Bryan Silas

Silas definitely found himself in contention for his first career ARCA Racing Series victory at Michigan International Speedway this past Friday in the RainEater Wiper Blades 200. Driving the No. 6 Weaver Media / Rockingham Speedway Toyota Camry for Eddie Sharp Racing, Silas was anxious for a good run at one of his favorite race tracks on the circuit.

Despite struggling to get the speed that they were looking for in practice and qualifying, the 24-year old driver roared to life in the eighth race of the season.

Starting from the 21st position, Silas began working towards the front before the first caution flag of the day waived on lap three. Opting to fall off pit sequence, crew chief Tripp Bruce decided to bring his driver to pit road to fill up the gas tank in-case of a long-green flag run.

Back to racing, Silas quickly and methodically maneuvered his No. 6 Weaver Media / Rockingham Speedway Toyota Camry through the field while also posting some of the fastest lap times on the track. Continuing to climb the leader board, Silas found himself in the 13th position when the caution flag waived on lap 30.

Joining the rest of the competition on pit road, Bruce called for four tires and fuel. Returning the popular ARCA driver back into competition, Silas found himself comfortably in the top-10 hoisting the eighth position.

Two competitors inside the top-10 would fall victim to circumstances which moved Silas to sixth on the scoring pylon when the yellow flag waived again on lap 41.

Continuing to hover inside the top-10 on the restart, Silas would find a comfortable hole before a multi-car incident with 35 laps to go sent the leaders to pit road with Bruce once again electing to use some pit strategy which consisted of staying out on the race track which shot Silas to the leader of the pack.

Silas would hold the top-spot from laps 67 to 72 before Joey Coulter outmuscled Silas for the lead on lap 73. With Silas still holding strong, the competition that comprised the top-five early on would challenge the No. 6 Weaver Media / Rockingham Speedway Toyota Camry shuffling the USARacing Pro Cup Series competitor through the running order.

Silas was able to muscle his Toyota Camry to the sixth position, his second top-10 effort of the year.

“I had a lot of fun out there today,” said Silas. “This is the best I’ve ever run at Michigan. Tripp (Bruce) made some great calls from pit road that allowed me to lead the race which is something I haven’t done in a while. I appreciate the team’s effort and a special thanks to Weaver Media for jumping on-board for this race.”

In 97 ARCA Racing Series events, Silas has delivered two top-fives and 29 top-10 finishes including a career best of fourth at Rockingham Speedway (April 2009) and Salem (Ind.) Speedway (April 2011). Silas has controlled the field seven times for 38 laps. A fourth place qualifying run at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway in June 2007 is his best qualifying result to date.

Next up for the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards is a return to Winchester (Ind.) Speedway for the running of the Winchester ARCA 200 presented by Federated Auto Parts.

For more on Bryan Silas please visit, BryanSilasRacing.com.

- Bryan Silas Racing Press Release

When the series began in 1995, Roush along with Rick Hendrick, Richard Childress, and Dale & Teresa Earnhardt entered a team as essentially a Triple-A training ground for his Winston Cup effort. It was a part-time effort until Joe Ruttman was signed to drive full-time in 1996. Ruttman, best remembered for the 1983 Daytona 500, was teamed with former Winston West ace Chuck Bown in a two-Truck effort, and in 1997 Ruttman exploded to five wins. In 1998 Roush hired Greg Biffle and Mike Bliss to drive as Ruttman’s teammate, and Biffle got into a memorable slugfest at New Hampshire the day after the Brickyard 400 with Mike Addington’s Chevy driven by Andy Houston; the two fused together on the last lap before Biffle cleared and then got booted out of the groove on the last lap.

Biffle, with Mike Bliss as his 1999 teammate, exploded in 1999, winning nine races but losing the championship on a rule violation that set Roush off on one of his frequent tangents about NASCAR rules enforcement. Despite that Biffle returned in 2000, this time with a new teammate in Kurt Busch. Their first race together was Daytona, and it became one of the most astonishing races in history – first the lead changed 32 times, a series record. Second Busch hooked several Trucks together in a crash that launched Geoff Bodine all but through Daytona’s frontstretch fencing and stopped everything for some two hours. Third Busch, racing Biffle for fifth, swerved Biffle hard into the wall off Four, costing Biffle a lap with flat tires.

With all that Busch won four times and Biffle won five races and the series championship, but after 2000 Roush’s Truck efforts got skimped badly – Modifed ace Chuck Hossfeld was teamed with fellow rookie Nathan Haseleu but the effort ran seemingly with only perfunctory effort by the larger organization. That changed in 2002 when Roush replaced them with rookie Jon Wood and in 2003 expanded it with rookie Carl Edwards. Edwards exploded into a star, winning Daytona in 2004 and adding five more wins before the effort dried up in 2005, other than a win by Ricky Craven, roughly a year before retiring from the sport to the ESPN booth.

Mark Martin, in his swan song from Roush in 2006, drove a Truck and won six times. Travis Kvapil and Erik Darnell also won in Roush Trucks, but the effort was almost the only force standing in the way of Toyota’s semi-monopoly on the series; after 2007 Roush’ Trucks managed two wins, and the costs of competing in the series had become preposterously high.

The resulting exodus by Roush thus does not qualify as surprising; the surprise is that Roush stuck it out as long as he did, as RCR, DEI, and Hendrick had quit long before Roush packed up his equipment from the series. In 707 races including the recent Las Vegas event the Roush juggernaut has won 50 times and led 6,055 laps. In contrast RCR won 20 races with 2,867 laps led, DEI won 25 with 4,815 laps led, and Hendrick won 25 races with 5,244 laps led.

What it means to the series is the mixed bag involved. Roush clearly was not up to beating the Toyota effort that debuted in 2004 and which took over the series seemingly overnight with a winning percentage that has often reached 50%. As virtually the only Ford effort in the series, Roush’s fleet certainly added a measure of competitive depth to a series that, for all the hype about how good the racing is, hasn’t shown as much competitive depth as one might expect – entering October the series has seen but nine winning drivers; five of the season’s first twenty races were won by Kyle Busch, a Winston Cup intruder of the kind that helped bankrupt BGN. Roush’s lone win this year is the only win by a make other than Toyota or Chevrolet.

But with all this, the Truck Series does have things going for it – the racing may be overhyped but there is some good competition, and while competitive depth leaves everything to be desired it is also a series that has gotten back to something close to the “everyman” team concept – Roush’s exodus sees what amounts to the last of the money guy teams vacating the series, something not to be mourned at all.

Yet the fact the series lacks much in the way of competitive depth, with a good chunk of a typical field consisting of start-and-park vehicles, makes Roush’s departure a mixed bag, and it raises the question of whether a racing series can have competitive depth without being swamped by teams like Roush – or to put it another way, is the presence of superteams like Roush the only thing standing in the way of a racing series being trapped in start-and-park status?

One hopes that is not the case, but it does illustrate the radically mixed nature of Roush’s departure from the series.

Instead, the sport reaches the second half of June having slid back to the competitive funk it has wallowed in for over ten years.

The double-file restart rule is now two races old, and certainly two races is not enough of a test to definitively declare success, but the inescapable result so far of this rule has not been positive to the sport. The sport has seen no discernible increase in positional passing with double-file restarts; certainly the situation at Pocono was as favorable to the rule as anything could be yet the net result was a gain of nothing. The lead never changed on restarts, and in fact the angle of allowing the leader to restart in whatever line he chose wound up stifling attempt at passing.

The double-file concept is definitely a positive one and the rule needs to be kept, but there has been no sign that it has worked, and this needs to be acknowledged right now.

And making things worse is the cutback of factory backing the sport is now witnessing amid the government-mandated handover of GM and Chrysler to the UAW. Already the sport’s two lower-tier tours – BGN and the Trucks – have been all but purged of manufacturer participation, and the Winston Cup level is about to see cutbacks as well, with Hendrick Motorsports all but assured of being the last remaining factory Chevy team and the bitter pill to many in the sport’s fanbase that is potential Honda involvement one that may have to be swallowed for the sport to maintain anything resembling competitive depth. Certainly one is hard-pressed to see any future of manufacturer backing for teams such as RCR and Ganassi and the warning shot of a Petty Motorsports switch to Toyota apparently already being fired.

Racing has long been about survival and an element of basic survival has crept into even the Winston Cup level, where the competitive depth remains lacking. Mark Martin’s Michigan win got considerable celebration but adds up to just another forgettable Hendrick Motorsports win in a season where April-May’s burst of first-timers in Brad Keselowski, David Reutimann, and Stewart-Haas Racing now seems years past and Michigan offered no promise of a breakthrough for teams like Petty, RCR, Ganassi, Yates, or Robby Gordon, this amid the realistic end of the season for Tommy Baldwin’s pathetic attempt at fielding a Winston Cup team.

Rough stretches are to be expected in sports, but ten-plus years of a sport whose competitive promise goes mostly unfulfilled cries out for more than just a summit meeting between participants and the sanctioning body. We aren’t supposed to talk about just another showdown between Hendrick and Roush, we’re supposed to be talking about more than 15 winning drivers and more than 10 winning teams. That we aren’t still requires change.

That didn’t happen right away — largely due to new teams that saw an opportunity to jump into the series.

But that lifeline for the series may now be fraying.

Friday night’s race has just 33 trucks and many of those are just field fillers. The 33rd truck — Nick Tucker’s Chevy — was a full 29 mph slower in qualifying than Johnny Sauter’s pole-winning speed.

Only 27 trucks participated in Thursday’s final practice session. How many of those 33 do you suppose will actually be competitive?

It’s not necessary to have a full field to have an exciting race. Tonight’s race might very well end up being a barnburner. But it’s ridiculous to have trucks on the track that don’t belong there.

- The Birmingham News

2009 Raybestos Rookie Contender

– NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES

Johnny Sauter was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the May 30 AAA Insurance 200 at Dover (Del.) International Speedway. Sauter scored a fifth-place finish, his second top-five in 18 starts and his best of the 2009 season. He claimed top Raybestos® Rookie honors for second time this season and posted his second top-10 in the last three races. Sauter became just the fourth Raybestos® Rookie to score a top-five finish in 10 previous Camping World Truck Series races at Dover.

Sauter and Tayler Malsam are tied for the lead (71-71) in the Raybestos® Rookie standings entering the June 5 Winstar World Casino 400 at Texas Motor Speedway.

Kenny Irwin won the inaugural Winstar World Casino 400 at Texas Motor Speedway in 1997, edging out Boris Said and Rick Crawford for the win. Irwin went on to capture Raybestos® Rookie of the Year that same season.

A Raybestos® Rookie has won four of the 22 previous Camping World Truck Series races at Texas: Irwin, Travis Kvapil (2001) and Brendan Gaughan, who swept both races in 2002. Raybestos® Rookies Kvapil and Gaughan gave the rookie class three consecutive wins in 2001-2002.

DID YOU KNOW? Justin Marks became the first Raybestos® Rookie to win a pole position at Texas when he captured the top starting spot for the 2008 Winstar World Casino 400.

Marc Mitchell was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the 2008 June race, scoring a 12th-place finish.

Top-five finishes by Raybestos® Rookies in the June race at Texas:

1997: Kenny Irwin, FIRST

2001: Ricky Hendrick, fifth

2002: Brendan Gaughan, FIRST

2003: Carl Edwards, second

2004: David Reutimann, third

Top-10 finishes by Raybestos® Rookies in the June race at Texas:

1997: Kenny Irwin, FIRST

2000: Kurt Busch, sixth

2000: Scott Riggs, 10th

2001: Ricky Hendrick, fifth

2001: Nathan Haseleu, 10th

2002: Brendan Gaughan, FIRST

2003: Carl Edwards, second

2004: David Reutimann, third

2006: Chad McCumbee, ninth

RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE CONTENDER POINT STANDINGS

DRIVER POINTS

Tayler Malsam 71

Johnny Sauter 71

James Buescher 65

J R Fitzpatrick 52

Ricky Carmichael 45

Brent Raymer 30

Chris Jones 19

Chase Austin 16

Brian Ickler 15

HIGHEST-FINISHING RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE BY RACE

EVENT HIGHEST-FINISHING ROOKIE

NextEra Energy Resources 250 J.R. Fitzpatrick, fourth

San Bernardino County 200 Ricky Carmichael, eighth

American Commercial Lines 200 Tayler Malsam, 13th

Kroger 250 James Buescher, 11th

O’Reilly Auto Parts 250 Johnny Sauter, ninth

North Carolina Education Lottery 200 Tayler Malsam, eighth

AAA Insurance 200 Johnny Sauter, fifth

RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE HISTORY

· Colin Braun was the 2008 Raybestos® Rookie of the Year in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. Braun became the SIXTH Roush Fenway Racing driver to win Raybestos® Rookie of the Year in the series. In 25 starts Braun scored three top-five and eight top-10 finishes and placed 13th in the series championship standings. His best finish was a third-place effort at Kansas Speedway in April. Braun’s official margin of victory over Brian Scott in the final Raybestos® Rookie standings was 19 points (234-215).

DID YOU KNOW? The most recent Raybestos® Rookie to win a race in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series is Scott Speed. Speed won the 2008 AAA Insurance 200 at Dover (Del.) International Speedway, crossing the finish line 3.379 seconds ahead of second-place Jack Sprague (24 races).

DID YOU KNOW? The most recent Raybestos® Rookie to win a pole position in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series is Scott Speed. Speed won the pole for the 2008 O’Reilly 200 at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway (16 races).

- The most Raybestos® Rookies to win a race in a single season: THREE in 1997 (Kenny Irwin, Tony Raines, and Randy Tolsma).

- The most poles by a Raybestos® Rookie: FOUR (Greg Biffle in 1998 and Kurt Busch in 2000).

- Kurt Busch holds the record for best championship finish (2nd), most wins (four), and most money earned ($745,632).

- The record for most top-fives by a Raybestos® Rookie is 13 (Kurt Busch in 2000 and Carl Edwards in 2003).

- The record for most top-10 finishes by a Raybestos® Rookie is 19, by Ricky Hendrick in 2001.

SIX drivers from Roush Fenway Racing have won Raybestos® Rookie of the Year while competing in the Camping World Truck Series:

2008: Colin Braun

2006: Erik Darnell

2005: Todd Kluever

2003: Carl Edwards

2000: Kurt Busch

1998: Greg Biffle

- Kenny Irwin was the first Raybestos® Rookie to win a race in the Camping World Truck Series. Irwin captured the Florida Dodge Dealers 400K at Homestead-Miami Speedway on March 16, 1997. He took the checkered flag by .289 seconds over Mike Bliss.

- Irwin also holds the record for quickest win by a Raybestos® Rookie in the Craftsman Truck Series, scoring his first career win at Homestead in just his third career start.

Raybestos® brand brake and chassis parts are produced by affiliated companies in Affinia’s Global Brake and Chassis Group, the leading manufacturer of braking systems and chassis parts in the transportation industry. The brake line includes everything from brake drums to rotors, pads, shoes and hydraulic parts, while the chassis line features tie rods, ball points, idler arms and sway bar links. Raybestos brand braking and chassis systems are also the only systems used by NASCAR’s Joe Gibbs Racing in competition. For more information about Raybestos brakes, visit Raybestos.com. For more information on Raybestos Chassis visit RaybestosChassis.com

Affinia Group Inc. is a global leader in the on and off-highway replacement products and service industry. In North America the Affinia family of brands includes WIX® Filters, Raybestos®, AIMCO® and BrakePro® brake products, and McQuay-Norris® and Raybestos™ Chassis parts. South American and European brands include Nakata®, Filtron®, Urba® and Quinton Hazell®. For more information, visit affiniagroup.com.

*Affinia Group Inc.’s affiliated companies include Brake Parts Inc. WIX Filtration Corp LLC, Affinia Products Corp LLC and other high quality manufacturers of the Affinia family of brands.

- Camp & Associates, Inc. Press Release

- SS-Green Light Racing Press Release

Copart 200 Logo

The Copart 200, as the event will be called, is an extension of Copart’s involvement in NASCAR, specifically with the Truck Series teams of Germain Racing with driver Todd Bodine and Kevin Harvick Inc. with driver Ron Hornaday for a set amount of races this season. This is the first time Copart will be a NASCAR event entitlement sponsor.

“We are very proud to be able to sponsor what we anticipate to be a very exciting race,” said Copart President Jay Adair. “This is just one more way Copart is reaching out to NASCAR fans and letting them know about our extensive inventory of classic, early, and late model cars, trucks, SUVs, motorcycles, boats, snow mobiles, jet skis and recreational vehicles. NASCAR fans love cars and we have zillions to choose from!”

Defending Milwaukee event champion Johnny Benson will lead four returning series champions at America’s Legendary Oval, as he’ll battle it out with past champs Mike Skinner, Hornaday and Bodine, among others. Adding to the mix of an expected field of 36 trucks is Necedah, Wis. native Johnny Sauter, who drove to a dominant victory at The Mile in 2005 in a NASCAR Nationwide Series event.

“We’re proud of Copart’s involvement in bringing our loyal fans some of the best racing in NASCAR in the Copart 200 under the lights on Friday night, June 19. This is a great fit in matching up our extremely loyal NASCAR fans with Copart’s access to tens of thousands of vehicles for sale every day on their website, Copart.com,” commented Milwaukee Mile President & CEO Claude Napier.

The Copart 200 caps off a full day of NCWTS on-track activity Friday, June 19. The one-day format will include practice from 11:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. followed by single truck qualifying at 5:30 p.m. and the start of the Copart 200 shortly after 8:00 p.m. All times are local, subject to change.

Terms of the agreement were not announced.

For tickets to the June 19 Copart 200 race day at The Milwaukee Mile, call (414) 453-8277 or visit the speedway’s website, www.milwaukeemile.com.

About Copart

Copart, founded in 1982, sells more than 1 million vehicles each year online for insurance companies, banks, finance companies, fleet operators, dealers, the general public and others. Copart’s extensive inventory allows buyers to browse more than 50,000 vehicles each day. For details, visit www.Copart.com.

About NASCAR Racing at The Milwaukee Mile

The Milwaukee Mile is the oldest active motor speedway in the world, dating back to 1903. There have been 32 NASCAR-sanctioned events held at America’s Legendary Oval since 1984. The Mile is also one of the four original tracks still on the NCWTS schedule since the series’ inception in 1995. For details on the speedway’s entire 2009 season, visit www.milwaukeemile.com.

- The Milwaukee Mile Press Release

No. 6 Con-Way Freight Ford F-150

Team: No. 6 Con-way Freight Ford F-150

Crew Chief: Mike Beam
Chassis: RK-57 Last outing: Atlanta, Oct.
’08; finished 11th with Travis Kvapil

Braun, NCWTS at Dover International Speedway:

Date Event S F Laps Led Status Money

5-30-08 AAA Insurance 200 10 8 200/200 0 Running $16,585

Races Wins Top-5s Top-10s Poles Led Money

Cumulative 1 0 0 1 0 0 $16,585

Colin Braun

“I am a big fan of Dover. I think of it as a big Bristol because it
is so fast and the trucks carry so much speed through the corners. There
is so much grip from the banking and the concrete that you can really
carry a lot of speed through the corners. It’s tough to pass there and
as we saw in last year’s race, clean air is really important.

I know
we will have a fast truck and the guys always give me fast pit stops so
we’ve got that part of it covered. We’re taking a truck that was
built for one of our teammates last year and the guys have put a lot of
work into it. Hopefully we can run as well as we did at Lowe’s, but
get the finish to show for it this weekend at Dover.”

Crew chief Mike Beam on racing at Dover International Speedway:

“Colin had a great run going at Lowe’s a few weeks ago until he got
wrecked while leading. That was disappointing, but at the same time I
feel like that race really proved he is maturing as a driver.

He led the
most laps and drove a smart race. He had a good run at Dover last year
and finished in the top 10, so if he can be patient on the track and we
have a good pit strategy, there is no reason we can’t better that this
weekend.”

FAST FACTS:

- Braun will be racing chassis RK-57 at Dover. This truck was part of
the No. 09 fleet last season and was last raced by Travis Kvapil at
Atlanta where he finished 11th.

- Although 19th in points, Braun ranks in the top 10 in almost every key
statistical category. He has a driver rating of 87.5 (eighth-best), an
average running position of 12.4 (ninth-best), 10th of drivers in laps
in the top 15 with a percentage of 64.7 (548 laps) and sixth in laps led
with 63 laps.

- Braun has one top-10 finish at Dover in his only career start there
last year.

- Roush-Fenway Racing Press Release

2009 Raybestos Rookie Contender

– NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES

Tayler Malsam was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the May 15 North Carolina Education Lottery 200 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway (Concord, N.C.). Malsam scored an eighth-place finish, his best effort in eight NASCAR Camping World Truck Series starts and the best by a Raybestos® Rookie in seven races at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.

Malsam grabbed top rookie honors for the second time in 2009 and is the only first-year driver to claim the honor more than once. He leads James Buescher by five points (62-57) in the Raybestos® Rookie standings entering the May 29 AAA Insurance 200 at Dover (Del.) International Speedway.

Raybestos® Rookie Scott Speed won the 2008 AAA Insurance 200 at Dover, crossing the finish line 3.379 seconds ahead of second-place Jack Sprague. Speed led the race once covering the final 51 laps.

DID YOU KNOW? TWO Raybestos® Rookies have won NASCAR Camping World Truck Series races at Dover (nine previous races).

Top-five finishes by Raybestos® Rookies at Dover:

2000: Kurt Busch, FIRST

2001: Ricky Hendrick, third

2008: Scott Speed, FIRST

Top-10 finishes by Raybestos® Rookies at Dover:

2000: Kurt Busch, FIRST

2000: Jamie McMurray, sixth

2000: Carlos Contreras, 10th

2001: Ricky Hendrick, third

2001: Matt Crafton, ninth

2001: Travis Kvapil, 10th

2002: Brendan Gaughan, seventh

2005: Timothy Peters, sixth

2007: Aaron Fike, 10th

2008: Scott Speed, FIRST

2008: Colin Braun, eighth

DID YOU KNOW? Kurt Busch (2000) is the only Raybestos® Rookie to win a pole position in nine races at Dover.

Raybestos® Rookies that have led at least one lap at Dover:

2000: Kurt Busch, twice for nine laps

2001: Ricky Hendrick, once for one lap

2001: Matt Crafton, once for three laps

2008: Scott Speed, once for 51 laps

RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE CONTENDER POINT STANDINGS

DRIVER POINTS

Tayler Malsam 62

James Buescher 57

Johnny Sauter 54

Ricky Carmichael 45

JR Fitzpatrick 42

Brent Raymer 24

Chris Jones 19

Chase Austin 16

Brian Ickler 8

HIGHEST-FINISHING RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE BY RACE

EVENT HIGHEST-FINISHING ROOKIE

NextEra Energy Resources 250 J.R. Fitzpatrick, fourth

San Bernardino County 200 Ricky Carmichael, eighth

American Commercial Lines 200 Tayler Malsam, 13th

Kroger 250 James Buescher, 11th

O’Reilly Auto Parts 250 Johnny Sauter, ninth

North Carolina Education Lottery 200 Tayler Malsam, eighth

RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE HISTORY

· Colin Braun was the 2008 Raybestos® Rookie of the Year in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. Braun became the SIXTH Roush Fenway Racing driver to win Raybestos® Rookie of the Year in the series. In 25 starts Braun scored three top-five and eight top-10 finishes and placed 13th in the series championship standings. His best finish was a third-place effort at Kansas Speedway in April. Braun’s official margin of victory over Brian Scott in the final Raybestos® Rookie standings was 19 points (234-215).

DID YOU KNOW? The most recent Raybestos® Rookie to win a race in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series is Scott Speed. Speed won the 2008 AAA Insurance 200 at Dover (Del.) International Speedway, crossing the finish line 3.379 seconds ahead of second-place Jack Sprague (23 races).

DID YOU KNOW? The most recent Raybestos® Rookie to win a pole position in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series is Scott Speed. Speed won the pole for the 2008 O’Reilly 200 at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway (15 races).

DID YOU KNOW? The most recent Raybestos® Rookie to win a race in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series is Scott Speed. Speed won the 2008 AAA Insurance 200 at Dover (Del.) International Speedway, crossing the finish line 3.379 seconds ahead of second-place Jack Sprague (23 races).

The most Raybestos® Rookies to win a race in a single season: THREE in 1997 (Kenny Irwin, Tony Raines, and Randy Tolsma).

The most poles by a Raybestos® Rookie: FOUR (Greg Biffle in 1998 and Kurt Busch in 2000).

Kurt Busch holds the record for best championship finish (2nd), most wins (four), and most money earned ($745,632).

The record for most top-fives by a Raybestos® Rookie is 13 (Kurt Busch in 2000 and Carl Edwards in 2003).

The record for most top-10 finishes by a Raybestos® Rookie is 19, by Ricky Hendrick in 2001.

SIX drivers from Roush Fenway Racing have won Raybestos® Rookie of the Year while competing in the Camping World Truck Series:

2008: Colin Braun

2006: Erik Darnell

2005: Todd Kluever

2003: Carl Edwards

2000: Kurt Busch

1998: Greg Biffle

Kenny Irwin was the first Raybestos® Rookie to win a race in the Camping World Truck Series. Irwin captured the Florida Dodge Dealers 400K at Homestead-Miami Speedway on March 16, 1997. He took the checkered flag by .289 seconds over Mike Bliss.

Irwin also holds the record for quickest win by a Raybestos® Rookie in the Craftsman Truck Series, scoring his first career win at Homestead in just his third career start.

Raybestos® brand brake and chassis parts are produced by affiliated companies in Affinia’s Global Brake and Chassis Group, the leading manufacturer of braking systems and chassis parts in the transportation industry. The brake line includes everything from brake drums to rotors, pads, shoes and hydraulic parts, while the chassis line features tie rods, ball points, idler arms and sway bar links. Raybestos brand braking and chassis systems are also the only systems used by NASCAR’s Joe Gibbs Racing in competition. For more information about Raybestos brakes, visit Raybestos.com. For more information on Raybestos Chassis visit RaybestosChassis.com

Affinia Group Inc. is a global leader in the on and off-highway replacement products and service industry. In North America the Affinia family of brands includes WIX® Filters, Raybestos®, AIMCO® and BrakePro® brake products, and McQuay-Norris® and Raybestos™ Chassis parts. South American and European brands include Nakata®, Filtron®, Urba® and Quinton Hazell®. For more information, visit affiniagroup.com.

*Affinia Group Inc.’s affiliated companies include Brake Parts Inc. WIX Filtration Corp LLC, Affinia Products Corp LLC and other high quality manufacturers of the Affinia family of brands.

- Camp & Associates, Inc. Press Release

No. 16 Albertson's TOYOTA Tundra

“The most important thing for us right now is overcoming adversity,” Scott says. “If you have overcome it or are in the process of overcoming it then you are making the most out of it. If adversity keeps happening to you then you are going to be trapped in a cycle. We have had adversity two times out of six races this year. It makes it hard because you know you are going to have to go through the rest of the races relatively perfect. You only get so many mulligans. So it is really important that we make the most out our next opportunity coming up this weekend at Dover. I know our team has what it takes to respond in a very positive fashion.”

Xpress Motorsports crew chief Jeff Hensley is a veteran of several championship battles. The Horsepasture, VA native has seen both the ups and downs of NASCAR competition. He knows one must maximize the ups and minimize the downs or it can drive a competitor crazy.

“Any time you get your momentum up from a team standpoint and then you lose it, you want to be sure that when you do come back out of the box you can pick back up where you left off,” Hensley said. “So this race is important from a mental standpoint. I know we have the equipment here that is capable of doing that and I know Brian Scott is a driver who can get that done. I also know we have a great group of guys that can get the job done.

Unfortunately there are so many times in this business that you can’t control your own destiny. We saw that at California and Charlotte. We overcame a crash at California by going to Atlanta and Martinsville and posting top ten finishes, and then we went to Kansas and got a top three finish. I don’t see any reason why we can’t go to Dover and pick right back up where we left off.”

This will be Scott’s second trip to the “Monster Mile” in Dover. While he didn’t get the finish he wanted last year after a cut tire and cras h relegated him to a 32nd place finish, Scott did however develop an affinity for the track that he hopes will bode well for this weekend.

Brian Scott

It is the type of track that fits my driving style really well. There is no reason to think we can’t get a top five finish at Dover. To me Dover is kind of a hybrid track, you drive it like a short track but we go really fast there and I am really looking forward to going back.”

Hensley has a lot of experience at the “Monster Mile.” He even has three starts there as a driver in the NASCAR Nationwide Series with one top 10 finish.

“Dover is a big challenge in the sense that it is a race of survival,” Hensley said from the team’s shop in Mooresville, NC. “It is a lot like Bristol. There is a very fine line between being good and being not so good. You get around there so fast and if you are not good you will get lapped really fast. The truck has to turn good and get off the corner. Especially with these plates we are running now. One of the best things about Dover from my perspective is with the surface being concrete, the weather does not affect it nearly as much as some of the other tracks we race on.

They are constantly working on the track, grinding it to get it smoother, but it is still a challenge. The rubber will build up on the expansion joints during the race. That makes the shock package very important there. I like Dover, I love racing there. It is a really fun place to race when things are going good but it is a nightmare when things are not. Dover is a place where if you get it right you can wear them out. Track position is really important there. If you can get out front you can really make hay if your truck is really good. With the new pit road rules that is going to be even more critical this year. Whenever you get in your fuel window it is going to be – track position, track position, track position.”

The AAA Insurance 200 at Dover International Speedway in Dover, DE is slated for Friday May 29th at 5:00pm ET and will be telecast via tape delay on SPEED at 8:00pm ET. It will also be broadcast live via radio worldwide on the Motor Racing Network (MRN) and on SIRIUS Satellite Radio NASCAR channel 128.

Chassis for Dover International Speedway: Xpress Motorsports will bring chassis number 127 to the AAA Insurance 200 at Dover International Speedway. This Triad Racing Technologies chassis was originally built as a Dodge by Xpress Motorsports crew chief Jeff Hensley when he worked for BHR-VA in 2008. It placed second at Gateway and fourth at Loudon last year with Dennis Setzer behind the wheel. Xpress Motorsports purchased the chassis during the off-season and converted it to a Toyota Tundra. This will be Scott’s second event in the chassis, he finished 10th at Atlanta with it earlier this season.

- Xpress Motorsports Press Release

Todd Bodine, No. 30 TOYOTA Tundra

“Dover is a track where you have to stay on top of the wheel every lap, the whole race and it’s kind of my style. You really have to be aggressive driving it and you can’t be afraid of it. I’ve always enjoyed running at Dover and I’m looking forward to racing the Copart Tundra there on Friday,” said Bodine, of Chemung, NY.

Bodine says balance is a big factor in truck setup at Dover.

“A good truck turns in the middle and gets up off the corner good. A bad truck just doesn’t do what you need it to do in the middle or off (the corner); it’s always pushing or loose. It’s all about balance – having a good balance in the Copart Tundra setup,” said Bodine.

Crew chief Mike Hillman Jr. explains the way the racing surface of the Monster Mile changes throughout the race weekend.

“The toughest part of racing at Dover is that we practice on a green race track. We are the first vehicles on the track. By the time we race, there’s been a lot of vehicles on the track and the track changes. You don’t get a lot of practice time on your tires, so you have to make good decisions and it starts with unloading a good Copart Tundra at the start of the weekend,” said Hillman.

Bodine, a three-time winner at Dover, agrees.

“Dover gains grip with more rubber to start with, then goes back the other way and loses grip. When we take the Copart Tundra out to qualify, the track will be in fairly good shape, but when we get on the track to race, the track is starting to lose grip at that point,” said Bodine, who ranks fifth in the Truck Series championship standings after six of 25 races.

Copart has two locations nearby in Maryland in Baltimore and Salisbury. Bodine and Hillman hope to put on a great performance for the area’s Copart associates.

The Copart Tundra races on Friday night, May 29,, 2009, at 5:00 PM ET. Watch the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series racing action live from Dover on SPEED or hear it on your local MRN affiliate.

About Copart:

Copart, founded in 1982, sells more than 1 million vehicles each year online for insurance companies, banks, finance companies, fleet operators, dealers, the general public and others. Copart’s extensive inventory allows buyers to browse more than 50,000 vehicles each day.

Driver and Crew Chief Quotes

QUOTES: Todd Bodine on Dover International Speedway

How do you feel about the Monster Mile?

“I’ve always liked Dover. It’s one of the tracks I first got to race when I started in NASCAR and in my first race at Dover I started fourth and finished third. I’ve always like the track.”

Is there a formula for success at Dover?

“Dover is all about having a good truck and driving hard. It’s hard to get a good race truck there, and if you’ve got one, it makes it easy to go fast. You’ve gotta be a good driver to get around Dover.”

How does the track change throughout the Truck Series race weekend?

“Dover gains grip with more rubber to start with, then goes back the other way and loses grip. When we take the Copart Tundra out to qualify, the track will be in fairly good shape, but when we get on the track to race, the track is starting to lose grip at that point.”

Talk about what you need the Copart Tundra to do at Dover:

“A good truck turns in the middle and gets up off the corner good. A bad truck just doesn’t do what you need it to do in the middle or off (the corners); it’s always pushing or loose. It’s all about balance – having a good balance in the Copart Tundra setup.”

When we head to Bristol later in the season, it will be compared to Dover, are they similar?

“Even though the tracks are so different, the way you drive Dover and Bristol is kind of the same in that you really gotta get on top of the wheel and drive hard every lap. We’ve had good runs and some bad runs at Dover but we just haven’t quite hit it.”

QUOTES: Mike Hillman Jr. on Dover International Speedway

What is the challenge of the Monster Mile?

“The toughest part of racing at Dover is you practice on a green race track. We are the first vehicles on the track. By the time we race, there’s been a lot of vehicles on the track and the track changes. You don’t get a lot of practice time on your tires, so you have to make good decisions and it starts with unloading a good Copart Tundra at the start of the weekend.”

What is a team goal for the Copart Tundra at Dover?

“We’ve had decent trucks at Dover, but we’ve struggled to survive. It’s a track where as a team, we really want more finishes that show what we are capable of doing there.”

What truck are you taking to the Monster Mile?

“We’re taking a different truck, with a completely different setup than we’ve ever run at Dover to see if we can make it work. This Copart Tundra has only raced one time before. ”

Is Dover like any other track as far as your setup is concerned?

“Dover is its own race track. You won’t run that setup anywhere else. It’s completely different. So, for a period of about a week, you just worry about Dover and then focus on different race tracks. It’s unlike when you go to a place like Texas, where you can use your other mile and a half race track notes. At Dover, you can only try to make your package better just for Dover.”

- Germain Racing Press Release

But Stout isn’t just dreaming … he’s working towards his goal. And he’s doing it a little bit differently than you might expect.

Instead of moving to North Carolina, the 25-year-old is trying to build his organization from the racing hotbed of … Western New York? That’s right; while taking the occasional start-and-park deal for a handful of teams in NASCAR’s top three series, Stout is keeping his heart and soul up north — building his Stellar-Quest Racing team with his close friends and own money (or more accurately, his parents’ money).

But while he might not have the money to compete with the Roush and Hendricks of the world, Stout’s talent has already put him in a position to race with NASCAR’s best. Having started racing go-karts at the age of 11, Stout won multiple track championships before moving into Super Trucks four years later. Experiencing immediate success, he won a track championship in Trucks — which are a late model with a truck body — at age 15, the youngest age ever in New York for a local track champion. When he turned 18, Stout ran late model stock cars all over Western New York and Pennsylvania, winning seven races while leaving dozens of impressed drivers and car owners in his wake.

- Frontstretch.com

No. 15 Samsung Instinct TOYOTA Tundra

Ickler sat on the pole in the NASCAR Camping World East Series race at what has been named the “Monster Mile” at Dover International Speedway in 2008. Ickler led nine laps but was involved in an incident on lap 26 putting the car out of the event early.

“I’m excited about going to a track I’ve had some laps on,” Ickler said. “Despite having gotten involved in an accident I felt I had a pretty good feel for the one-mile concrete track. Our sponsor, Samsung Instinct is holding a contest with several winners receiving tickets to the Camping World Truck Series event at Dover with two lucky winners as part of our pit crew for the race. We’ll just follow our instincts in Dover to see if we can get a good finish for Samsung and the fans.”

Billy Ballew Motorsports has 10 previous starts at Dover International Speedway with one win posted by Kyle Busch in 2005.

Samsung Instinct will serve as the primary sponsor for the No. 15 Billy Ballew Motorsports entry. As part of the sponsorship, Samsung Mobile will be running a promotion where one lucky person will become an Honorary Billy Ballew Motorsports Pit Crew Member for the day at the upcoming NCWTS races; including the AAA Insurance 200 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race May 29, 2009. (Promotion slated for NCWTS race only at Lowe’s, Dover, Texas and Michigan race tracks. Visit www.BillyBallewMotorsports.com or www.samsunginstinct.com/nascar for complete contest rules and entry requirements.)

The AAA Insurance 200 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race is slated to begin at 5:00pm ET Friday, May 29, 2009. SPEED will broadcast the event on a tape delay beginning at 8:00pm ET.

About Samsung Telecommunications America

Samsung Telecommunications America, LLC, a Dallas-based subsidiary of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., researches, develops and markets wireless handsets and telecommunications products throughout North America. For more information, please visit www.samsungwireless.com.

About Samsung Electronics

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. is a global leader in semiconductor, telecommunication, digital media and digital convergence technologies with 2007 consolidated sales of US$105 billion. Employing approximately 150,000 people in 134 offices in 62 countries, the company consists of two main business units: Digital Media & Communications and Device Solutions. Recognized as one of the fastest growing global brands, Samsung Electronics is a leading producer of digital TVs, memory chips, mobile phones and TFT-LCDs. For more information, please visit www.samsung.com.

- Billy Ballew Motorsports Press Release

Kevin Harvick Inc. Logo

“Copart recently came on board the No. 33 Chevy Silverado with Ron Hornaday in the Truck Series, and now I’m able to join Ron as a representative of the Copart colors with their expanded relationship at KHI to the No. 33 Nationwide Series car,” said KHI co-owner Harvick. “To be able to help bring new business into NASCAR is what we are all about. We’ve proven at KHI that we are competitive both on and off the track by bringing great opportunities to our sponsors.”

Vehicle buyers all over the world have flocked to Copart.com over the years because of Copart’s extensive inventory. Buyers can choose from classic, early, and late model cars, trucks SUVs, motorcycles, boats, snowmobiles, jet skis and recreational vehicles. Copart has been named to Forbes Top 200 Small Companies list nine years in a row.

“We are excited to expand our relationship with KHI and get the word out to Nationwide Series fans, as well as Camping World Truck series fans, that Copart is the best place to find cars,” said Copart President Jay Adair. “NASCAR fans love cars, and we have more than 50,000 cars each day for them to choose from. Copart and KHI are a winning combination!”

No. 33 Copart Chevrolet Impala SS Schedule

Date Track Driver

May 30 Dover Kevin Harvick

June 13 Kentucky Kelly Bires

June 27 New Hampshire Kevin Harvick

August 8 Watkins Glen Kevin Harvick

September 26 Dover Ryan Newman

October 24 Memphis Kelly Bires

November 21 Homestead Ryan Newman

About Copart:

Copart, founded in 1982, sells more than 1 million vehicles each year online for insurance companies, banks, finance companies, fleet operators, dealers, the general public and others. Copart’s extensive inventory allows buyers to browse more than 50,000 vehicles each day.

About Kevin Harvick Inc.

Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI), established in 2001, is a 70,000 sq. ft. facility located in Kernersville, N.C. KHI houses two full-time Truck Series teams, including the 2007 series champions, the No. 33 Chevrolet Silverado driven by three-time Truck Series champion Ron Hornaday and the No. 4 KHI All-Stars Chevrolet Silverado driven by Ricky Carmichael and a variety of NASCAR Sprint Cup stars. KHI is also home to the No. 33 Chevrolet Impala competing full-time in the Nationwide Series, with drivers Kevin Harvick (a two-time Nationwide Series champion), Hornaday, 2008 Daytona 500 champion Ryan Newman, Cale Gale, and Kelly Bires. The 2009 season marks KHI’s sixth year of full-time competition in NASCAR’s elite divisions. Visit www.kevinharvickinc.com for more information.

- Kevin Harvick Inc.

Anyone who was there won’t forget it, that’s for sure.

Rookie Donny Lia only led one lap all day, but it was the most important one. When the white flag flew, Lia got on the back bumper of David Starr, tapping him in turn 2 and moving below him. That briefly opened the door for veteran Todd Bodine, and the three finished the last quarter mile three-wide with Lia edging between them both as the checkers flew.

It was considered one of the best finishes in NASCAR in 2008, and it ranks at the top of my all-time list in terms of dramatic endings.

Sadly, Lia won’t be back to defend his win this weekend, nor will anyone else in the series be in town.

Scheduled to again be a Memorial Day weekend event, lack of sponsorship and an unsure economy doomed the 2009 version of the race for track owner Mike Dzurilla and the rest of us.

- Mansfield News Journal