New Engine Package for Toyota
Toyota will have a new engine in the Nationwide and Craftsman Truck series in 2008 as the one-year moratorium on the old truck series engine expired last year.  Toyota built an engine for its entrance into the truck series for 2004, but that engine didn't meet NASCAR specifications for the Cup series, which Toyota began running last year. Toyota constructed a new engine for the Nextel Cup Series in 2007, and the Nationwide and truck engine is based on it.

"NASCAR let us wait one year on the [Nationwide] Series and the truck series to introduce that engine," said Laerte Zatta, Nationwide and Craftsman Truck Series Program Manager for Toyota Racing Development. "That's what we're doing right now."

Because of a late start designing the engine for the Nationwide and truck series, only Joe Gibbs Racing is using the new design during Nationwide Series testing that began Friday at Daytona International Speedway. JGR builds its own engines and didn't have any old Toyota engines since it switched manufacturers for this season.

Zatta said David Reutimann will also have the new engine when his Michael Waltrip Racing team begins its test Sunday. Zatta said Toyota needed to make sure it had race engines for the 14 Nationwide and truck teams it supports for at least the first two races of the season and simply didn't have enough time to build test engines for all its teams.   Mike Wallace's Germain Racing team, for example, is using the old engine this week.

Nearly all of the development work on the new engine was done by Triad Racing Development in High Point, N.C., Zatta said. The horsepower numbers from 2007 to 2008 are "similar," he said, despite an all-new design.  "I would say the carburetor is the same, but everything else below is different," Zatta said. "We changed the cylinder head, then we changed the block, we changed the crank, changed all the internals. Then we had to relocate and redesign the manifold - even the position of the engine inside the car is different."

Change In Qualifying for NASCAR
NASCAR officials have announced changes to the qualifying procedures in all three of their national series, putting the teams outside of the locked-in group on a more level playing field.

The teams not locked into the starting field in the Sprint Cup, Nationwide and Craftsman Truck series will all qualify as a group at the end of their respective qualifying sessions under the new rules.

According to Sprint Cup Series Director john Darby, the change starts at California for the Cup teams - those drivers can race their way into the Daytona 500 by virtue of a qualifying race - and at Daytona for the Nationwide and truck series.

The random draw for setting up qualifying order will remain unchanged, but the drivers outside of the top 35 will simply slide behind the entire group that is in the field.

"When you're one of a small group that has to qualify on time to make a race, and if you draw first and I draw 43rd, at some tracks there's an obvious weather condition or track condition that you could relate to a disadvantage or advantage," Darby said Monday during a visit by the NASCAR media core to the sanctioning body's Research and Development Center in Concord, N.C. "In trying to narrow that window and keep everybody as fairly even as we can, that's where the discussion started about grouping each other's [drivers] together."

Darby said having all those outside the top 35 go out after a session made the most sense in case a team blew an engine or crashed in a session and asked to be excused an go out last.

"With the cars on speed going first, it would create a perfect playing field to have a problem every week to get excused to 43rd or 44th," he said. "The easiest way to eliminate all the issues with the five-minute clock, being able to be fair for everybody in the garage, not just the cars on speed but the entire group of cars, it makes more sense for them to go last."


Testing Tires
NASCAR officials announced today that teams in all three of the sanctioning body's national series will receive an allotment of tires to use for non-NASCAR sanctioned tests.

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams will have access to 200 tires over the course of the year; NASCAR Nationwide teams will get 160 tires, and NASCAR Craftsman Truck teams will get 120 tires.

"We think for safety's sake and for the teams to do proper development it was time to re-evaluate our test policy and re-evaluate what teams were able to use as far as tires go," said NASCAR Vice President of Competition Robin Pemberton on Monday during a media visit to the NASCAR Research and Development Center in Concord, N.C.. "It will be whatever what they want to use. They'll be able to pick and choose the types of tires that they want, when they're available from Goodyear to concentrate on the places they need to go test.. .... We will not specify the codes that they need to get. They will do that, so teams will be able to concentrate on the places they think they need the most help at."

Penalty Money to Go to Charity
NASCAR officials have announced that starting this season, all money collected from fines issued to drivers will go to the NASCAR Foundation for its charitable initiatives.

"Now that the NASCAR Foundation is well established and supporting dozens of charitable organizations it is the logical place for fine money to be distributed," said NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France.  Previously, the fines reverted into the season-ending points fund.

Remember When
By:  Barb Benson
When I'm at the races, my camera is not too far away.  Not only do I try to capture that perfect photo to send to the fan club members, I try to snap memories in order to build a yearly scrapbook for Johnny. 

Last fall, I took my vacation to Charlotte to bond with my nieces while Johnny and Debbie went to Homestead for the final race and attend the Craftsman Truck banquet.  During that week, I finished the 1994 scrapbook.  Yes, 1994!    It was fun to relive those memories.  You may ask - are you that far behind?  No, I just choose to skip around a bit.  I only have 5 left to do - 1999, 2000, 2005, 2006 and 2007! 

Anyways, I asked fan club members what they would like to see in 2008.  One suggestion was a "Remember When" story.  So here it goes.  Hope you enjoy my photos!

1994 - Season of Change
By:  Barb Benson
Johnny moved from Grand Rapids, Michigan to Charlotte, North Carolina to drive in his first full season for Bill Baumgardner and BACE Motorsports.  Johnny drove the #74 Chevrolet Monte Carlo.

Johnny's crew chief was Steve Bird was his crew chief and Staff America was the sponsor.  He won the NASCAR Busch Series Grand National Division Rookie of the Year and finished sixth in Busch Series Championship points.

Johnny won his first BGN race at Dover Downs International Speedway in the Split Fire Spark Plug 200 on September 17, 1994.  It was Johnny's 29th career start in the BGN Series and the first time a rookie in the series won his first race on a Superspeedway. 

Did Johnny celebrate with his crew after the win?  No, Debbie and Johnny boarded a plane and headed for Grand Rapids, Michigan so Johnny could  race  the ASA race at Berlin Raceway.   They landed in Muskegon, Michigan, jumped into a rental car and let's just say they made good time.   He was greeted with thunderous applause as he entered the track.



 

Dale Earnhardt was always willing to let me take his photo whether he was at the NASCAR tracks, racing at Cayuga Speedway or signing autographs at Berger Chevrolet.   Do you remember when his team did pit stops in the parking lot at Berger Chevrolet?

Did you know that Dale Earnhardt called Johnny in 2003?   He wanted him to drive his Goodwrench car at the Dover Busch race.  The sponsor was not as willing to give Johnny a shot as Dale wanted.   It turned into a deal with Ernie Irvan and Johnny and the rest is history ..... 


JB Fans at Bristol - 2000
JB Fans headed to Bristol to cheer Johnny and the Lycos car.  They wore their Pennzoil and Cheerios apparel.  Are you in these photos or recognize others?  I recognize Uncle Dave!

    
                                Dave Penniga wearing his
                                           JBFC shirt  in the middle
                                                of the JB Fans!

Exide Batteries
The #23 Bill Davis Racing Toyota driven by Johnny will wear the Exide colors for the following Craftsman Truck races in 2008:  Lowes Motor Speedway, Michigan International Speedway, Bristol, Las Vegas and Homestead. 



 

BDR Truck Stable Completes Daytona Testing 

Toyota Engines
By:  Larry McReynolds
After three days of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series testing, the Trucks have taken over at Daytona International Speedway as NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series preseason testing is underway at the 2.5-mile superspeedway.

When I look through all the various storylines at the three-day test which began Friday, the one that I feel fans should be paying the most attention to concerns the Toyota program.

For the first time since 2004, the manufacturer will have a completely different engine combination than what they have been racing in the past. Last year was the final year that they could run the engine combination in Trucks and Busch (now Nationwide Series).

Considering the strength that they have shown in the last couple of years in the Truck Series and in their rookie year of Nationwide Series competition, I’m sure even Toyota is anxiously awaiting to see how they will be with this new engine package. They would not let them run their old truck engines in the Cup Series last year, and NASCAR gave them one last year to run it through their Truck and Nationwide Series before requiring a change.

In their last season with the old package, Toyota won 13 races en route to the Truck Series manufacturer's title and three drivers in the top five in the championship standings.

The new engine is based on the powerplant that they run in Cup so keep an eye on this story as it develops because it could foreshadow how Toyota’s Nationwide engine, which is only slightly different, runs … and to a certain extent, it can also show how their Sprint Cup engines will perform.

Q & A With Johnny
JOHNNY BENSON, No. 23 Toyota Certified Used Vehicles Toyota Tundra, Bill Davis Racing

What is your mindset heading into the Daytona test and the new season?

"It’s always good to get back at the race track and get things underway. We’re excited. Trip Bruce and the guys are working pretty hard. We’ve made a few changes and made some gains. We feel like we need to be a little better, but we’re not horrible. We’re decent in single-truck runs, but we need to be a little better in the draft."

What do you think your chances of a championship are this season?

"Hopefully, pretty good. The last two years have been pretty good. We’ve won quite a few races and finished second and third in the points. We want to win a championship for Bill Davis Racing. Two years ago, we had a pretty good shot at it, and last year Mike Skinner had a good shot at it last year, so hopefully one of us can get it done this year."

Why do you think the trucks produce such good finishes here at Daytona?

"It’s one of those deals where when you come down here with the trucks and you can be wherever you want. You can run in the middle or the back. You just need to find out what your truck likes and doesn’t like. You need to find out what you need for the end. The last 15 laps is where it’s at. It gets pretty wild and it gets pretty fun. The last couple years it has been side-by-side, three-wide across the finish line and we were glad to be a part of it last year."     

BobSled Television Coverage
Speed TV will show the qualifying results of the Bodine Bobsled Challenge on Jan. 20. The finals will air from 2-4 p.m., Jan. 27, after the 24 Hours of Daytona broadcast.

Testing - Day Three
The last day of Craftsman Truck Testing was shortened by rain.  Several teams packed up and left on Saturday night, leaving 24 Trucks to make laps on Sunday morning.  Johnny's speed of 180.029 placed him towards the end of the list in 22nd place.  One misfortune to hit the Bill Davis Racing teams, was when team mate Philip McGilton in Turn 4 and hit the wall. 

Testing - Day Two:
Johnny, Trip Bruce and the #23 Toyota Certified Used Vehicles participated in both testing sessions at Daytona International Speedway.  Overall speeds were slower in the morning session.  The speeds in the afternoon increased and Johnny sat 8th on the board running a lap of 183.173 mph.

BDR Hits the High Banks of Daytona
The 2008 testing season has officially begun this morning at the high banks of Daytona International Speedway.  Bill Davis Racing participate with their three teams with drivers Johnny Benson, Mike Skinner and Philip McGilton behind the wheels. 

Johnny's fastest speed during the single truck run am practice was 174.348 mph.  In the afternoon, the teams concentrated on drafting during their practice laps.  Johnny's speed increased and placed him 18th fastest with a speed of 180.832 mph.

Johnny was interviewed on the Speed Report and said he felt pretty good on the single runs, but they needed to work on the handling in the draft.  Mike Skinner reported that his team needs to get things going.  They chose to bring a little different package with a little more down force, and our truck is not as slick as some of the other guys, but we’re okay. We’re just having fun.”


CTS Director Pleased With 1st Day of Testing
Craftsman Truck Series director Wayne Auton, overseeing his eighth edition of Preseason Thunder, passed out some compliments midway through Friday's opening day of testing.

Auton was pleased with the number of teams attending and the appearance of their equipment. "The trucks really look good," he said. "The teams have done their homework." 

He indicated feedback from competitors has been positive.  "The trucks look very stable and the drivers are telling us they drive comfortably".

Auton noted that all four manufacturers -- Chevrolet, Dodge, Ford and Toyota -- are posting similar speeds and all are represented among the top times in single-truck runs.  "With the new intake, the [air] flow under the carburetor is more consistent and that should create the opportunity for racing the fans will enjoy," he said.

Reflecting on 2007
Chart by:  Ray Patten        

Trucks Begin 14th Season
Ron Hornaday Jr. had 55 days to savor his third NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship but Friday it's back to work for the Kevin Harvick Inc. No. 33 Chevrolet team along with Hornaday's fellow competitors.

The 2008 Craftsman Truck Series' 14th season begins with NASCAR Preseason Thunder at Daytona. Three days of testing -- Friday through Sunday -- will lay the groundwork for the Feb. 15 Chevrolet Silverado 250, first on the year's schedule of 25 races.

The series opens its season at the 2.5-mile Daytona International Speedway for the eighth consecutive year. The track, which has yet to see a repeat series winner, celebrates its 50th Daytona 500 on Feb. 17 while NASCAR heralds its 60th season.

If fans enjoyed last year's championship battle, which saw the lead see-saw a record seven times in the final nine races, it's possible 2008 will provide more of the same.  Last year's top-five finishing teams return with driver and crew chief combinations intact.

Hornaday, who became just the third driver to win a championship without holding the lead entering the season's final race, will have a full-time teammate for the first time in his 10 seasons in the NCTS. Three-time champion Jack Sprague (No. 2 Chevrolet) joins Hornaday to pair two of the series' iconic names under one banner.  I have raced against Jack for many years," Hornaday said. "He is a very intense driver and having him as a teammate is a big plus for the whole KHI team. Our Truck program was strong last year but now running two full-time teams and having the extra support will make it that much stronger."

KHI's two drivers have won a combined six championships, 61 races, 45 poles and more than $12 million. Sprague won last year's Chevrolet Silverado 250 in a three-wide finish over Johnny Benson (No. 23 Toyota) and Travis Kvapil. 

Benson finished third in the 2007 standings with four victories and returns with Bill Davis Racing teammate Mike Skinner  (No. 5 Toyota). Skinner was the season runner-up and bids to improve on a five-win, 11-pole campaign during which the 1995 champion led the standings a record 18 times.

Also ready to challenge for this year's crown is 2006 champion Todd Bodine (No. 30 Toyota) and Rick Crawford (No. 14 Ford). Bodine finished fourth in the 2007 standings with a pair of victories. Crawford grabbed the final spot in the top five with a third-place finish in the season-ending Ford 200 at Homestead-Miami Speedway .

The offseason also saw significant driver shifts. At least four veteran competitors enter this week's test with teams different from those of 2007. They include Sprague, last year's Daytona winner, Terry Cook, Brendan Gaughan and David Starr. Cook takes over the No. 60 Wyler Racing Toyota; Gaughan (No. 10 Ford) is Crawford's new teammate; Starr returns to the No. 11 Red Horse Racing Toyota in which he competed in 2006.

The rookie class remains in its formative stages, however, Colin Braun, a 19-year-old Texas road racer, will attempt to become owner Jack Roush's unprecedented sixth top newcomer. Braun will drive the No. 6 Ford in which Kvapil won four times last year.

Practices will be held from 9 a.m. to noon ET and 1-5 p.m. ET on all three days. Fans can watch all of the January testing sessions free from the Oldfield Grandstands located just outside of the Daytona 500 Experience. Tickets for any race events at Daytona International Speedway are available online at www.racetickets.com or by calling 1-800-PITSHOP.

Along with the opportunity to watch Preseason Thunder, fans can enjoy an afternoon and evening at Daytona's Sprint Fanzone once each session. Among the Fan Fest activities: Driver question-and-answer sessions, show cars, bands, a silent auction, displays and pit-stop demonstrations. Cost is $15 per session. Fans can watch each day's test at no cost, beginning at 9 a.m.  -  Jan 12: Craftsman Truck Series Fan Fest.

NASCAR Day 2008
The NASCAR Foundation announced that it will celebrate "Five Years of Caring" May 16 during the fifth anniversary of NASCAR Day. Present for the announcement at Daytona International Speedway was country music superstar Garth Brooks. As part of his role, Brooks will appear in a print, radio and television advertising campaign that will debut during the 50th running of the Daytona 500 on Feb. 17, 2008 (FOX, 2:00pm/et). Past celebrity supporters for NASCAR Day include Will Ferrell and Kelly Clarkson. More info at foundation.nascar.com

SPEED Shakes Up Coverage
For the first time ever, NCTS fans will witness Truck Series racing in High Definition beginning with the Feb. 15 race at Daytona.  NCTS Setup, hosted by Krista Voda, will return for its second season to bring fans up to speed before the green flag waves. A special version of the popular pre-race show will kick off the 2008 season prior to the Daytona race.  Rick Allen will provide play-by-play with race analysis from Phil Parsons and Michael Waltrip. Adam Alexander and Ray Dunlap will cover pit road.

Additionally, as in 2007, two NCTS races will be broadcast on FOX (Fontana, Martinsville), with the remainder of the events live and exclusive to SPEED.

SPEED will air a Jan. 11 (7 p.m. ET) NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series test session recap from Daytona. John Roberts will host the special with analysis from Dunlap and Parsons. SPEED will broadcast 100 hours of Speedweeks coverage beginning with its HD debut Feb. 7, an all-time high over the previous 75 hours. Furthermore, for any fan who missed the live action on television. SPEEDtv.com will re-launch in widescreen format with several new features Feb. 6.

Safety Meeting News
Seats and helmets were hot topics at NASCAR's annual safety meeting for drivers and crew chiefs Tuesday at Daytona International Speedway. Attendance is mandatory for the gatherings, which continue this month with a second Sprint Cup test and sessions for the Nationwide and Craftsman Truck series.

Tom Gideon, safety director for GM Racing, said drivers were particularly interested in new seat specifications in the wake of Ricky Rudd's Sept. 2 crash at California Speedway. Rudd, who made a NASCAR-record 788 consecutive starts, suffered a severely separated left shoulder and missed five races, the first time he had been sidelined by an injury. "They have rigid seats now with shoulder and head support, and they want to make sure there's nothing in the seat to hurt the shoulder," Gideon said. "There can be edges of the seat that can get into the shoulder, and that might have happened in Ricky's case."

Benson Takes on New Driving Role
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series driver Johnny Benson participated in the Third Annual Chevy Bodine Bobsled Challenge presented by Whelen Engineering in Lake Placid, New York.  It was Benson’s first attempt in that event.

Benson was one of 15 NASCAR drivers to participate, with each driver taking a championship run.  The top five times advanced to another run against the five National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) drivers in appearance.  The winner was decided by the best aggregate time.  Benson showed his determination and his drive when he posted the fifth quickest time of the NASCAR drivers.  Though Benson lost in the first round, he was overcome with excitement and enjoyment throughout the weekend.

"I had a great time," Benson said.  "I would like to thank Geoff Bodine and the entire U.S. Bobsled team for the opportunity to drive their sleds.  It was very exciting and very thrilling to zip down the course, but it was also very tough to do.  People need to be aware that the U.S. Bobsled team pays for its own equipment, and any support for our Olympic teams would be very helpful to them.  But overall, I am very thankful to be able to participate in such a great event for such a wonderful cause."  

The three day challenge ended with Boris Said once again on top as he defended his title from the previous year.  The Geoff Bodine Bobsled Challenge started three years ago as an avenue for the project to raise funds and awareness for the U.S. Olympic Bobsled team.  The Bodine Bobsled Challenge will be televised on SPEED Jan. 20 and Jan. 27.  Fans can visit www.bodynbobsled.com to learn more about the project or make contributions.

Said Sweeps Events
Boris Said has been bobsledding longer than any of the other drivers at the Third Annual Chevy Bodine Bobsled Challenge, but he's still learning new tricks. He utilized some of what he picked up Saturday morning to successfully defend his title.  In his second championship run, Said shaved more than 1.5 seconds off his time to beat L.W. Miller and three other finalists. Said's two runs were 52.12 and 50.53 seconds, for a total time of 1:42.65. Miller, the 2007 Whelen Southern Modified Tour champion, posted the fastest first run time at 52.11 and finished second overall at 1:43.37.

Three-time NHRA Powerade Pro Stock champion Jeg Coughlin was third with an overall time of 1:43.99, followed by former NASCAR driver Larry Gunselman at 1:44.90 and 2007 Whelen Modified Tour champion Donny Lia at 1:45.46. "I changed my line a little bit," Said said, "and I made a lot fewer mistakes. Like in racing, I'm always learning -- every turn, every lap."

Each of the 15 NASCAR and NHRA drivers took one championship run. The top five times advanced to take a second championship run, and the finish was decided by the best aggregate time.  "I didn't expect to win this year," said Said, who won three of the four races in the first two years. "I thought [NHRA driver] Morgan Lucas would. But he made a mistake and it cost him."

Lucas was consistently one of the fastest Thursday and Friday, and was just .23 seconds behind Said in Friday's qualifying. But a bobble during Saturday's first championship run left him 11th at 54.21 and out of the hunt. Ron Hornaday, the 2007 Craftsman Truck Series champion, finished sixth with an initial run of 53.06 -- just .01 seconds out of qualifying for the second run.

Said got a chance to face-off against Lucas in the finals of the NASCAR-NHRA Challenge on Saturday afternoon. Said recorded a time of 50.99 in the finals to best Lucas' 52.06.

In the Challenge, five NASCAR drivers (Said, Randy LaJoie, Todd Bodine, Hornaday and Johnny Benson) and NHRA drivers (Phil Burkhart, Lucas, Todd, Bob Vandergriff and Coughlin) competed against each other in elimination rounds, to determine the finalist from the two sides.

Said beat Bodine in the NASCAR finals, while Lucas defeated Coughlin in the NHRA finals.  Many of the drivers like Miller were experiencing bobsledding for the first time this week.  "The first couple practice runs, I learned everything not to do," said Miller, who was optimistic after running fifth quickest in the final run Friday. He was the sixth sled down the hill in Saturday morning's first championship run and posted a top time which held up through the remainder of the runs.  When I got down there, it was the first run since I got here where I felt I did everything right and I just had one bobble," Miller said. "I knew I had a shot at a podium finish, but I needed Boris to really mess up to have a shot to win it."

Instead, Said put together a nearly flawless run.  "I wish I knew how I did it, but I'm not the smartest guy in the world," Said joked. "To me, it's just a blast. This sport is just so awesome. It's like when you were a kid on your flexible flyer -- times 10."  The Bodine Bobsled Challenge will air on SPEED Jan. 20 and 27.

Said Captures Pole
Johnny 4th Fastest
By John Kekis, AP Sports Writer

He brought some heat. Damn! How did he do that?" Logano lamented Friday after road race ace Boris Said won the pole for the Bodine Bobsled Challenge. "I was doing good, but I hit the nose and hit the rear. I've got to find a little heat. I'm not here to run second."

Said, whose late father, Bob, drove in the 1968 and 1972 Winter Olympics for the U.S. bobsled team, continued his nearly impeccable record in this unique event. He's won all but one of the races since the Bobsled Challenge debuted in 2006.

"After winning three out of four, the odds go down that you're going to win all of them," said Said, who edged drag racer Morgan Lucas by .23 seconds over two qualifying runs.  Former NASCAR Cup driver Larry Gunselman was third, followed by Craftsman Truck Series driver Johnny Benson and Logano, Busch East Series champion.

This is the third edition of the Bobsled Challenge, which features race car drivers on ice. Former NASCAR driver Geoff Bodine has been involved with bobsledding since watching the 1992 Winter Olympics on television and noticing that the U.S. teams were using European-made sleds. He created the Bo-Dyn Bobsled Project Inc. to help make sure U.S. sleds would be made in America, and his efforts have since helped provide the U.S. Bobsled and Skeleton Federation with sleds designs involving NASCAR technology.

And it's starting to pay off. The United States has won four medals in the last two Winter Olympic Games, and current driver Steve Holcomb is the defending two-man and overall World Cup champion and tops the international field this season with three golds, two silvers and a bronze in six World Cup races.

The Bobsled Challenge, whose chief sponsors are Chevrolet and Whelen Engineering, will feature two separate races on Saturday. In the morning event, all 15 drivers will make two runs, and whoever turns in the lowest combined time wins.

In the second race, drivers will be split into two groups - five NASCAR guys against five drag racers from the NHRA - and it will be like a drag race with the drivers competing head-to-head. The final heat will feature the top NASCAR driver against the top NHRA driver, with the winner claiming gold.  "I don't think the NASCAR guys want to get beat by the NHRA guys, so we'll do our best to keep them behind us," Whelen Modified champ Donny Lia said.

Also competing are: two-time Busch Series champ Randy LaJoie; Craftsman Truck Series champions Todd Bodine and Ron Hornaday Jr.; Whelen All-American Series champ Steve Carlson; Whelen Southern Modified Tour champ L.W. Miller; and draggers J.R. Todd, Jeg Coughlin Jr., Phil Burkhart and Bob Vandergriff.

Members of the New York State Army National Guard will serve as brakemen on all sleds.  Logano, one of the very young guns of NASCAR who will make his Cup debut at Dover in May - a week after he turns 18 - proved a quick study a day after seeing a bobsled track up close and personal for the first time in his life.  "When you walk the place is where it really sets in," said Logano, a developmental driver for Joe Gibbs Racing. "That pretty much is a wall (of ice). You're like upside down."

Indeed. No pansy 34-degree banked turns like NASCAR's so-called bullring in Bristol, Tenn.  "This was probably more nerve-racking than qualifying for the Daytona 500 because you don't know what to expect," said Hornaday, another rookie here. "You don't know the track conditions, you don't understand the track conditions. We're down there running into the walls. It's like Bristol and Martinsville all over again."

Especially for Todd and Carlson, who flipped in practice but escaped unscathed.  "This is pretty wild stuff," said Benson, also a first-timer. "I rode the first time I went down, and after I rode I was like, 'You know, it would be all right if I didn't drive."'

Lia discovered the secret of going fast - it's the sled. He topped the speed charts on his first run and was next to last the second time down after switching sleds. Said was nowhere near the top in practice, switched sleds with Lucas, and became the man to beat.

"There's a couple of sleds that are way off, and this is one of them," Lia said. "We get a better sled, and we'll be all right. You don't get a good sled, it don't matter how you drive, you ain't going to go fast."  And rest assured Lucas won't be lending his sled come race time.  "I've got dibs on that one," he said.

BobSledders Battle Cold Temps
Tim Packman - MRN Radio News Director
Racing One

A little sub-zero air temperature of -4 degrees wasn’t enough to keep the NASCAR and NHRA drivers away from bobsled practice.  Clear blue skies, picturesque mountains and a temperature of -8 degrees greeted participants in the Chevy Geoff Bodine Bobsled Challenge presented by Whelen Engineering upon arrival here on Thursday morning. After warming up to that whopping -4, the high for the day, participants, media and families took part in the open practice day.

Matter of fact, most of the drivers and brakeman toughed it out to make several runs up here at Mount Van Hoevenberg right up until darkness. Part of it was because the track was so fast, but the main factor was they wanted to figure out which sled was the fastest.

Sleds are done up in sponsor colors from Chevrolet, Lumber Liquidators, Whelen Engineering, PPG Paints and Columbia Outerwear. But, before climbing aboard, participants first walked the track to check out the curves and high-banked turns. And, what better teachers could the amateur sledders get than actual members of the US Bobsled team.

After the walk through, which included NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series drivers Ron Hornaday, Jr. and Johnny Benson sliding down on their backsides for part of the run, the sleds were brought out. Prior winner and NHRA driver Morgan Lucas made the first run, followed by NASCAR driver and defending Bobsled Challenge winner Boris Said.

It was the job of prior drivers to teach new sledders how to take their runs and steer the sleds.  “You just can’t jump in there and expect someone to know how to do this right off the bat,” said Randy LaJoie, two time NASCAR Nationwide Series champion. “It’s great they have this many people here this year to take part. Once the new drivers figure it out, we can really get to racing each other.

“This is a blast; I don’t care how cold it is here.”  Geoff Bodine said before the day was over some drivers wouldn’t be sticking to the sled that had their name on them. And, true to his word, Boris Said seemed to like the sled with the name of an NHRA driver on the side.

“I’ve been down the mountain more than anyone here and have driven these things at Salt Lake City just a few weeks ago,” Said said. “JR Todd has been posting the fastest times, so I wanted to jump in his and see if it was me or the sled.  “JR’s sled is faster, I can tell you that much right now.”

While LaJoie, Todd and Said bring experience to the mountain, Hornaday made his first runs – ever – in a bobsled.  “Wow, this is great,” he said after his first run. “We don’t have this in my native California. Matter of fact, we don’t have these types of temperatures, either. I made a few runs and think I kind of got the hang of this.   “I’m looking forward to more practice and qualifying runs on Friday. I heard the temperature is supposed to heat up to the mid-20s, so it will be interesting to see if it changes the track any.”

 

Meet Bill Hagerthey

 

Cool City Customs to Sponsor Michigan Race
Cool City Customs, a Michigan-based motorcycle customs shop, will sponsor the Cool City Customs 200 at Michigan International Speedway on June 14. It will be the first NASCAR sponsorship of any kind for the Lyons, Mich., company that specializes in the customizing and selling of many of the extravagant motorcycles on the road today. The three-year sponsorship deal for the Cool City Customs 200 will extend through 2010. The sponsorship also makes Cool City Customs the "Official Custom Bike Builder" of Michigan International Speedway.

BDR Truck Testing Kicks Off at Rockingham
HIGH POINT, N.C. (December 13, 2007) Bill Davis Racing’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series drivers Johnny Benson and newcomer Phillip McGilton had a successful start to the 2008 season Monday and Tuesday during a testing session at [Rockingham] North Carolina Speedway.    

McGilton, who placed sixth overall in the 2007 ARCA RE/MAX Series final point standings, soaked in advice from his veteran teammate.  It was the young driver’s first time in a Tundra on a track bigger than a half-mile, and it took the rookie little time to get up to speed.  McGilton spent the first day getting comfortable in the No. 22 machine and finding his line on the track.  It was only his second time behind the wheel of a Toyota Tundra.  He tested in October at Caraway Speedway near Asheboro, N.C.

McGilton adapted to many new techniques that he had never experienced before.  Crew chief Doug Wolcott threw a lot at him during the two-day test, including numerous suspension changes.

“Testing at Rockingham went great,” McGilton said.  “I felt that we made big steps in the communication area within the team.  The second day, we came right off the truck a half-second quicker than the day before.  I am very excited about what we have accomplished in such a short period of time, and I can’t wait to get things underway in Daytona.”

Benson and McGilton posted nearly identical lap times during their test session.  The pair will join teammate and runner-up in the 2007 NCTS Championship standings Mike Skinner, along with the rest of the NCTS field, at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway in January at the launch of their first of three “open test” sessions for 2008.

Testing at the Rock
Five teams from the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series turned up for a two-day test session at the newly reopened Rockingham Speedway.

Johnny Benson, driver of the No. 23 Excide Batteries Toyota Tundra was the most experienced driver at Rockingham Speedway participating in the test. The 2002 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Rockingham race winner was back at the speedway to test new engine components for his truck and to work on different set-ups that are more time consuming to try during a race weekend.

Four time Truck Series race winner, David Starr tested his Red Horse Racing Toyota Tundra at Rockingham to help reacquaint himself with his old team – the team he also raced for during the 2006 season.

Three Truck Series rookies also joined the two veterans during over the two day period. Justin Marks attended the test driving for Germain Racing, Phillip McGilton driving the No. 22 for Bill Davis Racing and Donnie Lia driving the No. 59 Harris Trucking entry all turned numerous laps in their Toyotas. All three drivers were excited to get the opportunity to run laps at the fast, one-mile trackJohnny Benson – No. 23 Bill Davis Racing Toyota

I’ve always loved this race track. It is the same old Rockingham, it’s bumpy, you slide around and stuff but man I have always loved this place it is way cool. ”

“I think the truck series would but on an excellent race here - they seem to put on great shows here no matter the series so I think a truck race would be awesome.

“The ARCA race here is going to be very cool. I am not sure if I can race in it but it would be fun to come watch. I really do hope the fans will come out and watch it. ”

“They are throwing a different restrictor plate spacer on us next year to slow us down, so we worked on that a lot to try and figure where that will put us as far as chassis set-ups with less power. It is just to try and give us a heads up on what the engine department needs and what we need to do with the chassis to compensate for it. ”

“I think it was a good test, we did a bunch to the chassis that we normally don’t do or don’t have time to do and we were just curious how it would work. You know normally when you go test it is a lot of different things you want to do, this or that but we tried something just totally different, something that you may not normally think about or just different areas of the truck that you just might not change at the track that is time consuming. ”