Sept 2000 CTS Archive

  • Setzer to Morgan? UPDATE – announcement: this weeks Winston Cup Scene is reporting that Dennis Setzer is expected to drive for Morgan/Dollar Motorsports in 2001 and will not go to the #1 Ultra Motorsports team. Morgan/Dollar may start a 2nd team for Rob Morgan to drive part time on the ovals(10-13-2000)
    UPDATE: Morgan/Dollar Motorsports will have a press conference announcing a new driver and sponsor to the Morgan/Dollar Motorsports CTS team on Wednesday, November 15 at 11:30am/et at Darlington Raceway. The event will feature key team and manufacturer dignitaries, with a vehicle unveiling of the teams debut at “The Track Too Tough To Tame(Morgan/Dollar Motorsports PR)(11-15-2000)
    UPDATE 2: Morgan/Dollar Motorsports announced the signing of Dennis Setzer as its primary driver for next season’s campaign and also announced the team’s switch to Chevrolet Silverado’s with the addition of sponsorship from Computer Associates International, Inc (www.ca.com), the $6 billion worldwide supplier of eBusiness software solutions. Setzer unites with Winston Cup veteran crew chief Bill Ingle. Ingle has worked in Winston Cup with drivers Darrell Waltrip, Neil Bonnett, Alan Kulwicki and Ricky Rudd will return to the team he took over in Martinsville last season. Acxiom returns as primary sponsor with CA joining the team for the 2001 season. The team also makes a major cosmetic change next season as they change manufactures driving for Chevrolet in the 2001 season. Chevrolet hopes to return to the success that they enjoyed in the first four seasons of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, and are counting on Dennis Setzer and Morgan/Dollar Motorsports to be one of the teams that help them achieve that goal. Setzer will join the team for the first time Wednesday November 15 at the Craftsman Truck Darlington test session(Morgan/Dollar Motorsports PR)(11-15-2000)
  • New Driver: Mardy Lindley, who won the Greenville-Pickens Speedway championship in 1995 and is racing in the United Speed Alliance Racing Hooters ProCup series, hopes to expand his Taylors-based Mappin-Drinkard Motorsports team next season to run the full ProCup series again, plus five NASCAR Craftsman Truck series races as a planned prelude to running the entire Truck circuit in 2002. Lindley, whose team is owned by his father-in-law George Mappin and Greenwood businessman Bob Drinkard, has put together strong building blocks. He has two top mechanics in crew chief Jimmy King, who came over from the All Pro series, and chief mechanic Elvin Rector, a long-time racer with Winston Cup championship connections and a history that includes Harry Gant, David Pearson, Bobby Allison and Darrell Waltrip. Lindley also has significant financial backing in a partnership with former pro football star Herschel Walker(in part from the Greenville News)(9-28-2000)
  • #15 News: Billy Ballew Motorsports announced that they have reached an agreement with driver Preston Tutt to pilot the Billy Ballew Motorsports CTS entry in 2001. Tutt, a 33 year-old native of Augusta, GA., has previously competed in the NASCAR Slim-Jim All-Pro Series and the NASCAR Winston Racing Series. “Preston Tutt is an articulate, dedicated professional who is extremely talented and very capable behind the wheel of a race car,” said Emmett Byrd, General Manager and Co-Owner of Billy Ballew Motorsports. “Preston has proven himself on the track and off, he possesses an overwhelming desire to succeed in the sport that he loves. He is a family-oriented young man that we think can achieve more in the CTS than any African-American driver has previously been able to accomplish.” Billy Ballew Motorsports is currently seeking sponsorship opportunities for Preston Tutt and one other CTS team. Tutt currently resides in Harlem, Ga. with his wife Jennifer and their four children, where he operates his own construction company(Billy Ballew PR)(9-26-2000)
  • Driver Hurt at Dover UPDATE: NASCAR Truck series driver Tom Carey was hurt during an accident on Lap 79 of Friday’s CTS race at Downs. Carey was taken to Kent General Hospital, where he was scheduled for a precautionary CAT scan late Friday and expected to be held overnight for observation. Carey was listed in serious but stable condition and suffered multiple lacerations from his harness. He also suffered several facial cuts(That’s Racin’)(9-22-2000)
    UPDATE: Tom Carey was released from Kent General Hospital Saturday. Carey suffered several facial lacerations and was badly bruised, but the results of a CAT scan he received Friday night were negative(That’s Racin’)(9-23-2000)
  • Busch wins pole but… Kurt Busch won the pole in the #99 Exide Ford truck BUT wrecked in Happy Hour practice and will start the race Friday (4:15pm/et, 8:00pm/et ESPN tape delay) in a backup truck and start from the back of the field(9-21-2000)
  • #73 Crew Chief? hearing former #14 crew chief, Mike Cheek, will be working with the #73 and driver B.A. Wilson at Dover(9-20-2000)
  • Testing: there is an open test at Dover today for the trucks, so far #50-Biffle and #86-Riggs have found the wall(9-20-2000)
  • #21 Sponsor/Charity Auction: EBay Charity Auctions and Donnie Neuenberger announce auction for sponsorship of the eBay NASCAR Craftsman Truck(CTS) #21 Benefiting Big Brothers Big Sisters. Donnie Neuenberger and DGN Racing unveil the new paint scheme for the eBay NASCAR Craftsman Truck #21. The eBay Charity Auction site will offer opportunities to bid for sponsorship spots for the final three races of the 2000 CTS on the eBay truck. A portion of the proceeds will go to support Big Brothers and Big Sisters. This Maryland based race team continues to participate in the CTS on a limited schedule for 2000. Plans include running in the final three (3) CTS races beginning September 22 in Dover, Delaware at Dover Downs. The limited schedule will also include races at Texas Motor Speedway and California Speedway. Donnie Neuenberger made his debut in the CTS in the history making inaugural race of the CTS on February 18, 2000 in Daytona. Donnie Neuenberger finished 9th in this NASCAR history book entry, the Daytona 250, in truck #84. For more information about Donnie Neuenberger and DGN Racing visit our website at www.dgnracing.com. Check out the charity auction with Big Brothers and Big Sisters at www.ebay.com located under Charity Auctions. You can listen from the website to our regular Monday morning show appearance on one of the leading radio stations in Baltimore, Maryland, FM 98ROCK via RealAudio at 9:45 a.m. EST. Donnie also is a Friday morning show regular on KLOL Rock 101 in Houston, TX.(DGN Racing)(9-14-2000)
  • #75 Driver? hearing that Goody’s Dash Series driver Zach Brewer is a candidate for the 2001 #75 Spears CTS ride which Marty Houston will leave at the end of the season(9-14-2000)
  • Houston on the move? hearing that Marty Houston, driver of the #75 Spears Chevy Truck has been told he will not be retained in 2001. Houston will however finish the year out for the team. The team is scheduled to start testing for possible replacements after the conclusion of the season. As far as Houston’s future, he may end up in the…………#60 CAT Rental truck his brother is vacating to move up to the Cup series or go to Team Rensi in a second truck as a teammate to Randy Tolsma(9-13-2000)
  • Hermie’s Plans: Hermie Sadler will be again driving in the CTS as he will race at Dover for Bob Keselowski in a second truck, #29 as at Richmond. After a successful debut (Qual. 3rd/ Fin. 12th.) they decided to run Dover to try attract a sponsor for K Automotive for 2001 as they are losing Mopar and Dennis Setzer. The truck at Dover will be sponsored by HotJobs.com. Sadler is also finishing the season for the #30 Innovative Motorsports team in the BGB, but his plans are undecided for 2001(9-13-2000)
  • Truck Race at Darlington? UPDATE 2: Amid all the speculation of whether Darlington Raceway will lose a race date(Cup), NASCAR’s oldest superspeedway is trying to add another one. Track president Jim Hunter said Monday that Darlington is pursuing a Craftsman Truck Series race for next year, with the lone remaining hurdle being whether the speedway can secure a favorable date. Hunter has offered three possible dates to NASCAR, although he declined to say when those dates are(Charleston Post and Courier)(5-23-2000)
    UPDATE – Truck Race at Darlington: The oldest superspeedway in NASCAR will host the sport’s youngest national circuit beginning next year. Darlington Raceway will host a Craftsman Truck Series event in the spring of 2001, a source close to NASCAR confirmed on Monday. The formal announcement will be made today in a noon press conference at the track. Although Darlington Raceway officials declined to comment, the source said the Truck Series race will be separate from the track’s two 2001 Winston Cup/Grand National weekends. The Truck Series race will likely be paired with an event from the NASCAR Goody’s Dash touring series to comprise a third weekend of racing at the 1.366-mile oval.(Charleston Post and Courier) AND Qualifying for the trucks and NASCAR’s sub-compact series cars will be on Friday, May 11, and the races will be run back-to-back the next afternoon, beginning at 1:00pm/et. If negotiations are successful, the car-crushing Monster trucks — which appeared at Darlington earlier this summer — would perform following the truck race(The State) UPDATE 2: Darlington Raceway will host its first-ever Craftsman Truck Series event the weekend of May 11-12, 2001, giving the track a third major racing weekend for the year, in addition to the two weekends of BGN and Cup activity already a part of the track’s storied history and tradition.The CTS race weekend will also include a NASCAR Goody’s Dash race and, hopefully, Monster Truck races. The weekend will begin with qualifying and practice for both the Goody’s Dash cars and the Craftsman Trucks on Friday, May 11, with a double-header (actually a triple-header including Monster Truck competition) race day on Saturday, May 12. The Goody’s Dash division ran at Darlington in the early 1980s. The Dash Series features six-cylinder cars such as Pontiac Sunfires, Mercuries, and Toyotas. Drivers like the late Davey Allison, Bobby Labonte, Larry Pearson, Michael Waltrip, and Phil Parsons cut their NASCAR racing teeth in this division. Reserved and unreserved tickets are currently on sale for the inaugural event, and may be purchased by calling the Darlington Raceway Ticket Office at (843)395-8499. NASCAR fans can purchase a ticket to North Carolina Speedway’s Winston Cup race on October 22, and a ticket to Darlington’s inaugural CTS race on May 12, 2001 for $100. The special ticket offer will run from Tuesday, September 12 until Sunday, September 24(Darlington Raceway PR)(9-12-2000)
  • #14 Crew Chief Released: Mike Cheek has been released from the #14 Circle Bar Racing team as of Monday, Sept 11th. Cheek had been crew chief of the team since July of 1999, but concerns over performance and cohesion within the team led to the change No replacement has been named as of yet, but an announcement is expected by the end of the week(Circle Bar Racing PR)(9-12-2000)
  • Carelli Wins: don’t usually post results or mention them, but it was great to see Rick Carelli win at Richmond, congrats! Nice for him, his wife and family, the sport and his team(9-8-2000)
  • Tolsma to Roush? UPDATE 4 no, to Rensi: hearing #25 driver, Randy Tolsma, is a candidate for the #50 Roush CTS ride(7-29-2000)
    UPDATE: during the CTS race telecast at Nashville, it was mentioned that Tolsma will be going to Ed Tensi’s CTS operation as part of a two truck effort. Jimmy Hensely currently drives Rensi’s #16 Chevy truck. The announcement is supposedly going to be made at Chicago Motor Speedway when the trucks race there on Aug 27th(8-12-2000)
    UPDATE 2: Team Rensi is expected to announce at Chicago that Randy Tolsma will drive a 2nd Team Rensi truck operation in 2001(Winston Cup Scene Mag)(8-25-2000)
    UPDATE 3: didn’t see anything on an announcement but have heard Tolsma will be in the Rensi #16 truck in 2001, no word on sponsor. Supposedly, current driver of the #16, Jimmy Hensley will not return to the team in 2001(8-29-2000)
    UPDATE 4: Randy Tolsma has signed to drive the #16 Elink Chevy for Team Rensi Motorsports in 2001. His crew chief, Gary Showalter, will go with him.(ESPN2 CTS Race Coverage) no word of Hensley’s 2001 plans(9-8-2000)
  • Truck Race at Darlington? Amid all the speculation of whether Darlington Raceway will lose a race date(Cup), NASCAR’s oldest superspeedway is trying to add another one. Track president Jim Hunter said Monday that Darlington is pursuing a Craftsman Truck Series race for next year, with the lone remaining hurdle being whether the speedway can secure a favorable date. Hunter has offered three possible dates to NASCAR, although he declined to say when those dates are(Charleston Post and Courier)(5-23-2000)
    UPDATE: look for the CTS to get a May or June standalone date at the famed Darlington Raceway in 2001. A likely support series candidate could be the Goody’s Dash series cars.(TNN Motorsports)(9-8-2000)
  • Lester to run the #23: Bill Lester will be driving the #23 Red Line Oil Chevy Craftsman truck at Richmond. The team had one of its better finishes when Lester drove for them at Portland earlier in the season. Lester began racing professionally career in 1989 and is experienced in both road racing and karting. He also has experience in BGN, SCCA Trans-Am and IMSA competition and participated in CART’s African-American driver development program in 1999. Lester has a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the University of California at Berkeley and has taken a leave of absence from his job as a Research and Development Project Manager at Hewlett-Packard Company to pursue his lifelong dream of driving race cars(trucks). Team 23 will also be making some major announcements regarding the team’s future in the next few weeks(Team 23 PR)(9-7-2000)
  • Ultra Motorsports to Dodge?? UPDATE 3 just the trucks: here is a wild one, hearing the Ultra Motorsports #2 CTS team will become a two truck team in 2001 with Dennis Setzer driving the 2nd truck and having Mopar as the sponsor. Supposedly, both CTS teams will switch to Dodge and…get this….the #7 Ultra Motorsports Winston Cup team, with driver Michael Waltrip, may switch to Dodge. Interesting as they are presently switching to Ford from Chevy starting at Talladega for the rest of 2000 and are buying Fords for showcars…plus, the thought was that ten Winston Cup cars/teams were Dodges goal for 2001 and they have reached that(8-28-2000)
    UPDATE: The Ultra Motorsports Truck team will switch to Dodge in 2001, Dennis Setzer is supposedly going to drive the truck unless he moves up to BGN or Cup. The #2 Ultra Motorsports CTS team will switch from Fords to Dodges. Mopar will be the sponsor of Setzers team and Setzer’s crew cheif, Howard Comstock is expected to switch to Ultra Motorsports. Mopar, Setzer and Comstock all were with KMotorsports the last two years. Ok, as for the Cup team? Ultra Motorsports owner, Jim Smith, says that the move to Dodge trucks will not affect his Winston Cup program, which is converting from Chevy to Ford at present and will start running Fords at Talladega in Oct 2000(Winston Cup Scene Print Version)(8-31-2000)
    UPDATE: Dodge Motorsports and Ultra Motorsports announced Thursday they have formed an alliance whose goal is the 2001 CTS championship. Ultra Motorsports, which currently fields the #2 Team ASE Ford for Mike Wallace in the CTS and #7 NationsRent Chevy for Michael Waltrip in the Cup, will field a two-truck Dodge factory-supported team from its race shop in Mooresville, NC. Team ASE will remain as primary sponsor on the #2 truck while Mopar sponsorship and the number “1” will move to the other truck(NOL). No mention of the Cup team changing(9-7-2000)
  • Racers Who Care: A few CTS drivers will arrive early in Richmond for a special visit with the children who attend the Sacred Heart Community Center’s after school program. The event has been coordinated though the efforts of Racers Who Care and Craftsman, sponsor of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. Race drivers and other NASCAR celebrities will visit the Center on Wednesday, Sept. 6, from 3:30 to 5 p.m. Among those slated to participate are NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series regulars Rick Carelli, J.D. Gibbs, Scott Riggs and Randy Tolsma, and ESPN personality Dave Burns. Craftsman will provide an interactive display that features showcars, a racing simulator built into a race truck, and numerous hands-on racing exhibits. Craftsman has also donated 25 Kroger 200 tickets to the center, giving the children an opportunity to experience the thrill of NASCAR racing. Sacred Heart Center is a non-profit community center serving the surrounding neighborhoods of South Richmond, one of the poorest and most violent areas in the city. The mission of the center is to be a source of hope and strength for children and families in need. Sacred Heart executive director Naomi Chambers-Taylor feels the visit by the NASCAR stars will be appreciated by the children. Headquartered in Southern California, Racers Who Care, Inc. is a non-profit organization specializing in the provision of educational and motivational programs by motorsports professionals to various children and youth groups throughout the United States and Canada(Cox Marketing)(9-5-2000)
  • Hermie vs Elliott: Elliott Sadler will drive a Ford F-150 sponsored by Team Ford Racing(www.teamfordracing.com) at Richmond on Thurs, Sept 7th. It will be the start of a very busy “triple-header” weekend for Elliott, as he plans to compete in both the Busch and Winston Cup races that weekend in Richmond as well. Elliott will pilot the #84 Ford Truck, flying the red, white, and blue Team Ford Racing colors and built by Long Brothers Racing of Apex, NC. The Longs, who have run a select number of races in the CTS over the past two years, last fielded the #84 Ford F-150 that was driven to a strong third place finish by Chad Chaffin at Nashville Speedway USA just two races ago. The Wood Brothers will bring crewchief Mike Beam and the crew from the #21 Wood Brothers Citgo Ford Taurus Winston Cup car to cover the pit duties for Elliott in the truck race(Ford Racing PR) AND Hermie Sadler was hired by Bob Keselowski to compete in the Sept. 7 Craftsman Truck Series race. (Times-Dispatch)(9-1-2000)

Born On Date is Oct 14, 2000

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