Wauters Motorsports, with veteran crew chief turned team owner Richie Wauters, head to the historic Daytona International Speedway with Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender Paulie Harraka for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season opener on Friday, February 24, 2012.Paulie Harraka, a Duke University senior and former champion in NASCAR’s Whelen All-American Series, will make his first start in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series at Daytona International Speedway piloting the #5 Ford F-150 in the NEXTERA Energy Resources 250. Harraka made his first start on the 2.5-mile superspeedway in the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards on February 18th (start 36 finish 26). Harraka was running in the eighth-place position with five-laps remaining and was spun, but recovered to finish the race. Harraka competed on the road course at Daytona in go-karts, winning twice in 2004. Although this is the first race for the #5 Wauters Motorsports team, owner Richie Wauters, has a vast amount of experience at the famed Daytona International Speedway in his tenure as a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series crew chief. Wauters has six previous crew chief starts on the superspeedway with a best finish of second place in 2008 with Kyle Busch, as well as, three top-15 finishes and one start from the pole-position, Kerry Earnhardt, 2005. Harraka has been awarded the rookie of the year title in two NASCAR Series: NASCAR Whelen All American Series and NASCAR Camping World Series West (Now K&N Pro Series West) and hopes to continue the tradition with the 2012 Sonoco Rookie of the Year honors.(Wauters Motorsports PR)(2-21-2012)
