was my first one. To see everything that happened, and the way them guys, I mean, they take that thing seriously. I thought we were going to go out here and cruise around, and Mark was picking us up. They take it pretty seriously, what they’re doing. To get out of the truck that pretty much – after I had seen the way the IROC race went – I said, ‘I raced with guys that know a lot of what they’re doing, and I just went racing with about 15 that hadn’t done this much. So, I’m going to be sure I’m going to the rear now.’ I’m glad it was a safe race. I don’t think we had any injuries or anything, so that’s the main thing. But, for a double-header night, and a lot of them stayed tonight, that’s good to have here.”
“I just love this racetrack. There’s a lot of good memories here. This is the first race I’ve won here. I’ve come close. But there’s so many things you can talk about like Richard Petty, and we have memories from when we lost Dale and everything. I was in that race. We had a shot at winning that race. It’s just a pretty cool racetrack. I like big racetracks that are fast and stay congested all the time. I just enjoy racing at these places.
On the exciting finish…
“It’s good for business. I’ve put my owner hat on, and it’s good for business. I think the fans enjoyed a finish like that and enjoyed all of the passing. The trucks put a great show on. I’m just enjoying what I do. I don’t want to sit up here and sound like a broken record, but I’m just pretty much enjoying what I’m doing and working for myself. My guys, we didn’t lose a person again this year – this is three years straight. We just have a great little race team. With all of the new sponsors coming on with Lufkin and Bailey’s, with Federated on the other truck. With Schraeder, we’ve just been having fun with it. Schrader’s like, ‘I’m going to send you $10 grand or something. I’m going to send you some money for doing this.’ I said, ‘You’re not going to send me nothing.’ And he said, ‘I’ve got to do something for you.’ And I said, ‘Don’t you get Budweiser for free?’ And he’s like, ‘Yeah.’ And I said, ‘I want two cases of Budweiser every time you run a companion race. That’s what I’ m going to charge you.’ And he was like, ‘You’re on.’ We just try to have fun with it.”
“Well, they’ve got footage of it. They’re supposed to use the footage. I don’t know when the flag fell, but the light should’ve come on with the flag, and I was ahead of him when the light came on. I looked in the mirror and I had seen smoke. I was right down there at the end of pit road when the light came on and I was a half a truck ahead of him. So, that’s where the timing light is. They’re going to have to show me that one.
“I don’t remember them (the last few laps.) I just fiddled around all day so much. It’s weird. I don’t know. Todd looked like he was tied off and I knew I could get up under him. I knew I was better than the No. 99 on the restarts. A Dodge won, that’s the main thing. It was a great day. The truck doesn’t have a scratch on it. That’s saying a lot for the way it went tonight.
“Well, I got him on the loop because when I went across the start/finish line I was nosing ahead of him, and when the caution came out I was ahead of him. So, the loop doesn’t count to there, and to there I had the lead. As long as it’s right. If it’s in the loop, then it’s cool. I’ll take that because it’s consistent with everybody. I don’t have a problem with that. I just want to make sure we check it.”
In Victory Lane:
“This is a huge win. I love Daytona and I’ve not won anything here. I’ve come close several times so this is a very big deal.
How close was that last lap?
“Well I had Jimmy and I both in a position where I knew a Dodge was going to win so it wasn’t going to be a bad night. I was able to get by him and get the win so I’m pretty happy about that.”
How does this start of your effort to repeat your championship?
“Winning here tonight sure doesn’t hurt nothing.”
On his third-place IROC finish…
“I never did see what happened on the wreck. I’d just seen the people crossed up and I knew there was trouble. I had run the right-front off my car, and I went back there and was just trying to hold on just to cool the right-front back down. I’m glad I did that or I probably would’ve been right in the middle. But, it was a lot of fun. It was my first time doing it. The thing that treats the heck out of me is Danny Lasoski, and racing against them guys. You know more what Mark (Martin) and Kurt (Busch)’s and Matt (Kenseth)’s potential is, and Martin (Truex)’s. They’re all champions of some form. But to race against Danny, and see how he does at places like this is just a blast watching him work.
On defending his championship
“I walked into my shop right before I came here, and all my people were establishing goals, and I stopped the meeting. We don’t do that. We never had, and we’re not going to start. What I mean by that is we’re not going to do anything, if I have any control of it, to step outside of our little box. We’ve got a pretty successful thing going on. We’ve got a small partnership with some good engineers. Nobody knows them. Nobody can hire them. But, the minute you start stepping outside the box that makes you successful, you have to be really careful. You want to do so good, the minute you do that, then you start doing things different. I’m not saying that we don’t care about winning a championship because we raced hard for the one we won last year. But, what got us there is doing what we did tonight. And that’s what we’re going to do. If you run like we did tonight, and your truck runs like we did tonight, and your crew chief makes calls like he did tonight, you wait until about five or six races to go like we did last year – and if you remember I wouldn’t even talk about it until five to go – then you’re in a pretty good position to have a decent year when it comes to a championship. But, I promise you, it’s not an attention-getter. I don’t care anyhow. I don’t care. I really don’t care if it happens or not. I’ve done it. It’s sort of like scuba diving. I’ve done it once. Okay, I’ve done that once. I tried skiing and about killed myself. Okay, I’ve done that once. I’m sort of hard to please on a regular basis. I’ve done it once, and it was pretty cool, but it was more for other people than it was for me. So, I just want to race and have fun. That’s what I do.
On trucks flipping…
“I didn’t know anybody flipped. I don’t know what we’d do about that. These things are big and they usually stay on the ground pretty good. I’m sure that NASCAR will take them to the wind tunnel and figure out a way. They’ve got one roof flap on them, maybe two will do. Maybe they’ll start putting side windows in like the cars. I’m sure it probably happened when they got in the grass. If it was the grass, they just get in there and dig in. We’ve seen several cars spin past the asphalt, like Michael did last year, and the wheels dig into the grass, and it’s just the difference and it turns it over. So, if it’s just the grass they won’t pay as much attention to it as they would if it just turned around like that ARCA car did and went airborne on the asphalt.
On Jimmy Spencer…
“I’ve never had one problem with Jimmy. I haven’t heard what went on, so I don’t really need to say much. I heard he said a lot of things, and I’m one that don’t take third-hand information very lightly. I don’t pay a lot of attention to it. Truck racing is just this way. I don’t like it. Good god. It was that bad in the IROC race, which was good. It was a good race. But if he’s upset about it, and I hate that he is. But, I had to let off the gas to keep from turning him around. And I said it live on the interview. I said, ‘If it had been another manufacturer I wouldn’t even cut him loose. I would have turned him right around because he cut down on me.’ I’ve always said on restrictor plate races and high-speed racetracks they need to do something about the blocking. You have a run on the man, and he wipes your nose off and then it stacks people up behind you, that’s how a lot of these accidents happen. I do it every now and then. If it’s somebody that does it to me, but there’s times where people have runs into mine, I just let them have it. So, there’s no bad blood between Jimmy and I, and I’m going to say there probably isn’t any now. You get lost in the moment. You really don’t realize what happens until you go back and watch the film. But, as far as I care I don’t have one ounce of a problem with Jimmy. I think he’s a great race car driver, and I look forward to racing with him.
“I don’t think so starting from the back is a big deal. There’s been engine changes where people have still won from the back. That’s not a big deal here. All my guys were going to go back there and ride around. We had teamed up with Jack Sprague, and Setzer a little bit and David Starr wanted to go back there so there were seven or eight of us. I don’t know if anybody realized the speeds we were running a couple of times but we ran some 46 flats and I think that’s pretty close to 200 mph a couple of times back there in that pack. So, that was pretty cool to sit back there and run those lap times.
“I don’t mean anything bad about it, but you have people that have never been here before and the front row was stacked up with that, I mean, not the front row, but the front part of the pack was stacked up with guys who haven’t had a lot of experience here. These things are a handful in traffic because they suck up so much. You can bump draft really easy with them, and you can bump draft without meaning to. So, we just elected to stay back there, and I told them, ‘Tell me when it’s 20 to go. Then it’s going to be time to go to work.
Jimmy Spencer, No. 2 Dodge
On learning that he finished second.
“I know. That’s hard to believe.”
Ted Musgrave, No. 1 Dodge
“Wow. It’s like the WWF. Every time the Craftsman Truck Series shows up here in Daytona the fans get their money’s worth, that’s for sure. But, it sure plays a toll on its equipment. One thing that happened to me is I had a flat tire. I was ready to go behind Jimmy (Spencer) with like 40 to go and it was time to go race we said to each other and work our way to the front. Unfortunately, I blew a tire and couldn’t keep up. So, I got a lap down, got my lap back and got a top-five finish out of it. That’s pretty good for Ultra Motorsports. I’m really happy. It’s a good points day for us.
“The racing is actually getting a little worse out here (at Daytona), I think. Actually, it’s getting a little worse. I don’t know how to tame it down. I have no answer for it right now. I’m just happy to get a top five out of it and come out unscathed. We’ve always been in the hole at the beginning of the year. So, now we’re on top of things a little bit.”
Chase Montgomery, No. 8 Dodge
The first 45 laps, Bobby, Casey and I were just riding around waiting for guys to fall out. We ended up getting a blistered right front and had to come in to pit and the caution came out. Those guys did an awesome job. We beat the leader back to the line and stayed on the lead lap. Kip came on the radio and told me it was time to go, so we went to the front. We got to second, third, but those lapped cars, those guys were driving like it was two to go. It was insane. I know they were trying to get their lap back, but it's a shame. We had an awesome truck and these guys, well I hate it for them. It's the first race of the year and we're starting off in a hole. If this is any indication of what this year's going to be, the rest of these guys are in trouble.
This place, it gets wild and it gets exciting. You've got 36 trucks that are capable of winning this race and 10 drivers that are capable of winning it, so it is shame. You come here and you don't just damage your truck and keep going, you tear stuff up. We'll go to California next week and see what we can do.
Brendan Gaughan, No. 77 Dodge
“This was the fastest race truck on the track. The Jasper Dodge was by far, I think the best race truck. I tried to play around early to see what it would do outside, inside, here or there, just trying to figure out what I could do to be able to win if I needed to. This was a fantastic Dodge. Man, we should’ve had Jasper their first win tonight. I went into the bottom of turn three, and I feel bad for whomever else it was that was collected up in it. But, I went down in there – I think it was the No. 5 on the outside of me – and he came down to try and get the side draft and when he did he sucked the air off my romeo window. I got loose and I tried to catch it the first time, and I got back to him and it just kept the air off my romeo window. These trucks, that was one of the things I missed about the trucks, when you take the air of the romeo window – that’s the little window on the back – when you take the air off it these suckers go. I tried to catch it and I tried to catch it, but I just ran out of real estate and got her loose. There's nobody to blame. We had the best truck and we were just trying to get back on the lead lap.
“I wasn't as loose as everybody else. This Jasper Dodge was not as loose as others. I saw some people who were so loose it was scary. Fortunately for me, I knew we weren't as loose as them so it was fantastic. I was just waiting to get back to the lead lap and we would have gone right back to the front.
“There's a lot of guys you don't want to race next to but apparently I looked like one of them tonight. It's my own fault.”
Notable Quotables, Post-race No. 5: Raybestos Rookies
02-19-2005 2:34 am
Sean Murphy, No. 07 Chevrolet:
Notes: Murphy finished 24th in the Florida Dodge Dealers 250, his fifth career NASCAR Camping World Truck Series start. His best career finish came at Martinsville Speedway in October 2004.
“We just had a bad weekend in general. The front suspension came loose in the race. I thought we had a top-five truck. We were running right there with Spencer and Musgrave. We’d draft right there and it would pull up and suck in the draft really, really hard. But I guess those are the breaks. Both upper control arms actually came loose on the truck but we got out there and finished. We’re leading the Raybestos Rookie points so that’s pretty decent.”
WHAT DID YOU LEARN TONIGHT THAT WILL HELP YOU THE NEXT TIME YOU COME BACK TO DAYTONA?
“The first couple of laps I really didn’t know how to work the draft. I’d pull out of line and it would be like I hit a brick wall. Towards the end of the race when we were running decent, I think we were up there pretty high at one stage, I was learning how to get runs on people and get slingshots and if you move around the track in different areas you could get a real good run coming up off the corner. There’s still a bunch to learn here but this is better than wrecking on the first lap I suppose .”
HOW IMPORTANT IS IT FOR A SMALL TEAM LIKE THIS TO RUN WELL IN THE FIRST RACE OF THE SEASON?
“It definitely gives us a good start to the season. We didn’t end up where we’d like to be but we came home in one piece and we’ll load up and go to California next week and hopefully do better than what we did this weekend.”
WERE YOU SURPRISED HOW PHYSICAL THE RACING WAS TONIGHT?
“Yes and no. Before I came here I watched every 500 video I could, back from the 70’s to present day, to see how they worked the draft and everything. It didn’t really surprise me. I had butterflies before they dropped the green flag but after that I got to racing with everybody. I got around some of the best guys in the series and it was like ‘This isn’t what they’re talking about.’ It seemed a lot easier to myself.”
YOU SEEMED TO HAVE A CLEAN RACE.
“We kept it in one piece. I don’t think we scratched a corner on it. The front suspension came apart and I forget how many laps in the pits.”
WERE YOU CLOSE TO ANY OF THE BIG WRECKS?
“We were close when Hornaday and a bunch of them wrecked on the frontstretch. I was real close to that and that was about the same time that our front suspension started coming loose. The big wrecks are what they talk about. The cats who do nothing just hold on .”
Shige Hattori, No. Toyota:
WHAT HAPPENED?
“I don’t know. Two or three guys in front of me crashed and there was nothing that I could do but push the brake. There was no space and there was nothing that I could do. We had a good truck and the handling was good. I found a spot and I waited for a few laps. Our strategy was to wait until the end of 30 laps and then start going but there was just nothing that I could do. I had a really good truck and the engine was so strong. I really wanted to finish the race.”
Regan Smith, No. 19 Chevrolet: “For a rookie team and a Raybestos Rookie driver, I think I’ve got maybe 10 total laps of drafting in these things before this race started, you can’t be more happy with the performance of the whole Chevy Silverado crew. The truck itself was incredible out there. It was handling perfect. I watched 20 other trucks dance around out there and mine stayed glued to the track all the time. I’m just real proud of everybody at X-press Motorsports. They worked hard to get two good trucks put back together for us after testing. It’s a shame that it had to end this way with one of them. I don’t know what to say other than to thank Chevy and Dave Fuge and X-press Motorsports and just tell ‘em and that we’ll go get ‘em at California and we look forward to going out there.”
YOU RAN UP FRONT AND LED THE RACE BUT GOT ZAPPED BY A YELLOW FLAG DURING GREEN FLAG STOPS.
“The caution in the middle of green flag stops killed us. I came back out there and I knew that some trucks had pitted earlier but I didn’t realize that Hornaday was the leader. Nobody really told me. I was just racing to get as far forward as I could. I saw Setzer up there and I knew if I stuck with him I’d be in pretty good shape. I lost maybe a second in the pits to him and a second in the pits equates to maybe three on the track and that was kind of our doom right there. That’s the first time that these guys have been over the wall as a group. I’m so proud of them that they didn’t choke. They might have missed a lug or something like that but we didn’t lose that much time. We can learn on our experience here and move on. It’s just a shame to have a wrecked racetruck when we were having as perfect of a race as you could have here.”
Kerry Earnhardt, No. 15 Chevrolet: “We had a good run going, just trying to stay out of trouble up there and stay in the lead pack. For some reason we ended up running out of gas and that put us two laps down. We were able to get one lap back before that caution. We were able to come in and get fuel and we were just trying to get our lap back and we were having to race harder than we wanted to at the beginning of the race. I just got the air taken off of the rear spoiler and around it went. It’s frustrating for me but it’s really frustrating for these guys and Billy Ballew Motorsports. They worked real hard. Ritchie and all those guys put a lot of hours in getting these truck together and I tore up two of them this weekend.”
WERE YOU SURPRISED AT THE BUMPING AND BANGING?
“Not really. It’s typical NASCAR Camping World Truck Series racing. It’s unfortunate that it happened the way that it did. I can understand toward the end of the race but early on like this is hard to deal with.”
Todd Kluever,No. 50 Ford: “I don’t really know what happened. Everybody checked up and I tried to check up and ran in the back of whoever was in front of me and then I got hit from behind and spun out. It was a melee from there on.”
AT LEAST THERE IS NOT A RESTRICTOR PLATE RACE NEXT WEEK.
“Yeah, but with the schedule the way that it is we have to leave in two days for it and I only have one truck left.”
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