Dover: GM Racing preview

* Chevrolet Silverado has won six of the12 NCTS manufacturers championships

* Silverado drivers have won eight of the 12 possible Series' driver championships

* Silverado drivers have won more races than any other brand - 125 of 292 - 42.8% (1995-2006)

Dover, DE - After scoring the second consecutive Team Chevy Silverado victory of the 2007 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series (NCTS) season at Mansfield, Dennis Setzer, No. 75 Spears Manufacturing Silverado, and his Tom Ackerman-led team are fired up for the trip to Dover. Round eight of the 25-race season and race three of a seven-straight race stretch, Setzer and his new team feel like they are just hitting their stride heading to the AAA Insurance 200.

"It was a great win for our Spears Silverado at Mansfield," said Setzer. "While our fuel mileage helped us win the race, we had a great race truck! We were pretty good on the restarts and we would get away just a little bit. I chased (Rick) Crawford a little bit there near the end, but I believe he ran out of fuel and had to stop. That just highlights the preparation that our guys did to make it all the way. I am just so proud of them and what we have been able to do today."

Although Setzer has completed 99.6% of his laps at Dover International Speedway (DIS), his finishes have not quite been what the perennial NCTS championship contender would like to have on his impressive resume. His best finish is ninth place in both 2000 and 2003.

"Dover is a very fast, high-banked track that really isn't like any other track that we race on," stated Setzer. "You can unload off the truck fast, but by the time the race starts Friday afternoon, the track has changed tremendously. In between our practice on Thursday and qualifying on Friday, the Cup and Busch cars will practice and qualify. They will lay down a lot of rubber and the track will get a lot tighter. We will have the same scenario between our Friday qualifying then late afternoon race, so it is so hard to get your truck set up just right for the race. But everyone on this team is working hard so I am looking forward to getting to Dover and having a solid run."

Joining Team Chevy Silverado at Dover for the third year will be Kyle Busch, No. 51 Billy Ballew Motorsports Silverado. Busch won the '05 race giving Silverado their only victory at the track named the "Monster Mile." After a 10th-place finish in 2006, the Team Chevy Nextel Cup Series driver is looking for a trip back to victory lane.

"I'm really looking forward to being back in the truck at Dover," said Busch. "I really hope to improve from our finish in Charlotte last week. These guys build some superior trucks so I'm sure we'll be in great shape by race time. I have a lot of fun racing these trucks for Billy Ballew and would like to bring home another win for them in Dover."

Also joining the field will be Clint Bowyer, behind the wheel of the No. 2 Camping World Silverado fielded by Kevin Harvick, Inc. Bowyer will team with two-time NCTS champion Ron Hornaday, Jr., No. 33 Camping World Silverado.

"The Truck Series is great, and I really enjoy the competition," said Bowyer. "The trucks are just so much fun to drive, and there are a lot of cagey veterans in the series. Kevin (Harvick) is always big hearted when it comes to me, and I am really looking forward to getting back in the Camping World Chevrolet.

"I have done pretty well in the Busch Series at Dover. It means a lot to me to be able to drive this truck, and I told Kevin (Harvick) I wanted to win in one of his trucks. That is our goal for Dover." Hornaday, Jr., who currently sits second in the NCTS standings, may have something to say about his teammate going for the win.

"Dover is an awesome racetrack," said the full-time KHI driver. "The first time I went to Bristol, I just took to that place. I was racing for Dale Earnhardt at the time and I told Steve Hmiel that I really like the high banks. He said, 'if you like Bristol, you'll really love Dover. You can hold it wide open at Dover.' So the first time there I held it wide open. It was fine in turns 1 and 2, but I almost wrecked a brand new car in turns 3 and 4. Hmiel said, 'I was only kidding Ron.' You have to run hard every lap at Dover, and that's my favorite type of racing. The way our season is going so far, if we can get the truck worked out, we could win this thing."

Brendan Gaughan, No. 77 South Point Hotel Silverado, will run a special paint scheme honoring his alma mater, nearby Georgetown University. Prior to the race, Gaughan and two of his crew members will pay a visit to Urban Youth Racing School (UYRS) in Washington, D.C. "Dover has been a track that has been good to me in the past, although my finishes don't show it," said Gaughan. "I've had some good wrecks there. I've always ran good there until we ran into problems. I do like the race track. I have always said it is one of my most favorite race tracks to race on. We'll carry the Georgetown Hoya paint scheme and see if we can't do something right.

"To do well at Dover, we went to pull-down unit that we've been using so much lately. We have to have good front travel and we have to get the geometry of the truck right because Dover is a place where you can't be tight. If you've got any tight in the truck, it's bad. You're going so fast that if you are tight, they're just going to drive right underneath you. It's a wide track. You can go top to bottom. If you're tight, you're scrubbing speed and slowing down. The other big monster you have there is that a lot of times you get so tight that when you're coming off the corner, you just whip the sucker loose. It's a double edged problem. It's a concrete track which makes it so fast that the problems are compounded."

About his team visit to UYRS, Gaughan concluded by saying, "I can't think of a better place than D.C. to go and get something done for the kids that need some help to get out of the inner city. If we can give them another avenue to get interested in something like racing through the UYRS, it's just another way that we can give them a chance in life."

Kraig Kinser and the No. 47 Ginn Resorts Silverado fielded by Morgan-Dollar Motorsports are looking for a lucky horseshoe at Dover. The young driver has had excellent runs going this year, only to have bad luck strike putting them down in the finishing order.

"Well, after a very disappointing run in Mansfield, hopefully we can turn things around in Dover," said Kinser. "Last year at Dover I spun out and just kind of ran around from there, but it is difficult to get used to a track that I had never raced at. Our Morgan-Dollar Motorsports team is going to use the practice sessions to make lots of laps on the track, and just get the truck adjusted to where I can drive it and make consistent laps. Last year it seemed like every adjustment we made did something different to the truck, so this year I really want to get a good run for Ginn Resorts and the whole team."

Kinser's truck chief, Chris Showalter, will be attending his 250th NCTS event, and is the only person to have attended all of the NCTS events since the series' inception in 1995. Showalter has 13 wins to his credit, with eight different drivers, Butch Miller, Kenny Irwin, Terry Cook, Randy Tolsma, Mike Bliss, Ron Hornaday, Travis Kvapil and Jack Sprague. He also has two NCTS Championships, with Mike Bliss in 2002, and Travis Kvapil in 2003.

Raybestos rookie contender Willie Allen, No. 13 ThorSport Silverado, is looking to build momentum from his strong run at Mansfield. His finishing position doesn't reflect his impressive race because of a late-race stop for fuel that put him pack in the field on the very difficult to pass track.

"We hope to carry some of our momentum over from the Mansfield race as we head to Dover this week," said Allen. "We had a great truck and a great run last week before we ran out of gas. It means so much for me as a driver and to our team to know that we can run up front with the top guns of the series. I've never had a run at Dover before so we will take a look at the team notes from last year and try to prepare a truck that will allow us to be as competitive as we were last week. I'm excited about our chances to run up front and hope to have a great finish.

-credit: gm racing