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NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series
Race
#22 | EasyCare Vehicle
Service Contracts 200
Atlanta Motor Speedway
Atlanta, Georgia
Saturday,
October 28, 2006
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Jeremy Mayfield went to Atlanta Motor Speedway last weekend in hopes of repeating Billy Ballew Motorsports’ victory from one year ago in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. Unfortunately, a punctured radiator caused the No. 15 Quest Global/Red Top Auto Auction Chevrolet to overheat and end the day for the defending winners of the EasyCare Vehicle Service Contracts 200.
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Mike Skinner and the No. 5 Toyota Tundra team continue their reign as the hottest team in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series garage. Since the race at Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway in August, the team has posted six consecutive top-10 finishes, including two-second place outings and a win at Las Vegas last month. (David M. Vaughn Photo)
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In a finish that could only be produced by Atlanta Motor Speedway, Terry Cook piloted his No. 10 Ford Power Stroke Diesel by International in a last lap dash to the finish. Even though he came up just a few feet short of the win, Cook finished second and scored the team's third top-five finish of the year. Mike Bliss took the checkered flag after coming on strong in last 50 laps of the race. (High Sierra Photo)
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Marcos Ambrose started 12th and finished 16th at the EasyCare Vehicle Services Contracts 200 last Saturday at the Atlanta Motor Speedway. "I'm frustrated because I thought we had a better finish than that, but we didn't maximize our chances there at the end. It was a strong day. We finished 16th and we ran competitive all day, so that's all you can ask for."
-Marcos Ambrose
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Bobby East started fifth last Saturday at the EasyCare Vehicle Services Contracts 200 in his State Fair Corn Dogs/Edy's Dibs Ford F-150 at the Atlanta Motor Speedway. He finished 15th. East's next race will be the Silverado 350K at the Texas Motor Speedway on Saturday.
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Kelly Bires started 29th last Saturday at the EasyCare Vehicle Services Contracts 200 Wood Brothers/JTG Racing Ford F-150 at the Atlanta Motor Speedway. He finished 19th. Bires will drive full-time for Wood Brothers/JTG Racing in 2007 in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.
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Johnny Benson and the No. 23 NAPA Auto Parts Tundra team were on a mission to take over the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series points lead Saturday afternoon at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Things appeared to go as planned when points leader Todd Bodine had early trouble while Benson was leading the pack.
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Coming off their best finish of the season last weekend at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway, Bill Lester and his Bill Davis Racing team had high hopes for their weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The team fought a loose-handling truck for much of the day and finished 22nd.
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Known as a team that has dominated the short tracks this season, David Starr and the Red Horse Racing team were looking for similar results at the 1.5-mile Atlanta Motor Speedway in the Easy Care Service Vehicle Contracts 200.
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Three Wide Encounter Late In Race Turns Costly
- Coming off their second win of the season at Martinsville Speedway last weekend, Jack Sprague and the No. 60 Con-way Freight team were hoping that their magic would hold out for another strong finish at Atlanta Motor Speedway in the Easy Care Service Vehicle Contracts 200. (David M. Vaughn Photo)
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With Halloween just days away the Circle Bar Truck Corral team entered Atlanta Motor Speedway (AMS) wondering if the EasyCare Vehicle Service Contracts 200 would be a trick or treat. The Circle Bar Team owns the track record at AMS and the team has always had fast Ford F-150s but fast Fords have yet to translate to great finishes. (High Sierra Photo)
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In a race that featured some of the most intense side-by-side racing of the season, Mike Bliss earned his first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series win since the 2002 season by narrowly holding off a fast charging Terry Cook to take top honors in the Easy Care Vehicle Service Contracts 200 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Bliss had the dominant truck in the middle stages of the race, opening up a six-second gap on the pack before a problem on a pit stop dropped him to tenth on a restart. Bliss confidently and cautiously worked his way through traffic before slipping past rookie contender Erik Darnell inside of ten laps to go. Once out in front, Bliss again pulled away to a one-second lead. That lead quickly evaporated once Cook moved into the runner-up position. "I didn't know it was Terry that was chasing me down, but I saw the guy behind me go to the outside in three and four and it got me a little worried," Bliss said.
More...
(Glenn Smith/High Sierra Photo)
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The Fastenal Racing Team worked on Bobby Hamilton Jr.'s No. 18 Fastenal Dodge in the early stages of the EasyCare Vehicle Service Contracts 200 at Atlanta Motor Speedway and it paid off when the Tennessee native surged to the front of the field taking the lead with only a few laps left in the race. (High Sierra Photo)
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Rookie Driver Chase Miller was running fourth and once again turning heads in the opening laps of the Easy Care Vehicle Service Contracts 200 at Atlanta Motor Speedway Saturday night when a cut right rear tire forced him to pit road under green flag conditions.
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David Ragan headed to Atlanta this weekend full of optimism and excitement. Heading back to the track where he made his debut with Roush Racing and coming home to his native Georgia, Ragan hoped to score a solid finish in front of his local friends and family. Ragan brought his F-150 home in the sixth position, scoring his seventh top-10 finish of the 2006 season. (Charles Krall/ TruckSeries.com Photo)
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If you asked Erik Darnell what track he was most excited about returning to, without hesitation he would have said Atlanta Motor Speedway. It was obvious that the 1.5-mile tri-oval in Hampton was one he had circled on his calendar. Darnell finished eighth there in the spring and intended on finishing better than that the second time around. (Charles Krall/TruckSeries.com Photo)
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For Todd Bodine, racing at the Atlanta Motor Speedway this weekend was chock full of drama that had nothing to do with the 21 lead changes among nine drivers in the 130-lap EasyCare Vehicle Service Contracts 200. Bodine, the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series points leader entered the race with a 79-point lead over second place Johnny Benson.
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The official penalty report of the EasyCare Vehicle Service Contracts 200, the twenty second race of the 2006 NASCAR Craftsman TruckSeries season.
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Ted Musgrave was en route to a top-five run in the Easy Care Vehicle Service Contracts 200 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series event at Atlanta Motor Speedway when a flat tire, with only a handful of laps remaining, forced him to pit road. Quick service by the Germain Racing crew got the No. 9 Team ASE Toyota back on track, but with no time left to make up lost ground. (David M. Vaughn Photo)
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Brendan Gaughan was on track to record a strong finish at Atlanta Motor Speedway but he had a little trouble, literally where the rubber met the road. Mother Nature washed out practice on Friday and turned the Atlanta race into a one-day affair that began early in the morning and didn’t end until well after the sun set.
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David Reutimann crossed the finish line in fourth-place behind the wheel of the No. 17 Team Tundra Racing Darrell Waltrip Motorsports entry during the EasyCare Vehicle Service Contracts 200 at Atlanta. "It was nice to show where we are capable of running," Reutimann said. "My guys had great pits stops and Jason Overstreet made some great calls." (David M. Vaughn Photo)
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Marcos Ambrose has put in yet another consistent effort in his rookie NASCAR season to finish 16th at the Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Georgia today.
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Mike Bliss, No. 16 Xpress Motorsports/Strutmasters.com Silverado, led three times for a total of 38 laps to capture the win in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series (NCTS) race at Atlanta Motor Speedway. It is the 2002 NCTS champion's 13th career win in the series, but his first since 2002.
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A 28th place finish isn’t something that a race team has a reason to celebrate, but the efforts of veteran driver Derrike Cope and a hard-working Key Motorsports contingent in Saturday’s Easy Care Vehicle Service Contracts 200 did forge some smiles.
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Mike Bliss led three times for 38 laps to earn WIX Filters Lap Leader of the Race honors in the EasyCare Vehicle Service Contracts 200. Bliss took the honor for the first time in 2006. He has led nine times in five races for a total of 91 laps.
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Erik Darnell in the No. 99 Northern Tool + Equipment Ford was the Raybestos Rookie of the Race at Atlanta. Darnell finished third, his third top-five and ninth top-10 finish of the 2006 season. He took Raybestos Rookie of the Race honors for the 12th time in 22 races. Darnell led the race twice for eight laps and was the only Raybestos Rookie to lead a lap in today's race. (High Sierra Photo)
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In a race that featured some of the most intense side-by-side racing of the season, Mike Bliss earned his first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series win since the 2002 season by narrowly holding off a fast charging Terry Cook to take top honors in the Easy Care Vehicle Service Contracts 200 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Bliss had the dominant truck in the middle stages of the race, opening up a six-second gap on the pack before a problem on a pit stop dropped him to tenth on a restart. Bliss confidently and cautiously worked his way through traffic before slipping past rookie contender Erik Darnell inside of ten laps to go. Once out in front, Bliss again pulled away to a one-second lead. That lead quickly evaporated once Cook moved into the runner-up position. "I didn't know it was Terry that was chasing me down, but I saw the guy behind me go to the outside in three and four and it got me a little worried," Bliss said. (Glenn Smith/High Sierra Photo)
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Todd Bodine leads Johnny Benson by 86 points in the Craftsman Truck Series championship with three races remaining on the 2006 schedule. "We've had a couple of drive train issues this year and a drive shaft came apart. It made for an interesting race, that's for sure. The guys did a great job getting it changed out. We've had a great year, but Todd's also having a great year."
-Johnny Benson
(David M. Vaughn Photo)
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The lap summary report of the EasyCare Vehicle Service Contracts 200 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, The twenty second race of the 2006 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season.
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The unofficial owners points following the EasyCare Vehicle Service Contracts 200 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, The twenty second race of the 2006 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season.
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The unofficial drivers points following the EasyCare Vehicle Service Contracts 200 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, The twenty second race of the 2006 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season.
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The unofficial results of the EasyCare Vehicle Service Contracts 200 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, The twenty second race of the 2006 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season.
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Mike Bliss held off a fast closing Terry Cook in a 10-lap dash to the finish to pick up his first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series victory since 2002 by winning the Easy Care 200 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Cook closed the gap from one second to a half-truck length at the finish to secure second at the finish, while Erik Darnell, David Reutimann, and Rick Crawford rounded out the top five. The points standings looked to have a serious shake-up in order after leader Todd Bodine bounced off the wall early and lost three laps on pit road. However, challenger Johnny Benson had a driveshaft break late in the going and finished 29th, seven laps off the pace. Bodine finished just four spots better in 25th. A full report will follow... (David M. Vaughn Photo)
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When it comes to qualifying in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, the man to beat - without question - is Mike Skinner. Skinner entered the weekend with six Bud Pole Awards, and is the overall series record holder with 30 fastest laps in qualifying. To no one's surprise, Skinner again turned the quickest run during time trials to earn his seventh pole of the 2006 season in qualifying for today's Easy Care Vehicle Service Contracts 200 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Skinner's pole lap of 30.631 seconds/180.993 miles per hour in the No. 5 Toyota Tundra Toyota was enough to keep fellow Bill Davis Racing driver A.J. Allmendinger off the pole in just his third series start. Allmendinger ran a lap of 30.730 seconds/180.410 miles per hour to secure the outside front row position for the 130-lap race. (David M. Vaughn Photo)
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The official starting lineup by row of the EasyCare Vehicle Service Contracts 200 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, The twenty second race of the 2006 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season.
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The official qualifying times of the EasyCare Vehicle Service Contracts 200 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, The twenty second race of the 2006 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season.
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During a ran delay this afternoon at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Erik Darnell and Chad McCumbee discussed the tight race for Raybestos Rookie of the Year in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. Darnell leads McCumbee by 14 points (150-136) entering Saturday’s race.
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With four races remaining in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season, Todd Bodine (No. 30 Lumber Liquidators Toyota) holds a 79-point lead over second-place Johnny Benson (No. 23 NAPA Toyota). Bodine and Benson addressed the media at Atlanta Motor Speedway today about the championship battle.
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Shane Huffman may be a rookie with just one NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race in his portfolio, but he so impressed Key Motorsports officials in his debut at Martinsville that the 32-year-old has been signed to drive the team’s race trucks in the final three races on the 2006 schedule.
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Marcos Ambrose laughs and shakes his head in disbelief every time he thinks back to his first 10 races this year in the Craftsman Truck Series. "I remember we went to races with one goal - just finish," he said. "Now we go with a different goal - just win."
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The Craftsman Truck Series is down to four races - all at some of NASCAR's fastest tracks. That's exactly how Bobby East likes it. The stretch drive means different things to different people. For East, a rookie with Wood Brothers/JTG Racing, it's a chance to give the race team its first victory in the truck series. It's also a chance to further verify his racing credentials.
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“It’s going to be a pretty cool deal to get to race in front of my friends and family down there. Atlanta is the fastest track we race at, and to me it’s also one of the most fun. You can run any line there, so if your car is not handling just right you can seek a different groove and see if that helps get you where you need to be.”
-David Ragan
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“I’m really looking forward to getting back to Atlanta Motor Speedway. We qualified really well in the spring, but we’re looking to improve on how we ran in the race. It’s a fast track where you can run from the top to the bottom, so you’re able to change your line if your truck isn’t handling just the way you want it."
-Erik Darnell
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"I love driving that No. 6 Scotts Ford F-150 for Mike Beam and those guys. It's just an awesome team and they give me great trucks each week. Driving that truck this season is some of the best fun I've ever had in racing and I really appreciate the opportunity to work with these guys and I really appreciate all the hard work that each of the guys on the team have put into this season."
-Mark Martin
(Ronda Greer Photo)
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This weekend's NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway will mark the second time Jeremy Mayfield will pilot the No. 15 Chevrolet for Billy Ballew Motorsports. It also marks the second time Mayfield will drive at a track where the Billy Ballew Motorsports team has previously won, with the first time being at Las Vegas Motor Speedway last month. (Ronda Greer Photo)
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A solid finish coupled with the championship leader's bad luck has put Johnny Benson (No. 23 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota) closer to Todd Bodine (No. 30 Lumber Liquidators Toyota) than any challenger since June 1. Just 79 points separate the pair heading into Saturday's EasyCare Vehicle Service Contracts 200 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. For Benson, a four-time winner in 2006, that's the good news. The former NASCAR Busch Series champion, however, is going to have to overhaul Bodine on tracks on which the latter has excelled. Bodine no doubt welcomes the championship being decided on 1.5-mile speedways. Three of the four final races; Atlanta, Texas Motor Speedway and Homestead-Miami Speedway, are 1.5-mile configurations. Bodine counts seven 1.5-mile victories including two in 2006. (David M. Vaughn Photo)
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A.J. Allmendinger brought home a top-five finish at Talladega Superspeedway last month in only his second career NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series start for Bill Davis Racing. Although Allmendinger has never competed at Atlanta, the 24-year-old Californian has previously raced his Champ Car on Atlanta's 1.5-mile Nevada counterpart, Las Vegas Motor Speedway. (High Sierra Photo)
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“I seem to adjust really quickly to the mile and a half tracks and I think as a whole Evernham Motorsports is a strong force on the mile and a half tracks. This has been proven this year by Kasey Kahne’s six wins in the Nextel Cup Series. Personally for me, the intermediate tracks seem to be where I am most comfortable and where I also have the most success.”
- Erin Crocker
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In the 2004 race at Atlanta, the trucks of Skinner and Bobby Hamilton touched coming to the checkered flag, sending Skinner into a spin in the infield grass. Skinner led more laps (68) than any other competitor that day at Atlanta.
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In his three Craftsman Truck Series starts at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Johnny Benson has only finished outside the top 10 once. He has competed all 400 laps he has attempted at the 1.5-mile track. Benson crossed the finish line in the grass last fall, but he still managed to come home in the third spot.
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Sprague wins in ‘lucky 13th’ ... Add another champion to the list of winners at Martinsville Speedway. Jack Sprague (No. 60 Con-way Freight Toyota), led 95 laps in winning the Oct. 21 Kroger 200 after 12 unsuccessful attempts to crack the .526-mile track’s Victory Lane. Sprague is one of only three champions to win on the Virgina short track – a series staple since 1995. He’s also the first driver in series history to lead 6,000 laps. Sprague’s total stands at 6,085.
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“Atlanta is such a great place to race. I love the way the race track is laid out. It's different from the other 1.5-mile tracks we go to. The track is a little roomier, and you can race in three or four grooves there. I like it, but I have never been able to put together a really strong run there. There have always been different circumstances that have kept us out of the top five. Earlier this year, I had a great truck at Atlanta, but we struggled with getting it fast enough.
David Starr on Atlanta Speedway
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"Atlanta is an exciting place for anyone to run. We all know that the Craftsman Truck Series has the best racing in NASCAR right now and when we come to Atlanta it's not different. It's still a really fast place. The fun part is you can run low and you can run high. It doesn't matter. You can run on the bottom and you can run on the top. Anytime we're racing at a track like that you know where the No. 77 and Brendan Gaughan will be. We'll be right up against that wall. We're taking a truck that we like a lot to Atlanta and saving Lonestar for Texas. We've got to try to get back in the top five for these last four races and show what we can do a little bit better.
Brendan Gaughan on racing at Atlanta
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"I really enjoy Atlanta Motor Speedway. It's one of the fastest tracks on the schedule, and it takes a very well-balanced race truck to run around it wide open for any sustained length of time. I also consider it my home track since Atlanta is where I moved to from California four years ago. I'm excited that we'll be racing the Checkers Rally's Toyota Tundra under the lights with plenty of hometown support cheering me on from the stands. "We are coming off our best finish of the season, and I hope we can keep the momentum going. We battled back from an early race spin to finish in the top 12. I want to end this year on a positive note. We have had an up and down year, and this team deserves strong finishes."
Bill Lester on racing at Atlanta
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Bobby East, driver of the No. 21 Ford F-150, will return to the site where he made his 2006 Craftsman Truck Series debut at Atlanta Motor Speedway this weekend. East, who started fifth and finished 23rd in the spring race at AMS, sat out the first two races of this season before being approved by NASCAR for competition. East talks about his rookie season and his expectations for the final four races of the season.
How would you rate your development as a driver since your first trip to Atlanta in March?
"I've really learned a lot on our mile-and-a-half program. When we went to Atlanta earlier this year, we had a fast truck and we had an excellent setup and a good body and an awesome motor, but it was my first mile-and-a-half race and I really didn't know what to do other than hold the throttle down. I took that race and made sure I finished every single lap just to make sure I could get 130 laps of experience on a mile-and-a-half track. Since that time, we've come a long way."
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Goodwill Industries will make its NASCAR debut in the EasyCare Vehicle Service Contracts 200 on Saturday, October 28 at the Atlanta Motor Speedway. The HT Motorsports No. 59 Toyota Tundra decked out in 'Goodwill Blue,' will feature the organization's well-known 'Smiling G' logo and highlight its mission of helping people find and keep jobs. (Team PR Photo)
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With only four races remaining on the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series schedule, David Reutimann’s primary goal is to end his season on a high note and add to his two pole awards, six top-five and 15 top-10 finishes.
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The race at Atlanta Motor Speedway will be the fifth NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at the Georgia track. There will be 10 Toyota Tundras in the field at the 1.54-mile oval, the 22nd NCTS race of the 2006 season. In the most recent race of the 2006 Craftsman Truck Series season at Martinsville Speedway, three Toyota drivers recorded top-five finishes. (David M. Vaughn Photo)
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When the points race is close and you need a little extra confidence going into the next race, why not take a truck you know can get you to Victory Lane? That’s exactly what the No. 10 Ford Power Stroke Diesel by International team was thinking when they chose to take chassis No. 11, the truck that Terry Cook pulled into Victory Lane at Kansas Speedway this past July.
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Bobby Hamilton Jr. will be making his second NCTS start at Atlanta Motor Speedway. He started 29th at AMS this past spring and finished 19th after being swept up in an accident on the last lap. Hamilton Jr. has competed six times at the Atlanta Motor Speedway in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series.
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Scott Lagasse Jr. will be making his second career NCTS start at Atlanta on Saturday. He will be driving BHR Chassis “Angel” which he piloted in the spring Atlanta race to a 31st place finish. The EasyCare Vehicle Service Contracts 200 will mark Lagasse’s 10th NCTS career start. Lagasse Jr. will carry a special Fastenal paint scheme in Atlanta. Fastenal will sponsor all three BHR entries this weekend.
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Georgia Native Chase Miller will be making his first career NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series start at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Saturday. Miller scored several wins on the AMS fifth-mile in a Legends Car, but this will be his first start on the 1.54 mile-oval.
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Ted Musgrave, the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series defending champion, is a fan of racing at the ‘intermediate’ race tracks. He is looking forward to putting his No. 9 Team ASE/Germain Toyota Tundra in one of the three grooves at Atlanta Motor Speedway and spending 130 laps trying to outwit his competitors.
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The official Entry list of the EasyCare Vehicle Service Contracts 200 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, the twenty second race of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season.
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After the beating and banging of Martinsville, NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series points leader Todd Bodine heads into the final four races of the 2006 season knowing he holds victories at each of the final four race tracks. "We've had success at Atlanta, but that doesn't make this trip to Atlanta a guarantee," said Bodine.
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When you think NASCAR, you think Earnhardt, when you think great food, you think Pork. Atlanta will enjoy the perfect combination of the two when Kerry Earnhardt and his #13 Pork Racing/Chevy Silverado come to town for the Craftsman Truck Series race on Saturday, October 28th.
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Kelly Bires, the 2006 ASA Late Model Series Challenge Champion and Rookie of the Year, confirmed with Motorsports Lounge Wednesday he will compete in his first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series event this season driving the No. 19 Wood Brothers/JTG Racing Ford at Atlanta Motor Speedway on October 28th, 2006.
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EasyCare Vehicle Service Contracts 200 - Atlanta Motor Speedway
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Event Schedule
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