Memphis Open Wheeler Busch Series Coverage/ Pete Shepherd and Bobby East News/ Montoya Mania/ Rice to Champ Car?/ NASCAR Comes to ESPN2
Memphis Open Wheeler Busch Series Coverage
Welcome to our coverage of this weekend’s NASCAR Busch Series race at Memphis Motorsports Park. We have a lot of stories we are working on plus information on our Open Wheelers racing in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Atlanta so lets get to it.
Memphis Motorsports Park (MMP) is known as a good place for first time Busch Series drivers to get their first start. The track’s first race came in 1999 and since then 23 drivers have made their series debut at the .75- mile facility. Many Open Wheelers have gotten their first start at Memphis.
The Great Racing Fly In
One of the reasons Memphis is a great place for first times is that the Cup guys are in Atlanta but that doesn’t mean we will not see them in the Bluff City this weekend. Three Chase contenders are schedule to make the flight from Atlanta, Georgia to Millington, Tennessee. Kyle Busch was originally scheduled to race in Memphis but has since backed out and who can blame him with so much at state in Hotlanta. Kevin Harvick clinched the Busch Series championship two weeks ago at Charlotte but will still race in Memphis. Harvick told Dave Rodman of NASCAR.com that he has always planned on racing at MMP and his plans have never changed. Denny Hamlin and Open Wheeler Kasey Kahne are the other two “Chasers” making the trip. Open Wheelers JJ Yeley and Carl Edwards will also pull the double. Cup Happy Hour is scheduled for 12:50pm eastern in Atlanta and the start of the Busch Race at MMP is set for 2:10 eastern. This makes for a tight day logistically. The teams work with Memphis Motorsports Park and local authorities to pull off the quick trip. Last year Edwards hopped a ride with his boss Jack Roush to Charles Baker Airport, which is located adjacent to MMP property. Other teams with bigger aircraft have to land at Millington Municipal Airport, which is located a few miles north of the track. Several teams have already landed at the larger Millington airport this morning. You can track the flights to Millington http://flightaware.com/live/airport/KNQA as well as Charles Baker http://flightaware.com/live/airport/2M8 through our friends at FlightAware.com.
Shepherd to Warm Up Busch Car for Edwards
Roush Racing developmental driver, Peter Shepherd, will practice and qualify Carl Edwards' Busch Series No. 60 FreeCreditReport.com Ford Fusion this weekend in Memphis. This will be Shepherd's inaugural Busch Series event. Shepherd has competed in three NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series races this season for Roush Racing, the first of which was at Memphis. Shepherd qualified 25th and finished 23rd in that race. Carl Edwards is part owner of the USAC Silver Crown race car that Shepherd competed in this year and has helped Shepherd out with driving tips throughout the season. Now Shepherd can return the favor while gaining valuable seat time. With Edwards in Atlanta for the Nextel Cup race he will miss all Busch practice sessions and qualifying for Saturday's Sam's Town 250. Shepherd will step in to practice and qualify the car while Edwards fulfills his Nextel Cup responsibilities in the No. 99 Office Depot Ford Fusion at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Shepherd is prepared to start the Busch race if Edwards does not make it to Memphis in time for the green flag."I am really thrilled for this opportunity," Shepherd said. "Pierre Kuettel (P.K.) and the whole No. 60 team are great at what they do and I can't wait to help out and learn at the same time. I hope we can get the No. 60 FreeCreditReport.com Ford Fusion handling just right so Carl can jump in and win the race." Edwards who is second in Busch Series points, said he had confidence in Shepherd's ability to perform."Peter has been doing a great job driving," Edwards said. "He finished the season driving my RE Technologies Silver Crown USAC Car, and I got a chance to spot for him in Chicago and was really impressed with him, just like everyone else. He is a super nice kid; he has a great family and will be a great driver. Peter has tested the Silver Crown car at Memphis and ran the truck there so we thought he would be the perfect guy to get the car set up and ready to race."
Montoya Mania
The big news this weekend in Memphis, never mind the outcome, will be Juan Pablo Montoya first NASCAR star in the No. 42 Texaco/Havoline Dodge. The former Indianapolis 500 champion and Formula One star has participated in several tests in NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series cars including one two weeks ago at Memphis Motorsports Park. JPM has also made starts at Talladega Superspeedway and at Iowa Speedway in the ARCA RE/MAX Series. The Columbian will take over the driving duties of the No. 42 Texaco/Havoline Dodge in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series in 2007. The 31-year-old driver is probably one of the best Open Wheel drivers in the world. In 137 starts between the CART, IndyCar and Formula One Series, Montoya has tallied 18 wins, 26 poles, 60 top-five and 79 top-10 finishes.
“Our biggest goal this weekend is to get 250 laps of racing,” said crew chief Brad Parrott. “He got 202 at Iowa on the short track, now we need to get 250. He needs to continue to get more comfortable racing in traffic and that comes with race time and laps. He had a good test in the Cup car at Memphis, and the Texaco/Havoline team put together a good car, so this should be a good weekend for the team and the organization.”
Juan Pablo Montoya is aware of the goals but knows Memphis will not be an easy race.
“Memphis is a really tough race track. When I tested the Cup car there the first thing I learned was that it is a really small racetrack. It is difficult and tricky. I was surprised at how hard on the tires it was, it killed the tires. When I race at Iowa there were several lines you could run, at Memphis there is really just one line. Everybody wants to run the car at the bottom, that's it. When we tested, I was running competitive times with (David) Stremme, so I think my race pace is fine. I do think there will be a lot of getting bumped and moved around. It's going to be I think a bit of a shock for me compared to what I’ve been used to in Formula One. I'm out here to learn and get ready to take over the Texaco/Havoline car in 2007. Hopefully, we can bring this car home in better shape than the car from Iowa.”
Burney’s Back
Open Wheeler Burney Lamar is back behind the wheel of the No. 77 Dollar General Chevrolet this weekend. Tennessee based Dollar General is hoping to provide a lucky boost for the team by inviting the Kevin Harvick Inc. road and race day crews to join a riverboat cruise on the Mississippi River aboard the Queen Memphis III on Thursday evening. Note to KHI team, bring a jacket because the river can get cool on fall evenings.
Leffler Looks for Win
Open Wheeler Jason Leffer cut his teeth on short tracks. Maybe that is why he is looking forward to Memphis. Leffler who currently sits 11th in the NASCAR Busch Series point standings has a total of five career starts at Memphis Motorsports Park, three (3) in the NASCAR Busch Series and two (2)in the Craftsman Truck Series. The USAC Silver Crown Series Championship Car Owner has one career pole, one top-five and two top-10 finishes with eleven laps led at MMP.
Memphis Notes
There have been seven different winners at Memphis since the inaugural NASCAR Busch Series race at the track in 1999. Two former winners – teammates Clint Bowyer (2005) and Kevin Harvick (2000) – are entered. Randy LaJoie, who will sub for Harvick until race time, also won at Memphis in 2001. Harvick and Bowyer have two top-five finishes at Memphis, best among drivers entered. Jason Keller has five top-10 finishes at Memphis, best among all drivers. A new Busch Pole winner can emerge from Memphis as none of the previous four pole winners are entered in the event. Jeff Green and Martin Truex Jr. lead that category with two each. Four former Memphis winners also are NASCAR Busch Series champions – Harvick, Truex, Jeff Green and LaJoie.
Richard Childress can clinch his third NASCAR Busch Series owner championship at Memphis if Kevin Harvick driving the No. 21 U.S. Coast Guard Chevrolet can finish 35th or better. Harvick is not taking any chances, bringing the same car that won earlier this year at Martinsville Speedway, O’Reilly Raceway Park and Richmond International Raceway. Paul Menard will aim for his 100th series start at Memphis.
Schedule: All times central
Friday, Oct. 27
Practice, 2-3 p.m. & 4-5 p.m.
Rookie Practice, 3:30-4 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 28
Qualifying, 10:05 a.m.
Race, 1:10 p.m. NBC
Odds and Ends Track Layout: .75-mile oval Race Purse: $1,279,397 2005 Winner: Clint Bowyer 2005 Pole: Martin Truex Jr.
Out numbered?
Out of 50 entries this weekend, 8 are Open Wheelers
Busch Series Entries for Memphis
9 Kasey Kahne
10 John Andretti
11 Paul Menard
18 J.J. Yeley
38 Jason Leffler
42 Juan Pablo Montoya
60 Carl Edwards
77 Burney Lamar
Tickets Almost Gone
If you are planning on going to the Memphis race this weekend and haven’t purchased your tickets yet you better get on the phone. As of last check, all that remains are $45 general admission tickets ($20 for children under 12) in Grandstand H – the new, temporary stands brought in to accommodate the continuing demand for tickets to the track’s NASCAR season finale on Oct. 28. Also available are $15 tickets for the three practice sessions on Friday, Oct. 27. For tickets or more information, call 1-866-40-SPEED (77333) or visit MemphisMotorsportsPark.com.
We will have continuing coverage throughout the weekend of the Memphis Busch race on this website.
Bobby East Looks for First Win in Hotlanta
Memphis is not the only place that Open Wheelers are looking for success this weekend. Bobby East and five other Open Wheelers are looking for good results at Atlanta Motor Speedway. East returns to the site of his 2006 Craftsman Truck Series debut where he started fifth and finished 23rd in the spring race at AMS.
“I've really learned a lot on our mile-and-a-half program,” said East. “When we went to Atlanta earlier this year, we had a fast truck and we had an excellent setup and a good body and an awesome motor, but it was my first mile-and-a-half race and I really didn't know what to do other than hold the throttle down. I took that race and made sure I finished every single lap just to make sure I could get 130 laps of experience on a mile-and-a-half track. Since that time, we've come a long way. The team has come a long way in its mile-and-a-half program, and they've really worked hard with me to get better on the mile-and-a-halfs because that's been one of my biggest struggles this year. We're trying to get top-10s. We've had some decent runs here lately; we either haven't been able to finish it or had some kind of problems along the way. We're just making sure we work through everything we can, but when we show up to the track, me and John Monsam (crew chief), our mindset is: what can we do to get a top-10? That's what I want, to be able to put myself in the position where I'm in the top 10 week in and week out and see if we can't turn our luck around here ourselves.”
Open Wheeler Truck Entries for Hotlanta
10 Terry Cook
16 Mike Bliss
17 David Reutiman
21 Bobby East
24 AJ Allmendinger
98 Erin Crocker
SPEED Says Rice to CCWS
According to a story posted at http://www.speedtv.com/articles/auto/champcar/33628/ Buddy Rice could leave the IRL for Champ Car in 2007. SPEED reports that Rice will replace A.J. Allmendinger in the CCWS season finale Nov. 12 at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez. Allmendinger announced earlier this week he was leaving Champ Car for NASCAR..
Who is Next?
Today’s Indianapolis Star has the answer in two articles who in USAC could be next for fendered stardom at www.indystar.com. Note that the registration police are out so you may have to register to see the article.
NASCAR Comes to ESPN2 Sunday
ESPN kicks off their coverage of NASCAR early this weekend with the reality TV program “NASCAR Drivers Non-Stop.” The program will follow around Open Wheel JJ Yeley as well as Clint Bowyer and Jeremy Mayfield in the first episode. The new show premieres Sunday, October 29 at 11:00pm/et on ESPN2.
Welcome to our coverage of this weekend’s NASCAR Busch Series race at Memphis Motorsports Park. We have a lot of stories we are working on plus information on our Open Wheelers racing in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Atlanta so lets get to it.
Memphis Motorsports Park (MMP) is known as a good place for first time Busch Series drivers to get their first start. The track’s first race came in 1999 and since then 23 drivers have made their series debut at the .75- mile facility. Many Open Wheelers have gotten their first start at Memphis.
The Great Racing Fly In
One of the reasons Memphis is a great place for first times is that the Cup guys are in Atlanta but that doesn’t mean we will not see them in the Bluff City this weekend. Three Chase contenders are schedule to make the flight from Atlanta, Georgia to Millington, Tennessee. Kyle Busch was originally scheduled to race in Memphis but has since backed out and who can blame him with so much at state in Hotlanta. Kevin Harvick clinched the Busch Series championship two weeks ago at Charlotte but will still race in Memphis. Harvick told Dave Rodman of NASCAR.com that he has always planned on racing at MMP and his plans have never changed. Denny Hamlin and Open Wheeler Kasey Kahne are the other two “Chasers” making the trip. Open Wheelers JJ Yeley and Carl Edwards will also pull the double. Cup Happy Hour is scheduled for 12:50pm eastern in Atlanta and the start of the Busch Race at MMP is set for 2:10 eastern. This makes for a tight day logistically. The teams work with Memphis Motorsports Park and local authorities to pull off the quick trip. Last year Edwards hopped a ride with his boss Jack Roush to Charles Baker Airport, which is located adjacent to MMP property. Other teams with bigger aircraft have to land at Millington Municipal Airport, which is located a few miles north of the track. Several teams have already landed at the larger Millington airport this morning. You can track the flights to Millington http://flightaware.com/live/airport/KNQA as well as Charles Baker http://flightaware.com/live/airport/2M8 through our friends at FlightAware.com.
Shepherd to Warm Up Busch Car for Edwards
Roush Racing developmental driver, Peter Shepherd, will practice and qualify Carl Edwards' Busch Series No. 60 FreeCreditReport.com Ford Fusion this weekend in Memphis. This will be Shepherd's inaugural Busch Series event. Shepherd has competed in three NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series races this season for Roush Racing, the first of which was at Memphis. Shepherd qualified 25th and finished 23rd in that race. Carl Edwards is part owner of the USAC Silver Crown race car that Shepherd competed in this year and has helped Shepherd out with driving tips throughout the season. Now Shepherd can return the favor while gaining valuable seat time. With Edwards in Atlanta for the Nextel Cup race he will miss all Busch practice sessions and qualifying for Saturday's Sam's Town 250. Shepherd will step in to practice and qualify the car while Edwards fulfills his Nextel Cup responsibilities in the No. 99 Office Depot Ford Fusion at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Shepherd is prepared to start the Busch race if Edwards does not make it to Memphis in time for the green flag."I am really thrilled for this opportunity," Shepherd said. "Pierre Kuettel (P.K.) and the whole No. 60 team are great at what they do and I can't wait to help out and learn at the same time. I hope we can get the No. 60 FreeCreditReport.com Ford Fusion handling just right so Carl can jump in and win the race." Edwards who is second in Busch Series points, said he had confidence in Shepherd's ability to perform."Peter has been doing a great job driving," Edwards said. "He finished the season driving my RE Technologies Silver Crown USAC Car, and I got a chance to spot for him in Chicago and was really impressed with him, just like everyone else. He is a super nice kid; he has a great family and will be a great driver. Peter has tested the Silver Crown car at Memphis and ran the truck there so we thought he would be the perfect guy to get the car set up and ready to race."
Montoya Mania
The big news this weekend in Memphis, never mind the outcome, will be Juan Pablo Montoya first NASCAR star in the No. 42 Texaco/Havoline Dodge. The former Indianapolis 500 champion and Formula One star has participated in several tests in NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series cars including one two weeks ago at Memphis Motorsports Park. JPM has also made starts at Talladega Superspeedway and at Iowa Speedway in the ARCA RE/MAX Series. The Columbian will take over the driving duties of the No. 42 Texaco/Havoline Dodge in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series in 2007. The 31-year-old driver is probably one of the best Open Wheel drivers in the world. In 137 starts between the CART, IndyCar and Formula One Series, Montoya has tallied 18 wins, 26 poles, 60 top-five and 79 top-10 finishes.
“Our biggest goal this weekend is to get 250 laps of racing,” said crew chief Brad Parrott. “He got 202 at Iowa on the short track, now we need to get 250. He needs to continue to get more comfortable racing in traffic and that comes with race time and laps. He had a good test in the Cup car at Memphis, and the Texaco/Havoline team put together a good car, so this should be a good weekend for the team and the organization.”
Juan Pablo Montoya is aware of the goals but knows Memphis will not be an easy race.
“Memphis is a really tough race track. When I tested the Cup car there the first thing I learned was that it is a really small racetrack. It is difficult and tricky. I was surprised at how hard on the tires it was, it killed the tires. When I race at Iowa there were several lines you could run, at Memphis there is really just one line. Everybody wants to run the car at the bottom, that's it. When we tested, I was running competitive times with (David) Stremme, so I think my race pace is fine. I do think there will be a lot of getting bumped and moved around. It's going to be I think a bit of a shock for me compared to what I’ve been used to in Formula One. I'm out here to learn and get ready to take over the Texaco/Havoline car in 2007. Hopefully, we can bring this car home in better shape than the car from Iowa.”
Burney’s Back
Open Wheeler Burney Lamar is back behind the wheel of the No. 77 Dollar General Chevrolet this weekend. Tennessee based Dollar General is hoping to provide a lucky boost for the team by inviting the Kevin Harvick Inc. road and race day crews to join a riverboat cruise on the Mississippi River aboard the Queen Memphis III on Thursday evening. Note to KHI team, bring a jacket because the river can get cool on fall evenings.
Leffler Looks for Win
Open Wheeler Jason Leffer cut his teeth on short tracks. Maybe that is why he is looking forward to Memphis. Leffler who currently sits 11th in the NASCAR Busch Series point standings has a total of five career starts at Memphis Motorsports Park, three (3) in the NASCAR Busch Series and two (2)in the Craftsman Truck Series. The USAC Silver Crown Series Championship Car Owner has one career pole, one top-five and two top-10 finishes with eleven laps led at MMP.
Memphis Notes
There have been seven different winners at Memphis since the inaugural NASCAR Busch Series race at the track in 1999. Two former winners – teammates Clint Bowyer (2005) and Kevin Harvick (2000) – are entered. Randy LaJoie, who will sub for Harvick until race time, also won at Memphis in 2001. Harvick and Bowyer have two top-five finishes at Memphis, best among drivers entered. Jason Keller has five top-10 finishes at Memphis, best among all drivers. A new Busch Pole winner can emerge from Memphis as none of the previous four pole winners are entered in the event. Jeff Green and Martin Truex Jr. lead that category with two each. Four former Memphis winners also are NASCAR Busch Series champions – Harvick, Truex, Jeff Green and LaJoie.
Richard Childress can clinch his third NASCAR Busch Series owner championship at Memphis if Kevin Harvick driving the No. 21 U.S. Coast Guard Chevrolet can finish 35th or better. Harvick is not taking any chances, bringing the same car that won earlier this year at Martinsville Speedway, O’Reilly Raceway Park and Richmond International Raceway. Paul Menard will aim for his 100th series start at Memphis.
Schedule: All times central
Friday, Oct. 27
Practice, 2-3 p.m. & 4-5 p.m.
Rookie Practice, 3:30-4 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 28
Qualifying, 10:05 a.m.
Race, 1:10 p.m. NBC
Odds and Ends Track Layout: .75-mile oval Race Purse: $1,279,397 2005 Winner: Clint Bowyer 2005 Pole: Martin Truex Jr.
Out numbered?
Out of 50 entries this weekend, 8 are Open Wheelers
Busch Series Entries for Memphis
9 Kasey Kahne
10 John Andretti
11 Paul Menard
18 J.J. Yeley
38 Jason Leffler
42 Juan Pablo Montoya
60 Carl Edwards
77 Burney Lamar
Tickets Almost Gone
If you are planning on going to the Memphis race this weekend and haven’t purchased your tickets yet you better get on the phone. As of last check, all that remains are $45 general admission tickets ($20 for children under 12) in Grandstand H – the new, temporary stands brought in to accommodate the continuing demand for tickets to the track’s NASCAR season finale on Oct. 28. Also available are $15 tickets for the three practice sessions on Friday, Oct. 27. For tickets or more information, call 1-866-40-SPEED (77333) or visit MemphisMotorsportsPark.com.
We will have continuing coverage throughout the weekend of the Memphis Busch race on this website.
Bobby East Looks for First Win in Hotlanta
Memphis is not the only place that Open Wheelers are looking for success this weekend. Bobby East and five other Open Wheelers are looking for good results at Atlanta Motor Speedway. East returns to the site of his 2006 Craftsman Truck Series debut where he started fifth and finished 23rd in the spring race at AMS.
“I've really learned a lot on our mile-and-a-half program,” said East. “When we went to Atlanta earlier this year, we had a fast truck and we had an excellent setup and a good body and an awesome motor, but it was my first mile-and-a-half race and I really didn't know what to do other than hold the throttle down. I took that race and made sure I finished every single lap just to make sure I could get 130 laps of experience on a mile-and-a-half track. Since that time, we've come a long way. The team has come a long way in its mile-and-a-half program, and they've really worked hard with me to get better on the mile-and-a-halfs because that's been one of my biggest struggles this year. We're trying to get top-10s. We've had some decent runs here lately; we either haven't been able to finish it or had some kind of problems along the way. We're just making sure we work through everything we can, but when we show up to the track, me and John Monsam (crew chief), our mindset is: what can we do to get a top-10? That's what I want, to be able to put myself in the position where I'm in the top 10 week in and week out and see if we can't turn our luck around here ourselves.”
Open Wheeler Truck Entries for Hotlanta
10 Terry Cook
16 Mike Bliss
17 David Reutiman
21 Bobby East
24 AJ Allmendinger
98 Erin Crocker
SPEED Says Rice to CCWS
According to a story posted at http://www.speedtv.com/articles/auto/champcar/33628/ Buddy Rice could leave the IRL for Champ Car in 2007. SPEED reports that Rice will replace A.J. Allmendinger in the CCWS season finale Nov. 12 at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez. Allmendinger announced earlier this week he was leaving Champ Car for NASCAR..
Who is Next?
Today’s Indianapolis Star has the answer in two articles who in USAC could be next for fendered stardom at www.indystar.com. Note that the registration police are out so you may have to register to see the article.
NASCAR Comes to ESPN2 Sunday
ESPN kicks off their coverage of NASCAR early this weekend with the reality TV program “NASCAR Drivers Non-Stop.” The program will follow around Open Wheel JJ Yeley as well as Clint Bowyer and Jeremy Mayfield in the first episode. The new show premieres Sunday, October 29 at 11:00pm/et on ESPN2.
posted by Blake Johnson at 1:08 PM
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