Camping World Truck Series owner Billy Ballew hopes to run Michael Waltrip and Aric Almirola for the series championship he’s chased since 2002. Ballew said he and Waltrip have talked at length about their options.”Basically we were talking about the first five [races] to see if we were successful and how it worked — that was the goal,” Ballew said. “If we’re really successful in those first five, I feel very confident that [Waltrip] will run ’em all, if we have the funding in place. “That’s my goal, and [Waltrip] hasn’t committed to that, but we’re going to walk here, before we run.” At a Toyota test Thursday at New Smyrna Speedway, Ballew said he’d already figured out a couple puzzle pieces for his two-Tundra team. or one, he’s hired Kevin “Cowboy” Starland, a series veteran with a winning pedigree, as one of his crew chiefs. And he’s discussed air travel arrangements with fellow owner James Finch that will allow Almirola to possibly contest full seasons in both the Truck and Cup series. Almirola recently announced he would run Finch’s #09 car in the Cup Series. “I’d like to think how Aric ran in our trucks helped him get the ride with James, but then again James and I are good friends, he’s been very helpful in everything he’s done [for Ballew] and we talk on a daily basis,” Ballew said. “I pushed for Aric to have that opportunity because we didn’t have a sponsor and I wanted to make sure he was taken care of, was able to race. “We also have an agreement that we can run all the Truck races if we can get the funding and fly back and forth and whatever we have to do to make it work. And that was the whole goal. James is more than willing because Aric’s #1 goal was to run for a Truck championship, provided we have the money. Ballew said it was yet to be determined which crew chief would work with which driver, and despite both trucks being decaled as 51s at the test, “all of our stuff is the same, whether it’s the 15 or the 51.(NASCAR.com) [Past news on Billy Ballew Motorsports 2010 plans is posted on the January News Archive Page.](1-15-2010)
