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Phoenix Friday Notes

Chevy Trucks NASCAR 150 Friday notebook By Brett Borden PHOENIX (March 26, 1999) Notes and quotes from Phoenix International Raceway, site of Saturday's Chevy Trucks NASCAR 150. ...

Edited: May 8, 2001, 12:19 PM

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Chevy Trucks NASCAR 150 Friday notebook By Brett Borden

PHOENIX (March 26, 1999) Notes and quotes from Phoenix International Raceway, site of Saturday's Chevy Trucks NASCAR 150. Joe Ruttman will make the field for the Chevy Trucks NASCAR 150. Ruttman will drive a second truck with Sealmaster as the sponsor. Terry Cook drives the No. 88 Sealmaster Chevrolet for owner Duke Thorson, while Thorson's wife Rhonda is the owner of the entry Ruttman will drive. The ride allows Ruttman to make it to next week's race at Evergreen Speedway in Monroe, Wash., with his streak of 100 consecutive starts intact.

Ron Barfield scraped the wall in Bud Pole Qualifying in the No. 55 Icehouse Beer Ford and had to rely on a provisional to make the field. Barfield will go to a backup truck for Saturday's race.

Four NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series drivers are pulling double duty this weekend at Phoenix International Raceway, including the defending series champion. Ron Hornaday will suit up in the NASCAR Winston West Series race at PIR, along with fellow truck compatriots Jerry Glanville, Larry Carnes and Bill Sedgwick. Interestingly, defending NASCAR Winston West Series champion Kevin Harvick will not pull off the daily double, electing to concentrate full-time on his ride with the Porter Cable Ford truck team. Harvick and Rick Carelli are making a return appearance to Phoenix, as both competed in the 22nd Annual Copper World Classic back on Feb. 7. Carelli finished third and Harvick fourth in the Featherlite Southwest Series, NASCAR Touring, race. Although running full-time on the truck circuit, Harvick is currently second in the Featherlite Southwest Series standings. He will next compete in that series on April 9 at Mesa Marin Raceway in conjunction with the event that weekend.

The way Jimmy Hensley figures it, the truck he'll be using in Saturday's Chevy Trucks NASCAR 150 must have a good run left in it, since it didn't use that run up at Homestead. Hensley qualified sixth last week, only to finish a disappointing 29th after engine problems did him in.

"We were very disappointed last weekend at Homestead," Hensley said. "The guys are keeping their heads up and we are going to have a great year this year. Everybody has bad racing luck from time to time." Rick Crawford did not repeat his 1998 victory at Miami-Homestead Speedway, but he did earn a top-10 finish by placing 8th. Duplicating last season's 5th-place finish at Phoenix would keep him in the thick of the points race.

Crawford has logged more miles at Phoenix than anyone other than Hornaday. He started coming to PIR during his days on the NASCAR Featherlite Southwest Tour and the NASCAR Slim Jim All Pro Series back in 1988. Crawford held the track record for several years in the Featherlite Southwest Tour in the early '90s.

"I feel a lot more comfortable now that we have a race under our belt," Crawford said. "We have a lot of new crew members, including our crew chief, and I wasn't sure how everything was going to jell. Last week in Homestead the crew really impressed me. We had great pit stops and everyone worked together toward getting the truck dialed in." Ryan McGlynn, 24, is making a run at the USG Sheetrock Brand Rookie of the Year with Buyers Choice Product Warranties as the primary sponsor. The team's shop is located in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., and looks to run in at least 15-18 races this season after starting only two in 1998. The team did not race at Homestead.

"The team over the winter has purchased five additional Chevy trucks and four engines and has upgraded it's equipment," McGlynn said. "We have added four new crew members and spent a part of every day practicing pit stops."

Two members of the No. 3 GM Goodwrench Service Plus Chevrolet team tried their hand at team roping Thursday in the Scottsdale (Ariz.) Midway Truck PRCA Rodeo Series at the Rawhide Arena. Curt Bowman and Ron Liddell got a taste of arena dust, as well as some competition, as they were paired with

Source: NASCAR Online

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