Veterans and rookies will split rides for Wood Brothers/JTG Racing in the Craftsman Truck Series this year. And the team is still looking for sponsorship to get one of its veterans more seat time. Kelly Bires (19 races) and Mark Martin (6 races) will split time in the team’s #21 truck, while Joey Clanton (16 races) and Stacy Compton (9 races) will split time in the #09 truck, said team co-owner Tad Geschickter “We’re going to run a third truck for Stacy if we can get the funding,” Geschickter said Friday. “We’ve got enough equipment and infrastructure for a third team. We’re working on finding more money for Stacy every day.” Bires and Clanton are testing at Daytona this weekend and will run the season-opening race. Martin and Compton will be in the trucks for California.(Scene Daily)(1-12-2007)
Jackson Hewitt Preseason Thunder:
You Can’t Tell The Players Without A ProgramMany teams will be the same as a year ago but in several cases their numbers won’t. Red Horse Racing will make its third switch in three seasons as series rookie Aaron Fike will carry the #1. The team’s Toyota was #11 in 2006 and #38 in 2005. Other number changes include Darrell Waltrip Motorsports, from #17 to 00; Wood Brothers/JTG, from #20 to 09; Bill Davis Racing, from #22 to 36; Morgan-Dollar Motorsports, from #85 to 47 and MRD Motorsports, from #06 to 8.
Bobby Hamilton Racing Down But Not OutShortly before he died on Jan. 7, the 2004 series champion Bobby Hamilton told his race teams they should move forward regardless of the outcome of his battle with cancer. Both Chase Miller (#4 Dodge) and Ken Schrader (#18 Fastenal Dodge) were among the first drivers on the track Friday. Schrader’s crew chief, Jeff White, said the past few days have been tough and coming to the track “is the best medicine we could have asked for. He would want us to be here and be competitive. I think several of us felt him kicking us in the rear during the first practice. It’s our job to carry on the dream he built for us.” Said Todd Bodine (#30 Lumber Liquidators Toyota), “There’s definitely an empty spot in the garage but he was one of those racers that would kick us all in the butt if we didn’t come down here and have fun and go racing – and go to the bar and just raise a toast for him one more time. That’s what we’re going to do.”
Former Champ Kvapil Glad To Be Back Kvapil’s fast lap of morning single-truck runs of 50.369 seconds/178.681 mph proves the 2003 champion hasn’t missed a beat since last competing in the series in November 2004. Kvapil said a making a few laps – and watching races on SPEED – convinced him there will be no “gimmes.” “The competition is ever-increasing, like any series does,” he said but added the belief that he and teammate Erik Darnell (#99 Northern Tool + Equipment Ford) have as good a truck as any in the garage.
What I Did During My Winter ‘Vacation’Bodine, the 2006 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion,spent just 16 days at home after clinching the title at Homestead-Miami Speedway in mid-November. A week ago, he was among participants in his brother Geoff’s bobsled competition in upstate New York. A longtime Notre Dame football fan and admirer of the team’s coach, Charlie Weis, Bodine found himself rooting for another team – Ohio State – at Monday’s BCS championship game. His team owners, the Germain family, hail from Columbus, Ohio. “They’re actually Ohio State alumni so you’ve got to go with the home team on that one,”said Bodine.(NASCAR PR)(1-12-2007)
