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TrackSideLive!
| Daytona Test Sessions
Daytona International Speedway| January 14-17, 2005
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even tougher drivers of the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.
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Daytona SpeedWeeks Coverage up Next!
02-15-2005 4:44 pm
TrackSideLive! Presented by Team ASE
coverage from Daytona International Speedway and the Florida Dodge Dealers 250, the first race of the 2005 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season will begin 7:30 am Eastern on Wednesday morning, February 16th!
Buy Race Tickets Here!
Changes
01-14-2005 9:00 pm
The Daytona test will be the first "official" test for many drivers and teams that have made changes over the off-season. While many teams have had private tests at Talladega and many short tracks across the south, this will be the first time at the track with NASCAR's supervision. Drivers and teams that have made changes include Ultra Motorsports (Ted Musgrave and Jimmy Spencer), Bobby Hamilton Racing (Chase Montgomery, Deborah Renshaw), Germain/Arnold Racing (Chad Chaffin, Shige Hattori), Kevin Harvick, Inc. (Ron Hornaday), ThorSport Racing (Matt Crafton and Tracy Hines), K-Automotive (Brad Keselowski) and Darrell Waltrip Motorsports (Robert Huffman). The test will serve as an acclimation period for many of these teams as it will provide the first real chance for many of them to work together for the first time.
Good morning from soggy Daytona Beach
01-15-2005 10:47 am
It is that time folks! The first TrackSideLive! presented by Team ASE of 2005! We will have complete coverage of the Daytona Pre-Season Thunder tests for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series as the drivers and teams prepare for the Florida Dodge Dealers 250 in February.
Unfortunately, Mother Nature has given us a delay this morning with some mid-morning showers and with low clouds keeping the sun away, the speedway is still very damp. Jet dryers are out attempting to get some heat into the asphalt, and it is expected that we will have trucks on the track sometime soon. We'll keep you updated from top to bottom throughout the day so keep it locked on to TruckSeries.com for all the news from Daytona!
More rain in Daytona
01-15-2005 11:35 am
The skies have opened up and the slight drizzle that was falling earlier in the morning has now turned into a light rain. Garage doors are closing to keep everything dry, although hopes are high that the weather will break and we will be on the track, even if it's under the lights later tonight.
Notable Quotables, Rain Delay No. 1
01-15-2005 11:37 am
Terry Cook, No. 10 Ford: "This is the same truck we had here last year, but it's almost not. It has a new front clip and a new body on it. We are running the same motor we ran here last year, but we'll have a new engine under the hood for the race. I don't think I brought my butter knife here this year, I don't think we're going to need it."
Bobby Dotter, owner/crew chief, Nos. 07 and 08 Chevrolets: "I was having a terrible day the other day, and then the news came down about the new qualifying rules. Suddenly it just totally turned things around for us. NASCAR did something that really helps out some of us smaller guys that aren't factory backed and are trying to find sponsors and hang on to the pack. The first thing I did when I got here was went over and talked to the Keselowskis and they are just as happy about it as I am. It gives a program like ours a real shot in the arm and it has helped us get some commitments for the first four races of the year we might not have gotten otherwise because we are guaranteed to be in."
Team polled, most want more drafting practice
01-15-2005 11:40 am
With the new rules regarding how NASCAR sets the field, an informal poll in the garage area found that most teams would rather spend their efforts working in the draft than on the track doing single-truck runs. One informal poll has upwards of 70% of the teams wanting more drafting practice.
What to do in the rain?
01-15-2005 11:43 am
What do race teams do when weather doesn't allow them to be on the track? Some spend the time working on last-minute touches on their truck, while others retire to the transporter and do some bench racing. BHR's No. 18 team has gathered at the back of their race truck with a deck of cards and are having a good time doing that. No puddles have formed big enough for anyone to get in trouble with yet, but if any do develop, we can expect to see some guys with soaked shoes and uniforms from playing in the water too.
Garage closed at 1 pm ET...all testing for Saturday scrubbed
01-15-2005 12:12 pm
NCTS series director Wayne Auton made the announcment moments ago that the garage area will close at 1 pm ET this afternoon due to rain. The garage will reopen tomorrow at 7 pm ET, and a driver safety update will take place at 8 am ET. The Fan Fest activities scheduled for this evening are stiill on schedule, and we will be here to cover it!
Hamilton announcement up next
01-15-2005 12:14 pm
The Bobby Hamilton Racing press conference to announce the primary sponsor of the championship winning No. 4 Dodge is up next at 12:30 pm ET...we will have complete coverage as it happens!
Bailey's teams up with Hamilton and Peters
01-15-2005 12:48 am
Bailey's, a small tobacco company based in Virginia, has teamed up with Bobby Hamilton Racing to sponsor BHR's No. 4 Dodge for team owner Bobby Hamilton in 12 races and rookie Timothy Peters in the team's No. 04 Dodge for 14 races. Peters is not approved for the superspeedways and will sit out until round four in Martinsville. Casey Atwood will run the truck in the first three events at Daytona, California, and Atlanta.
Sunday schedule
01-15-2005 1:47 pm
NASCAR has not released a schedule for Sunday's on-track activities yet, but should the weather cooperate, it is likely the NCTS teams will run all day and into the night tomorrow to make up for lost track time today. "I actually wish NASCAR would plan for us to test at night since we race at night anyhow, so it might end up working out better for us," said 2004 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion Bobby Hamilton. Should the weather not cooperate tomorrow, the teams will come back on Monday for their test runs.
Sunday schedule update
01-15-2005 2:14 pm
Just moments ago, NASCAR and DIS officials announced that the NCTS is scheduled to be on track tomorrow starting at 9 am ET and running through 9 pm ET.
Who is here, who is not...
01-15-2005 2:16 pm
Here is a list of the drivers that are on site ready to test when the rain subsides tomorrow:
1-Jimmy Spencer, Mopar Dodge
2-Ted Musgrave, Team ASE Dodge
4-Bobby Hamilton, Bailey's Dodge
5-Mike Skinner, Toyota Tundra Toyota
6-Ron Hornaday, Jr., GM Goodwrench Chevrolet
8-Deborah Renshaw, BHR2 Dodge
9-Shige Hattori, Aisin Toyota
10-Terry Cook, Power Stroke Diesel Ford
12-Robert Huffman, Toyota Tundra Toyota
13-Tracy Hines, ThorSport Racing Chevrolet
14-Rick Crawford, Circle Bar Racing Ford
15-Kerry Earnhardt, Billy Ballew Motorsports Chevrolet
16-Jack Sprague, Chevy Trucks Chevrolet
17-David Reutimann, NTN Bearings Toyota
18-Chase Montgomery, BHR Dodge
19-Regan Smith, Xpress Motorsports Chevrolet
22-Bill Lester,TRD Toyota
23-Johnny Benson, TRD Toyota
29-Brad Keselowski, K-Automotive Ford
30-Chad Chaffin, Germain/Arnold Racing Toyota
31-Jason Rudd, Brevak Racing Dodge
46-Dennis Setzer, Chevy Silverado Chevrolet
50-Todd Kluever, Shell Rotella T Ford
52-Mike Wallace, Federated Auto Parts Chevrolet
59, Jason Jarrett, Harris Trucking Dodge
61-Brendan Gaughan, The Orleans Hotel Dodge
62-Steve Park, The Orleans Hotel Dodge
63-Eric Jones, Mittler Brothers Racing Ford
75-David Starr, Spears Motorsports Chevrolet
88-Matt Crafton, Menards Chevrolet
99-Ricky Craven, Superchips Ford
02-Kelly Sutton, Team Copaxone Chevrolet
04-Casey Atwood, Bailey's Dodge
07-Sean Murphy, Green Light Racing Chevrolet
08-Ken Weaver, KW Racing Chevrolet
Not here at the Pre-Season Thunder Test is the Fiddleback Racing team, No. 66 J.R. Patton and No. 67 Todd Bodine. Fiddleback, a recent addition to the Toyota program, is busy converting and building equipment and will be testing soon at Talladega in preparation for the Florida Dodge Dealers 250.
That's it until Fan Fest
01-15-2005 2:41 pm
TrackSideLive! is going to take a break for a short while and resume coverage later on this evening from the Daytona Pre-Season Thunder NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Fan Fest. That event is scheduled for a 6 pm ET start and run through 7 pm ET, and we will be here with the TrackSideLive cameras and microphones to cover it all for you. Keep it locked on to TrackSideLive! presented by Team ASE for all the news from Daytona, exclusively here at TruckSeries.com!
Notable Quotables, Ford Rain Out
01-15-2005 2:57 pm
Ricky Craven, No. 99 Ford:
TESTING HAS BEEN POSTPONED FOR THE DAY DUE TO THE WEATHER. WHAT IS YOUR REACTION TO HAVING TO WAIT ANOTHER DAY BEFORE GETTING ON THE TRACK?
"It's probably the same for everyone. Coming to Daytona to race is big, but coming to test at Daytona is big. So,
traveling here last night and the anticipation of finally getting on the track in 2005, and for me in particular with circumstances of being in a new series with a new team, obviously, I would have liked to start the day at
nine o'clock this morning on the track. But, the flip side is that with the circumstances being the way they are I'm kind of glad they called it so everybody can sort of prepare for whatever the new schedule is because you
can only hang around for so long."
YOU'VE BEEN TO THIS FACILITY MANY TIMES IN YOUR CAREER, BUT THE INFIELD HASA NEW LOOK THIS YEAR. WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE NEW LAYOUT?
"It's very impressive, and I commend everyone at Daytona for putting the type of effort into the facility. When we get on the race track it will look the same and that's really the lure for any driver. Without question, it's the most
exciting couple of weeks in racing, and then again, it's a little different for me this time because it's a change in format, but what an opportunity. I'm glad to be with Roush. I'm glad to be part of their organization that
obviously speaks for itself. Going into 2005, my expectations are high. I know Jack's expectations are high, and we're going to exhaust ourselves to be a contender for this. We made up our mind before we ever agreed to agree
and before we ever agreed to do this together. Mike Beam coming on as my crew chief is big. I'll go to Daytona in February with a crew chief that I raced with for three years and have been to victory lane with, a team that
had made some great accomplishments and Superchips' support; they had a lot of success last year. I just want to capitalize on the opportunity; it's a good one."
SOME OF THAT SUCCESS OCCURRED HERE LAST YEAR WITH THE SUPERCHIPS TRUCK WINNING THE RACE.
"That's a good point and it goes back to those expectations and how we measure ourselves is with the expectations. Carl and the Superchips team did everything but win the championship last year. They had three wins and several good runs. Everything about this is comfortable and exciting, and if we were racing tomorrow I think that would be fine by all of us. We're not, so we'll take the three or four weeks that we have and be better prepared."
TALK ABOUT HOW DIFFERENT YOUR LIFE WILL BE THIS YEAR RACING IN THE TRUCK SERIES?
"I expect that it will be quite different in roughly 30 days. My wife (Cathleen) is expecting our third child. It's a lot of change. Between personal and professional there is a lot of change for me. The circumstances surrounding this opportunity are perfect. Again, they're comfortable, I'm excited, I have high regard for the Craftsman Truck Series,
the competitors and the identity that it has. I'm looking forward to being a part of that, but on a broader perspective, being successful in the Craftsman Truck Series. So, the changes for me are plenty. We'll have a third addition to our family some time in mid-February. We're going to have a new team and a new focus, and I'm not going to tell you that there won't be withdrawals because I've been part of the Cup Series for a decade and
there's no question from a competitor's standpoint, from an athlete's standpoint, that that's always been the draw. But, this is the path that I've chosen and it's a great opportunity and I want to capitalize on it."
IS BEING WITH A COMPETITIVE TEAM PART OF THE COMFORT ZONE?
"There's nothing comfortable about losing as a competitor, and I know that you all can relate to this because we're all competitors in some fashion. We had a miserable year last year, and there's nothing comfortable about that. This
opportunity was created because Jack (Roush) took the time to call and I could sense the interest in having me drive one of his automobiles, and I reacted to that. I'm excited about it. It's perfect for the circumstances. I'm 38 and I have quite a bit going on and this is going to be perfect."
IS TRUCK TESTING HERE AT DAYTONA MORE VALID THAN IT IS IN THE CUP SERIES?
"That's a great point. This is fresh, and my first experience in the truck was last year at New Hampshire and it left an impression. I also left an impression on the turn one wall, but it's fresh. It's a lot of fun. I like the way they drive. I like the momentum that this series has and even testing is different. We tested at Talladega and it was fun for me again. I don't want to spend a lot of time talking about it, but I didn't have a lot of fun last year and there's good reason because we didn't run well. There's a correlation between performing well and enjoying yourself. You
can see it on the faces of any competitor. I'm looking forward to this because I believe that we're going to have an opportunity to battle for this title and I have tremendous confidence in the people surrounding the Superchips team. I have the utmost confidence in the leader of the organization, Jack Roush. I've always admired Jack and his work ethic and his commitment to his teams and his employees, and so this is fresh. This is much different. My first impression is that it is a lot different than the Cup side. I think there's even a difference in the atmosphere within
the garage area with the competitors and the team members. Believe me, the Cup thing was very good to me and I feel like I have some unfinished business there, and whether I get back or not depends highly on capitalizing
on this opportunity. Testing in a Cup car at Talladega or Daytona can be so redundant, or as my wife says, respectively redundant, which is just sometimes the most difficult thing that you could ever do in race car.
Going out and losing a hundredth of a second and then coming in and making a change and going out and gaining less than a tenth, and going out and losing two tenths and not knowing why, maybe the wind changed. It's very difficult from a driver's perspective. The truck is a little different because it's not as dependent on some of those things, the aerodynamics or whatever, because it punches such a big hole and when it comes time to race these
trucks, wow, it's going to be fun. There's always been some apprehension surrounding restrictor-plate racing as it relates to the competitors or considering the big wreck. It's always talked about, and it's an element
of restrictor-plate racing. It's a component because you run so close to one another at a high speed. The cool thing about these trucks is that from a driver's perspective is that you actually have some options again.
Running wide open for 250 miles isn't your only option. If you get in trouble you can roll out of the gas and the trucks will recover quickly and you can make that time back up within a half of a lap or three-quarters of a
lap. It's great and I'm looking forward to it and I think it's going to be a lot of fun. I'm looking forward to racing with Todd."
THERE SEEMS TO BE AN ALL-STAR FIELD IN THE SERIES THIS YEAR.
"I think it's a great mix of experience and also the flavor of some youth and energy. Todd is an example of that where I see myself 12 years ago, which is good for him and not so good for me. It's been fun to watch him over the last four or five or six weeks because he's coming down and he's experiencing a lot of what I experienced when I moved from Concord, N.H., to Concord, N.C. I had a six-week old baby girl, I had never been away from home and we were scared to death. I'm not implying that that's the case for Todd, but there's a lot of new and a lot of change, but when you see that energy and enthusiasm it's fun. He's, like he said, worked his whole life to get here.
Then you combine that with the mix of drivers like Ted Musgrave, Bobby Hamilton, and Mike Skinner and Steve Park. Just taking Bobby Hamilton and Ted Musgrave, for example, they represent years of racing successfully. They are identifiable, they've done a lot in the sport, not just in the truck series, but the sport, so everybody's got their own objectives, but they're completely different in appearance. It's most like a Seniors Tour and a PGA Tour combined. I don't necessarily like that analogy, but I used it anyway because in what other sport can you have drivers or athletes in their late 40s winning championships? My reaction to that is that experience weighs pretty heavy. Experience must be worth something because Bobby Hamilton, Ted Musgrave and Dennis Setzer proved it. I think I'm sort of in a sweet spot here, where at 38 I'm not either. I'm certainly not young, but I feel like I've got a few years left, so it will be good."
IS THIS THE PERFECT TIME IN YOUR CAREER FOR A FRESH BEGINNING WITH A CHILD ON THE WAY AND A MORE RELAXED SCHEDULE IN THE TRUCK SERIES?
"If I look back on the circumstances and everything that led up to this, yeah, it's perfect. But having said that, I can also tell you that I went into the beginning of last year with a three-year contract in NEXTEL Cup. It wasn't part of my agenda. This wasn't the long or the short-term goal. Perhaps it was a long-term goal at some point to give this a shot because I'm very intrigued by this series. Again, when you think about drivers in their mid to late
40s, having the success that they're having and then the younger drivers, and we'll use Carl Edwards as an example, coming in and making a strong, strong argument that he's the next generation, this series has it all. In
my opinion from where I sit, it offers more to me than the Busch Series because it has its own identity and it clearly has the support of the manufacturers. They're selling trucks and we're selling F-150s. That appeals to me, so I can I certainly say having reflected over the last 12 months that it is perfect."
DO YOU FEEL THAT FOR A YOUNG DRIVER LIKE TODD THAT STARTING IN THE TRUCK SERIES IS THE WAY TO GO?
"I think it's a fabulous opportunity. Without question, there are several factors in having success, but it begins with
having an opportunity. These circumstances are wonderful for Todd because he's in with a group where you know the equipment is good, but he's also got a tremendous support group relative to drivers. If he struggles or if he
has issues he can go to those resources and that should be a big asset."
WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE LACK OF HAPPY HOUR PRACTICE THIS YEAR AND HAVING THE TRUCKS IMPOUNDED AFTER QUALIFYING?
"There's no question that it simplifies things. It helps abbreviate the week and I think we're all in favor of it. First of all, the part we love about this job is the two or three hours we spend in the automobile racing. Sometimes that gets lost in the shuffle of the other responsibilities, but we need adequate practice and we need to put on a good show for the fans. It needs to be a good product, entertaining to the point where people get excited about it and they come back and it continues to grow, but if we can condense that, I think that's good for everyone."
Todd Kluever, No. 50 Ford:
WHAT IS YOUR REACTION TO HAVING TO WAIT ANOTHER DAY BEFORE GETTING ON THE TRACK?
"I was asked about that a little earlier and I know the guys on the team are real disappointed. They wanted to get everything done today and tomorrow and have Monday back at the shop. I've been waiting my whole life to get here, so I guess I can wait one more day. I've been wanting to get here forever, so I just get to spend more time in Daytona now. I would have loved to have been on the track this morning, but it wasn't meant to be so I can wait another day, and we'll go out tomorrow and get what we've got to get done."
TALK ABOUT BEING ABLE TO RACE AGAINST SOME VETERAN NASCAR DRIVERS IN THIS SERIES.
"It's pretty neat for somebody in my position to be able to come and race with so many guys that have been through so much in NASCAR and to the top of the series, and people like Ricky, who has won NEXTEL Cup races.
There are a lot of guys that have had really successful careers in higher levels of NASCAR. For a guy like me coming in, it's great to be able to race with guys that you know are on top of their game, that you can learn a lot from and that are going to make you earn their respect and go through the motions of helping you to become a better race car driver. Of course, I have aspirations of going on and doing what those guys have done. It's pretty safe to say that the competition level in the Craftsman Truck Series is as good as it is in any of the other forms of NASCAR. I think a lot of that reason is the schedule is easier and a lot of these guys don't want to run the big schedules, but can still make a very big impact in a sport that they love and do it in the Craftsman Truck Series. I'm excited about being here. I'm excited about learning from all of the veteran guys here and proving to myself that I can compete with them on a level that high. I'm excited about getting to work with Ricky, who's a veteran in himself this year. I can't explain to you how much he has helped me so far, whether it would be at the race car shop or at Talladega when we were testing, or helping me get my personal issues in order for the move and for this life-changing thing that I'm going through. He approached me and offered his help to me and didn't make me come and ask him for it. He's been spectacular, and I hope a lot of the people in this series are going to be that way, and I have a feeling that they are. I'm excited about getting to work and race against most of these guys."
WHAT ARE REALISTIC GOALS FOR YOUR TEAM THIS YEAR?
"We haven't really sat down and talked about team goals yet, but I realistically think, my personal goals are Rookie of the Year. I want to be, after a couple of races, running in the front whether that's the top five or top 10. I don't want to be an also-ran or a we-showed-up type of person. It might take us a couple of race to hit our stride, but I think with any new team that's always the case. I definitely want to be a contender. I want to run in the front and
I want to lead races and I want to win races. I'm by no means delusional about this whole situation. I know exactly how hard it is going to be to win races, but I think that's a possibility for us by the end of the season, too. I want to be a contender and I want to take our shot at wining races."
IS YOUR TRUCK SERIES OPPORTUNITY BETTER THAN ANY BUSCH SERIES OPPORTUNITY?
"I really think it is. If you look at all of the people that have come through the Roush organization, whether it was Kurt Busch or Greg Biffle, they've all started in the trucks. If I could go on to be as successful as those guys, obviously, that's the right decision. Jack is the winningest truck owner in the series, and if you have somebody like that who is going to offer you a position like I've been offered, I don't see how it could ever be a wrong move. To go in the Busch Series, it seems that you have to have the exact right opportunity with the exact right team, and it's very much the case in the truck series, too, but I was given that exact right team and that exact right opportunity here in the truck series. I signed with a team that can take me through the truck series and has very capable
equipment and they've won championships before. Their Busch cars are extremely fast; they contended for the championship this year. And, obviously, we all know the NEXTEL Cup cars have won the last two championships. For me, this was the perfect move. I have the exact team that can take me through all of the levels of NASCAR and the best equipment there is, I feel."
WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE LACK OF HAPPY HOUR PRACTICE THIS YEAR AND HAVING THE TRUCKS IMPOUNDED AFTER QUALIFYING?
"For me, from what I raced in the past it was all impounded stuff anyway, so it will be nothing new for me. I'm personally a big fan of it. I think we can just concentrate on our race setups then and there will be a couple of little things you can do for qualifying. I'm all for the impound rule. We can just work on our race setups and we'll go out and qualify with what we've got and race. I'm a big fan of it."
TruckShots!
01-15-2005 3:34 pm
Check out the TruckShots gallery!
Click here to view
TrackSide Audio!
01-15-2005 3:41 pm
Today's rain had many in the garage wondering what this meant for their testing efforts. TrackSideLive talks to 2004 NCTS champion
Bobby Hamilton,
Timothy Peters,
Ricky Craven
and
Todd Kleuver.
Click on name for audio. You must have the Windows Media Player installed, or a program capable of handling Windows Media .wma files.
Click here
for free player
Fan Fest a success
01-15-2005 7:29 pm
With the inclement weather forcing everyone indoors, many NCTS dirver spent well over an hour signing hundreds of autographs for the fans that came to Fan Fest here at Daytona International Speedway. TrackSideLive was there with cameras and microphone and has images and sound from numerous drivers. Keep it locked on to TruckSeries.com for all of the updates from Fan Fest!
A big cheer out of the meeting room...
01-15-2005 7:41 pm
A big cheer just erupted out of one of the meeting rooms just outside the Fan Fast area inside the media center here at DIS. The Roush Racing drivers were inside watching the Pittsburgh Steelers/New York Jets game and were vocal in their response to the missed field goal by the Jets in the waning seconds of regulation. Ricky Craven was happy to see the game go into overtime. "That means we can go to the hotel and watch the end," he said.
Sights and Sounds
01-15-2005 7:56 pm
TrackSideLive! is at Fan Fest to get some season outlooks from
Ted Musgrave,
Chad Chaffin,
Jack Sprague and Regan Smith,
Robert Huffman
and
Kelly Sutton.
Also check out the
TruckShots gallery
and catch Fan Fest 2005!
Click on name for audio. You must have the Windows Media Player installed, or a program capable of handling Windows Media .wma files.
Click here
for free player
Back tomorrow morning!
01-15-2005 8:00 pm
TrackSideLive is going to call it a night! With the rain there was very little real activity here at the track, but hopes are high that the weather will be better tomorrow and we will have a full day of testing on the speedway tomorrow. Keep it locked on to TruckSeries.com for all the news you can use from Pre-Season Thunder here at Daytona!
Still wet in Daytona
01-16-2005 8:46 am
Good morning from a still wet Daytona. It's still wet and raining fairly steadily, as there is a a front just off the coast that will not seem to move off to sea and allow the sun to break through. We'll be here all day until they tell us to leave hoping there is a change in the weather pattern that allows us to get some trucks on the track, so keep it here for all the updates from DIS...
Weather update
01-16-2005 9:41 am
The rain has slowed to a slight drizzle, and weather experts are calling for the stationary front that has been parked off shore for the past 36 hours to move off to sea in the late morning/early afternoon. Jet dryers are out on the speedway now, and everyone has their fingers crossed that we will have a dry track in a couple of hours.
Latest weather
01-16-2005 10:34 am
It's been fairly dry at DIS over the past thirty minutes. The drizzle has stopped and some areas of the pavement have actually started to show signs of drying on their own. NASCAR has given no indication of what they have planned for the day, so we are still expecting Trucks to be on track once the front moves out to sea.
Jet dryers on track/SCHEDULE UPDATE
01-16-2005 11:27 am
The jet dryers are circulating the speedway in an effort to get the track dry...and NASCAR has called the crew chiefs together for a meeting at the NCTS transporter to discuss the schedule for the rest of the day. Apparently, the schedule for today will see trucks on track at 3 pm ET and we will run straight through until 11 pm ET. There is some discussion about some track time tomorrow, but the exact amount of track time needed tomorrow will be determined on how much we are on the track today.
Brendan in the 77
01-16-2005 11:29 am
Brendan Gaughan has the number 77 on his Orleans Racing Dodge as the team is pushing the truck through the tech room. Brendan used the No. 77 in the NNCS last season, and is apparently carrying the number back to him in 2005 with the NCTS.
Mike Wallace in the 59?
01-16-2005 11:33 am
Mike Wallace was seen in the No. 59 Harris Trucking Dodge here this weekend. Wallace is scheduled to run the No. 52 Chevrolet for Ken Schrader here at Daytona in February, but doesn't have anything set for the remainder of 2005. HT Motorsports tested Jason Jarrett at Talladega in December, but hasn't named a driver for it's Dodges yet in 2005.
Notable Quotables, Darrell Waltrip Motorsports
01-16-2005 11:52 am
David Reutimann, No. 17 Toyota: "If it's late in the race and it's just Robert and I, then yeah, the racer in you wants to go for the lead and the win. If they are all lined up behind me and I pull out and I get hung out and they all go flying past him too, then it doesn't do any of us any good. The last thing we want to do is end up in turn one in a big smoking heap and to make our guys mad at us. And it's not like you have a lot of time to sit there and think about it. You need to make your mind up pretty quick what you're going to do."
Robert Huffman, No. 12 Toyota: "If qualifying isn't going to really matter than I expect we will spend a lot more time working on how the truck drives in the draft. That is when it is important anyhow. It's about how you run in the race these days, and with no happy hour when we come back here in February, I expect we'll spend a lot of time working on how the truck is in the draft."
Rain again in Daytona
01-16-2005 11:59 am
The rain is really coming down again here at DIS. Track drying operations has stopped and the teams have all closed the doors on the garages to wait out this latest shower. We'll bring you another weather update soon.
Rain stopped again
01-16-2005 12:22 pm
The rain has again subsided again...radar still shows the cell of rain lingering in and around the Daytona Beach area just off shore and the easterly breeze occasionally blowing the showers back on shore. Reports have bright sunshine just a half an hour north and west, but the stubborn breeze will not allow the rain to move out.
Track is starting to get dry
01-16-2005 2:03 pm
The jet dryer is starting to make some progress and the turns are starting to show some significant drying, and the hope is that we will soon have trucks on the track. The goal is still for a 3 pm ET start and an 11 pm ET conclusion.
What are people doing to pass the time?
01-16-2005 2:05 pm
What are people doing to pass the time?
Kelly Sutton and her team are sharing funny stories and telling jokes. "We're telling lies and dirty jokes in here, know any good ones?" she joked earlier this afternoon. Sutton and her team have made some significant off-season changes and she is spending the down time getting to know many of the new team members.
Chase Montgomery and his team have spent a lot of the past two days playing cards. "I've lost way too much money to those guys, that's why I am up in here trying to stay warm," he said in the transporter a few moments ago.
The Circle Bar Racing team is huddled in the lounge of their transporter watch movies. Currently featured is
Pirates of the Carribean.
Many teams have gone across the street for lunch to pass the time as well.
Did someone say they saw the SUN???
01-16-2005 2:30 pm
There is a dirty rumor floating around the infield that the sun is trying to peek out of the clouds in and around the speedway area. We'll let you know if it ever does!
The rumor is true!
01-16-2005 3:24 pm
The dirty rumor was true! The sun has poked it was through the clouds and the track is now 99.9% dry! Trucks will be on track within the next 15-20 minutes and run deep into the night! Engines are warming, drivers are making their way to the trucks (in their uniforms!) and spotters are on the stand. It's time to get going!
Trucks on track!
01-16-2005 3:47 pm
The sound of race engines at top speed have just started echoing through the high banked canyons of Daytona International Speedway. At 3:50 pm, the No. 99 Ford of Ricky Craven rolled on to the speedway and blasted off the first hot lap, just 30 hours and 50 minutes behind schedule.
They Said It, No. 1
01-16-2005 4:03 pm
Matt Crafton, No. 88 Chevrolet: "This thing is driving really, really good."
Terry Cook, No. 10 Ford: "Feels like we need a little more gear to get it down the straightaway."
Deborah Renshaw, No. 8 Dodge: "The sun isn't much of a problem yet, but there is a little glare going into turn three."
Rundown 1
01-16-2005 4:05 pm
Here is the first rundown of the day, just 15 minutes into the session:
1. Hornaday, 48.941
2. Kluever, 48.946
3. Craven, 48.947
4. Skinner, 49.231
5. Sprague, 49.233
6. Murphy, 49.541
7. Reutimann, 49.847
8. Keselowkski, 49.866
9. Setzer, 49.866
10. Hines, 50.026
11. Smith, 50.083
12. Park, 50.088
13. Huffman, 50.329
14. Lester, 50.486
15. Starr, 50.502
16. Renshaw, 50.586
17. Sutton, 50.631
18. Cook, 50.706
19. Chapman, 50.738
20. Benson, 50,818
21. Crawford, 51.254
22. Crafton, 51.369
23. Rudd, 53.362
They Said It 2
01-16-2005 4:12 pm
Jimmy Spencer, No. 1 Dodge: "The (rear) end of this thing is jumping around all over the place. I think it is a shock thing, nothing we need to panic about yet."
Kerry Earnhardt, No. 15 Chevrolet: "I want to go out there and hook up with some good trucks and run in the draft."
Red out for track inspection
01-16-2005 4:16 pm
NASCAR has brought out the red flag to check track conditions. Apparently there is some sort of issue with the track out of turn four that officials want to check on. Track crews are inspecting the track now, and we should be back to green shortly. UPDATE: Not only are track crews on the speedway, but NCTS Series Director Wayne Auton is out checking the speedway in the pace car.
Smoke out of the pipes on No. 28
01-16-2005 4:20 pm
NASCAR officials are keeping a keen eye on the No. 28 Rosenblum Racing Chevrolet driven by David Ragan. Spotters around the speedway are reporting smoke out of the exhaust pipes as he came through the tri-oval last time by.
Rundown 2
01-16-2005 4:38 pm
1. Setzer, 48.342
2. Skinner, 48.394
3. Benson, 48.553
4. Hornaday (b), 48.581
5. Spencer, 48.625
6. Reutimann, 48.754
7. Sprague, 48.775
8. Kluever, 488.782
9. Crawford, 48.784
10. Craven, 48.785
11. Renshaw, 49.010
12. Earnhardt (b), 49.131
13. Murphy, 49.417
14. Chaffin, 49.475
15. Keselowski, 49.866
16. Hines, 50.026
17. Smith, 50.083
18. Park, 50.088
19. Ragan, 50.165
20. Chapman, 50.210
21.Whitt, 50.222
22. Huffman, 50.329
23. Lester, 50.338
24. Earnhardt (a), 50.384
25. Starr (b), 50.474
26. Starr (a), 50.502
27. Cook, 50.562
28. Wallace, 50.630
29. Sutton, 50.631
30. Montgomery, 50.749
31. Crafton, 51.369
32. Musgrave, 51.533
33. Rudd, 52.163
*A timing error has Hamilton with a 16-second lap...we will try to sort that error out and figure out what his actual time is.
They Said It 3
01-16-2005 4:49 pm
David Reutimann, No. 17 Toyota: "It could be a little more free. It is way too comfortable to be fast by itself."
Jimmy Spencer, No. 1 Dodge: "It is tight. Not pushing, but it is a little tight."
Todd Kluever, No. 50 Ford: "This thing is really pushing like a dump truck, especially when I am up high on the track and behind someone. It's really bad up high coming off the corner."
Tracy Hines, No. 13 Chevrolet: "I got outside the 22 truck coming off turn 2 and the nose of the truck just jumped out from underneath me. It's like a lot of air just got underneath it. It just darted up towards the wall."
Engine troubles on the 63
01-16-2005 5:36 pm
Eric Jones suffered some engine problems on his first lap on the speedway this afternoon and pulled the truck into the garage for a diagnosis. Unfortunately it wasn't good: the engine dropped a valve, forcing the team to load up and get ready to pull out of here this evening. "We had a set of heads that we had left over from a previous engine builder, and I should have known better," said team owner and engine builder Mike Mittler. "I hope our luck turns around. They say luck is when preparation meets opportunity, so we know what we have to work on," he said with a smile.
Close call off turn two
01-16-2005 5:47 pm
Disaster was narrowly averted just now when Dennis Setzer, Ron Hornaday, and Tracy Hines came together coming off turn two. Hines is reporting he was nudged from behind by Hornaday when Setzer ran out of fuel suddenly. "That was a close one," Hines said. There is some damage to the rear bumper of the 13 truck, which will need to be repaired.
Notable Quotables, Setzer and Hines
01-16-2005 5:56 pm
Tracy Hines, No. 13 Chevrolet: "That was close. I got hit from behind pretty good. I don't do it too often, but I am going to reach back and pat myself on the back for saving that one. We should be wrecked right now."
Dennis Setzer, No. 46 Chevrolet: "I just came over to tell Tracy what happened. We ran out of gas coming off two and we were all packed up. I tell ya what, Tracy did a fatastic job keeping that thing under control."
Rundown 3
01-16-2005 6:01 pm
1. Crawford, 48.331
2. Whitt, 48.347
3. Wallace, 48.357
4. Setzer, 48.382
5. Atwood, 48.384
6. Skinner, 48.394
7.Ragan, 48.405
8. Hamilton, 48.416
9. Renshaw, 48.455
10. Reutimann, 48.484
11. Kluever, 48.492
12. Spencer, 48.506
13. Craven, 48.527
14. Benson, 48.553
15. Hornaday (b), 48.581
16. Hines, 48.583
17. Chaffin, 48.607
18. Earnhardt (b), 48.607
19. Sprague, 48.625
20. Musgrave, 48.631
21. Huffman, 48.760
22. Lester, 48.944
23. Murphy, 49.417
24. Montgomery, 49.862
25. Keselowski, 49.866
26. Crafton, 50.026
27. Smith, 50.083
28. Park, 50.088
29. Hattori, 50.110
30. Chapman, 50.210
31. Gaughan, 50.281
32. Starr (b), 50.382
33. Earnhardt (a), 50.384
34. Cook, 50.477
35. Starr (a), 50.502
36. Sutton, 50.589
37. Rudd, 51.543
38. Jones, N/A
Weather update
01-16-2005 6:19 pm
It is still dry here at DIS, but lightning has been spotted on the horizon...more showers could be on the way in the near future...
Crash on tri-oval
01-16-2005 6:25 pm
A big crash just took place on the frontstretch...involved was Terry Cook, Jack Sprague, and others. We are heading to the garage to get the scoop now and will have a full report shortly.
Crash wrap up
01-16-2005 7:03 pm
A quick medical update...all drivers involved in the crash through the tri-oval, Terry Cook, Ted Musgrave, and Jack Sprague, are uninjured. Cook was evaluated and released from the Infield Care Center, while Musgrave walked away from his wrecked truck and Sprague drove his back to the garage.
Apparently, the accident was keyed when Ron Hornaday got loose through the tri-oval and was forced to slow to maintain control. Sprague was right on his bumper and went low to avoid and is reported to have nicked the apron, which shot his truck back up into Cook and Musrgave. Sprague and Cook made contract with the outside wall with the right side, with Musgrave ramming Cook from behind in the aftermath.
There were some heated tempers afterwards, with several members of the Ultra Motorsports team and Xpress Motorsports team trading words afterward, but cooler heads have prevailed.
Jack Sprague, No. 16 Chevrolet: "I was drafting Hornaday and we headed into the tri-oval and his truck got loose. I checked up so as not to hit him and started to ease up the track to give him room to gather his truck back up. The next thing I knew I was turning around and headed for a wreck in the wall. If there was someone beside me on the right, I didn't know he was therem no one said anything to me about it on the radio."
Notable Quotables, Terry Cook
01-16-2005 7:32 pm
Terry Cook, No. 10 Ford:
WHAT HAPPENED FROM YOUR VANTAGE POINT?
"I'm not exactly sure what happened. Jack (Sprague) is agood clean driver and I just drove up on the outside of him coming throughthe tri-oval. I had a run at him and went to go to the outside of him, and as I passed him he just came up into me. His spotter, I guess, talked to my spotter and they thought he hit the apron going through the tri-oval. I haven't talked to Jack yet to get his side of it, so I'm not really sure what happened. We definitely didn't need that to happen. We felt like the truck was really good and would be good when we came back for Speed Weeks, and now we're going to have to go work and build a truck for Speed Weeks."
DID YOU ONLY BRING ONE TRUCK TO THE TEST?
"We're going home. We brought one truck down here, the same truck we sat with on the pole with last year
and we were concentrating on it. A backup truck down here is just an afterthought. We'll just go home and go to work on it."
WITH THE LOSS OF PRACTICE TIME OVER THE PAST TWO DAYS DUE TO RAIN, DO YOU FEEL LIKE TEAMS WERE ATTEMPTING TO MAKE UP FOR LOST TIME BY DRAFTING SO EARLY IN THE SESSION?
"Everybody kind of has their own strategy and we were going with the mindset that if you could make it fast by yourself it will race fast. When you're making changes, all you can make changes for is what you feel in the draft. You don't know if you maybe made a change to go faster, so we worked on that the first couple hours of practice and got it where we thought we were pretty fast by ourselves and just went into race trim and only made three laps there."
WITH THE NEW IMPOUNDING PROCEDURES IN PLACE THIS YEAR, DO YOU FEEL YOU CAN MAKE UP FOR THE TESTING TIME YOU LOST THIS WEEKEND?
"It probably helps you more so for Daytona because this is one track that you can really concentrate on qualifying. It's always been two totally different races -qualifying and racing. Not having to worry about qualifying and strictly
worrying about the race is a good thing. As far as the practices down here, in years past they opened the last half of the last day for drafting practice and now it's just a wide-open free-for-all. I don't really think that had anything to do with what happened. Again, I'll talk to Jack to find out what happed. I don't really know what did happen, but I don't think it had anything to do with it."
Rundown 4
01-16-2005 7:35 pm
1. Musgrave, 47.986
2. Chaffin, 47..993
3. Benson, 48.202
4. Keselowski, 48.280
5. Crawford, 48.331
6. Whitt, 48.347
7. Earnhardt (a), 48.350
8. Hamilton, 48.354
9. Wallace, 48.357
10. Setzer, 48.382
11. Atwood, 48.384
12. Skinner, 48.394
13. Ragan, 48.405
14. Montgomery, 48.412
15. Renshaw, 48.416
16. Craven, 48.473
17. Reutimann, 48.484
18. Kluever, 48.492
19. Spencer, 48.502
20. Hines, 48.549
21. Hornaday (b), 48.581
22. Sprague, 48.625
23. Hattori, 48.672
24. Murphy, 48.695
25. Starr (a), 48.698
26. Gaughan, 48.701
27. Earnhardt (a), 48.703
28. Huffman, 48.760
29. Lester, 48.944
30. Starr (b), 48.988
31. Cook, 49.234
32. Chapman, 49.483
33. Hornaday (a), 49.807
34. Sutton, 49.820
35. Crafton, 49.951
36. Park, 49.954
37. Smith, 50.056
38. Rudd, 51.423
39. Chapman, 52.246
40. Jones, N/A
Schedule shortened for the day following crash
01-16-2005 7:56 pm
As a result of the accident earlier this evening, NASCAR has decided to shorted the test sessions planned for this evening. Originally planned to end at 9 pm ET, NASCAR extended the session to 11 pm ET after the late start this afternoon. Now the plan is to call it quits for the night at the originally scheduled 9 pm ET.
Engine change in the No, 04
01-16-2005 8:17 pm
The BHR team was busy changing engines in Casey Atwood's No. 04 Dodge. Engine builder Joey Arrington said "we are looking for a little more speed and thought we'd plug in a new engine to see if there was more to be had."
Debris on the track
01-16-2005 8:19 pm
With all of the close fender to fender action, some pieces of debris has found its way on to the racing surface and NASCAR has called for a red flag to pick it up. We should be back to green again shortly.
Rundown 5
01-16-2005 8:41 pm
1. Setzer, 47.578
2. Crawford, 47.842
3. Whitt, 47.891
4. Ragan, 47. 976
5. Musgrave, 47.986
6. Spencer, 47.992
7. Chaffin, 47.993
8. Starr (a), 48.053
9. Earnhardt (b), 48.190
10. Musgrave (b), 48.197
11. Benson, 48.202
12. Keselowski, 48.280
13. Hamilton, 48.354
14. Wallace, 48.357
15. Reutimann, 48.375
16. Atwood, 48.384
17. Skinner, 48.394
18. Montgomery, 48.396
19. Earnhardt (a), 48.403
20. Renshaw, 48.416
21. Craven, 48.422
22.Kluever, 48.492
23. Hines, 48.549
24. Huffman, 48.577
25. Hornaday (b), 48.581
26. Hattori, 48.602
27. Sprague, 48.625
28. Murphy, 48.695
29. Gaughan, 48.701
30. Chapman (a), 48.904
31. Lester, 48.944
32. Smith, 48.958
33. Starr (b), 48.988
34. Crafton, 49.048
35. Cook, 49.234
36. Hornaday (a), 49.807
37. Sutton, 49.820
38. Park, 49.923
39. Rudd, 50.033
40. Venturini, 50.163
41. Chapman (b), 50.163
42. Jones, N/A
Fan Fest Photo Gallery
01-16-2005 9:44 pm
Click here to check out a photo gallery from last night's Fan Fest
, courtesy our friends at Catchfence.com.
Notable Quotables, Jack Sprague
01-16-2005 9:48 pm
Jack Sprague, No. 16 Chevrolet:
On accident during Daytona Testing involving himself, Ted Musgrave and Terry Cook
“I was drafting with Hornaday and we headed into the tri-oval and his truck got loose, so I checked up so as to not hit him and started to ease up the track to give him room to gather his truck back up. The next thing I knew I was turning around and headed for a wreck in the wall. If there was someone beside me on the right, I didn’t know he was there, no one anything about it to me on the radio.”
On damage to the No. 16 Chevy Trucks Silverado
“The damage to the right side of the truck is substantial. We won’t know the extent until we get back to the shop and start tearing it down but it looks like the front clip, the right side frame rail, all the right side suspension parts plus obviously all the body damage.”
On viewing the incident on SPEED TV video tape:
“I tried to be careful in my comments prior to have the opportunity to look at the tape because at the speeds we are running out there, it is hard to know exactly what did happen but I was able to get a look at SPEED TV video and the thing pretty much came down as I thought except that once I got lined up directly behind Hornaday again, Terry (Cook) and Ted (Musgrave) were coming with a full head of steam. Terry tried to pull to the outside of me but just clipped me a little bit and away we all went. It was unfortunate for all of us and I know that Ted is upset but when the guy in front has to slow down and there are so many of us in a row, it is hard to get to everyone’s truck settled back down without having a problem like this.”
On not having a backup truck to continue testing at Daytona:
“We brought just one truck for me and one for my teammate Regan (Smith) because we just brought one hauler down so after Regan gets the full night in tonight, we will load up and head back to the shop. We did test quite a bit at Talladega so missing tomorrow won’t hurt us too bad. Wrecking the truck does so we need to go get started on fixing it.”
On how testing was going up to the point of the accident
“The Chevy Trucks Silverado was the best it had been so far today on that run we were in when we wrecked. We all started drafting practice pretty much from the minute we hit the track today and we were fighting a loose truck. We were making progress on it and I was pretty happy with how we were running behind Hornaday. There seems to be something with the way the new B-post is positioned because now as I have talked to other drivers, everyone is really loose. We do know what we need for a good starting point when we come down here in February.”
Smith crashes on backstretch to end the evening
01-16-2005 8:57 pm
Regan Smith got loose coming off turn two and chased the truck down the backstretch before making head-on contact with the wall about one-third of the way down the backstretch to end the session here this evening. He was running on the inside of Jimmy Spencer and was loose through turns one and two before loosing the truck at the exit of the turn. The crash marks the second of the evening involving Xpress Motorsports. Jack Sprague was involved in the crash earlier this evening. Smith walked away from the truck unhurt, and was examined and released at the infield care center.
Click on Photo for TruckSeries.com's TruckShots by Charles Krall
Notable Quotables, Regan Smith
01-16-2005 9:51 pm
Regan Smith, No. 19 Chevrolet: On accident during Daytona Testing “I was running side by side with another truck off the tri-oval through turns one and two and were doing ok. It was a little loose but not as bad as I thought it might be but then we came out of two and it really pulled the air off me and it around I went. I feel terrible for the guys on my crew, it was just a rough day for our teams.” On damage to the No. 19 Silverado “The damage to the front of the truck is substantial. We won’t know how bad until we take it back to the shop. The guys are just cleaning it up enough to get it in the trailer and will tear it down tomorrow. On not having a backup truck to continue testing at Daytona “We brought just one truck for me and one for Jack (Sprague) because we just brought one hauler down for this test.” On how testing was going up to the point of the accident “Our Silverado was getting better, we kept working on it and Jack jumped in to really help us get the feel for it. I haven’t had many laps in a truck and none at a big track where you have to draft so it was great that he did that to help me know where I was and if I was feeling the right things. I feel real bad that I wrecked it and now our guys have so much work to do before we come down here to race in just a few weeks.”
NCTS Test Results: Sunday
01-17-2005 12:02 am
Fastest of the day: Dennis Setzer driving the No. 46 Chevrolet was the fastest during Sunday's test session that featured drafting sessions. Setzer posted a lap of 189.163 mph in his Chevrolet Silverado.
1. Dennis Setzer, Chevrolet, 189.163 mph
2. Rick Crawford, Ford, 188.119|
3. Brandon Whitt, Toyota, 187.927
4. David Ragan, Chevrolet, 187.594
5. Ted Musgrave, Dodge, 187.555
6. Jimmy Spencer, Dodge, 187.531
7. Chad Chaffin, Toyota, 187.527
8. David Starr, Chevrolet, 187.293
9. Kerry Earnhardt, Chevrolet, 186.761
10. Johnny Benson, Toyota, 186.714
11. Brad Keselowski, Ford, 186.413
12. Bobby Hamilton, Dodge, 186.127
13. Mike Wallace, Dodge, 186.116
14. David Reutimann, Toyota, 186.047
15. Casey Atwood, Dodge, 186.012
16. Mike Skinner, Toyota, 185.973
17. Chase Montgomery, Dodge, 185.966
18. Deborah Renshaw, Dodge, 185.889
19. Ricky Craven, Ford, 185.866
20. Todd Kluever, Ford, 185.598
21. Tracy Hines, Dodge, 185.380
22. Robert Huffman, Toyota, 185.273
23. Ron Hornaday, Chevrolet, 185.258
24. Shigeaki Hattori, Toyota, 185.178
25. Jack Sprague, Chevrolet, 185.090
26. Sean Murphy, Chevrolet, 184.824
27. Brendan Gaughan, Dodge, 184.801
28. Johnny Chapman, Chevrolet, 184.034
29. Bill Lester, Toyota, 183.884
30. David Starr, Chevrolet, 183.718
31. Matt Crafton, Chevrolet, 183.494
32. Terry Cook, Ford, 182.801
33. Kelly Sutton, Chevrolet, 180.650
34. Steve Park, Dodge, 180.278
35. Jason Rudd, Dodge, 176.356
36. Billy Venturini, Chevrolet, 175.908
37. Eric Jones, Ford, n/a
Rain, Wrecks Make Day Miserable for Many at Daytona
01-17-2005 11:29 am
Rain kept the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series off the speedway until 3:50 pm this afternoon in Daytona, but after a spate of close calls and accidents, many teams probably wish the entire day was a wash. As soon as the nearly 31-hour delay in getting on the track was history, many teams went immediately into drafting mode and the big packs of trucks led to several close calls and two major accidents.
Jack Sprague, Terry Cook, Ted Musgrave, and Regan Smith were the major newsmakers of the day, unfortunately not for the right reasons. All drivers were involved in accidents on the track. All drivers were uninjured, but their trucks were hurt beyond immediate repair.
Dennis Setzer led the speed parade with a lap of nearly 190 miles per hour in the draft. His 47.578-second lap was nearly three-tenths of a second quicker than second-place Rick Crawford.
David Ragan ran a strong lap in the draft to put the Rosenblum Racing Chevrolet fourth on the charts. He was one of only seven drivers to break into the 47-second bracket, tucking in just behind Brandon Whitt and just ahead of Ted Musgrave on the sheet.
Todd Bodine was at the track today, but only as an interested spectator. When asked where his truck was, he replied, “it isn’t even built yet!”
Expect a sponsorship announcement on Brendan Gaughan’s No. 77 Orleans Racing Dodge in the near future. Gaughan also says he is having a hard time getting comfortable with the newly-mandated HANS Device, as he was a user of the Hutchens system.
Danny Gill, crew chief for Dennis Setzer in 2004, was seen walking through the garage today. Gill says he has a Busch Series deal line up “if I want it,” he said. “I spent four years living in Tennessee working for teams that are in North Carolina or wherever and I am just burned out,” he said. He is evaluating his options for 2005, but don’t expect a decision in the very near future.
Monday's schedule has the Trucks on track at 9 am ET running through 5 pm ET.
Truck Spin Brings Out Caution
01-17-2005 11:59 am
The yellow flag slowed action at Daytona International Speedway as the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series continued Open Test sessions on Monday, a rain date scheduled after inclement weather delayed on-track action all of Saturday and Sunday morning. No. 77 Brendan Gaughan and teammate Steve Park in the No. 62 Dodge got spun around in unrelated incidents, Park's truck received minor damage.
Top-10 Rundown: Monday
01-17-2005 12:29 pm
1. #15 -Kerry Earnhardt 48.122
2. # 2 -Jimmy Spencer 48.137
3. #30 -Chad Chaffin 48.164
4. #88 -Matt Crafton 48.279
5. # 1 -Ted Musgrave 48.280
6. #99 -Ricky Craven 48.282
7. #50 -Todd Kluever 48.334
8. #12 -Robert Huffman 48.428
9. #59 -Mike Wallace 48.441
10.# 6 -Ron Hornaday 48.505
2004 NCTS Champion Spotlight
17. #4 -Bobby Hamilton 48.776
No. 62 Damage Update
01-17-2005 1:12 pm
After further inspection, the No. 62 Orleans Racing Dodge of driver Steve Park had indeed received significant body damage to his primary Daytona truck after he and teammate Brendan Gaughan spun in seperate incidents. Gaughan in the No. 77 Orleans Racing Dodge is back up to speed, but Park's test session is likely over.
Notable Quotables, Ford Racing
01-17-2005 3:38 pm
The Ford Racing trio of Ricky Craven, Todd Kluever, and Rick Crawford shared their thoughts on the outcome of the two-day Craftsman Truck Series test session at Daytona International Speedway in preparation for next month’s Daytona 250.
RICKY CRAVEN-99-Superchips Ford F-150 - WHAT IS YOUR OVERALL ASSESSMENT OF THE TEST SESSION?
“It’s been two productive days. There’s more focus towards race environment than qualifying environment. The trucks are new to me and my first impression is that they’re a lot of fun to drive. It’s definitely different from the cars. There’s less emphasis on qualifying. The trucks recover so quickly and here at Daytona there’s still a premium on handling. You wouldn’t think so with the big spoiler, but there is.”
WHAT ARE THE MAJOR DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE TRUCKS AND THE CARS IN THE DRAFT?
“The biggest difference between the two is the drag. The trucks have a lot more resistance through the air than a car, and it changes how they drive and how they act around other vehicles. It’s a very good package, though. I like it. I think it’s the best Daytona package that I’ve ever had because you have options. You can get in trouble, get out of the gas and recover from it, and recover from it within a lap. The truck is comfortable overall. There are a few spots where you’re vulnerable, I think because there is an abundance of downforce if you’re running by yourself. But then when you get mixed in with other trucks and you put yourself in some situations you lose so much of that downforce so quickly. The margins between the maximum downforce and what you might have with a truck on the outside of you, it creates some challenges. But, I like the fact that they are very stable in line. They’re a bit tricky in a pack because that will create some separation, so the drivers in good-handling trucks will separate themselves from the trucks that aren’t as comfortable, and the last time I checked that’s why we do this.”
DO YOU EXPECT THE TRUCK RACE TO BE THE MOST EXCITING RACE OF SPEED WEEKS GIVEN THE RULES PACKAGE?
“Well, we’ve had a lot of exciting Cup races, and there’s no question that there are aspects of restrictor-plate racing that drivers don’t enjoy. One thing you can’t argue is the quality of racing. From a fan’s perspective it’s quite awesome. I like the fact it’s a little more predictable over here in the trucks. With the low horsepower in a Cup car and the cars having less resistance, they were packed in 35 to 40-car groups the entire race. I don’t think that will be the case here. I think you’ll see that separation, which will still produce some quality racing, but it will be a little more comfortable for the drivers. There’s still plenty of opportunity to get in trouble in these trucks.”
WE’VE SEEN A NUMBER OF ACCIDENTS HERE IN TESTING. DOES THE NUMBER OF INCIDENTS SURPRISE YOU FOR A TEST?
“We’re here to experiment, evaluate and test and sometimes that comes at a price. I’m sure that whatever those circumstances were that they learned something from it. It wasn’t what they came here to learn, but that is part of what we do. But, I’m not surprised. These things become very difficult if you put yourself in the wrong set of circumstances, and that’s what I spent two days doing. I spent two days just moving around trying to figure out how my F-150 runs behind the other manufacturers, and how it runs with a group in line or with a truck on my right side. All of those things are a little bit different, and that’s the catching up that I have to do. I’ve got to acclimate myself to these trucks in short order.”
WITH THE TRUCK BEING SO NEW TO YOU, HAVE YOU BEEN ABLE TO USE TODD KLUEVER TO COMPARE NOTES?
“He’s been a big help to me because he’s been cooperative. He’s here to learn, so we’ve done a lot of drafting here together. We ran 700 miles before Christmas at Talladega. That was really cool. That was really good for the team to get 700 miles in before 2004 ended, and it was good for him also. Then we came here and we’ve logged a lot of miles and that will only help. I think the team has gathered a lot of information and they’ll make use of that back at the shop. I think coming back here in February, handling will prevail and judgment will prevail.”
TODD KLUEVER-50-Shell ROTELLA T Ford F-150 - WHAT IS YOUR OVERALL ASSESSMENT OF THE TEST SESSION?
“I think it’s gone really well. Today has been excellent for us. I wasn’t real comfortable last night when the sun went down, but we worked on it and it’s driving really good today and I’m really happy with it. I think it’s been a good test and we’re looking forward to coming back.”
HOW MUCH OF AN ASSET HAS RICKY CRAVEN BEEN THIS WEEK?
“Ricky’s been phenomenal. We spent a lot of time in drafting stuff just getting different feels of what my truck is going to do when other trucks are around me in certain positions and him placing his truck around me. He’s been helping try to learn the ins and outs of building momentum around the high banks and how to make a run on the other trucks. He’s helped me even more off the race track with my personal affairs and getting down here. He’s just a class-act guy.”
YOU TESTED AT TALLADEGA IN DECEMBER, SO THIS ISN’T YOUR FIRST TIME IN THE DRAFT, BUT IS IT WHAT YOU EXPECTED?
“It’s pretty much like I expected it, but it’s a lot greater here. There’s more trucks, there’s more good trucks, and fast trucks teamed with fast trucks go even faster. It’s taken a little bit to get used to, but it’s not that bad.”
HAVE YOU EXPERIENCED ANY BREATH-TAKING MOMENTS HERE DURING THE TEST?
“When Regan Smith hit the wall last night, I was running right behind him for about 10 laps until two laps before he wrecked. That’s really one of those wrong-place-at-the-wrong-time situations. I wasn’t out there when the Big One happened last night with Sprague, Musgrave and Cook, but I was real close to Regan when he went in the wall.”
ARE YOU ONE OF THE DRIVERS THAT PLAYS VIDEO GAMES TO TRY TO ADAPT TO NEW RACING VENUES, AND HAS THAT HELPED YOU HERE THIS WEEKEND?
“I do play a few video games, but I haven’t played any recently because of the move and I don’t have all of my stuff set up yet. At a place like this, I don’t think there’s very much to learn. They can never really simulate the draft in a video game, I guess. Some of the smaller places we go there’s a lot that’s the same. You can at least get a feel for what the race track is shaped like and what it looks like from inside the cockpit because they’re pretty realistic. Usually they help out.”
WERE YOU SURPRISED YESTERDAY HOW EARLY IN THE SESSION TRUCKS WERE DRAFTING WITH ONE ANOTHER?
“I really wasn’t surprised and that was our plan right away, too, to go out and start drafting. With the impound rule it’s so critical to make your truck drive good in race trim. It really makes the single-car runs not nearly as important anymore because you’re never by yourself except in qualifying and you can qualify bad here and still have a good race. I knew that most people would just want to concentrate on race stuff.”
RICK CRAWFORD-14-Circle Bar Truck Corral Ford F-150 - WHAT IS YOUR OVERALL ASSESSMENT OF THE TEST SESSION?
“I think it went very well, especially yesterday afternoon. Our single runs looked pretty good and we were real racy in the draft. The F-150 did a good job and so did everyone on the Circle Bar Truck Corral team. We’re all trying to get back in the swing of things. We were reading data off of the truck and I’ve got my fab guys here working on the body and they’ve done a good job building a special Daytona piece here. We won this race in ’03 and Cowboy (Kevin Starland) won it in ’04, and now we’re together, so let’s win it together.”
YOU LOGGED 75 LAPS TODAY AND FINISHED NEAR THE TOP OF THE LIST FOR LAPS COMPLETED. WAS THAT PART OF YOUR GAME PLAN?
“No, it wasn’t the plan to run the most laps. We wanted to make the Ford fast, and if that’s what it takes - track time - that’s the best dyno in the world. The plan worked out and we knew what cost us a little time and we knew what helped us on the watch and what made it drive good. If that’s what it took, that’s why we’re together here. We want to win, and if that takes track time then that’s what we’re here for.”
WERE YOU SURPRISED BY THE NUMBER OF TRUCKS THAT WERE WRECKED HERE THIS WEEKEND IN A TEST SESSION?
“No, I’m not. You might view this as race conditions, but this is not the race, and some people were out there racing. I’m here testing to see how I can improve my F-Series pickup when it comes back. But, there are some out here that want to win practice and will go to any extreme to win and there are a lot of trucks out here that are unstable and they’re going to have work on them some.”
WERE YOU SURPRISED HOW EARLY IN THE SESSION TRUCKS WERE DRAFTING YESTERDAY?
“That surprised me. That surprised me not really knowing what you’ve got by yourself. Qualifying is not really important here, and I don’t think I’ve qualified in the top 20. I’ve run good here, and that’s what’s important, to make sure you race good and make sure you have something to race with. But, you also have to have something for the end.”
DID THE RAIN HAVE AN EFFECT WITH THE EARLY-SESSION INCIDENTS LAST NIGHT?
“It could have. There were probably some people that were sitting around here and got ready to go, and they’ve got new jobs and new trucks and new crews and new crew chiefs, but we stuck to our plan and I’m proud of Cowboy and all of the staff at Circle Bar Racing to give me something good to drive, and hopefully we can show our performance and win some races and maybe a championship.”
NCTS Test Results: Monday
01-17-2005 5:46 pm
The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series wrapped up a two-day test session in preparation for the season-opening Florida Dodge Dealers 250 on Friday night, Feb. 18 at historic Daytona International Speedway.
1. David Starr, Chevrolet, 187.594 mph
2. Ron Hornaday, Chevrolet, 187.278
3. Kerry Earnhardt, Chevrolet, 187.025
4. Ted Musgrave, Dodge, 186.966
5. Chad Chaffin, Toyota, 186.862
6. Matt Crafton, Chevrolet, 186.416
7. Jimmy Spencer, Dodge, 186.413
8. Ricky Craven, Ford, 186.289
9. Todd Kluever, Ford, 186.204
10. Robert Huffman, Toyota, 185.843
11. Mike Wallace, Dodge, 185.793
12. Tracy Hines, Chevrolet, 185.468
13. David Reutimann, Toyota, 185.395
14. Brendan Gaughan, Dodge, 185.292
15. Brad Keselowski, Ford, 185.204
16. Chase Montgomery, Dodge, 184.725
17. Bobby Hamilton, Dodge, 184.555
18. Casey Atwood, Dodge, 184.158
19. Rick Crawford, Ford, 184.155
20. Sigeaki Hattori, Toyota, 183.993
21. Steve Park, Dodge, 183.857
22. Deborah Renshaw, Dodge, 182.109
23. Jason Rudd, Dodge, 181.631
24. Billy Venturini, Chevrolet, 180.086
25. Kelly Sutton, Chevrolet, 179.101
26. David Ragan, Chevrolet, 175.326
NCTS Test Notes: Monday
01-17-2005 6:18 pm
Chaffin happy with testing sessions...
For Chad Chaffin and the No. 30 Germain/Arnold Racing Toyota team, the last three days have been their first days together at the track. “I think we really got the attention of some of the competitors out here the past couple of days,” said Chaffin. “We’ve been able to get out in the drafts and do what we want – and we’ve run pretty fast there, too. I’m real happy and real optimistic about coming back down here for the race.”
Random times on the board...
Here are some random speeds (single truck laps and drafting, at team’s discretion) recorded during Monday’s NASCAR Preseason Thunder: David Starr, 187.594, Ron Hornaday, 187.278, Kerry Earnhardt, 187.025, Ted Musgrave, 186.966, and Chad Chaffin, 186.862.
Kluever getting assist from Craven...
Todd Kluever (No. 50 Shell ROTELLA T Ford) is getting a lot of help from teammate Ricky Craven (No. 99 Superchips Ford) during testing sessions at Daytona and Talladega. “Ricky’s been phenomenal,” said Kluever. “He’s been helping me to learn the ins and outs of building momentum around the high banks and how to make a run on the other trucks. He’s helped me even more off the race track with my personal affairs and getting down here. He’s just a class-act guy.”
Renshaw excited about opportunity...
Deborah Renshaw (No. 8 Dodge) will kick-off her 2005 season with a new team, BHR2. Renshaw, who has never raced at Daytona in a truck, is looking forward to learning as much as she can from her new teammates, which includes 2004 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion Bobby Hamilton (No. 4 Dodge). “Testing has been absolutely phenomenal,” said Renshaw. “I’ve got an awesome team and look forward to running with the guys. My goals for Daytona are to obviously finish, utilize my equipment and use the knowledge I gained from this test session and hopefully I’ll take the truck to the front.”
Sutton ends testing, looking forward to coming back next month...
Kelly Sutton and her No. 02 Copaxone Chevrolet team spent most of their testing session working on qualifying runs and feel really good about their chances next month in the season opening Florida Dodge Dealers 250. “My team has done an awesome job this weekend,” said Sutton. “I feel like our test went really well and one of my goals is to continue to learn which I felt I did this weekend.” And how did Sutton spend her rain delay time? “My team and I get along really well, so we spent a lot of time together. I had to make a quick trip to the mall since I didn’t expect to be here all three days.”
The last teams on the track?...
Bobby Hamilton Racing’s Bobby Hamilton, Chase Montgomery (No. 18 Dodge) and Timothy Peters (No. 04 Bailey’s Dodge), and Orleans Racing’s Brendan Gaughan (No. 77 Dodge).
Check out our SIGHTS AND SOUNDS Section!
01-16-2005 3:25 pm
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Notable Quotables, Post-Qualifying No. 1: Toyota
02-17-2005 9:45 pm
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 No. 2: Ford
02-17-2005 9:50 pm
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 No. 3: Dodge
02-17-2005 10:00 pm
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
02-17-2005 10:03 pm
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
02-17-2005 10:12 pm
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.”
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