It’s been a year since Erik Darnell became Roush Racing’s “Driver X,” the ultimate winner in an on-track competition that drew resumes from several hundred of the nation’s top, young competitors. The prize was a full season in the Craftsman Truck Series and the hope of following Roush truck graduates Greg Biffle and Kurt Busch into the Nextel Cup Series. When Darnell, the current Raybestos Rookie of the Year leader, won the Budweiser Pole at Nashville Superspeedway, he became the third Roush Racing driver to post a fast qualifying time in 2006. He joined Mark Martin (#6 Scotts Ford) and fellow Driver X graduate David Ragan as pole winners. When the season resumes Sept. 16 at New Hampshire International Speedway, Darnell hopes to join Busch as a rookie winner at the 1.058-mile track.
Driving a Roush Racing truck is one of the greatest opportunities for a young driver hoping to make it to the top in NASCAR competition. David Ragan, who is splitting seat time in the Roush #6 Scotts Ford with five-time Craftsman Truck Series winner Mark Martin, knows that his enviable situation carries an upside and a downside. “The pressure of being a Roush driver is just as high as it was during the ‘Gong Show,'” said the 20-year-old Georgia native, who put his Ford F-150 on the pole last month at O’Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis. Ragan, who started the season slowly, has recovered to post top-10 finishes in four of his most recent six appearances.
Key Motorsports Marks Pit With American Flag Flown In Iraq: A 3′ X 5′ American Flag, that was flown from a United States Air Force gun ship during the first combat mission from Balad Air Base, Iraq, has been presented to Key Motorsports and in honor of the #40 Chevrolet driven by Raybestos Rookie of the Year candidate Ryan Moore. Staff Sergeant David W. Goodfriend, the Senior Controller for the 816 Expeditionary Special Operations Group of USAF Maintenance Operations Center, made the presentation. Goodfriend was the bunkmate of current, part-time Key Motorsports tire carrier Colin McGuffin in the Air Force for five years. McGuffin, who left the service in 2004, hails from California while Goodfriend, who has now served four tours of duty in the Middle East, hails from Fort Walton Beach, Fla. The American Flag became the Key Motorsports pit identification marker at Bristol Motor Speedway on Aug. 23 and for the remaining races on the 2006 Craftsman Truck Series season schedule, was flown on the AC130V “Spooky Gunship”, tail #90-0166 on March 2, 2006.
David Reutimann (#17 Team Tundra Toyota) will be doing double duty through most of the remainder of the 2006 season. Reutimann, currently ranked third in series point standings, will attempt to win his first Craftsman Truck Series title. He’ll also be at the wheel of Michael Waltrip’s #99 Aaron’s Dream Machine Chevrolet at tracks on which the trucks and NASCAR Busch Series compete on the same weekend. Reutimann’s goal is two-fold. He wants to win the Craftsman Truck title for owner Darrell Waltrip and at the same time put the car into the top 10 in Busch Series points. The latter team ranked 17th going into last weekend’s event at California Speedway, 123 points out of 10th.
This Week’s Craftsman Truck Series LeadersThrough 17 races of the 25-race season:
Points leader – Todd Bodine (2,624)
Winnings – Todd Bodine ($492,260)
Laps led – Mark Martin (485)
Miles led – Mike Skinner (655.792)
Victories -Mark Martin (4)
Budweiser Poles -Mike Skinner (4)
Top-five finishes – Todd Bodine, David Reutimann (9)
Top-10 finishes – Todd Bodine, David Reutimann (13)
Raybestos Rookie Leader – Erik Darnell (32 over Chad McCumbee)
Races led – Todd Bodine, Mike Skinner (9)
Weeks in Top 10 – 3 drivers (17)
News & Notes Part II:
Totals Are In: Craftsman for a Cure Raises $66,711.83 For ACS, Victory Junction: When ‘Craftsman for a Cure’ was announced earlier this spring, event organizers from Craftsman Motorsports and Bobby Hamilton Racing had no idea what to expect from the first year event. Now, after months of tallying donations and ticket and auction sales, the organizers of ‘Craftsman for a Cure’ announce that $66,711.83 was raised for the American Cancer Society Relay for Life and the Victory Junction Gang Camp. The ‘Craftsman for a Cure’ charity event was spearheaded after former Craftsman Truck Series champion Bobby Hamilton announced that he would get out of his truck during the 2006 season to battle head and neck cancer. Hamilton hopes to be back behind the wheel at the Series’ season finale in Homestead. The charity event gave race fans the opportunity to race go-karts against numerous NASCAR drivers, to dine with drivers and even to get autographs. The support for Hamilton and the ‘Craftsman for a Cure’ began pouring in as soon as the event was announced. In all, 32 drivers from all three NASCAR series volunteered to participate in the fan-driven charity event. Sponsors like Toyota, Chevrolet, Con-way Freight, ASE and Fastenal donated money to the event. Other sponsors, drivers and tracks donated items for a silent auction. “I’m so thankful for the outpouring of support and generosity of each person who has given their free time and money to help such a great cause on our behalf,” Hamilton said. “It means more than most of you will ever know, to know that my extended family will help me fight as well. So thank you from the bottom of my heart for helping this event become of the largest ones out there to help such a tremendous cause.”
Another Crawford
The co-career leader in Craftsman Truck Series starts, Rick Crawford (#14 Circle Bar Truck Corral Ford), is grooming a future racing star – his son Adam. Adam celebrated his 17th birthday Saturday night concurrent with the final race of the Super Late Model season at Mobile (Ala.) International Speedway where he’s the rookie of the year leader in the division. The younger Crawford jumped right into the deep end of the pool, so to speak. Among division regulars is former Cup Series driver Stanley Smith. Father has turned over son to the tutelage of long-time crew chief and confidant Ray Stonkus, a Craftsman Truck Series winner. “While I’m worried about Adam doing well, I don’t have to worry about him with Ray as his crew chief,” he said. “As a dad, I’ll always be proud of Adam for what he accomplishes on the racetrack or off. As a racer, I’ve been impressed with his performance on the track.”
ETC:
Todd Bodine (#30 Lumber Liquidators Toyota) assisted team owner Stephen Germain’s son, Zach, who competed in a Legends car race during the past weekend at Kentucky Speedway. The younger Germain is a 21-year senior at Miami (Ohio) University. … Bodine, Johnny Benson (#23 Toyota Certified Used Vehicles Toyota), Reutimann, Mike Skinner (#5 Toyota Tundra Toyota) and Jack Sprague (#60 Con-way Freight Toyota) attended last week’s national Toyota Dealers Association meeting in San Antonio, Texas. … According to Nielsen Media Research, the Aug. 23 O’Reilly 200 was SPEED’s most watched Craftsman Truck Series event at Bristol Motor Speedway with ratings up 60 percent from the same race a year ago. … Bill Davis Racing has announced that A.J. Allmendinger will be joining the team’s Craftsman Truck Series line-up for two races. Allmendinger, who is currently fighting for the championship on the Champ Car World Series circuit, will drive the #24 Toyota Tundra for BDR at New Hampshire International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway (Oct. 7).(9-5-2006)
