When Chance 2 driver Martin Truex, Jr. fires up the #8 Chevrolet for the Little Trees 300 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway Friday night, it will rekindle the memories of Evans via the paint scheme. The #8 will be carrying the same color, known as honey mud orange, and scheme that Evens utilized during his 1983 championship campaign. Kevin “Bono” Manion, crew chief, Truex, Jr. and many of the Chance 2 crew members thought it would a fitting tribute to the driver recently voted as the Greatest NASCAR Modified Driver of all time. Evans was an inspiration to many on the team because they also got their starts in racing via the Northeast Modified Series. Evans amazing career included nine NASCAR Modified championships (eight consecutively from 1978 to 1985), three-time track champion at Fulton Speedway and Spencer/Williamson Speedway. The year of 1983 was one of Evan’s most successful in his illustrious career. He started 68 NASCAR races, won 31 and garnered 57 top-fives. His career was tragically cut short trying to earn his 10th championship on October 24, 1985 during a practice session at Martinsville Speedway. He was 44 years old. In 1998, NASCAR named him one of the sport’s 50 Greatest Drivers during their 50th anniversary celebration. Martin Truex Jr. will be making his fourth start for Chance 2 this season, and his first at the 1.5-mile oval of Lowe’s. Manion decided that Truex Jr. needed to test before racing so the team took part in the recent session. After seeing how well the test went and how comfortable Truex, Jr. became with the track, the team decided to put him in the car for this race.(Chance 2 PR)(10-10-2003)
