Jan 2000 CTS Archive
- Bodine to run CTS: Billy Ballew Motorsports announced that they have secured the services of Geoffrey Bodine, who drives the #60 Power Team Chevy in CUP, for the season opening Truck Series race at Daytona and that his son Barry Bodine will compete in the following three races(Homestead, Phoenix and Bakersfield) for the team. The Bodines will drive the #15 Linex/Miccosukee Indian Gaming Ford F-150. Billy Ballew Motorsports is owned by North Georgia automobile dealer Billy Ballew, who recently purchased the team from Black Diamond Motorsports. Billy Ballew Motorsports plans to run the entire 24 race NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series in the year 2000. The Billy Ballew Motorsports Ford F-150 will be sponsored by Linex and Miccosukee Indian Gaming. Linex is the maker of a quality spray on bed liner and they are based in Catersville, GA. Miccosukee Indian Gaming is based in South Florida. The Billy Ballew Motorsports entry has paced the field in pre-season testing at Daytona. For more information on Billy Ballew Motorsports call (770) 592-2858 or (404) 202-8800 For more info see the Jayski CTS Silly Season Site(Team PR)(1-31-2000)
- CTS Team done UPDATE nope: Liberty Racing, a charter team in the CTS with its #98 Ford, has announced it will suspend operations effective Friday due to its inability to obtain a marketing partner for the 2000 truck season, team owner Jim Herrick announced(NOL)(12-30-1999) — UPDATE: Angelo, John and Kenny Martin have bought into Liberty Racing with former owner Jim Herrick still owning a part of and is still involved. Kenny Martin, who ran 15 ARCA events in the last three years, will drive the truck. The team plans to run the full season in the CTS. They are looking for a primary sponsor but have landed a few associated sponsors with Mr. Heater, Granger Materials, and Premier Truck Parts. Brother John Martin is the team manager and Oliver Allen is the crew chief(Winston Cup Scene and Team Sources)(1-29-2000)
- Hornaday III to ARCA UPDATE: TDK Racing, based in Mooresville, NC announced that they have named Ronnie Hornaday III to drive their 1999 Chevys for the full ARCA schedule in 2000. After posting some impressive lap times in mandatory testing at Daytona in December TDK Racing Team Owners David Leiner and Karl Gollnast made it official. Ronnie Hornaday III, 20 years old, is the son of two time NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Champion Ron Hornaday Jr. In December in his first ever visit to the 2.5 mile superspeedway, Hornaday turned in the 5th fastest overall time at 186.297mph. Hornaday III and TDK Racing are set for a full schedule of ARCA Bondo/Mar-Hyde Series racing for 2000 with an eye on Rookie of the Year honors starting with the 37th ARCA Pro2Call 200 on Sunday February 13th(TDK Racing PR)(1-28-2000) — UPDATE: TDK Racing and Ronnie Hornaday III announced that Enginewear, a California based manufacturer of performance clothing for women have agreed to an associate sponsorship agreement for the 2000 ARCA Bondo/Mar-Hyde Series. Ronnie Hornaday III will carry Enginewear on the TDK Racing #97 Chevrolet Monte Carlo as an associate sponsor throughout the 2000 season as he competes for rookie of the year honors(TDK Racing PR/Deese Racing Enterprises)(1-29-2000)
- Barfield News: hearing Ron Barfield will run his own CTS team in up to ten races including the Daytona race. It’ll be the #97 Ford. Barfield is looking for a sponsor for the truck(1-26-2000)
- Nessa Motorsports Testing: Nessa Motorsports and driver Eddie Provence have just returned from a weekend test session in Altus, OK. The ½ mile paved track is similar to many tracks run on the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series circuit. Their Ford F150 performed flawlessly through out the 75-lap test. Track record for the track is 17.20 seconds and Eddie was turning in laps in the 19.0-second range. Nessa Motorsports will compete in the ARCA series and up to seven events in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series for 2000 in a 1999 Ford truck. The first race will be Bakersfield, CA in March. In 2001, Eddie would like to compete full time in CTS with his aim at Rookie of the Year. Nessa Motorsports is still in search of a primary sponsor for both series(motorsport.com)(1-26-2000)
- Starr News: After completing his first full-season in the CTS, David Starr was hoping that his on-track performance would lead to being hired by a top team for the upcoming season. Unfortunately, life doesn’t always work out as planned. At this point, Starr is looking at implementing “Plan B.” This consists of making several starts in the CTS, BGN, and Winston West, but not a full-season in any of the three series. Plans are for Starr to run six Truck races for Team Texas Racing, up to 10 races in the BGN, and three or four Winston West events. Like last season, Starr is working with a start-up team in the CTS. Though this is their first effort to field a truck, Team Texas Racing has previously prepared cars for Starr in the Winston West Series. The team is owned by Mike Starr and will run a Chevrolet Silverado. NASCAR has not yet assigned the team a number, nor do they have a primary sponsor. Starr also plans to make some Busch Grand National starts for Wayne Day, owner of the #16 Pontiac Grand Prix sponsored by 31W Installations. The team has already tested at Talladega, though Day was not satisfied with the performance. The Goodlettsville, TN., based team will participate in the BGN test session at Daytona and will then try to qualify for the NAPA Auto Parts 300 at Daytona. Though he has not made an official start, the 32-year old driver has Busch experience as a crewmember and test-driver back in 1994 under the guidance of Donnie Allison with the Premier Sports Marketing-Roy Payne Race Team. Finally, Starr will make some limited Winston West Series appearances in the Team Texas Racing Chevrolet Monte Carlo. Though he has run just four Winston West events in his career, Starr has already made an impact by posting one top-5 start, two top-10 starts, and a top-10 finish(David Starr Site)(1-25-2000)
- Truck Team News: Rich Woodland and team are currently getting ready to start their 2000 season in Daytona at the innaugeral CTS race. Although the team is currently without a primary sponsor, they plan to compete in at least five truck races and up to ten ARCA series races during the 2000 season. Their first truck race at Daytona will where the team tested well a few weeks ago. Woodland will drive the #6 Chevy truck in the CTS. The first ARCA race of the season will be on May at Lowe’s Motor Speedway(Rich Woodland Site)(1-25-2000)
- MB Motorsports News: Progressive Youth Center (PYC) is proud to announce a major collaboration between the agency and MB Motorsports NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Team. MB Motorsports has joined with PYC as a major participant in SportsLink St. Louis, one of the agency’s new programs, to be kicked off in Spring 2000. Patterned after the successful SportsBridge Program in California, the goal of Sports-Link St. Louis is to use a high interest area such as sports to help young women reach their full potential through prevention of at-risk behaviors (teen pregnancy, substance abuse, dropping out of school) and through preparation for future leadership. Through mentoring, sports, and PYC’s After School Program curriculum, SportsLink seeks to empower young people to believe in themselves and to strive toward their full potential. CTS Driver Jamie McMurray, of Joplin, Mo., will be a major spokesperson for the SportsLink program and for Progressive Youth Center. With 15 years of experience to his credit, this 23-year-old seasoned driver has spent the majority of his life focusing on a racing career. After a very successful karting career – including being handpicked to represent the US on an 11-member racing team in the USSR in 1989, and bringing home the trophy – McMurray then joined the Winston Racing Series in 1994. At the age of 17, he totaled 14 wins and 26 top five finishes in just two years. In 1997, he won the first 75-lap feature race he entered, and defeated five-time national champ Larry Phillips for the Winston Racing Series Points Championship. In 1998, he entered five events in the NASCAR RE/MAX Challenge Series with two top ten finishes, one top five, and was fast qualifier winning the Bud Pole Award. After joining the ranks of the CTS for five races in 1999, McMurray quickly proved himself and was hired to drive the MB Motorsports #26 Ford full-time in the 2000 season, and is a strong contender for Rookie of the Year. Mike Mittler, MB Motorsports owner, started the team through his family business, Mittler Brother Machine and Tool. Since the inaugural season for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and MB Motorsports in 1995, Mittler and his organization continue to build a winning team. Progressive Youth Center is looking forward to the upcoming year and to this exciting collaboration with MB Motorsports. In addition to supporting PYC’s programs, MB Motorsports will be a major sponsor of PYC’s Second Annual World of Children Awards Banquet on April 8, and of PYC’s first Golf Tournament in August 2000. For more information on Progressive Youth Center’s programs, call Lisa Martini at (314) 993-3566, or for information on MB Motorsports, call Steve Miller at (314) 421-4436, ext. 16.(PR)(1-25-2000)
- Powers Motorsports News: #5 Powers Motorsports announced that they will attempt to compete for the rookie of the year honors on the craftsman truck series in 2000. Bill Richardson will furnish motors that will be built in the Powers Motorsports shops. Richardson who has built Chrysler race engines for over 25 years is part owner in the team and will also supply motors for at least one other team. Powers Motorsports will field Dodge trucks with backing from Mindspring Internet services as an associate sponsor. A full time sponsor search is now in progress. The team has recently hired Mike Hammerle as acting crew chief for the team. Team Owners Bill Richardson & Tom Powers have purchased another truck for Daytona and have just returned from testing at the track. Powers Motorsports R.A.M. Racing Engines will supply at least 1 or 2 other teams Dodge engines for the upcoming year. The team is now conducting a sponsor search that will allow the team enough funds to compete for rookie of the year honors(Powers PR)(1-25-2000)
- New Team: Jim Murphy of Lefturn Motorsports bought assets and equipment from Jerry Glanville’s Team (#81)/Gloy-Rahal(#55) and Tokin Racing. The team will run up to five events in 2000 with Ricky Sanders driving the #19 Ford. Bucky Gregory is the crew chief. Sponsors for the fives races are TruckTrix.com/Billet Race Products. THe team plans to run Sanders for ROTY in 2001 unless a full sponsor is found then Sanders will run additional races in the 2000 CTS season(Team PR)(1-25-2000)
- New CTS Team: #53 NACAR Craftsman Truck Rookie Randy Briggs, a 34 year old Kansas City Kansas native, will be driving the Joe Jenkins III owned Craftsman truck for a limited schedule in the 2000 season. During the 1999 season Briggs attempted to hold down a full-time postion with the Jack Roush’s marketing department as a mechanic and show car driver, while driving the #53 Craftsman truck part-time. Briggs a veteran driver of midwest short tracks recently made the decision to return to his home town to pursue his CTS driving career as a full-time profession. In order to make this opportunity possible, Briggs reluctantly left his postion with Roush Racing feeling that the experience and knowledge gained while working there will be a great asset to the sponser’s, team and his career. The team name and sponser will be announced in the near future(Team PR)(1-25-2000)
- Restrictor Plates at Daytona? UPDATE: Supposedly NASCAR is not happy that the trucks are going faster then the Cup car and are considering requiring a restrictor plate for next months race there. TNN reports that the alleged-plan is to put a 1.25-inch plate on the Truck engines. Dodge does not have a restrictor plate engine program in place (as of yet) and it could rerally hurt those teams. See the full TNN Motorsports story at: The Buzz Says a Plate is Definitely in the Works(1-20-2000) — UPDATE: NASCAR officials have denied rumors that they would force teams running in the inaugural Truck Series race at Daytona to use restrictor plates on their motors(goRacing)(1-24-2000)
- Stefanik has a ride: 1999 CTS ROTY Mike Stefanik has signed on to drive the #90 Coyne Textile Services Chevy’s in the BGN series for owners Fred Maggio and Gene Adragna in 17 of the 32 BGN race in 2000. Stefanik won the NASCAR Featherlite Modified Series championship in 1989, 1991, 1997 and 1998, and the NASCAR Busch North Series championship in 1997 and 1998, before running in the CTS for the #66 team in 1999. The team will run at small and intermidate tracks. Former SABCO crew chief, Corey Stott, will be the crew chief of the team(Providence Journal-Bulletin)(1-20-2000)
- Daytona Testing: #15-Bobby Gill was the fastest with a speed of 190.267mph. See the full run down of speeds at Racin’ Network – day one and day two and at NASCAR Online(1-16-2000)
- Shepherd in CTS: Morgan Shepherd will drive the #7 Chevy truck owned by John Conely at Daytona and Homestead. The team is looking for sponsors to help run entire 2000 schedule(1-11-2000)
- New Truck Team UPDATE: Team Rensi Motorsports plans to run a full CTS season in the #16 Chevy Truck starting at Daytona with veteran CTS driver Jimmy Hensley driving the truck at Daytona. Team owners Ed and Sam Rensi have bought seven Chevrolet Silverado trucks from DEI. The team may possibly even use African American driver Bill Lester in some events. The team is looking for sponsorship for the team. Veteran crew chief Troy Selberg, who has been with Team Rensi Motorsports for two weeks will serve as general manager of the overall racing operation(NOL)(12-29-1999) — UPDATE: RPM2Nite reported Hensley will drive the truck for the 2000 season(1-3-2000)
Born On Date is January 23, 2000
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