Being a Raybestos Rookie of the Year candidate in the Truck Series means, among other things, that you’re going to visit a lot of tracks you’ve never before seen. That won’t be the case this week when two freshman drivers – Bobby East (#21 State Fair Corn Dogs/Edy’s Dibs Ford) and Boston Reid (#25 Rain Out Roofing Dodge) – finally get what amounts to a home game. East, a former U.S. Auto Club National Midget champion and fellow open-wheel graduate Reid previously called the Indianapolis area home. Each has turned hundreds of laps at O’Reilly Raceway Park, a .686-mile paved oval hosting Friday’s Power Stroke Diesel by Ford and International 200. Their racing equipment may be a bit different – twice as heavy in most cases – but home is home. For a change, each will have plenty of partisans in ORP’s grandstands.
This won’t be Reid’s first NASCAR race at the track, formerly known as Indianapolis Raceway Park. He competed in last year’s Busch Series Kroger 250 that follows the trucks on Saturday night. Reid drove a Hendrick Motorsports entry but what he believed would be a top-20 effort was derailed by a mid-race spin. Regardless, Reid is pleased to return to the Hoosier State. On Saturday in his hometown, Reid participated in a charity auction benefiting the Victory Junction Gang camp. His cousin, Chris Reid, is sponsoring the Woodard Racing team this week and has rented a suite at ORP. East won a USAC Silver Crown race at the track in 2005 and in a sprint car the season before. His father, Bob East, a premier open-wheel car builder, manufactures the BEAST chassis in a plant near the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Reid and East will have to overcome some Indianapolis history despite their knowledge of the track’s asphalt. Open-wheel drivers frequently have struggled. Carl Edwards won in 2003 but USAC Silver Crown and NASCAR Craftsman Truck champion Mike Bliss (#16 Xpress Motorsports Chevy) has yet to find the key to unlock the gates to ORP’s Victory Lane.
Bliss has two top-five finishes including a third in 1995. “The only way I can describe it is to say that it is different. It is hard to take what you learn from driving a 1,000-1,500 pound Silver Crown car, and apply that to driving a 3,400 vehicle,” said Bliss. Bliss admits to over-analyzing the track and suggests his open-wheel mates treat ORP as any other short track. “Thinking about how you should be getting through the corners and where you need to turn was always something that messed me up,” he said. “What I have to do is just let the truck show me what I need to do, and then adjust on things from there, and also just do what feels comfortable, without putting the truck in the wall of course.”
News & Notes Part II:
Series visits short track for fourth time in ’06Three drivers – Dennis Setzer (#85 FlexFuel E85 Chevy), Ron Hornaday Jr. (#33 Kevin Harvick Inc. Chevyt) and Jack Sprague (#60 Con-way Freight Toyota) – are winners on the “bullrings” in 2006. They count a combined 29 short track victories. Only one series driver, Mike Skinner (#5 Toyota Tundra Toyota), has managed to win twice in the past 11 short track visits dating to October 2003 at Martinsville Speedway. Skinner went to Victory Lane last August at Bristol Motor Speedway and won the next event at Richmond International Raceway.
Up-front the place to be at ORPThere have been 11 races at O’Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis and none of the 11 winners have started worse than fifth. The winner has come from the front row on six occasions with the pole starter taking the checkered flag five times. The last pole starter to win the race was Setzer in 2005 when qualifying was canceled due to inclement weather and the field was set via the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Rule Book. Skinner, Terry Cook (#10 Ford Power Stroke Diesel by International Ford) and Joe Ruttman also won from the pole.
SPEED expands NASCAR Craftsman Truck coverageSPEED has expanded its live coverage of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. Beginning at 8 p.m. ET Friday, this new pre-race show will open the Power Stroke Diesel 200 broadcast by delving into the behind-the-scenes stories and unique personalities that make up the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. Veteran reporter Ray Dunlap will host the 45-minute show, taking viewers up to green-flag action. Bob Dillner and Krista Voda will scour the pits for an inside line on what’s happening in the garage area. The show also will provide in-depth interviews, racing highlights and interesting features in and around the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.
This Week’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Leadersthrough 14 races of the 25-race season:
Points leader – Todd Bodine (2,161)
Money won – Todd Bodine ($440,485)
Laps led – Mark Martin (321)
Miles led – Mark Martin (532.46)
Victories – Todd Bodine, Mark Martin (3)
Budweiser Poles -Mike Skinner (4)
Top-five finishes – Todd Bodine (8)
Top-10 finishes – David Reutimann (11)
Raybestos Rookie Leader – Erik Darnell (29 over Aric Almirola)
Races led – Todd Bodine (8)
Weeks in Top 10 – 4 drivers (14)
Etc:
The Truck Series will use Sunoco unleaded fuel for the first time at Indianapolis Raceway Park and again on Aug. 12 at Nashville Superspeedway. The fuel was introduced to NASCAR competition at last weekend’s NASCAR Busch Series event at Gateway International RacewayFormer NBA veteran and collegiate basketball All-American Rodney Rogers will partner with Key Motorsports and the # 40 Chevrolet’s driver Ryan Moore. Rogers played 12 seasons in the National Basketball Association from 1993 to 2005 after a brilliant collegiate career at Wake Forest University where he earned All-American honors. He played with seven NBA teams, the last being the Philadelphia 76ers during the 2004-05 season. The Durham, N.C. native has been a long-time NASCAR fan and has been a long-time friend of Key Motorsports crew chief Barry Dodson who befriended Rogers during his playing days at Wake Forest. Dodson is an avid supporter of the University’s athletic programDiversified industrial manufacturer Eaton Corporation will be the primary sponsor of the # 59 HT Motorsports Ford driven by Chad Chaffin for the next two races at Indianapolis and Nashville. Eaton is a global company and leading manufacturer of original equipment products, engine valves and lifters. The Eaton Detroit Locker is the only differential used in NASCAR competitionDanny Rollins has been named crew chief at H-T Motorsports. Rollins, who joined the team as a consultant earlier this month, was Bobby Hamilton’s championship crew chief in 2004. He replaces Kevin Cram, who left the team for other opportunitiesSix Indiana drivers will attempt to compete at their “home” track.O’Reilly Raceway Park is one of four tracks to host a NASCAR Craftsman Truck race in all 12 years of the series. The others are Martinsville Speedway, The Milwaukee Mile and Phoenix International Raceway. One hundred eighty-four different competitors have taken the green flag at ORP.
On the right track:
Six ORP winners in this week’s fieldSix Power Stroke Diesel 200 winners – including four of the last five – will compete in this week’s race. A year ago, Setzer led 177 of 200 laps from a pole position start giving Chevrolet its sixth victory at the .686-mile oval. Also entered are Chad Chaffin (#59 Eaton Corporation Ford), the 2004 winner; Cook, 2002 and Sprague, 2001 and 1998 winners. Skinner, back-to-back winner in 1995-96 leading all 250 laps and Hornaday, 1997, round out the winners’ roster. Skinner led the most laps by a winner – 200 in 1996 – while Chaffin headed just the final lap of his victory. Setzer, Crafton consistent finishersTwo active drivers with multiple ORP starts own single-digit finishing averages. Matt Crafton (#88 Menards/Energizer Chevrolet) has averaged a finish of 7.6 in his five races. Setzer, who’ll start his 10th race at the track on Friday, has an average of 8.2 and leads all competitors with seven top-10 finishes.
In the loop:
Dennis Setzer was Mr. Perfection in winning last year’s Power Stroke Diesel 200. Setzer posted a Driver Rating of 150.0 out of a possible score of 150. He turned the fastest lap 52 times – more than a quarter of the 200-lap distance. Setzer’s Chevy was the second fastest truck early in a run and the fastest late in a run.
From the archives:
O’Reilly Raceway Park has been a place where the tough get going. NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champions have won six of 11 races – the most recent being Jack Sprague in 2001 when he notched his record-setting third title. Mike Skinner (1995) also won at ORP in his title year. Eight of 11 competitors finished fifth or better at the track in their championship seasons.(7-31-2006)
Fast Facts:
What: Power Stroke Diesel 200 by Ford and International (Race 15 of 25)
Where: O’Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis
When: 8:45 p.m. ET, Aug. 4
Track layout: .686 -mile paved oval
Race length: 200 laps /137.2 miles
Posted awards: $519,687
TV: SPEED Channel, 8:30 pm/et
Radio: MRN, XM Satellite
2005 winner: Dennis Setzer
2005 polesitter: Dennis Setzer
Pre-race schedule (all times local): Friday-Practice 10 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. Rookie Practice 11:30 a.m. – 12 noon. Final Practice 12 noon – 1 p.m. Qualifying 5:30 p.m. Trucks impounded after qualifying.(7-31-2006)
