John Deere 200 marks series’ 100th race with at least one female starter. Terry Cook to become second series driver to log 200 consecutive starts
Veteran Kelly Sutton (# 02 Team Copaxone Chevrolet) and Raybestos Rookie of the Year contender Erin Crocker (# 98 Cheerios Betty Crocker Dodge) will push the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series to a very special century mark this week. Friday’s John Deere 200 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, in which both will participate, marks the 100th time, and 55th consecutive race, in which one or more female drivers have competed. Only one other series has had greater female participation. The NASCAR Busch Series has logged 237 races with a female driver in its 24-plus seasons of 737 races. Sutton, who’ll start her 42nd event, is in her third full season with the series. Her October 2003 start at Phoenix International Raceway marked the beginning of the series’ current, 54-race female driver streak. The 34-year-old Crownsville, Md. driver has the most starts by a female driver and most money won ($350,831). The high point of her NASCAR Craftsman Truck career came in 2005 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway where she finished 15th. “I’ve never viewed myself as a pioneer for women’s racing because so many talented women have already fulfilled that role,” said Sutton. “What I can do is build off their collective legacy to prove that women can be talented drivers and a crucial component for the future of NASCAR.” Sutton admittedly has struggled with a team owned by her father Ed Sutton. “We have a great team but we realize our jobs are made much more difficult due to the limited resources we have in comparison to those of larger teams,” she said. The team has made significant progress in 2006 with the addition of veteran crew chief Gary Showalter. Sutton reached 12th place in the lead draft in the late stages of the season opener at Daytona International Speedway before being sidelined by engine failure. “Describing the ups and downs of my career is a simple task,” said Sutton. “The most important positive came this past off-season when we hired Gary and most the most notable negative is that we didn’t hire him sooner.”
Crocker, the first female driver to win a World of Outlaws sprint car race, is the first female to drive in the series for a Nextel Cup Series-affiliated team. The Wilbraham, Mass. native, who’ll celebrate her 25th birthday on March 23, was tapped as a development driver by Ray Evernham. She comes to the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series with a solid resume in the ARCA RE/MAX Series where she finished in the top five four times and top 10 five times in six appearances for Evernham. Her quick success in a stock car was both positive and negative.”I think being a female definitely adds more pressure,” said Crocker, who finished 27th at Daytona and California. “You are kind of under a microscope. You know if you start wrecking, people definitely take notice right away. The opposite works if you start doing really well. It gets noticed right away. There are definitely a lot of opportunities for women right now.” Crocker recognizes the difficulty of finding Victory Lane in NASCAR but she is undaunted. “It certainly is steep,” she said. “Back when I ran the World of Outlaws, it was steep (too) and I was able to accomplish it in my first year. I know there is a lot for me to learn and as a team we have a lot to improve and grow on but it is possible. “If I didn’t think it was possible I wouldn’t be trying.”
Sutton and Crocker are pursuing a pair of records held by Tammy Jo Kirk, whose finish of 11th at Heartland Park Topeka and start of third at Portland Speedway, both in 1997, are tops for a female driver in the Truck Series.
News & Notes Part II: Cook reaches milestone in Atlanta Friday’s race marks the 200th consecutive start for Terry Cook (# 10 Ford Power Stroke Diesel by International Ford). He’s the second competitor to reach that milestone and is on track to break Rick Crawford’s (# 14 Circle Bar Truck Corral Ford) 209-race record on July 8 at Kentucky Speedway. Ironically, last year’s Kentucky race ended Crawford’s streak due to injuries he incurred in a qualifying accident. Martin looking for win # 3 Only four drivers in NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series history – Mike Skinner (# 5 Toyota Tundra Toyota), Ron Hornaday Jr. (# 33 Kevin Harvick Inc. Chevrolet), Todd Bodine (# 30 Germain Motor Company Toyota) and Greg Biffle – have won three consecutive races. A victory in Friday’s John Deere 200 will add Mark Martin (# 6 Scotts Ford) to membership in the exclusive club.
Count on last-lap theatrics in Atlanta The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series’ three Atlanta races twice have seen official lead changes on the final lap and once on the next-to-last trip around the 1.54-mile superspeedway. Hornaday’s .008-second John Deere 200 win over Bobby Labonte last March remains the series’ third-closest finish and closest on a track of one mile or longer.
ETC. Morgan-Dollar Motorsports has signed Shell Rotella T motor oil for seven events with the sponsor appearing for the first time on Dennis Setzer’s # 85 Chevrolet this week. R3 Motorsports, which fields the # 1 winyourmortgage.com Dodges driven by Raybestos rookie contender Robert Richardson, has named Wayne Setterington crew chief. Setterington, who formerly worked for Evernham Motorsports, replaces Carl Barnes. Steve May has been named interim crew chief for Kerry Earnhardt’s # 13 ThorSport Chevrolet succeeding Shane Tesch. H-T Motorsports for the first time this week will field a Ford F-150 and will alternate between Ford and Dodge as the season progresses depending upon track length and configuration. Steve Park will be behind the wheel of the # 59 Harris Trucking entry at Atlanta. Roush Racing has entered a third truck in the John Deere 200 for David Ragan (# 50 Roush Racing Ford), who’s due to take over Martin’s seat April 1 at Martinsville Speedway. “Fielding a third truck in Atlanta will enable David to run in front of his hometown crowd, friends and family,” said team owner Jack Roush of the Unadilla, Ga. driver. “It will also gain him some additional seat time in preparation for his stint driving the # 6 Scotts Ford F-150. We’re looking forward to getting David a jump-start on his 2006 schedule.” Bobby East (# 21 State Fair Corn Dogs Ford), begins his Raybestos rookie quest this week in the Wood Brothers-JTG Racing truck driven at Daytona and California by Stacy Compton. East is the 2004 U.S. Auto Club national midget champion and Cook’s brother-in-law. Friday’s qualifying session will be broadcast live by SPEED beginning at 5:10 p.m. ET. Crawford is the defending Bud Pole winner turning in a record lap of 182.735 mph a year ago.
On the right track: Atlanta track absolutely suits Hamilton With an average finish of 3.7 based upon runs of first, third and seventh, Bobby Hamilton (# 18 Fastenal Dodge) is the best performing driver to have competed in all three series events at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Skinner has led but hasn’t won Skinner is the only driver to have led all three Atlanta races and is the track’s lap leader by an almost two to one margin over Hamilton. Skinner has paced 119 laps (180.18 miles) to Hamilton’s 62 (94.28). He finished runner-up to Hamilton in March 2004 but was unable to finish higher than 12th a year ago. He was October’s Bud Pole winner. Hometown winner Billy Ballew taps Atlanta third driver October race winner Kyle Busch won’t be aboard Billy Ballew’s # 15 ditech.com/National Land Liquidators/Krud Kutter Chevrolet this week but don’t count out the chances of Raybestos Rookie of the Year contender Kyle Krisiloff. The Atlanta-owned team has entered two different drivers – Busch and Shane Hmiel – in three previous Atlanta events with finishes of first and sixth off a pair of top-five qualifying performances.
In the loop: Toyota drivers Bodine and Johnny Benson (# 23 Toyota Certified Used Vehicles Toyota) headed a number of categories based on NASCAR scoring Loop Data from last year’s pair of races at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Bodine was the leading competitor among closers with eight passes followed by Benson’s six. Bodine logged 80 quality passes while Benson, with a driver rating of 110.3, headed all entered drivers who competed in both races. Hamilton posted the most consecutive laps without being passed – 21. Bill Lester (# 22 Bill Davis Racing Toyota) topped speed charts of drivers expected to participate in the John Deere 200 with a fast lap of 182.667 mph on Oct. 29, 2005.
From the archives: Raybestos rookies David Reutimann (# 17 Team Tundra Toyota) and Robert Huffman made history in March 2004 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Reutimann won the Bud Pole and Huffman grabbed the second starting spot, securing the first all-Raybestos rookie front row in the history of the Craftsman Truck Series.(NASCAR PR)(3-13-2006)
Fast Facts:
What: Atlanta 200 (Race 3 of 25).
Where: Atlanta Motor Speedway
When: 9:15 p.m. ET, Friday, March 17
Track layout: 1.54-mile banked paved speedway
Race length: 200 miles/130 laps
Posted awards: $514,269
TV: SPEED Channel, 9:15 p.m. ET
Radio: MRN, XM Satellite
2005 winner: Ron Hornaday Jr
2005 polesitter: Rick Crawford
Pre-race schedule (all times local): Friday Practice 8:45 a.m. 9:50 a.m. Rookie practice 10:15 a.m. 10:45 a.m. Final practice 11:00 a.m. to 12:05 p.m. Qualifying 5:10 p.m. Trucks impounded after qualifying.(3-6-2006)
