Willie Allen has spent the past month looking for a new NASCAR ride for the start of the coming season. It was the last thing the Hickman County resident expected during the racing offseason after his 2007 campaign. Allen was 15th in the Craftsman Truck standings and was named the series’ rookie of the year. But any perception of job security ended in December when Thorsport Racing dropped him as its driver of the #13 truck and replaced him with 22-year-old Shelby Howard of Greenwood, Ind. “It was a big shock to me,” Allen said. “We had success. We achieved goals we had set. “But that’s racing, I guess.” Allen, 27, said he has been working on signing a one-race deal for the Feb. 16 Nationwide season opener at Daytona. An announcement on a deal could come as early as next week, he said.(Tennessean)(1-27-2008)
