Saturday, October 25, 2008

Ryan Newman gets Truck Series win in very first start


ATLANTA — After a tumultuous first two-thirds of the season the No. 2 Chevrolet Silverado fielded by Kevin Harvick Inc. has found its way to Victory Lane under the guidance of NASCAR Sprint Cup veteran Ryan Newman.
Two weeks ago, the team's former wheelman Jack Sprague and KHI parted ways, and that initiated a revolving door for drivers to get behind the wheel. So, team owner Kevin Harvick called Newman and asked him to drive the truck this weekend in the EZ Go 200 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Newman battled his teammate Ron Hornaday, who is fighting for the Craftsman Truck Series Championship with Johnny Benson, and made a last-lap pass to take the checkered flag.
"Great day for me obviously," Newman said. "I didn't really save my stuff, I just took it for what t was worth and I was pretty amazed that I got the opportunity to run them (Hornaday) down. Luckily it stayed green because we had two really good race trucks."
When asked how he felt running all-out on the final lap against a teammate who is battling for a championship, Newman said, "We he raced me like a gentleman and obviously he is racing for a championship and we were going for the win and he knew that because he was racing for the win too."
Hornaday said he missed a run off the corner and that was all it took for Newman to overtake him.
"Hats off to KHI," Hornaday said. "This is what it is all about and what that truck is supposed to be running like. To lead that many laps (110), that is what Kevin and DeLana (Harvick) are all about. I have to thank Rick Ren (crew chief) and all the guys, Camping World, and VFW. This is for all the folks out there in Iraq, all of our military.
"Ryan comes in here and steals my thunder, darn it, in the last couple of laps. That just shows how close these trucks are. Ryan was running up top and I was running the bottom. He started following me down there in (Turns) three and four and he figured it out. I don't know if I can say it, but second sticks."
Rounding out the Top 5 in Saturday's race were Denny Hamlin, Todd Bodine and Scott Speed. Hornday's finish helped him cut Benson's points lead to 31-points. The Craftsman Truck Series heads to Texas Motor Speedway next week and will race the Silverado 350 on Halloween night.

Friday, October 24, 2008

And finally … I 'm back at the track — Atlanta Motor Speedway


Yes, I know that I fell down on my job for the past few weeks but I am back at the track and working to find out what is going on behind the scenes in NASCAR.
Ironically, we're getting about as much rain here at Atlanta Motor Speedway as Beaumont got during Hurricane Ike. Of course, the winds are relatively calm. Anyway, the good news is that Sunday looks like it is going to be gorgeous and the race should come off without a hitch. The bad news is that qualifying will likely be cancelled for the 10th time this season and there is talk of the temperatures dipping to the freezing mark.
Yeah, freezing — and me here without warm clothes.
I was just writing about how nothing much was going on at the track when a press release was dropped on my desk here in the media center.
Beginning in 2009, the Craftsman Truck Series will become the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.
According to NASCAR, it is a seven-year deal that allows Camping World to benefit by more than $100 million in advertising for its investment, which is estimated at $5 million a year. Although NASCAR CEO wouldn't comment on the exact dollar amount, he said he was pleased.
"You heard (Camping World chairman and CEO Marcus Lemonis) Marcus in his opening remarks, and this is what he told me directly, we have a good relationship to be able to work through this, which is, you know, one of his stated goals is to help grow the franchise and also help the manufacturers sell more trucks. You just can't put a dollar amount on that commitment. He's committed to doing that. We'll work very carefully with him in the future to accomplish those goals."
Photographers' meeting in five-minutes, so that is it for now.