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Tag: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series

  • Kyle Larson ‘Felt Like a Super Star’ With Top Ten Truck Finish

    Kyle Larson ‘Felt Like a Super Star’ With Top Ten Truck Finish

    [media-credit name=”Photo Credit: kylelarsonracing.com” align=”alignright” width=”157″][/media-credit]Making his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series debut in the UNOH 225 at Kentucky Speedway, one young driver just wanted to learn and finish the race.

    But Kyle Larson, behind the wheel of the No. 4 Chip Ganassi Racing Teams Mobile App, finished top ten and simply “felt like a super star.”

    “That was a big surprise,” Larson said. “I didn’t get much practice there so I didn’t really know how I was going to do.”

    “And with me blowing a motor up and not having much practice, as well as being a go or go homer, I didn’t push it too hard in qualifying,” Larson continued. “I just wanted to spend the first part of the race figuring out how the truck handled and how the air moved around.”

    “Once I learned some stuff, I could really race and I could start picking off people,” Larson said. “And then I found myself in the top ten, so I was really excited about it.”

    “I felt like a super star.”

    With a top-ten in his Truck debut, Larson also garnered a fair amount of attention, particularly from the media. But the young driver took it all in stride.

    “I don’t pay too much attention about it,” Larson said. “The spot light’s been on me for quite a while now.”

    “I just try to go out and race because that’s my job and I love doing it,” Larson continued. “I just want to go out and win. And if I keep winning, the spot light will be even better.”

    Although Larson seemingly sprang onto the NASCAR scene, he has been driving since the age of seven. And he has an extremely impressive racing resume.

    “I started racing outlaw karts when I was seven,” Larson said. “They’re 400 pound go karts with 500 cc engines. So, they have way too much power for how much they weigh.”

    “I did that for about seven or eight years and moved into 360 and 410 sprint cars on dirt when I was 14,” Larson continued. “I won a couple races the first two years and my fourth year I won the championship and last year was my first year racing nationally in USAC in all their divisions.”

    “I also ran some outlaw races and I’m the only other driver besides I think Tony Stewart to win in all the open wheel national touring series all in one year,” Larson said. “I swept the four crown last year at Eldora Speedway and I did it my first try. That was cool to do.”

    “Last year I won a lot of big races so last year stands out to me because of that.”

    Larson has also been part of NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity program, running in the K&N Pro Series East under the auspices of Rev Racing. And the young racer credits much of his success so far to that program.

    “It’s helped me a lot,” Larson said. “My mom’s Japanese so that’s how I’m in the diversity program.”

    “I run for Rev Racing and we’ve been pretty good all year,” Larson continued. “We got a win at Gresham a couple weeks ago.”

    “We just got to make the right calls for the race,” Larson said. “That’s our biggest problem we’ve had this year, not keeping up with the race track because it changes so much.”

    “I think if we work on that, we’ll be better and win some more races.”

    While Larson enjoys driving all types of race cars, his favorite being the winged sprint car, he sees himself racing in NASCAR’s highest levels. And ultimately, he would like to own his own race team.

    “Hopefully the route I’m going will take me to the Sprint Cup Series some day,” Larson said. “That’s my goal and that’s what I want to do.”

    “I want to race with Stewart and Gordon and Kahne and all those guys every week,” Larson continued. “And I’d like someday to own my own team like Kahne and Tony do.”

    “That’s my goal is to get to the Sprint Cup Series so I can help young kids coming up.”

    Larson aspires to be like two drivers in the Cup Series currently, but for very different reasons.

    “As far as a driver, I’d like to be like Kyle Busch because he wins, not a whole lot this year, but he’s a talented driver and he always gives 110%,” Larson said. “As far as off the track goes, I think I need to be like Jimmie Johnson.”

    “He’s really good with the fans and really good with the sponsors too,” Larson continued. “I’d like to be a driver like Kyle and like Jimmie off the track.”

    But for now, the young up and comer just hopes he can do some more truck racing, which of course is dependent on sponsorship.

    “Yeah, sponsors mean a lot as far as getting rides,” Larson said. “I’ve been lucky being with Chip Ganassi Racing and he helped out a lot with this year and also with the truck race at Kentucky.”

    “He has been a great help to me and hopefully we can find some more sponsors to get some more races,” Larson continued. “It’s tough to do with the economy being so bad.”

    “They’ve talked about a few more races but it all depends on if we get a sponsor,” Larson said. “If it were up to me, I’d be racing every weekend in that truck.”

    “I had a lot of fun.”

    Larson’s family also had a great time watching him race in his first ever Truck race. Although his parents still live in his native California, they have taken off this summer to watch their son and to enjoy the fruits of their labor.

    “Right now, my mom and dad are with me at these races, hanging out,” Larson said. “My dad just retired so he has some time now to come watch me.”

    “They were really happy after the Truck race,” Larson continued. “My dad’s a crier so he was up in the stands tearing up.”

    “They were really excited and happy that I did good in my first start.”

    For fans who want to get to know the young Larson, he has two surprises to share. The first is his passions off the track and the other is his interesting exercise regimen, or lack thereof.

    “These past few weeks, I raced every day,” Larson said. “I don’t get a lot of free time but when I do, I’m out fishing.”

    “During the winter, I like to go snowboarding when I can,” Larson continued. “I’m not good at it but I like going down the mountain.”

    “I’m also really skinny but I love to eat,” Larson continued. “And no, I don’t work out at all.”

    “I worked out a few times this year with Rev Racing but then I started racing so I didn’t have time,” Larson said. “I don’t get tired though.”

    “That’s what I think people would find surprising about me,” Larson said. “I never get winded. I think it’s just because I stay calm.”

    Finally, the young racer is simply enjoying his time in the sun, especially during his Truck debut.

    “That’s really the first time I’ve ever raced with all that media around,” Larson said. “So that was cool to get interviewed.”

    “I really did feel like a super star.”

     

  • Ron Hornaday: Smooth Transition to Joe Dennette Motorsports, so far

    Ron Hornaday: Smooth Transition to Joe Dennette Motorsports, so far

    [media-credit id=5 align=”alignright” width=”278″][/media-credit]This year marked a year of change for Ron Hornaday as he switched over to Joe Denette Motorsports (JDM) from Kevin Harvick Incorporated (KHI).

    “Joe is a really pumped about his race team, and it’s quite an honor to drive for Joe and his whole family,” Hornaday says. “They are really dedicated to racing. They put two trucks in the Camping World Truck Series, and it’s an honor.”

    Hornaday made the move from KHI to JDM as Kevin Harvick announced that he and wife Delana were closing the team. The change hasn’t been as drastic as anticipated as the trucks are still built in the KHI building.

    “We lease the shop from Kevin and DeLana and got the fabricators and got Mark Smith doing the motors and all the support from Chevrolet,” Hornaday continues. “So it’s been a real honor to drive for him just because with Jeff Hensley and all the guys really getting the trucks prepared right.”

    Hornaday says that Denette has an active part in the team as he is at shop as much as he can be.

    “He’s got the No. 9 on the side for Bill Elliott,” Hornaday adds. “He’s really a big Bill Elliott fan, and he stays not only at the truck races, he stays for the Cup races where he shows up. So his involvement in racing, he wants to be a champion owner someday.”

    So far this season, it hasn’t started out as Hornaday would have planned as he finished 14th at Daytona and 16th at Martinsville to now sit ninth in points.

    “The first two showings haven’t shown how good the truck is,” Hornaday says. “We spun out at Martinsville and came back through the pack a couple times and got a penalty and went to the back about three times and came back through there. If that shows anything what we have this year for the competition.”

    This weekend marks NASCAR’s return to Rockingham Speedway, which last held a NASCAR sanctioned race in 2004. A lot of people are anticipating it to be a great weekend for NASCAR due to the history of the race track. Hornaday backs it up, stating the track has some of the same characteristics despite the repave.

    “It’s still got the little whoop-di-dos on the bottom and the middle groove is pretty smooth and the top groove is really smooth,” he says. “But they still use the asphalt from down there where it still wears the tires out, so you’ve got to really be patient and control your truck for the whole run and figure out how many sets of tires to get in and see what you’ve got for the race and plan that out.

    “It’s still old Rockingham, but it’s got a little narrower now where you can’t run real close to the wall because of the soft wall moving in. So there will be a different groove up there.”

    It will mark the first time Hornaday has a raced a truck on the oval and he says the racing should be exciting.

    “It’s going to put some exciting racing on because with the new tires you’re going to go out there wide open and then in a matter of five or six laps you’re going to start to really feather the throttle and try to save the tires,” he explains.

    Hornaday hopes to have an advantage this weekend having Ted Musgrave as his spotter.

    “He was so good down there,” Hornaday says. “He’ll be down there for the open test day where maybe he can teach me some patience and try to save these tires.”

  • Lap by Lap: Kroger 250 won by Kevin Harvick

    Lap by Lap: Kroger 250 won by Kevin Harvick

    [media-credit name=”Barry Albert” align=”alignleft” width=”300″][/media-credit]Green flag as Kevin Harvick leads the first lap after starting on the pole.

    Lap 2 Harvick leads Ty Dillon and Cale Gale.

    Lap 3 Timothy Peters and Ron Hornaday both pass Gale for third and fourth.

    Lap 4 Justin Lofton passes Gale for fifth

    Lap 5 Dillon takes the lead from Harvick

    Lap 6 Harvick takes the lead back from Dillon while Johnny Sauter passes Gale.

    Lap 8 James Buescher and Matt Crafton pass Gale for seventh and eighth

    Lap 10 Harvick leads Dillon, Peters, Hornaday, Lofton, Sauter, Buescher and Crafton.

    Caution Lap 21 Hornaday get loose and goes for a spin.

    Restart Lap 26 Harvick leads Dillon, Lofton, Peters, Buescher, Sauter, Crafton, Gale, Todd Bodine and Jeb Burton.

    Lap 33 Peters, Buescher and Sauter pass Lofton for third and fourth.

    Lap 37 Peters passes Dillon for second

    Lap 41 Harvick leads Peters, Dillon, Buescher, Sauter, Crafton, Lofton, Gale, Bodine and Parker Kligermann

    Caution Lap 75 Joey Coulter gets into the outside wall after a flat tire. All the leaders take the opportunity to pit. Harvick leads Dillon, Buescher, Peters, Lofton, Sauter, Gale, Kligermann and Bodine off pit road. John King gets the lucky dog.

    Restart Lap 83

    Lap 86 Harvick leads Dillon, Peters, Buescher, Sauter, Lofton, Gale, Kligermann, Bodine and Jason Leftler.

    Lap 92 Caution as J.R. Fitzpatrick goes for a spin as Jeff Agnew collects damage. John Wes Townley gets into Fitzpatrick spinning him, as the chain reaction gives Agnew and Dakota Armstrong damage. Hornaday and Crafton both had to change their batteries already, Paulie Harraka thinking he has an issue.

    Green Flag lap 100 as Harvick leads Dillon and Buescher

    Lap 101 Harraka changes the battery

    Lap 103 Harvick leads Dillon, Peters, Buescher, Sauter, Lofton, Gale, Bodine, Kligermann and Leftler

    Caution Lap 111 Dusty Davis is stopped on the front stretch on the track. Crafton gets the lucky dog.

    Restart Lap 123

    Lap 125 Harvick leads Dillon, Buescher, Peters, Lofton, Sauter, Bodine, Gale, Kligermann and David Starr.

    HALFWAY

    110 to go Bodine passes Sauter for sixth

    103 to go Fire on pit road as Ryan Sieg breaks a rear end gear

    93 to go Nelson Piquet Jr. passes Starr for 10th

    Caution Lap 157 as Starr spins with a flat tire. Hornady gets the lucky dog. Leaders pit…….Harvick leads Dillon, Buescher, Lofton, Bodine, Peters, Gale and Sauter off pit road.

    Restart Lap 164.

    82 to go Harvick leads Dillon, Lofton, Buescher, Peters, Bodine, Sauter, Gale, Ross Chastain and Piquet Jr.

    47 to go Harvick leads Dillon, Buescher, Lofton, Sauter, Peters, Bodine, Gale, Piquet, Chastain

    40 to go Sauter passes Lofton

    26 to go Bodine has a flat tire and a broken sway bar.

    25 to go Leftler possibly has a lot of fluid leaking; Coulter almost into the wall with another flat tire

    Caution 24 to go as David Reuitmann gets into the wall with a flat tire. Harvick leads. Sauter behind the wall with a broken upper control arm.

    Restart 16 to go as Harvick has the lead.

    15 to go Caution as Max Gresham goes for a spin, collecting Jeb Burton, Miguel Paludo and Brennan Newberry

    Restart 6 to go

    Kevin Harvick wins the Kroger 250 over Dillon, Buscher, Lofton, Peters, Piquet Jr., Chastain, Leftler, John King, Jason White

    Unofficial Race Results
    Kroger 250, Martinsville Speedway
    http://www.speedwaymedia.com/Cup/race.php?race=2
    =========================================
    Pos. St. No. Driver Make Points
    =========================================
    1 1 2 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 0
    2 2 3 Ty Dillon * Chevrolet 43
    3 9 31 James Buescher Chevrolet 41
    4 6 6 Justin Lofton Chevrolet 40
    5 3 17 Timothy Peters Toyota 39
    6 16 30 Nelson Piquet Jr. Chevrolet 38
    7 17 8 Ross Chastain * Toyota 37
    8 12 18 Jason Leffler Toyota 36
    9 32 7 John King * Toyota 35
    10 22 23 Jason White Ford 34
    11 15 29 Parker Kligerman Ram 33
    12 20 60 J R Fitzpatrick Chevrolet 32
    13 7 27 Jeb Burton* Chevrolet 31
    14 27 81 David Starr Toyota 30
    15 4 33 Cale Gale * Chevrolet 29
    16 5 9 Ron Hornaday Chevrolet 28
    17 14 32 Miguel Paludo Chevrolet 27
    18 31 7 Jake Crum Chevrolet 26
    19 26 24 Max Gresham * Chevrolet 25
    20 25 92 David Reutimann Chevrolet 0
    21 36 98 Dakoda Armstrong * Toyota 23
    22 18 5 Paulie Harraka * Ford 22
    23 30 9 John Wes Townley * Toyota 21
    24 11 88 Matt Crafton Toyota 20
    25 13 11 Todd Bodine Toyota 19
    26 33 99 Bryan Silas * Ford 18
    27 35 93 Chris Cockrum Chevrolet 17
    28 19 214 Brennan Newberry Chevrolet 16
    29 8 13 Johnny Sauter Toyota 15
    30 21 22 Joey Coulter Chevrolet 14
    31 29 168 Clay Greenfield Ram 13
    32 28 39 Ryan Sieg Chevrolet 12
    33 24 15 Dusty Davis * Ram 11
    34 34 8 Jennifer Jo Cobb Ram 10
    35 10 170 Jeff Agnew Chevrolet 9
    36 23 174 Rick Crawford Chevrolet 8
  • J.R. Fitzpatrick Set to Tackle Martinsville Paperclip This Weekend

    J.R. Fitzpatrick Set to Tackle Martinsville Paperclip This Weekend

    [media-credit id=4 align=”alignleft” width=”266″][/media-credit]A couple weeks before the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season opener at Daytona International Speedway, fans learned that J.R. Fitzpatrick had struck a deal to drive for TurnOne Racing this season. However, it wasn’t just a quick last minute deal.

    “Stacy and I had been talking well over a year, putting this deal together,” Fitzpatrick says. “Even though we still got a couple gaps to go for the remaining parts of the year to be able to run full season here.”

    The opening race at Daytona didn’t go as Fitzpatrick would’ve hoped as he finished 34th due to debris hitting the radiator.

    “It’s just unfortunate that we didn’t have a truck that was very fast by itself, so obviously we had to start at the back,” he says. “It worked really well, it sucked up in the draft really well. I think if we would’ve missed the wreck, we would’ve been good.

    “I hung around the back, tried to stay away from all the wrecks, but ended up involved in one. So you go to front, you go to the back, I don’t know. Its just a big chess game. So our strategy didn’t work.”

    Now focus shifts to this weekend at Martinsville Speedway where Fitzpatrick is hoping to have a good finish.

    “The track is exciting,” he says. “Obviously it’s a little more familiar to what I’m used to, in terms of short track racing. Even though it’s definitely a lot bigger than tracks at home, it’s definitely something I’m comfortable on. I’ve already been there twice.

    In his last two starts on the paperclip, despite running strong, he finished 21st both times due to being caught up in wrecks. However, so far this weekend things look good as he was 15th in final practice and tested well.

    “We tested extremely well so I think going into the race this weekend, I think we have one of the best trucks ever,” he says. “So looking forward to it.”

    Hoping the rest of the season goes well, Fitzpatrick is hoping to finish in the top 10 in points.

    He got started in racing at the age of six running a Jr. Late Model at Sauble Beach. Then he was 13 years old, he moved to Delaware Speedway and got a late model.

    Fitzpatrick then moved up to the CASCAR Super Series, where he finished second in the Rookie of the Year standings in 2004 at the age of 16. At the age of 17, he scored his first win and got three top-fives and five top-10 finishes.

    [media-credit name=”TurnOne Racing” align=”alignright” width=”301″][/media-credit]Then in 2006, he became the youngest Canadian National Series Champion winning the CASCAR Championship with a win, five podium finishes and two pole awards at the age of 18.

    Between 2006 and 2007, NASCAR took over the series, renaming it the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series. Since then, Fitzpatrick has scored six wins, 22 top fives and 36 top 10s in 54 starts while finishing as high as second in 2010.

    Heading into this year, he is hoping to win the championship.

    “I haven’t been able to piece that together,” he says. “Last couple of years, I’ve been second, third in points, due to mechanical failure. I think now with the new stuff that we’ve got, I don’t think that’s going to be a problem anymore.”

    The first race on the schedule is Canadian Tire Motorsports Park (Mosport), which is set to happen on May 20th.

    “We’re going for the win,” he says. “I think there’s only two of us that are two time winners at that place and we’re both going to be at that race so it’s going to be exciting. That’s one of my favourite tracks and to be one of the guys everybody watches every week when we go there, it’s kind of a cool feeling. Having new road course equipment, it makes that program better. So I think we’re going to be a threat to win one.”

    When he is not racing at the NASCAR ranks, you can still find Fitzpatrick racing somewhere as he often goes go-karting.

    “It’s a lot of fun,” he says. “When I’m not working on a car or doing anything of that nature, I go out with a bunch of people and go-kart whenever I can. The place I normally go to, I know inside and out, so it’s a lot of fun.”

    Looking forward 10 years down the road, he says he can’t plan that far ahead, but still wants to be racing.

  • Paulie Harraka Takes Martinsville Truck High Tech

    Paulie Harraka Takes Martinsville Truck High Tech

    [media-credit name=”Photo Credit: Scott Hunter” align=”alignright” width=”226″][/media-credit]Paulie Harraka is not only competing in the Camping World Truck Series and finishing his senior year at Duke but, this weekend, the Rookie of the Year candidate will be taking his Truck high tech at Martinsville.

    The native New Jersey driver has a new sponsor partner for his No. 5 Wauters Motorsport Ford F-150, the high tech company MC10. This company reshapes electronics to create thin systems that stretch, bend and flex, including body-worn sensors for high quality data collection.

    “We’re really excited,” Harraka said. “MC10 is certainly a company that is at the fore front of high tech development and has such wide reaching applications.”

    “When you think about what you could do if you could take all these electronics that we use and make them flexible, you realize there are applications pretty much everywhere.”

    MC10, a new company based in Boston, was looking for an innovative marketing platform for their products. After meeting Harraka, they decided that NASCAR would indeed match their company’s needs and agreed to go racing with him at Martinsville, including using him as a bit of a guinea pig for their products.

    “MC10 sensors have huge capabilities, from measuring heart rate to anything that we have a way to measure,” Harraka said. “I’ll actually have a sample of their electronics on me during the race.”

    “So, the possibilities are almost endless,” Harraka continued. “I know this is the beginning of a long partnership.”

    The partnership between MC10 and Harraka actually began at a conference and flourished from there. Although the company was not familiar with NASCAR, it was not a ‘hard sell’ once they reviewed the statistics of the reach of the sport and the loyalty of the fan base.

    “When I was up at the Sports Analytics Conference, I met with the CEO of MC10 and he expressed an interest,” Harraka continued. “We explored ways that MC10 technology is applicable to NASCAR.”

    “When they began to see how their technology applied to the sport of racing, that’s how the discussion turned to how to promote this,” Harraka said. “And the sponsorship discussion began.”

    “While the CEO was not generally a fan of the sport himself, people are generally familiar with the sport and how big the fan base is, how loyal the fan base is and what the reach is,” Harraka continued. “You can bring somebody in and they get it pretty quickly.”

    Marrying his business savvy with his racing acumen has been just one of the elements that has made Harraka unique in the NASCAR racing world. And through his education and connections made at Duke, the young driver has been committed to exposing new corporations to the sport.

    “One of the hallmarks of what we’ve done is to bring in a lot of business partners,” Harraka said. “And without a doubt, this is a unique way to approach motorsports.”

    “On one hand, it’s a great way to raise capital initially,” Harraka continued. “But on the other hand, the big pro to it is to bring these different businesses, with all their accolades, from marketing to venture capitalists, in to learn about NASCAR.”

    “They understand very quickly the opportunities and ways to bring their businesses into the sport,” Harraka said. “It’s unique and the payoff is just starting.”

    With his new sponsor in hand and planning to attend the upcoming race at Martinsville, Harraka cannot wait to get back to racing after the month-long break since Daytona.

    “Daytona was kind of a tease and then you have a lot of time off,” Harraka said. “I would much rather be racing every weekend.”

    “But the guys have been hard at work building trucks and getting us ready,” Harraka continued. “After Martinsville, we have a week off but then we go to Rockingham and then, boom, we head to Kansas.”

    “So, we go into a little stretch of racing, which is exciting,” Harraka said. “I’m excited to get into the meat of the racing season starting at Martinsville.”

    Harraka acknowledged that nothing he learned on the high banks of the superspeedway of Daytona will apply to the paper-clip shaped track at Martinsville. Yet he also feels that he will be returning to his roots, racing on a short track.

    “Daytona is most certainly a unique place,” Harraka said. “But all that we learn at Daytona really only applies there and Talladega, so Martinsville will be a completely different animal.”

    “But it is definitely one that is more in my element and where I have my experience base,” Harraka continued. “So, I’m excited to get back to a nice little half mile.”

    Harraka has no different expectations for his upcoming race weekend than he ever does when he gets behind the wheel. He expects to be in victory circle at the end of the race.

    “I expect us to run well,” Harraka said. “I expect that we can run up front and lead laps and that we can bring home a good finish.”

    “We’re going to the race track to win and I really do believe that we can come home with a great finish.”

    While Harraka may be confident about his race expectations, he is reserving judgment on one Martinsville tradition. He is just not sure about having one of those infamous Martinsville hot dogs.

    “We’ll see,” Harraka said. “I’m not sure how my stomach will do with those. So, I make no predictions there.”

    Most of all, Harraka looks forward to returning to racing with his new sponsor MC10 on the race truck and cheering him on in the pits.

    “I think everyone in this sport recognizes that the best thing for our sport is to bring in more companies that haven’t been involved in our sport,” Harraka said. “To expose them to the power of NASCAR is just exciting.”

    “To go outside the reach of a normal motorsports sponsorship and bring in a company totally outside of that to show the value of the sport is great for them,” Harraka continued. “And it’s great for us and for the sport as a whole.”

    “I expect that the relationship will grow into a lot of partnerships moving forward,” Harraka said. “We already have some cool things cooking post-Martinsville.”

  • Ty Dillon Puts Pressure Aside, Looking To Do Well This Year

    Ty Dillon Puts Pressure Aside, Looking To Do Well This Year

    [media-credit name=”Credit: Matthew Stockman/Getty Images for NASCAR” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]For any driver entering into the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driving for one of the biggest teams in NASCAR, Richard Childress Racing, the pressure is certainly there to perform. However, for Ty Dillon, the pressure goes beyond that. But as you take a closer look at this 19-year-old, the pressure isn’t bugging him one bit.

    For starters, he is driving the exact same truck that his brother Austin Dillon drove to the 2011 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Championship. Everybody is expecting younger brother Ty to live up to Austin’s level after Ty finished in the top 10 in two of three starts last year.

    Rather than being concerned with the expectations, Ty Dillon focuses on the advantages of having a big brother racing in NASCAR.

    “I can use his career as a learning curve for me, the things that he does,” Dillon says. “I get to pay attention to everything that he does on and off the race track that help him or hurt him. There are a lot of advantages to having an older brother who is successful in a series above you.”

    Dillon also has the pressure on his shoulders as he is the grandson of his team owner, Childress. For Dillon, he once again uses it as an advantage from his standpoint in his career.

    “He is always there to help us, no matter what it is on or off the race track,” the defending ARCA Racing Series Champion says. “Whether it’s doing stuff like this and what he’s learned over the years that’s helped him, or things on the race track. He’s a legend of our sport and I’m very blessed to be in the situation that I am to be able to rely on him.”

    Dillon adds that Childress stresses that he should bring the truck back in one piece, while also taking some risks to win races.

    At no point does Dillon take for granted the situation he is in, either, saying that he was blessed to be born into this situation.

    “I’ve been around racing all my life and kind of knew it would be an option there for me,” he says. “My grandfather never really wanted to pressure us into racing. We played football, baseball and other sports. We kind of started racing late. I started when I was 13. (Brother) Austin was 15. Nowadays kids are starting when they’re four or five years old racing.”

    Since then, the feeling behind the wheel hasn’t changed for Dillon as he says he still loves it just as much.

    “Driving, it just gives us that feeling that you can’t get away from,” he explains. “We still get it every day when we strap into these Nationwide (cars) and trucks and we race probably 50 or 60 races a year, just because we love the sport and we love what we do.”

    With taking over the truck that his big brother drove, that means that Dillon is behind the wheel of the legendary No. 3 truck. This brings its own set of expectations from fans that expect the No. 3 to be running up front and winning every weekend. Dillon says he doesn’t feel that pressure as he is actually having fun with running the number.

    “It means more to us on a personal side that it’s my grandfather’s number and it’s really great to see the fan’s reactions when you run well in it and you win races,” he says. “To see how excited people get to see that black number 3 back there on the track, the way it used to be. So we’re just having fun with it right now. As long as everybody stays happy with it that’s what we’re going do. As far as what series it’s going to go, I’ll leave that up to my grandfather. Right now we’re doing it for our family and doing it for the fans.”

    In expanding on that, Dillon says that the number means a lot to him due to it being the number that his grandfather Childress ran during his career.

    Dillon joins the youth movement that has taken over the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series as late with young drivers coming in to get their start in racing, including James Buescher and Parker Kligermann, among others.

    “They kind of got away from having individual names that led that series,” Dillon says. “Now we’ve got young guys in each series that are developing their way from the trucks to the Nationwide and now to Sprint Cup. It’s really cool to see that and gives you hope as a driver making your way up the rankings. I’m glad to see more individuality in each series, so it’s really nice.”

    While most rookies may be set on coming in and learning, that’s not the same with Dillon. He says that coming off the ARCA championship last year and driving Austin’s trucks, he feels that he can do well.

    “I feel like we need to run for a championship this year,” he says. “We’ve got the experience and the equipment, why can’t we do it? We ran well last year and we got a lot of confidence going into this year. We’ll see what it gives us. We want to win some races but our main trophy in our little trophy case we have set off to the side is the championship trophy. Then if we do that, we will have won races and won rookie of the year.”

    So far, Dillon is off to a pretty good start as he survived the carnage in Daytona to finish ninth and now sits eighth in points heading into Martinsville in two weeks.

  • Rookie John King wins Crash-Filled NextEra Energy Resources 250 at Daytona

    Rookie John King wins Crash-Filled NextEra Energy Resources 250 at Daytona

    [media-credit name=”Credit: Jerry Markland/Getty Images for NASCAR” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]When the trucks hit Daytona International Speedway, they’ve been known to create a lot of sparks. This year was no exception as after three green-white-checkereds (GWC, rookie John King took the checkered flag.

    “I’m a rookie – I’m not supposed to be here,” King said afterwards in victory lane. “This is unreal. This Red Horse Racing team is unbelievable. I don’t know what to say. This is a dream come true.”

    A caution with seven to go for Parker Kligermann and others wrecking would set off the chain of GWCs. Kligermann wrecked after Dusty Davis and David Starr squished him in the middle, collecting Bryan Silas and Ross Chastain.

    On the first GWC, it was Jason White leading them to the green, but Johnny Sauter taking the lead with help from Ron Hornaday, before dropping down inline on the bottom in front of White. Sauter looked to have the win in hand before a caution came out before the field took the white flag when Brad Keselowski wrecked. Clay Greenfield got into the back of Keselowski, turning him into Rick Crawford. Rookie Max Gresham was also collected in the wreck with significant damage.

    On the restart, Sauter looked to have the win in hand again as he pulled ahead with help from King. However, coming to get the white flag, King turned Sauter into the outside wall, collecting Brendan Gaughan, Starr, Grant Enfinger, Matt Crafton, Nelson Piquet Jr., Chris Fontaine and Ryan Seig.

    “It was substainable help,” Sauter said of the contact he got from King to send him around. “He’s obviously getting help from behind – that’s Bodine, typically known for driving over his head at these places.”

    “I apologize to Johnny Sauter,” King said. “I shouldn’t have been there. I closed up real fast. … I couldn’t get off of him.”

    The field then restarted for the final attempt at a green flag finish with King leading Todd Bodine, Timothy Peters and Joey Coulter. On the restart, Bodine and Coulter didn’t get a good start on the outside, causing them to drop back through the field as King pulled out to the lead with help from Peters. Coming to get the white flag while Coulter and Bodine were trying to mount a charge back to the front, James Buecher would turn Coulter into the outside wall. The contact would cause Coulter to go airbourne and make contact with the catch fence. Coulter were emerge from the crash with no injuries, while a track spokesperson reported two fans were injured but would be okay.

    Coulter’s wreck would hand the win to King, who was making his eighth Camping World Truck Series start.

    King’s Red Horse Racing teammate Timothy Peters would be credited with second for his third top-10 at Daytona.

    “It was an action-packed night,” Peters said. “We were fortunate enough to keep our nose clean all night long. That right there is what it’s all about, seeing that boy right there celebrating in Victory Lane.  That’s a special place.  It couldn’t have been a better night for Red Horse Racing as a company, 1-2 finish, Todd coming in fifth.

    “Can’t say enough about my guys, Butch Hylton, guys on pit row, Service Central, Tire Kingdom, Toyota Tundra, Joe Gibbs Engine.  It was an awesome night tonight.  These guys worked hard on our truck since we left Daytona last year. We got some momentum.  It’s showing.  We’re going to be a force to be reckoned with in year.”

    Justin Lofton would be scored in third to score his first top-10 at Daytona.

    “It was an exciting one,” he said. “I mean, we had a game plan of sticking to the bottom.  Unfortunately our teammates were taken out halfway through the race.  Team owner (Eddie Sharp) was spotting for me also.  That definitely helps a lot.  It was a really cool run.  We had good pit stops all night.  We played the right strategy.  Eddie kept me calm.  When they would get that run on the outside, I wanted to drive up there, but he kept me down.  We found ourselves in the right place at the right time.  I tried to push Timothy to get us in a better position.”

    Travis Kvapil , who found out just a couple weeks before Daytona that he’d be racing, came home in the fourth position.

    “All the credit goes to Robby Benton and the RAB racing team,” he says. “They brought me a solid Toyota Tundra tonight. We just kept it out of trouble. We knew we had a strong truck – just kept out of trouble, made the right moves at the right time. To come out of here with a top five finish makes me really happy.”

    Jason White would round out the top five, followed by Todd Bodine, Chris Fontaine, Ward Burton, Ty Dillon and Clay Greenfield. Dillon was able to come home with a ninth-place finish after barely dodging the wrecks at the end.

    “Going into tonight, we knew it was going to be a wild night and we just wanted to finish the race,” the rookie said. “We played it a little conservative – it hurt us a bit. Felt like I was a magnet tonight. We had a strong truck, could do whatever we wanted, and we’d make it to the end.”

    The three wrecks at the end weren’t the only action for the night, as there was action for fans from top to bottom.

    On lap seven, Paulie Harraka got sideways and shot up into Jason Leftler, taking him out, while Dakota Armstrong wrecked behind them.

    “It’s just too good to be true,” Leftler said afterwards. “The truck was really good. The truck was fast. Kind of just sitting there, couldn’t get anybody to work with me that early in the race. It just happens. I don’t know what happened, the No. 5 (Harraka) just shot up into me. The next race is at Rockingham and there’s no question that I’ll be quick there.”

    On lap 60, eventual race winner King moved up to the track, hitting Cale Gale, turning him and collected TJ Duke, Matt Crafton, Mike Skinner and J.R. Fitzpatrick.

    “Can’t teach patience,” Skinner said afterwards. “You can’t teach people how to drive racecars; they obviously are great racecar drivers. I’m not going to blame Cale for that; I wish he would’ve just rode behind us. I was running half-throttle, the other veterans were running half-throttle; they were just running all over.”

    “It’s just one of those things,” Gale said. “We got a little behind in a fuel window there, came back on track and were trying to move up. I don’t know what happened there. I tried to be patience. I was to the point of ‘Do I need to ride and wait it out?’. I guess it’s just our fault.”

    Pole Sitter Miguel Paludo wouldn’t find much luck as with 30 laps to go, he would make hard contact with the inside wall after getting loose behind teammate Nelson Piquet Jr.

    “That was a hard hit for sure, I lost my breath,” Paludo said. “All in all, it was a good day for us. Got the pole, led some laps. Just got loose up there; I had been loose all day. Just so proud of my guys, having all three Turner Motorsports trucks up there. We’re going to win some races this year.”

    The next race for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series is in five weeks at Martinsville Speedway.

  • NextEra Energy Resources 250 Lap-By-Lap

    NextEra Energy Resources 250 Lap-By-Lap

    [media-credit name=”daytonainternationalspeedway.com” align=”alignright” width=”274″][/media-credit]At the end of the NextEra Energy Resources 250, it was rookie John King scoring his first ever NASCAR Camping World Truck Series win.

    Lap 1: Miguel Paludo leads lap 1 with teammate James Buescher in toe.

    Lap 9: Top 8 are single file as Paludo continues to lead Buescher around. From ninth on back, they are side-by-side.

    Lap 17 – Jason Leftler, Paulie Harraka, Dakota Armstrong wreck – Paulie Harraka got sideways and shot up into Leftler with Armstrong wrecking behind them. Pit stops – Paludo the first truck off of pit road

    Restart as Paludo starts on the inside with Joey Coulter to his outside

    Lap 28 – the top four, Paludo, Buescher, Brad Keselowski and Jason White, are single file while the rest of the back runs side-by-side

    Lap 35 – Top 15 are single file as Paludo continues to lead Buescher, Keselowski and White.

    Lap 40 – Top 3 are single file (Paludo, Buescher, Keselowski) while White and Mike Skinner are side-by-side for fourth

    Lap 42 Caution for debris…..pit stops….Paludo leads Buescher, White, Brendan Gaughan, Keselwoski and Hornaday

    Restart on Lap 47 as James Buescher takes the lead after Gaughan gives him a good push on the outside. Buescher drops down in front of his teammate, Paludo.

    Caution on Lap 50 as there is debris on the race track, which fell off of Armstrong’s truck. Some trucks choose to make pit stops and add fuel. Most drivers choosing to stay out as they are not in their fuel window, yet.

    Restart lap 55 – Miguel Paludo now leads Buescher on the bottom as White runs third

    Lp 60 – Top nine are single file, and then the field is double-file from 10th on back as Paludo leads Buescher, White and Justin Lofton

    Caution Lap 62 – Cale Gale, TJ Duke, Matt Crafton, Mike Skinner wreck. John King moves up the race track into Cale Gale, collecting others behind them. J.R. Fitzpatrick also caught some damage as he’s going to need to replace the rad……..Pit stops: James Buescher first off pit road, followed by Miguel Paludo

    Restart 32 to go as Buscher leads the field to green and jumps out in front with help from Brendan Gaughan.

    31 to go Nelson Piquet Jr and Miguel Paludo finds their way back up the outside and slot down infront of Buescher.

    30 to go Top five are single file – Piquet Jr, Paludo, Buescher, Brendan Gaughan and Travis Kvapil. Jason White and Joey Coulter run side-by-side for sixth.

    24 to go Top-three Turner Motorsports trucks are single-file – Piquet Jr., Paludo, Buescher – while White is side-by-side with Gaughan for fourth. The top 10 are Piquet Jr., Paludo, Buescher, Gaughan, Kravil, White, Ron Hornaday, Todd Bodine, Coulter and Johnny Sauter.

    17 to go White has brought that outside line to line-up with leader, Piquet Jr., to battle for the lead

    16 to go Caution as Miguel Paludo makes hard contact with the inside wall coming out of turn 4. Piquet Jr. weaved slightly back and forth, Paludo went to move to not hit him and lost the track. Chris Cockrum hit the debris, putting a big hole in the left front corner. As the incident happened, White took the lead so he is the new leader

    Restart 10 to go as White and Piquet Jr. are side-by-side for the lead

    9 to go White continues to lead as Piquet heads up so its now Buescher and Sauter side-by-side for second

    8 to go White and Buescher are side-by-side for the lead as the whole field is two-by-two

    7 to go White and Sauter lead as Hornaday and Buescher are side-by-side for third

    Caution 7 to go Parker Kligermann got sideways and spun, collecting Bryan Silas, Ross Chastain, David Starr – Dusty Davis came down as Starr slightly moved up, squishing Kligermann in the middle and sending him around. Jason White leads Johnny Sauter, John King, Ron Hornaday, Todd Bodine, Brendan Gaughan, Joey Coulter, Justin Lofton, Travis Kvapil and Timothy Peters.

    Green-White-Checkered will be the name of the game as drivers try to conserve as much fuel as possible.

    Green flag comes out and its Jason White and Johnny Sauter side-by-side for the lead

    In turn 1, Johnny Sauter to the lead after help from Ron Hornaday – Sauter drops down in front of White and takes the lead.

    Caution comes out as Brad Keselowski, Max Gresham, Rick Crawford wreck. Clay Greenfield gets into the back of Keselowski, turning him down the track into Crawford. The field did not take the white flag so there will be another green white checkered.

    Green flag……Sauter and John King pull ahead coming out of turn two

    Caution: John King turns Johnny Sauter into the outside wall, collecting Brendan Gaughan, David Starr, Joey Coulter, Grant Enfinger, Matt Crafton, Nelson Piquet Jr., Chris Fontaine, Ryan Seig. The incident came together in combination when Sauter came up to block while King tried to figure out what to do with the run that he got after being pushed by Todd Bodine. They did not take the white flag so there will be a third and final attempt at a green-white-checkered……..King, Bodine, Peters, Coulter

    Green flag……The top four are single file down the backstraightaway with King leading over Peters.

    Caution comes out as Buescher turns Coulter and sends him up into the catch fence on the final lap, giving John King the win.

  • Canadians J.R. Fitzpatrick and Derek White Look To Impress at Daytona

    Canadians J.R. Fitzpatrick and Derek White Look To Impress at Daytona

    [media-credit id=4 align=”alignleft” width=”266″][/media-credit]Canadians J.R. Fitzpatrick and Derek White have both have success in the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series (NCTS), and are now going south to Daytona International Speedway for the Camping World Truck Series season opener.

    Fitzpatrick announced that he had struck a deal with Turn One Racing to compete with them full-time in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series in 2012. The 2006 CASCAR Super Series Champion will drive the No. 60 Chevrolet, replacing Cole Whitt. Last year, Whitt finished ninth in the series standings and will move up this year to compete with JR Motorsports in the Nationwide Series.

    “I am so pumped to be getting this chance to race with Turn One Racing,” Fitzpatrick said. “I love the Truck Series and the guys here seem really cool so it feels like a good place for me to be right now. The fact that I get a chance to put an entire season together in the same series and with the same group is really going to help my NASCAR career.”

    Fitzpatrick has competed in the truck series before, driving for Kevin Harvick Incorporated. At Daytona in 2009, the 23-year-old drove the truck home to a fourth place finish.

    “I have had good runs before,” the Cambridge, Ontario native said. “I actually led the most laps and finished fourth in my first Daytona start and I also have some top-fives in the Nationwide Series, but for me to be able to go to the track every week is going to be huge.”

    Fitzpatrick made seven Nationwide Series starts last season, scoring a fifth place finish on the Montreal road course.

    “We are really looking forward to working with J.R., his management team and sponsors,” team owner Stacey Compton said. “J.R. is a proven talent that has only gotten a few opportunities to race in NASCAR. We are excited to put a program together for him that will allow him to showcase his talents here in the states. Although we are still working to finalize sponsorship for a handful of races, we hope to have those details ironed out in the coming weeks.”

    Meanwhile, White will team up with Hackett Racing to drive the No. 76 Warrior Gaming Associates Ford in the NextEra Energy Resources 250.

    “It’s been great to work with the team and my Crew Chief Kevin Eagle,” White said.  “I got to know everyone at Hackett Racing last year and they’ve all worked really hard to get ready for this race.”

    This will mark the first start at Daytona for the winner of the 2010 NCTS Rookie of the Year award.

    “This is something I’ve wanted to do for a long time,” the Kahnawake, Quebec resident said.  “When I hit the track for practice I’ll be smiling, but I’ll also be 100 percent focused on the job of getting ready for qualifying to make the race.”

    Last season, White ran a limited schedule, scoring a career best of seventh after starting 21st at Trois Rivieres. This season, White is fielding a full-time ride for Steve Cote, while running some races himself.

  • Joey Coulter Set To Embark on Second Full Camping World Truck Series Season

    Joey Coulter Set To Embark on Second Full Camping World Truck Series Season

    [media-credit name=”Chris Graythen/Getty Images for NASCAR ” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]In 2011, Joey Coulter had his biggest year in racing to date as he moved up to the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series to run the entire schedule for Richard Childress Racing. The year was a success as with five top fives and 13 top 10s, Coulter won the Rookie of the Year award.

    “It’s the biggest accomplishment of my career,” the driver of the No. 22 Darrell Gwynn Foundation  Chevrolet Silverado says. “The whole team put in a lot of effort. Right from the beginning the year, that was the goal that Mr. Childress set for our team.  Austin winning it last year added a little bit of positive pressure for us to try to win it and the whole team – all of us – we kept pushing forward and at the end of the year, we were able to keep it together and bring it home. It was a really important, huge accomplishment.”

    For this season, Coulter will once again run the entire Camping World Truck Series schedule for Richard Childress Racing. With a year under his belt and teammate Austin Dillon winning the championship last season, the pressure is there.

    “We feel like seeing what Austin, my teammate, did last year, we really got a good shot at the championship,” he says. “There’s obviously a lot of tough competition out there – James Buescher, Ron Hornaday – I could name hundreds of them. But I really feel like we have a good opportunity to go out there and run for a championship.

    “I saw a lot of great things with the team near the end of last season. The pit stops went from good to great. The communication between my crew chief, Harold Holly, and me just got better. The goal is to win a few races and come home with the championship.”

    With the new year, though, there comes a change in the line-up as with Austin Dillon moving up to the NASCAR Nationwide Series, Coulter’s new teammate for 2012 will be Austin’s little brother Ty Dillon. Coulter says that he’s looking forward to working with Ty this year.

    “The few races that Ty ran last year – he did an awesome job,” Coulter adds. “We talked at the shop last year – I think we’re going to work great together. We both watched the Daytona race from last year and gone over a lot of notes, just kinda talked back and forth about a lot of different things. We both pumped up and ready to get there.”

    The beginning of the season will start in two weeks with the NextEra Energy Resources 250 at Daytona International Speedway. The race will be run on Friday February 24th at 7pm EST.

    “I’m really excited to get back to Daytona,” Coulter says. “I think it’s going to be exciting. I don’t know if the tandem thing is going to go away or not – but it’s going to be great. I love super speedway races and I think seeing all the work that the guys back at the shop – the body shop – put into this speedway truck and the awesome motors they build, I’m really looking forward it. We’re going to have an awesome hotrod.”

    Besides running the truck race, Coulter will also run in the Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200 at Daytona on February 18th in the ARCA Racing Series for his father’s team. This year marks a big year for ARCA as it is their 60th year of competition.

    “I think it’s awesome,” Coulter says. “I really like the ARCA Series a lot. Even though I only ran two full seasons myself, my dad still has an ARCA team that’s going to run the majority of the races this year with Matt Lofton in the car so I really think that’s an awesome series. I’m really excited that they’ve been around 60 years. It’s a huge stepping-stone series. That’s how a lot of people look at it – like the minor league NASCAR. It’s a league of its own. It helps young drivers, even younger than me, and older drivers learn how to drive a really heavy car on a big fast race track with a lot of horsepower. It’s a great series. I’m glad my dad’s team is going to be able to run this year.”

    Part of the off-season for Coulter was spent helping his dad with setting up the ARCA program for 2012. Coulter kept busy during the off-season, going to classes as he is a mechanical engineering student at UNC while working out and doing pit crew practice at RCR. He also embarked on a new journey as he bought a dirt super late model to start racing.

    “Never been on dirt before so it’s going to be an exciting new venture,” Coulter says.

    Though as February rolls around and Daytona Speedweeks are near, the focus will soon turn to the 2012 NASCAR season for Coulter as he goes not only for his first NASCAR championship, but his first truck win. It’s very easily possible that it could come on a favourite track of Coulter’s.

    “I look forward to places like Delaware,” Coulter says of his favourite tracks. “Iowa is one of my favorites. I love Martinsville, Bristol, O’Reilly Raceway Park – ‘cause those are the short tracks. There are a lot of places that I like to race at.”

    He sums it up by saying that his favourite race track is the one that he goes to next.