Darlington in May with #11-Hamlin
Atlanta in Sept. with #11-Hamlin
Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Oct, with #20-Logano
Martinsville in Oct in the #02-driver TBA
Texas in Nov in the #02-driver TBA
Homestead in Nov in the #02-driver TBA
The PR: The 2009 Sprint Cup Series schedule has been set, and Farm Bureau Insurance Racing is the lead sponsor for six of the races. And like the rest of our Farm Bureau Insurance Racing fans out there, were all ready for race day. Heres what we know: 2009 marks the inaugural race year for the newest addition of the Farm Bureau Insurance Racing team – car #02 (also developed by Joe Gibbs Racing and Toyota Camry). But, as you will see, with this addition comes something of a mystery. Denny Hamlin will chew up the track in the first two races of the season in the #11 car at Darlington on May 9th and Atlanta Motor Speedway on September 6th. Then, in the #20 car, Joey Logano will take the wheel in the Bank of America 500 at Lowes Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina, on October 17th. However, the driver for the #02 car for the rest of the racing season-Martinsville Speedway on October 25th, Texas Motor Speedway on November 8th and Homestead-Miami Speedway on November 22nd-is still being determined. Naturally, our enthusiasm and excitement about who will drive the #02 car is getting the best of us. While it is purely speculative at this point, even some of our Farm Bureau Insurance Racing fans have begun to entertain some theories and questions.
Q: Will Hamlin and Logano simply share the duties, trading off driving the #02?
Q: Will Kyle Busch-who achieved a stunning 1st place win in Texas in the last race of 2008-slide into the #02?
Q: Will Marc Davis-who was recently signed to Joe Gibbs Racing-become the driver for the #02 Farm Bureau Insurance Racing car?
We, of course, dont yet know but we found the theory regarding Marc Davis to be of interest. Marc Davis is Joe Gibbs Racings latest driving prospect. Davis, an 18-year-old African-American from Silver Spring, Maryland, caught the attention of a number of people with his strong showing in the 2006 Limited Late Model and Late Model races at Hickory Motor Speedway in Hickory, North Carolina. After 2006, Davis moved up to the NASCAR Camping World Series East in 2007, and he continued to race at Camping World Series East in 2008, along with select events in the ARCA/REMAX Series. Davis became only the second African-American driver to win at Hickory Motor Speedway, an accomplishment first secured in April 2004 by former Joe Gibbs Racing development driver Chris Bristol. In his own performance, Marc Davis racked up six victories in his rookie season, along with six poles, 17 Top 5 finishes and 20 Top 10. When Davis appeared in the 13-race Camping World East races, Davis showed five Top 5 finishes and seven Top 10 finishes. Like Joey Logano, despite his youth, Davis comes to Joe Gibbs Racing with over 10 years of racing experience, and could very well be a strong candidate for the #02 car in 2009. See more at farmbureauinsuranceracing.com
AND: Marc Davis plans to make his Sprint Cup debut in his family owned #15 Toyota at Infineon Raceway in June, see more on my #15 Team News and Links page.
IMAGES: see images of the cars on my #02 Team Schemes page, #11 Team Schemes page and/or #20 Team Schemes page.(1-19-2009)