David Ragan will take the controls of the No. 6 Scotts Ford when competition resumes April 29 at Gateway International Raceway, effectively ending Mark Martin's four-race reign as the championship leader.

Martin won't resume his 14-race schedule until May 19 at Lowe's Motor Speedway. The NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series veteran won't win this year's title - he's planning a fulltime assault in 2007 - but the Martin/Ragan combination could give owner Jack Roush a championship nonetheless.

Driver and owner points are scored separately and Roush's tabulation will continue regardless of which driver is in the seat of the No. 6 truck.

Should this occur, it would mark the third time in NASCAR national touring series history that different teams win the driver and owner championships. In 1963, Joe Weatherly captured the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup crown while the Wood Brothers scored the owner title.

More recently, in 2003, Richard Childress' No. 21 team won the NASCAR Busch Series owner championship as Brian Vickers became the driver champion.

The No. 6 truck, however, will have to outscore a number of rivals including its sister entry. Martin's teammate Erik Darnell (No. 99 Simply Wow Ford) is 68 points back in sixth position.

No green-white-checker for this one ... Todd Bodine (No. 30 Lumber Liquidators Toyota), fourth overall and first in the pro category, wanted a green-white-checker finish to Saturday's Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race at the Long Beach (Calif.) Grand Prix which ended a lap early due to a blocked course. It didn't happen and pro skateboarder Bucky Lasek collected the hardware. Bodine, who started from the pro pole with a 30-second handicap, wasn't sure he could have caught and passed former shifter kart racer Lasek anyway. "He's as good as the pros," said Bodine. "I had a great time. It was really cool. I never thought I'd have to opportunity to come here." Reutimann finished fourth among the pro drivers after having a "meeting" with Boston Legal's William Shatner in Turn 1. "I wanted to get out of there without turning anybody - especially William Shatner," he said. "It was a blast and a phenomenal deal. I'm hoping to get invited back." SPEED will air event highlights at 2:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, April 22.

ETC. ... Pit Instruction and Training (PIT) was featured on ABC's Good Morning America this past weekend. The enterprise is owned by Tom DeLoach, head of Red Horse Racing that fields the No. 11 Toyota for Starr. Its corporate clients include United Airlines, which uses PIT's methods to more effectively direct baggage handling operations. "United Airlines is coming out of bankruptcy so they can't buy more airplanes," DeLoach said. "They need to have faster turns - what we call faster pit stops in racing - to have more planes in the sky during the day. Our classes help get their average turn-around time down." ... Former Boston Red Sox outfielder Mike Greenwell will make his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series debut at Mansfield Motorsports Speedway on May 27. The Florida native has competed in late model cars in Florida since 1999, scoring 37 victories. He'll drive for Gene Christensen's Green Light Racing. ... Kurt Busch's victory in Saturday's NASCAR Busch Series O'Reilly 300 made him the 16th driver to win in all three of NASCAR's national touring series. Kurt and Kyle Busch are the second set of brothers to complete the sweep. The Labontes - Terry and Bobby - finished the triple in 2005. ... Woodard & Sharp Racing, which fields the No. 25 Dodge for Raybestos Rookie Boston Reid, has reorganized with partner Eddie Sharp departing the team, which has been renamed Woodard Racing. Owner Rick Woodard said, "Eddie has been a big part of this team (and) although we hate to lose him, I think it's going to be better for both sides. We have good people here at the shop and a rookie driver that has the potential to take this team to the top."
 
IN THE LOOP

Raybestos Rookie of the Year leader Darnell is having a sensational freshman season - both in the point standings and Driver Ratings, which are based upon eight different statistical categories. Darnell, with a pair of top-10 finishes and an average finish of 9.0 carries a rating of 90.3. That's 12th overall in the series and tops - by more than 12 points - among Raybestos rookie contenders. Darnell rates more than 24 points higher than his closest Raybestos rival Kyle Krisiloff (No. 15 ditech.com/Krud Kutter Chevrolet). A perfect score is 150. Martin is the series leader after four races at 138.1.

Top Five-Rated Raybestos Rookies In the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series

Driver	Rating	Rookie Pts.	Overall Pts.
Erik Darnell	90.3	1st	6th
Joey Miller	78.0	4th	21st
Bobby East	75.3	9th	31st
Kyle Krisiloff	66.0	2nd	18th
Aric Almirola	63.4	3rd	20th

Fast Facts

What: Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers Ram Tough 200 (Race 5 of 25).
Where: Gateway International Raceway.
When: 8:15 p.m. ET Saturday, April 29.
Track layout: 1.25-mile paved oval.
Race length: 200 miles/160 laps.
Posted awards: $596,350.
TV: SPEED Channel, 8:15 p.m. ET.
Radio: MRN, XM Satellite.
2005 winner: Ted Musgrave.
2005 polesitter: Ted Musgrave

Top 10 drivers: 1. Mark Martin, 720. 2. Ted Musgrave, 665. 3. Todd Bodine, 662. 4. David Reutimann, 576. 5. David Starr, 556. 6. Erik Darnell, 552. 7. Jack Sprague, 544. 8. Mike Bliss, 544. 9. Dennis Setzer, 531. 10. Rick Crawford, 508.

Pre-race schedule (all times local): Saturday - Practice 9:05 a.m. - 10:05 a.m.. Rookie Practice 10:30 a.m. - 11 a.m. Final Practice 11 a.m. to 12 noon. Qualifying 4 p.m. Trucks impounded after qualifying.