Matt Crafton finished fifth overall in 2004 driving the No. 6 Chevrolet owned by NEXTEL Cup driver Kevin Harvick. (High Sierra Photo)

ThorSport Racing teammates Matt Crafton and Tracy Hines are looking forward to the start of the 2005 Florida Dodge Dealers 250 at Daytona International Speedway to continue the momentum both have built leading up to the drop of the season's first green flag.  Crafton, who returns to the seat of the team's No. 88 Menards Chevrolet this season, looks to maintain the pace he set last year en route to a fifth-place finish in 2004 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series points.  Hines, who takes over the reins of the team's No. 13 Chevrolet, looks to continue a streak of top-5 finishes he has accumulated in his open wheel cars, including a win in the 19th Annual Chili Bowl Midget Nationals in January.

"It's a great feeling to be back home with the ThorSport team," Crafton said.  "We pursued a different opportunity in 2004, and I wouldn't trade it because we learned a lot and earned the respect of a lot of people.  The experience we gained last year will be put to good use this year and will make this entire team stronger.  Another benefit last year brought us was Tracy joining the team.  We've spent all winter working together on how to make these trucks faster.  We have a good time working together, and it's nice to have a teammate that pushes you hard on the track too."

"I am so pumped up and ready for the season to start," said Hines.  "We've had a lot of success with the open wheel cars since we were at Homestead last November, and I am really optimistic that we're going to carry that over to the truck."

While Crafton's ride for Daytona is a new chassis, Hines has an additional reason to be optimistic when he thinks about the ride he'll be strapping into.  Hines truck is nicknamed "Piggy", and has a storied history at Daytona.

"This truck always runs good at Daytona," Hines said.  "It's the same chassis that finished fourth in the first truck race at Daytona in 2000.  It drove through the big wreck (Geoffrey Bodine's flip into the catchfence) and had the transmission of the truck roll across the bed at speed.  Even with all the damage it was still fast and had a chance to win.  Then a couple of years later, Matt drove it through the big wreck on the backstretch and he wasn't so lucky.  He hit pretty hard at they had to put on a new front and rear clip.  Last year, our teammate had the second-fastest lap in the draft with this truck.  It ran really well in January, and I can't wait to get it out there for the race."

Crafton's truck made its first appearance on the speedway in the January tests, and after the bugs were worked out, he is equally optimistic.

"With any new truck you'll always have some bugs to work out," Crafton said.  "That is what we wanted to accomplish in that test, and I think we did that.  Once we figured out what the truck needed, we were able to start finding speed.  I think there's still some more to be found, too."

Both drivers come to Daytona looking to improve upon their 2004 results.  Both were swept into problems not of their doing, resulting in a 19th-place finish for Crafton and a 20th-place finish for Hines.

"We were going down the backstretch when Steve Park got turned into the fence right in front of me," Crafton said.  "Something came off his truck and put a whole in the oil cooler.  We lost some time getting it fixed and it ruined our chances for a good finish.  That's the key at Daytona is not getting caught up in other people's trouble."

Tracy Hines finished 18th overall in 2004 driving the No. 88 Chevrolet fielded by ThorSport Racing.  (High Sierra Photo)

Hines echoed Crafton's sentiments.  He was hit in the side when Jack Sprague's truck jumped loose exiting turn four, keying a ten-truck wreck. 

"We were in the wrong place at the wrong time," Hines said.  "The bad part was we really didn't have a lot of damage.  We got hit just behind the left front wheel and got knocked sideways.  We slid from the exit of turn four to the entrance to pit road and didn't hit a thing.  When you think about all of the crashing going on around us, it's really lucky we didn't get hit by someone. "

Crafton and Hines will kick off the season Friday February 18, with the green flag of the Florida Dodge Dealers 250 expected to fly shortly after 8 P.M. Eastern.  Speed Channel will broadcast the race live, and the race may also be heard live on select affiliates of the Motor Racing Network and on NASCAR Radio 144 on XM Satellite Radio.  TruckSeries.com will have extensive coverage of Daytona SpeedWeeks, including real-time practice and qualifying updates and full pre- and post-race coverage at www.truckseries.com.