Category: Truck Series

Mooresville, N.C. (11-06-2010) – When the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series heads to Texas, there’s one thing the competitors count on: chasing Todd Bodine around the race track. Friday night’s race was no exception. Bodine put the Valvoline Tundra out front for 23 of 147 laps and earned his 16th top-five finish of the season when he crossed the start/finish line in fourth-place.

“Our Valvoline Tundra was awesome. The Germain Racing pit crew was awesome. We pitted for four tires and came out in front for the final restart of the race. I chose the outside line for the restart. I figured momentum would carry the Valvoline Tundra to the lead. Instead, I went down into the first turn and even getting up to speed the truck just bottomed out and pushed,” explained Bodine of how the final restart of the race was a preview to the finish results of the 23rd race of the 2010 Truck Series season.

Crew chief Mike Hillman Jr. added some perspective and explained the fourth-place result for the Valvoline Tundra was a fine end to another outstanding trip to Texas Motor Speedway for the No. 30 team of Germain Racing.

“Todd Bodine said it best in his post-race interview with SPEED. Germain Racing did a great job again. Texas is our track. We came here with the Valvoline Tundra and did what we expected to do. We led laps, had a great Toyota Tundra, worked well as a team and we got another top-five finish. It was a good points night and it gives us something to build on heading into Phoenix and Homestead,” said Hillman, who was very proud of performance of the Valvoline Tundra.

Bodine explained to SPEED’s pit road reporter after the Winstar World Casino 350K that the consistency in his results this season is due to the hard work and never give up attitude of the No. 30 Germain Racing team. That consistency has allowed Bodine to score the best statistics of his Truck Series career – 16 top-fives and 19 top-10’s in 23 events to-date.

“I think the consistency just shows how good our guys are and how good (Mike Hillman) Jr. (crew chief) and the team have been getting the truck setup.  I’ve said quite a few times, the first five races we struggled with making the trucks drive good and then went to work and figured it out and since then these Tundra trucks have been driving great. That’s what allows us to keep that consistency. It just shows how good the 30 team really is,” explained Bodine.

Todd Bodine has led the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship standings since the conclusion of race no. 7, in May, at Charlotte Motor Speedway. He has a 230-point margin over second-place and looks to lock in his second series title in the final two weeks.

Next up for Bodine and the No. 30 Germain.com Tundra is Phoenix International Raceway.  Watch qualifying and racing on SPEED at 4:30 and 7:30 PM Eastern on Friday, November 12^th, or tune into the race on your local MRN affiliate.

Follow Germain Racing on Twitter @GermainRacing or on the web at Germainracing.com or become a Facebook fan.

When shopping for your new or used car or truck, head directly to Germain.com to find the perfect vehicle or visit your local Germain dealer in Ohio, Florida, or Arkansas. Germain.com is part of Germain Motor Company, a top-25 automotive retail network with 21 dealerships and more than 60 years of experience.

###

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MAX PAPIS NETS TOP 25 DESPITE FUEL ISSUE
Fort Worth, TX (November 5, 2010) – A week removed from having his day ended prematurely on the count of a negligent move by a fellow driver, ‘Mad’ Max Papis arrived in the Lone Star state looking to rebound.  A week ago in Talladega, Papis piloted the #9 GEICO Toyota Tundra solidly at the front of the field and aimed to achieve the same at Texas Motor Speedway on Friday night.

Papis and the GEICO team quickly took to the 1.5-mile quad-oval and appeared comfortable through the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series’ two practice sessions on Thursday.  The opening session saw the #9 GEICO Tundra 14th on the speed charts, while the final practice session saw Papis as a respectable 19th.

With practice in the books and only qualifying remaining, Papis solidified his position in the field when he qualified the #9 GEICO Tundra 23rd for Friday night’s WinStar World Casino 350K NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race.  He toured the facility in just 30.608 seconds, at a rate of speed of 176.424 miles per hour.

While his teammate, Todd Bodine, is on the verge of winning his second NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship, Papis has his mind set on 2011.  His final races of the 2010 season are preparing him for his own run at the Truck Series championship in 2011.

Cool temperatures and the smell of thousands of campfires blanketed the racetrack on Friday night, as the green flag waved under clear skies. Starting 23rd, Papis quickly jumped to 20th on the opening lap before a Johanna Long spin brought out the event’s first caution flag of the night.  Just one lap into the race, there was no reason for Papis to bring the #9 GEICO Tundra down pit road.

Papis would restart 19th on Lap 5 and ride solidly in the Top 20 before the evening’s second caution flag was displayed on Lap 41.  Just one lap later, Papis traveled down pit road where the Germain Racing pit crew outfitted the #9 GEICO Tundra with four fresh tires, a full tank of fuel and a right rear air pressure adjustment. While Papis entered pit road in the 20th position, the Germain Racing pit crew turned him around in astounding time, sending Mad Max back out onto the racing surface in the 14th position.

The race would once again go green on Lap 49, but just three laps later the caution lights were flashing at Texas Motor Speedway for a crash involving Ron Hornaday, Tayler Malsam and Miguel Paludo.  After just three laps of racing, it was not necessary for the #9 GEICO Tundra to visit pit road.

Papis restarted the race in the 14th position on Lap 60 and by Lap 97 the Gecko was sitting 12th. The #9 GEICO Tundra entered the Top 10 on Lap 98, but the following lap would cause Papis’ demise.

As he exited Turn 4, Papis’ truck appeared to run out of fuel. By the time he entered the front-stretch it was a certainty.  Papis managed to coast around the 1.5-mile quad-oval and make it to pit road where the GEICO Racing pit crew would provide him with the necessary fuel.  Unfortunately, the GEICO Tundra had stalled and because there was no fuel pressure it would take time to build up the pressure.  Once Papis had the truck re-fired, he returned to the race, but he would do so five laps down in the 26th position; a far cry from where he was running in 10th just a few minutes earlier.

Despite the setback, Papis continued to pick up positions and when the checkered flag was displayed, he recorded a 23rd place finish. The final result was clearly not indicative of his performance throughout the evening.

“We had a nice run going tonight in the #9 GEICO Tundra, but the fuel problem really ended it for us,” said a dejected Papis.  “I battled a tight truck all night, but we kept fighting and this GEICO pit crew did a great job of getting me in and out. We’re building for next year, we have a new crew chief and right now everything is looking great.  The things that happened in Talladega last week and then what happened tonight is just misfortune, not mistakes. We’re doing a good job and you will continue to see us be competitive and run up front.”

Papis and the GEICO team will take a week off before traveling to south Florida for the final NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race of the 2010 season.

Papis and the #9 GEICO Toyota Tundra will hit the 1.5-mile oval of Homestead-Miami Speedway for the opening practice session at 5:00 PM (EDT) on Thursday, November 18th.  Qualifying will take place on Friday at 5:05 PM (EDT).

The Ford 200 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race is on Friday, November 19th.  The race will be televised live on SPEED beginning at 7:30 PM (EDT), while the Motor Racing Network (MRN) will carry the live radio broadcast.

To learn more about the GEICO Racing program, please visit: www.geicogarage.com

You can also follow GEICO Racing on Twitter: www.twitter.com/geicoracing

3rd, Kyle Busch 5th, Todd Bodine 8th, Miguel Paludo 9th, Johanna Long 12th, Aric Almirola 14th, Jason White 15th, David Starr 16th, Timothy Peters 17th, Justin Lofton 20th, Tayler Malsam 22nd, Jason Bowles 23rd, Max Papis 24th, Mike Skinner 29th, Butch Miller

KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 Interstate Batteries/Iamsecond.com Toyota Tundra, Kyle Busch Motorsports Starting Position: 3rd How was your qualifying lap? “Everything was good. We’ve had a good day here so far practicing our Interstate Batteries Iamsecond.com Tundra and unfortunately I’m (starting) third right now. Tomorrow I’m hoping not to be second either. I’m looking forward to it. I feel like we have a really good truck for the race. Actually kind of shocked ourselves a little bit qualifying as well as we did. Starting third will be really good for us.” Does your past success at Texas give you confidence going into the race weekend? “It does, it feels good to come out to Texas again. It being cool in the fall time, it’s always fun. I have a great time out here and being able to run the Camping World Truck Series races and running well out here with those. Running the Nationwide Series and going for six (wins) in a row this weekend — really looking forward to that. Hopefully we’ll have a good day on Sunday with our M&M’s Camry and keep it up front. We’re going to try to come out of here with a win and get Norm Miller (chairman, Interstate Batteries) to victory lane on the Cup side.” Have your wins in Texas been different to you? “I’ve raced in five (Truck) races here, I haven’t won them all. It’s all different because I’ve run for Chevrolet, I’ve run for Toyota with Billy (Ballew Motorsports), I’ve run for Toyota now with my own team (Kyle Busch Motorsports). The other thing is Goodyear constantly changes the tire around here, so it’s always good experience for me to come out on Thursday and get some laps on the track, feel out the tire and see what’s going on there. Jason Ratcliff (Nationwide Series crew chief) came over and spent time with us today to get some knowledge on what the tire is going to do, what the cars are doing, what the tracks doing. We’re ready to go for tomorrow. I’m sure Dave (Rogers, Cup Series crew chief) will be paying attention to my Nationwide practices. It’s always like a series off. We’ll have some good knowledge this week. We’re already getting started.” How important is it as a team owner to finish the season off strong and build towards next year? “Right now with what we’re doing. Our main goal is to go out here, we want to win but we know we need to finish strong and finish in front of the 30 truck (Todd Bodine) to try to win the owner’s championship. That right there is going to be a huge task. As long as you are running well, you will be finishing in front of the 30 so you can get the owner’s championship. All our guys back at the shop — that’s all they’ve been fighting for all year. They want to win races and now that they have a chance for a championship, some of them it’s their first championship, others like Rick Ren (general manager), it’s just another level that he’s been at an organization. He hasn’t won a championship as a general manager. He’s teaching all these guys. He used to be the leader and make the decision, well now Eric (Phillips, crew chief) is making a lot of the decisions. It goes around. These guys are pumped about it. We want to build what we can in the last few weeks and show how strong we are and how built this program is and what we’re ready for next year when we get to Daytona.” Will you gamble for a win here or will you keep the points in your mind when making decisions late in the race? “Well, it was probably Kentucky where we were leading the race and (Todd) Bodine spun out and then he came to pit road and he was going to be like two laps short on fuel. In that scenario, if he does that we’ve got to do the same thing because we’re racing the 30 truck. That’s all we’re racing. So, if he comes down pit road and is going to be two laps short and is going to try to stretch it on fuel, we’ve got to play the same strategy. We can’t take our chance of staying out there and waiting for a caution because if the caution comes out then we still have to come to pit road. Those guys are going to stay out and we’re still going to have to pass the guys that didn’t come to pit road. You’ve just got to play it by ear. You’ve got to be smart about it right now and I don’t think you can take too many chances, but the main guy that you watch is the 30 (Todd Bodine).”

TODD BODINE, No. 30 Valvoline Toyota Tundra, Germain Racing Starting Position: 5th How was your truck in qualifying? “It was pretty good. We didn’t know what we were going to qualify at, but it was definitely a good run. You know, old tires are the key. You have to run good and drive good on old tires and it did. Hopefully we’ll have something to race them with. I think we’ll be fine in the race. Like I said, old tires are the key and if you are driving good on old tires and still running fast, then obviously you’re going to be up front and that’s what we’re going to try to do.”

MIGUEL PALUDO, No. 11 Stemco Duraline Toyota Tundra, Red Horse Racing Starting Position: 8th How did your truck handle during practice? “It was pretty good. We worked a lot in both practices and we know that we’ve got a great truck for tomorrow night. I’m looking forward to the race. These guys at Red Horse Racing are doing a great job. That was my best qualifying ever — I don’t know what spot we’re going to end up, but it’s pretty good.”

JOHANNA LONG, No. 20 Panhandle Grading and Paving Toyota Tundra, Panhandle Motorsports Starting Position: 9th

ARIC ALMIROLA, No. 51 Billy Ballew Motorsports Toyota Tundra, Billy Ballew Motorsports Starting Position: 12th Are you happy with your truck? “It was fine and it drove good. This place is pretty easy to qualify at for us. We just go out there and hold it wide open. The truck drove great during practice so we’ll see what we’ve got for the race.”

JASON WHITE, No. 23 GunBroker.com/RMEF Toyota Tundra, Gun Broker Racing Starting Position: 14th How is your truck after Friday’s practices and qualifying? “It was pretty good in race runs. Didn’t qualify as well as we wanted to. It’ll be alright, we’ll get them in the race. It’s pretty cool to run this Toyota this weekend. It’s our first time on a big track so we’re pretty excited about it. The first time we ran a Toyota we qualified seventh at Martinsville, finished fourth and had a real good shot for the win there. It was definitely a good, positive move and we’re going to do it again here this week and then obviously in Phoenix. It’s been good for our team so we’re looking forward to building it for next year.”

DAVID STARR, No. 81 Zachry Toyota Tundra, Green Light Racing Starting Position: 15th How is your truck at Texas? “Our Toyota Tundra was awesome on the race track. It is what it is, it was wide open, two laps and drove good — it was awesome. We ran the fastest lap since we’ve been here, but didn’t have the speed. It’s frustrating because it drives good and I know it will race good, but as a competitor you want to start in the top -10 and we’re not going to do that. It’s not where you start, it’s where you finish. We believe we have a good truck for the race tomorrow.” Are you happy to be racing in Texas in front of a hometown crowd? “It’s awesome, just to be part of the NASCAR family and the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series for as long as I have. Every night I go to bed and count my blessings. To be a Toyota driver, to race in the Truck Series — ever since I was three or four years old, this is what I dreamed about. I don’t complain much, it’s awesome. To be able to race here at Texas — a lot of people that have given me opportunities to be where I’m at today, they love coming to Texas Motor Speedway. Everybody in this state drives pickup trucks and they love truck racing. It’s always fun to come home and race. I’m just glad I’m racing.”

TIMOTHY PETERS, No. 17 Red Horse Racing Toyota Tundra, Red Horse Racing Starting Position: 16th

JUSTIN LOFTON, No. 7 visitPIT.com Toyota Tundra, Red Horse Racing Starting Position: 17th How was your qualifying lap? “It was the same as every mile-and-a-half — wide open. The guys did a great job all of practice to get the No. 7 visitPIT.com Toyota up to speed. It handles real good and we’ll see what we have tomorrow night.”

TAYLER MALSAM, No. 25 Coinstar/HEB Toyota Tundra, Randy Moss Motorsports Starting Position: 20th How was your qualifying lap? “It was about what we expected. Most of the Toyotas here are slow. They Chevy’s have got us beat here just aerodynamically and stuff. We’ve been wide open since we got here. The truck handles good and we’ll just wait for race time to see what happens. I think me and (Mike) Skinner have got really good race trucks, but we’ll find out tomorrow I guess.”

JASON BOWLES, No. 46 Eddie Sharp Racing Toyota Tundra, Eddie Sharp Racing Starting Position: 22nd

MAX PAPIS, No. 9 GEICO Toyota Tundra, Germain Racing Starting Position: 23rd

MIKE SKINNER, No. 5 Exide/International Trucks Toyota Tundra, Randy Moss Motorsports Starting Position: 24th

BUTCH MILLER, No. 07 Zachry/ASI Limited Toyota Tundra, Green Light Racing Starting Position: 29th

Ft. Worth, Tex. (November 4, 2010) – Matt Crafton will start Friday night’s WinStar World Casino 350 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race from the pole after blistering the field in time trials at Texas Motor Speedway on Friday night. Crafton’s fast lap in the No. 88 Menards/McGuire-Nicholas Chevrolet was 29.964 seconds, averaging 180.216 miles per hour. He was the only driver to break the 180 mph barrier during qualifying.

It’s the fourth career pole for Crafton, and his first since winning the pole for this race last year.

Teammate Johnny Sauter will start seventh after turning a lap of 30.129 seconds/179.229 miles per hour in the No. 13 Farmpaint.com/Curb Records Chevrolet.

“It had been a year since we won a pole, but I knew coming here we’d have a great chance to make it happen,” Crafton said. “Whether it’s the 88 truck or the 13 truck, ThorSport Racing has had an awesome intermediate program the over the last few years. Our guys know what it takes to get us around these tracks. We lost what had been our best intermediate truck in a crash here in the spring, but the guys have this truck running every bit as good as the other one. And Texas is definitely a horsepower track and we had a ton of it under the hood tonight. I’d like to thank Mark Smith and everyone at PME for all their hard work to help make this happen.”

With the majority of NCWTS qualifying sessions happening the day of the race, there is one benefit to qualifying the night before: Crafton and the team now have a little time to enjoy their accomplishment.

“At least we get a night to enjoy it,” Crafton said. “But the big thing is for us to come back here tomorrow and end up first again tomorrow night. We’ve proved that we can be fast for one lap, now we have to be fast for 147 laps. We aren’t going to go out and celebrate like we won the race, but my guys definitely have a little bounce in their step and their heads up high. It never hurts to come back to the track with some momentum and we’ll surely have that tomorrow when it’s time to race.”

Crafton will be looking to extend his consecutive top-ten finishes streak to 14 straight, and he has an idea on the perfect way to do it.

“We aren’t looking at this weekend as a chance to make it 14 straight top tens, we’re looking at it as a chance to get a win,” he said. “If we end up in victory lane, that streak continues on and takes care of itself.”

Sauter, who has also won a pole at Texas in June 2009 driving for ThorSport Racing, is cautiously optimistic about his chances for victory tomorrow night.

“We have an awesome truck for tomorrow,” Sauter said. “This is our favorite truck and it drove just like we expected it to. We’d like to be up where Matt is right now, but tomorrow is when it counts for us. For us it’s not about where you start, it’s where you finish and we really think we’ve got a good chance to go fight for the win.”

The WinStar World Casino 350 will be broadcast live on SPEED starting with a 30-minute pre-race show starting at 8:30 PM Eastern. The race can also be heard live on select affiliates of the MRN Radio Network and on Sirius NASCAR Radio Channel 128.

MOORESVILLE, N.C.(November 2, 2010) – Red Horse Racing is pleased to announce the addition of Miguel Paludo to its stable of drivers in the 2010 Camping World Truck Series season. Paludo will pilot the #11 Stemco Toyota Tundra at Texas Motor Speedway and Homestead-Miami Speedway.

The Brazilian driver has participated in several racing series during the 2010 season. Paludo has two NASCAR Camping World Truck Series starts under his belt. His first start came at Bristol Motor Speedway where he started 23rd and raced his way to a ninth place finish. He also ran Kentucky Speedway where he started 21st and finished 20th. Paludo competed in nine NASCAR K&N Pro Series East events. He earned one top-five and two top-10 finishes. He also ran one ARCA RE/Max event at Kansas Speedway where he started 18th and finished 18th.

Stemco will provide primary sponsorship for the #11 Toyota Tundra. Stemco, standing for Specialized Truck Equipment Manufacturing Company, was established on March 1, 1951, by Ben Cook and Tom Davidson in St. Charles, Missouri. The first two products the company made were mufflers and oil reservoirs for trucks. Stemco later became involved in the manufacture of dual wheel adapters, hubo hose carriers, drum check gauges, exhaust accessories, and the development of the Stemco Hub Oil Seal and Hub Cap, and pinion seals. With a half million mile warranty, the highest in the industry, Stemco’s hubodometer now commands a majority share of the North American market and is acknowledged as the best in the world. Stemco expanded internationally to Europe, Australia and Canada. Stemco Canada is the largest Stemco unit outside the United States and dominates the hub-seal market in that country. Today, Stemco products are shipped directly to a large number of countries on six continents. Distributors, vehicle and axle manufacturers in Latin America, Japan, Southeast Asia, South Africa, and the Middle East sell Stemco products to truck fleets in these international markets. Over its 50-year history, Stemco has created and nurtured a worldwide reputation for quality products. Its people are known as the key ingredient in the company’s success and a major reason why Stemco products are used by truckers in many parts of the world.

“I feel very fortunate to have this opportunity with Red Horse Racing,” said Paludo. “I tested with RHR in January at New Symrna and I’m glad to be back with them this season. I’m looking forward to racing at both Texas Motor Speedway and Homestead-Miami Speedway. With each lap I’m learning more and more and that is helping me prepare for next year. I also want to thank Stemco for their continued support.”

“ I have watched Miguel with great interest as he has developed his stock car career in the United States and his talent has made it a seamless transition, commented Red Horse Racing owner Tom DeLoach. “I continue to be impressed with his performance. He tested with us at the beginning of the year and we are glad to have him back at Red Horse Racing.”

Veteran crew chief Rick Gay will call the shots for the #11 Red Horse Racing team at both Texas Motor Speedway and Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Bodine Leads Truck Series Championship Battle by 216-point margin

Has Earned Four Wins this season, 21 in his Truck Series Career

Germain Racing has 22 Truck Series Victories and Nine Pole Awards

November 2, 2010 (Mooresville, N.C.) – Texas Motor Speedway is set to host its second NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race of the season, and Germain Racing is one Truck Series team that can’t wait to unload their hauler at the Fort Worth, TX, facility. Germain Racing has earned wins at Texas in six of seven seasons, including a sweep in 2007 for a total of seven trips to Texas’s victory lane. In addition, the team has two pole awards. Germain Racing’s Todd Bodine has a 50% chance of steering the No. 30 Valvoline Tundra into Victory Lane on Friday night based on his Texas record of six wins in 12 NCWTS races.

“We appreciate Valvoline coming on board in time for our race at Texas in June and we were happy to get a win for them. We hope to get another one on Friday night with the Valvoline Tundra. Valvoline has been an incredible sponsor and ambassador for our sport for a lot of years and we’re proud to represent them,” said Bodine, who led 106 of 169 laps at Texas in June and has led 305 of the 1845 laps he has completed at TMS.

Crew chief Mike Hillman Jr. likes the team’s chances any time they head to Texas, but with this particular race truck, Chassis TRD-131, he is extra confident.

“When we put this race truck on the track for the first time in Nashville this spring, we knew we had a special Tundra. What makes it great is that it responds consistently to whatever chassis setup we throw at it. We’ve won three races with this truck this year, including in June at Texas. We’ll try our best to sweep the Texas races with the Valvoline Tundra on Friday night,” said Hillman.

Texas Motor Speedway fits into the ‘intermediate’ race track category. It’s a track that’s one and a half miles in length, it’s D-shaped, and it’s got a fair amount of banking (24 degrees in the corners and 5 degrees on the straightaways. But of the intermediate tracks, it’s the one that Bodine has been the most successful with and he’s not sure how to explain why.

“Texas Motor Speedway is a track that suits my style, and we’ve always had great Tundra race trucks there which makes it easy to go fast,” said Bodine, who says the team sticks to their weekly plan when they arrive in Fort Worth, despite their outstanding performance record there. “We go to Texas and do our deal like we do every time, every race, it doesn’t matter where it is, we just go. We get the truck driving as best as we can, as fast as we can and we race to win.”

Watch Bodine the No. 30 Valvoline Tundra continue on their mission to secure the second Truck Series title for Germain Racing and Toyota on Friday, November 5th, at Texas Motor Speedway. You can watch the action on SPEED beginning 8:30 PM Eastern on Friday night. If you won’t be by a TV, set your DVR, and tune your radio dial to your local MRN affiliate. Follow Germain Racing on Twitter @GermainRacing or on the web at Germainracing.com or become a Facebook fan.

About Valvoline: Valvoline, a brand of Ashland Inc. (NYSE: ASH), has been serving American motorists longer than any other motor oil. The Valvoline family of products includes Eagle One® appearance products, Car Brite® car restoration products, Zerex® antifreeze, SynPower® performance products and MaxLife® products created for higher-mileage engines. With more than 850 locations throughout the United States, Valvoline Instant Oil Change® is a leader in serving the quick lube market.