BUSCH: Craven Phoenix preview

Ricky Craven #19 Yellow/Pameco Chevrolet Phoenix International Raceway

Church's Past Performance Makes Phoenix a Favorite:
"A track automatically becomes a favorite when you do well there," crew chief, George Church commented. "I've finished second at Phoenix with Rick Carelli when they ran the 'Copper Classic'." In the 1999 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, we started on the outside pole with Rick Crawford and finished sixth. Then, when the Busch Series came to Phoenix for the first time last year, I was working with Jimmy Spencer. We started fourth and at one point had a seven-second lead over the field. We ended up third. I used my exact set-up for our Busch Series car that I had used in the truck race in the spring - shocks, springs everything. You can bet our set-up for this year isn't going to vary much from what we've had in the past. It's a proven performer. We're using an Emerald Performance Group car with a new body that has a 1 ½" drop snout and a driver who does really well on the flat tracks. The combination of Ricky's and my past performances should produce some exciting results."

Craven Prepared to Do His Share, Too:
"It's great to feel so confident about what we're bringing to the track this weekend," Craven stated. "With George's success at this track, I'm ready to match that with some solid driving. At Phoenix, I've got to keep an eye on how I use the brakes. You just simply cannot use a lot of brake here. It puts too much on the right front and it upsets the car to a point it can't quickly recover. If I can keep that in check, we're looking at a great finish for the #19 Yellow/Pameco Chevy."

This weekend it will be easy to see Yellow Freight truly does cover all facets of transportation. On race day, while Ricky Craven will be piloting the #19 Yellow/Pameco Chevy at speeds averaging 130 m.p.h., look up and you may see an even more unlikely form of transportation offered by Yellow. This form, however, prefers to travel in winds under 10 m.p.h. "Onward Yellow," the company's brightly-colored hot air balloon, will be participating in the 26th celebration of the Thunderbird Balloon Classic. The balloon festival will be held in Scottsdale Friday, November 3 through Sunday November 5. FYI . . . while it will take Ricky approximately 2 ½ hours to complete the 200-mile event (including cautions) it would take Yellow's expert balloon pilot, Becky Petrehn, approximately 20 hours to cover the same distance.

The "Outback Steakhouse 200" will be broadcast live on TNN and MRN on Saturday, November 4 at 3:30 p.m. eastern.