Peach State Pitches in to Provide Support

Shane Hmiel and Billy Ballew are once again relying on support from the greater Atlanta area in order to field Hmiel's NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series entry in this Friday's World Financial Group 200 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Six different Georgia based companies have pooled their funds to provide the much needed sponsorship dollars to allow Hmiel to wheel the No. 15 Billy Ballew Motorsports Chevrolet Silverado this weekend.

"I don't know what I would do if it weren't for the tremendous support group we have in the Atlanta area," said team owner Ballew. "Earl Small Harley Davidson has been a great contributor to our program over the past couple of years and they really wanted to see Shane get another shot at winning the truck race at Atlanta. We had such a good run here last year and everybody wanted Shane to get another shot. We didn't have another sponsorship deal lined up so it made good sense financially. It would be really great to get a win on our home track for all of the area sponsors."

Hmiel recorded an impressive run at Atlanta Motor Speedway last year running in the top five for most of the event before settling in the 6th position. Over the course of the 2004 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season Hmiel posted 1 win, 4 top-five finishes and 10 top-10 finishes in the Billy Ballew Motorsports entry.

"Being back with the Billy Ballew Motorsports team is like coming home for me," Hmiel said. "Billy is like a father to me. He's always there to bring me back into racing, and last year he paid most of it out of his own pocket. Racing with him feels like Saturday night racing, six guys and the truck, that's it. It's was really good to test at Atlanta Motor Speedway be the fastest above those factory-backed teams. Our Chevy truck is great. Now all we're working on is trying to go back to Atlanta and win a race for Earl Small Harley Davidson and all of these Atlanta area sponsors that have pitched in to help this Billy Ballew Motorsports team."

D and D Aviation, The Terry Reid Automotive Group, Alpharetta Self-Storage, GCR Tires, Woodard Pools and Spas and Sidelines Sports Bar and Grill are the other Georgia based companies helping to back Hmiel's efforts. The one lone contributor from outside the Peach State is Mannhiem's Central Florida Auto Auction. The World Financial Group 200 is set for Friday March 18th at 9:15pm.