Tag Archives: Ricky Carmichael

_Each week, we’ll go through media reports, interviews, PR, and all of our own stuff to find the best quotes from the Sprint Cup race, capturing the story of how the weekend unfolded. It’s the most original commentary you’ll ever find: the truth, coming straight out of the mouths of the drivers, crew members, and car owners themselves. This week, here’s a peek at what the drivers were thinking following the EnjoyIllinois.com 225 at Chicagoland Speedway and the NAPA Auto Parts 200 at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve:_ *EnjoyIllinois.com 225* "It was a really good night for us. The Miccosukee Tundra was pretty good. We were real proud of the way that we brought a brand new truck here out of the box. We were dragging in practice a little bit and had to work through a few things to get the truck off the race track. We're going to take it home, work on it a little bit, polish it up and get it ready for the next one. Hopefully we can [win)]a few more times this season." _Kyle Busch_

*In a Nutshell:* Ron Hornaday, Jr. took the checkered flag 0.135 seconds ahead of Mike Skinner to win the Built Ford Tough 225 Saturday night at Kentucky Speedway. Hornaday, Jr. held off a hard charging Skinner long enough to score his third consecutive and fourth win of the season. Matt Crafton, Timothy Peters, and Aric Almirola rounded out the Top 5. *Who Should Have Won: Tayler Malsam.* Malsam started eighth and had a very fast truck, powering to the lead for the first time in his career on lap 47 after pit strategy helped him restart third.

As the Camping World Truck Series rolls into Memphis Motorsports Park for another weekend of great racing, I find myself looking back at the major rule change for the series this season. Prior to the season opener at Daytona International Speedway, NASCAR announced major pit road rule changes that would affect every team and their race strategies. In an effort to help teams save money, NASCAR changed the number of crew members allowed over the wall during a pit stop. Only five crew members are allowed over the wall, and teams are not permitted to get fuel and tires on the same stop. In addition, the crew chief must choose only 12 active crew members to travel with the team.

When the 2009 Camping World Truck Series season began, J.R. Fitzpatrick planned to run full time in search of becoming the 2009 Raybestos Rookie of the Year. Last month, all of that changed when TRG Motorsports announced they would run a reduced schedule due to a lack of financial support for the team. At the time, TRG Motorsports team principal Kevin Buckler said the team planned to return with J.R. Fitzpatrick or another driver. The team was present on the entry list at Lowe's Motor Speedway a few weeks ago, but Fitzpatrick's name wasn't alongside it. Sprint Cup Series driver David Gilliland piloted the No. 7 Hyde Park / FansSponsorMe.com Chevrolet to a 6th place finish in the North Carolina Education Lottery 200.

As the Camping World Truck Series takes its longest break of the season, sponsorship woes continue to plague the series. When the economy started taking a downturn, I never imagined how serious an impact it would have on NASCAR, and more importantly the Truck Series.

After Sunday's race, many people were looking for rivalry or animosity between Denny Hamlin and Jimmie Johnson -- but didn't get any. Are people making something out of nothing, or should there have been more emotion out of the drivers?

Former Motocross champion Ricky Carmichael originally planned to run just 14 races of the 25 scheduled in the Camping World Truck Series, but team co-owner Kevin Harvick announced the team is looking for sponsors for Carmichael to run the rest of the races this season.

Four races into 2009, it’s safe to say that David Ragan’s season has been among the biggest disappointments on the track thus far (sans Mark Martin). The Cup circuit’s most improved driver in 2008 has struggled since a top 10 in the rain-shortened Daytona 500, with no top 10s and a DNF despite having Roush Fenway Racing’s vaunted intermediate package underneath him. Sitting 22nd in points, Ragan’s certainly not where many thought he would be in 2009, but surely a mediocre stretch of four races couldn’t be enough to threaten the job of crew chief Jimmy Fennig? Right?

Taking advantage of an early qualifying draw that saw the sun obscured by low cloud cover, Kyle Busch rocketed to the Camping World Truck Series pole this morning in Atlanta, continuing his and the No. 51 team’s momentum from their dominating win at Fontana. Starting alongside Busch was none other than Series’ veteran Rick Crawford, who is making not only his 300th Truck start this weekend, but his 300th with owner Tom Mitchell and the Circle Bar racing team.

Kyle Busch took the checkered flag 9.023 seconds ahead of Todd Bodine to win the San Bernardino County 200 Saturday afternoon at Auto Club Speedway in California. Busch took the lead for the final time with only seven laps remaining after a late race gas and go pit stop on the way to his first win of the 2009 season. Chad McCumbee, David Starr and TJ Bell rounded out the top five.