Hauler Drivers Going for the Championship at AMS: The lesser-known drivers of NASCAR Winston Cup teams will again take the wheel – and the spotlight – in a fierce skills competition of their own. International Truck and Engine Corporation is once again calling upon NASCAR Winston Cup race team drivers to exhibit their skills for the second year of the “International Truck Challenge,” a series of timed obstacle courses designed to showcase the talents of NASCAR’s big rig drivers, as well as the powerful trucks they rely on to get them from race to race. The International Truck Challenge is part of the Official Sponsorship agreement International has with NASCAR. The competition is designed to provide the NASCAR tractor-trailer drivers that transport the race teams from track to track, a chance to prove that driving is not only a skill shared by Winston Cup drivers. The course, specifically designed for the International Truck Challenge, demands pinpoint precision and nerves of chrome from race team drivers as they show off their truck-driving prowess in a handsome new International 9400i with a 53-foot trailer, all decked out for the NASCAR season. Testing a variety of tough truck driving skills with two intricate 180-degree turns, two slalom runs, a series of tethered barriers and a simulated loading dock, the competition awards points to drivers for skillfully maneuvering the obstacle course while racing against a clock. Truly brilliant driving is awarded with bonus points, but mistakes result in deductions. The winner of each of this year’s four competitions receives $1,000 and a shot at the end-of-season $25,000 jackpot from International, awarded to the points leader after the season’s final event at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Races in 2002 took place during Winston Cup Series events at Texas Motor Speedway, Fort Worth, Texas/April 6, 2002 (won by Barry Sheppard of the #21 team); Lowe’s Motor Speedway, Charlotte, N.C./May 18, 2002 (won by Carl Long, then of the #85 team, now of the #59 team); and Chicago Motor Speedway, Chicago, Ill./July 13, 2002 (won by Bill “Stumpy” Lewis of the #77 team). On Saturday, Oct 26th, the final race of the 2002 season will be held at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Haven’t see the standings, NASCAR.com used to have a page for it but seems to be gone and not found in a search.(AMS Site) AND from CNNSI, who has a nice section of Hauler driver columns today: Winston Cup hauler drivers usually don’t make the news, but they might this weekend. The fourth and final leg of the International Truck Challenge is scheduled for Saturday at Atlanta Motor Speedway, the site of Sunday’s NAPA 500. Those competing must negotiate an obstacle course to test their skills, among other things, and Bill Lewis, the driver of Jasper Motorsports’ #77 hauler is the man to beat. Lewis — or “Stump,” if you prefer his CB moniker — seized a 10-point lead in July, during the competition’s third round at Chicago. One of the guys he beat that day was Barry Sheppard, last year’s Challenge champion who drives the #21 hauler for the Wood Brothers. Among the people Lewis needs to defeat this week: The #28’s Kelly Stewart, and the #2’s Rodney Pickler. Aside from the obstacle course, all drivers must simulate a loading-dock maneuver and execute pinpoint turns. Cumulative time counts, too, but the biggest thing at stake may be the crowing afterward.(CNNSI)(10-25-2002)
