on Speed Channel’s Inside Nextel Cup Monday, Jeremy Mayfield was interviewed and said he was talking to the #15 Billy Ballew Racing Truck Series team about possibly running a truck at Atlanta for the team in October. Mayfield said he also expects to test for Bill Davis Racing and Toyota for the rest of the season.(Speed Channel’s Inside Nextel Cup)(9-6-2006)
UPDATE: Jeremy Mayfield will get a leg up on the competition before the 2007 UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 on Las Vegas Motor Speedway’s new high banks. Mayfield, who has run every Nextel Cup race held at LVMS, will compete in the Smith’s Las Vegas 350 Craftsman Truck Series race on Saturday, Sept. 23. It will be the first race held at the speedway since the banking in the turns was raised from 12 to 20 degrees and the pit road was moved 275 feet closer to the grandstands. Mayfield will drive the #15 Chevy for Billy Ballew. Ballew is no stranger to Victory Lane in the Truck Series or at LVMS. Shane Hmiel won the 2004 Smith’s Las Vegas 350 driving for Ballew and Las Vegas’ Kyle Busch has won four races in the past two years for Ballew. Tickets for the Smith’s Las Vegas 350 are on sale by calling the speedway at 1-800-644-4444 or logging on to www.lvms.com.(LVMS PR)(9-14-2006)
News & Notes Part I:
At Las Vegas Motor Speedway this week, all bets are off. Or put another way, drivers and crew chiefs can leave any preconceptions about the 1.5-mile track at home before they arrive for Saturday’s Smith’s Las Vegas 350. LVMS hasn’t changed locations. But the track itself has changed dramatically. No longer can it be called a semi-banked or “flat” oval. Banking in the turns has been increased from 12 to 20 degrees with walls raised approximately 15 feet to accommodate the changes. The backstretch, formerly banked three degrees, has been increased to nine degrees – the same as the frontstretch banking. Drivers – and race fans – won’t recognize pit road, which has been moved 275 feet closer to the grandstands. The track surface itself is complete but some of the infield infrastructure remains a work in progress and won’t be completed until the Nextel Cup Series arrives for its March 11 event. Saturday’s race, however, will be a much-awaited preview of competition to come.
What The Drivers Are Saying About Las Vegas Motor Speedway: Mike Skinner (#5 Toyota Tundra Toyota) holds the Las Vegas Motor Speedway one-lap record at 165.230 mph. Odds are excellent the mark won’t last past Saturday’s first qualifier. Three drivers who participated in recent Goodyear Tire tests believe the track will be at least one second faster with speeds well into the 170 mph range. “The track is really good. It’s fast and smooth and the progressive banking they’ve built into the track should be great for racing,” said Todd Bodine (#30 Lumber Liquidators Toyota), the 2005 winner. Said Rick Crawford (#14 Circle Bar Truck Corral Ford), “While there are similarities to other tracks, the new Vegas is one-of-a-kind.” Dennis Setzer (#85 FlexFuel E85 Chevrolet) believes the track could have some of the characteristics of Atlanta Motor Speedway – arguably the most competitive track on the schedule. “I think their hopes are that the racing will be better,” he said. “They want to see faster speeds and we’re definitely going to see that. “The changes have created a pretty awesome track.”
News & Notes Part II:
Gaughan gets hometown workoutBrendan Gaughan (#77 South Point Dodge)…will be both host and competitor this week when the series visits his Las Vegas hometown. He’ll host a driver-media poker tournament at the South Point Resort on Wednesday night with proceeds earmarked for Speedway Children’s Charities. On Thursday morning, he’ll become a commuter of a different sort – driving his race truck from Tropicana to the speedway with a pit stop at the Barbary Coast on the Las Vegas Strip. He’ll hold an open house for fans at his shop adjacent to Turn 1 on Thursday afternoon. Mayfield returns to series…With the team’s semi-regular driver Kyle Busch busy at Dover International Speedway, Jeremy Mayfield will step into Billy Ballew’s 2004 Smith’s Las Vegas 350 winning #15 Chevrolet. Mayfield finished sixth in his only series experience in May 2003 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.
Money milestones on line at LVMS…A victory at Las Vegas Motor Speedway – his first – will make Ron Hornaday Jr. (#33 AES HR Solutions Chevy) the series’ fourth $4 million winner. Mike Bliss (#16 Xpress Motorsports Chevy), like Hornaday a former series champion, becomes the eighth driver to reach $3 million by finishing third or higher. Title chase gets a bit tighter…By historical standards, Bodine’s 124-point lead over Johnny Benson (#23 Toyota Certified Used Vehicles Toyota) isn’t exactly a barn-burner. In fact, it’s the second-widest margin in series history with seven races remaining. Viewed another way, however, Benson’s fourth victory of the year on Saturday at New Hampshire International Speedway chopped a fifth – 30 points – off Bodine’s previous advantage. “It’s going to be a dogfight to the end,” said Bodine, who finished fourth in the New Hampshire 200.
Michel Jourdain Jr. took part in Sunday’s Fiestas Patrias…the largest single-day Hispanic event held in Las Vegas. Sears Craftsman and Las Vegas Motor Speedway will invite 500 VIP guests to experience this week’s Smith’s Las Vegas 350 as a means to increase awareness in the Hispanic community of Craftsman’s involvement in NASCAR. Ticket giveaways in cooperation with Univision, live music and other pre-race activities are planned. Jourdain, from Mexico City, will compete at LVMS in his #50 Roush Racing Ford.
This Week’s Truck Series Leaders Through 18 races of the 25-race season:
Points leader – Todd Bodine (2,784)
Winnings – Todd Bodine
Laps led – Mark Martin (485)
Miles led – Mike Skinner (655.792)
Victories – Johnny Benson, Mark Martin (4)
Budweiser Poles -Mike Skinner (5)
Top-five finishes – Johnny Benson, Todd Bodine (10)
Top-10 finishes – Todd Bodine (14)
Raybestos Rookie Leader – Erik Darnell (39 over Chad McCumbee)
Races led – Todd Bodine, Mike Skinner (9)
Weeks in Top 10 – 3 drivers (18)
Etc:
By starting Saturday’s race in New Hampshire, Terry Cook (#10 Ford Power Stroke Diesel Ford) moved past Joe Ruttman into the sixth position in series winnings. Cook counts $3,142,009 in 233 career appearances Winning crew chief Rick Ren joins Cook’s Dennis Connor as a two-time winner at NHIS. Ren previously won with Raybestos Rookie of the Year candidate Andy Houston in 1998How do you say streaking? Benson counted zero wins in his first 59 series starts and has won four times in his last nine racesChamp Car World Series title contender A.J. Allmendinger (#24 Toyota) finished 13th in his NASCAR Craftsman Truck debut driving a backup truck from shotgun on the 36-truck fieldGaughan had pledged his New Hampshire winnings to Georgetown University but a mid-race accident left the alum 34th worth $7,330. To add insult, the school’s football team lost to Brown University the same afternoonSkinner’s fifth Budweiser Pole of the season was the 1995 champion’s 29th overall breaking a deadlock with Jack Sprague (#60 Con-way Freight Toyota). The two veterans have traded the all-time qualifying record throughout the 2006 seasonDavid Starr (#11 Red Horse Racing Toyota) has gone 42 races since his last DNF – the series’ longest current streak. Starr began the run in March 2005 in Atlanta when the Texan then drove for Spears Motorsports. Bobby Hamilton’s series record is 64 consecutive finishesPeter Shepherd will drive Roush Racing’s #6 Scotts Ford at LVMS.
On The Right Track:
Five winners in the fieldFive former Smith’s Las Vegas 350 winners boasting six victories are expected to compete in Saturday’s race. Sprague won the inaugural event in 1996 and repeated two years later. Hoping to join Sprague as double winners are Ted Musgrave (#9 Team ASE Toyota, 2001), Starr (2002), Gaughan (2003) and Bodine (2005). Three – Bodine, Hornaday and Sprague – already are winners this season. Not a winner at LVMS butHornaday counts two second and two third-place finishes and in 1998 edged Sprague by three points in the series’ closest championship finish. Roush Racing is double winner – just not latelyRoush Racing trucks went to Victory Lane at LVMS in 1997 with Ruttman and Greg Biffle in 1999. The Jack Roush-owned team is the only one to win twice at the track. Two owners got their first wins at Las Vegas – Wayne Spears with Starr in 2002 and Billy Ballew with Shane Hmiel in 2004. The latter’s victory came in the owner’s 100th series start. Skinner seeks third straight Budweiser poleSkinner can become the first series driver to win three consecutive poles at different tracks if he is the fast qualifier for the Smith’s Las Vegas 350.
In The Loop:
You might say look for the usual suspects when picking a winner of the Smith’s Las Vegas 350 – at least by Driver Rating. Defending winner Todd Bodine came oh-so-close to perfection with a rating of 149.4 of a possible 150. Four other veterans had ratings in triple digits – runner-up and ultimate champion Musgrave (123.8), third place Starr (113.1), fourth place Sprague (112.8) and sixth place Skinner (112.9). Bodine’s ultimate ticket to Victory Lane was punched by the following. He was the fastest early in a run at 153.954 and #2 late in a run at 153.911. Where did he get it done? Not on the frontstretch where he ranked 13th. Bodine, however, ranked #1 in speed in all four turns.
Manufacturers’ Championship 2006 Point Standings:
Toyota, 126
Ford, 116
Chevrolet, 88
Toyota, 64
Manufacturer wins at LVMS:
Chevrolet, 4
Dodge, 2
Ford, 2
From The Archives:
The inaugural Smith’s Las Vegas 350 in 1996 had a couple of huge names from the world of motorsports. Indianapolis 500 champion A.J. Foyt made his last Craftsman Truck start at the age of 61 and finished 28th. Former NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series champion Bill Elliott also competed and finished second to Sprague.
Fast Facts:
The Race: Smith’s Las Vegas 350
The Place: Las Vegas Motor Speedway
The Date: Sept. 23, 2006
The Time: 6:15 pm/et
Race Distance: 350 Kilometers (146 laps)
TV: SPEED, 6 pm/et
Track Layout: 1.5-mile oval
Race Purse: $510,234
2005 Winner: Todd Bodine
2005 Pole: Mike Skinner
Schedule: Friday-Optional Practice, 12- 4 p.m. and 5- 8 p.m.; Saturday-Practice, 9-10 a.m. and 10:30-11:30 a.m.; Qualifying, 3:10 p.m.(NASCAR PR)(9-18-2006)
