05-30-2007 | TruckSeries.com Report
Mike Bliss celebrates in Pike Peak's victory lane
- Bobby Hamilton Racing along with Dodge Motorsports announced today that 2002 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Champion Mike Bliss will pilot the No. 4 Open Joist Dodge in 11 of the remaining 18 NCTS events, all of which are in conjunction with the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series. Bliss will make his first start for Bobby Hamilton Racing this weekend at Dover. Bliss has 179 previous NCTS starts and visited victory lane 13 times.
on May 19, 2002 enroute to that season's NASCAR
Craftsman Truck Series championship
with Xpress Motorsports.
(Nate Mecha/High Sierra Photo)
- He will be making his third NCTS start at Dover on Friday. In two previous races Bliss has an average starting position of sixth and finishing position of fifth.
- Bliss will attempt triple duty this weekend. He will bid for a starting spot in the NCTS, NBS and the NNCS events.
- Bliss will pilot "Duster" this Friday at Dover. This particular team visited victory lane at Dover in 2004 with Chad Chaffin behind the wheel.
On Driving For Bobby Hamilton Racing: "It is always a lot more fun for a driver to be behind the wheel during a race than to watch it from pit road. So, I like to take advantage of every opportunity I have to gain seat time. This team is coming off a great finish at Mansfield (Ohio) and I look forward to capitalizing on their momentum. Dover is one of my best race tracks. Not really sure why, but I always seem to adapt well to concrete tracks. BHR has also had success there in the past, with winning in 2004. Hopefully, my experience at Dover and their success at the Monster Mile will be a winning combination this weekend."
Marcus Richmond on Working with Two Drivers: "I guess you could say I get the best of both worlds. I am not sure how many 26-year old crew chiefs get the opportunity to work with both a veteran and a rookie. It does provide its challenges, but most of them are before we ever get to the race track. Setting up the truck for a different driver each week and switching out seats can make things a little hectic, but everyone has adapted really well. Bliss has a lot of experience and I look forward for the chance to learn from him."