Casey Kingsland may not have qualified for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race last Friday at Indianapolis Raceway Park, but he obviously made an impression on series officials. Kingsland, a Las Vegas native, will be allowed to attempt to qualify for the Aug. 20 Truck Series race at the steeply banked Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway — an unusual move by the sanctioning body. Drivers with no experience in NASCAR rarely are allowed to race at the half-mile track that is considered one of the toughest to drive on the circuit. “(NASCAR) said they never let any other rookies into Bristol, but he’s had a lot of half-mile experience (in the Mechanix Wear Speed Truck Challenge) and he handled himself well (at IRP) and they said they would go ahead and let him (attempt Bristol) so he could keep making his progression in NASCAR,” Kingsland’s father, Roger, said. Because he did not make the race at IRP, Kingsland would not have been allowed to attempt the Sept. 4 race at the three-quarter-mile Richmond International Raceway — the next race in his five-race audition with MLB Motorsports. If he had not raced at Richmond, Kingsland would not have been allowed to attempt the Sept. 27 truck race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.(Las Vegas Sun)(8-10-2003)
