Friday Charlotte Notebook:
Tyler Young Hopes Speed Turns Into Performance At Charlotte:
Without saying, NASCAR Camping World Truck Series rookie of the year candidate Tyler Young’s season hasn’t exactly gone as planned. The Young’s Motorsports team is a tight niche family with a heart full of desire. Desire to race and win.
While the Mooresville, North Carolina-based team has shown immense promise this season, two wrecked trucks, not of his own making at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway and Kansas Speedway respectively could have easily given them a reason to stay out of the groove. Instead, Young, who in addition to driving manages the day-to-day operations of his family owned team has been the principal, the leader, the role model and yes, even cheerleader to keep his train on the tracks.
With guidance and support from crew chief Bryan Berry, a respected Motorsports veteran, the two have peaked some interest, but a strong finish in the North Carolina Education Lottery 200 would mean so much more.
“We’ve poured 80 hours into this truck this week,” Young told CATCHFENCE.com. “We wanted to take our truck from Kansas to Charlotte, but after the wreck there, it just wasn’t possible. The guys put their sweat and tears into this truck. It was in the body shop when we returned from Kansas and we’ve been thrashing to put it together. We have and we’re here. We’ll hope for the best.”
The 23-year old plans to compete in the full NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season in addition to running for Sunoco Rookie of the Year honors. While Ben Kennedy, the Turner Scott Motorsports driver is the leading candidate to take that title, the former CARS X1-R Pro Cup Series star is just hopeful to have his shining moment or two this year.
“To have a good night at Charlotte would mean so much to me and this team,” said Young. “A lot of the team’s family and guests are here so a good run tonight would give us a lot of momentum heading into the summer stretch.”
Help Wanted::
With Swan Racing sitting dormant and driver Parker Kligerman without a full-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, the “help wanted” sign was posted and before long, potential employers started calling.
Earlier this week, Stewart-Haas Racing announced that Kligerman would fill-in for Kurt Busch while he attended to his duties in the Verizon IndyCar Series at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Kligerman, the former NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver practiced and will qualifying Busch’s No. 41 Haas Automation Chevrolet SS Friday at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway in advance of the Sprint All-Star race.
Busch is expected to return in time to compete in the exhibition race Saturday night. Kligerman would not be eligible to the start the event should something unexpected happen to the Martinsville (Va.) Speedway winner, as rules specify that you must be a previous All-Star winner, Sprint Cup Series race winner or advance through the Sprint Showdown or fan vote.
Kligerman though will also be on standby for the bigger picture next Sunday afternoon, should Busch be unable to fulfill his commitments to drive the No. 41 in the Coca-Cola 600 after competing for Andretti Autosport in the Indianapolis 500.
“It’s obviously a unique opportunity. It’s not kind of something that is conventional in our sport – to show up and having the chance to drive one of the top cars in our sport in a practice session and be a fly on the wall for the rest of the situations that are going on and the races,” said Kligerman. “I kind of harken it back to my time at Penske when I did it for Brad (Keselowski) on the Nationwide side and also on the 22 car at the Cup level at Michigan two years ago. So I’ve done this at little bit before. But obviously jumping into a new team at Stewart-Haas Racing and Haas Automation, and having this opportunity from Kurt (Busch) and everyone here to have the belief in me to come in here and do a good job is flattering. Hopefully I’ll make the best of it.”
Kligerman is in search of his NSCS debut at Charlotte Motor Speedway, but holds a track best of eighth in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series in 2011 with Brad Keselowski Racing. He additionally logged two ninth-place runs for Kyle Busch Motorsports last season.
Following his duties this weekend, Kligerman is heading to Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, presumably with Kurt Busch to network and explore opportunities of a possible Verizon IndyCar Series deal.
One Year Later:
This weekend at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway marks the one-year anniversary since Jennifer Jo Cobb arrived at the race track without her 2004 UltraComp race hauler.
An off-track feud between Cobb and her former business partner also included a fellow NASCAR driver. The squabble escalated for months with a series of accusations, rumors and court appearances. Fast forward 12 months later, Cobb’s hauler has NEVER been recovered and is still missing in action. However, she’s not after it anymore, someone else is.
CATCHFENCE.com has learned that Cobb, a full-time competitor in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series no longer owns the 2004 UltraComp race hauler and an unnamed source now holds possession of the title.
In a document obtained by CATCHFENCE.com, Moretz & Skufca PLLC, a Concord, North Carolina-based Motorsports Law Group is offering a $2,500.00 cash reward for information leading to its recovery.
According to the document, “All inquiries held in strictest confidence and will not be shared with our client or any other party. We represent a third party with an interest in the hauler and are not associated with Jennifer Jo Cobb or her racing team.”
Payment will be dispensed upon visual confirmation of the hauler and VIN number.
Jennifer Jo Cobb declined to comment on the situation, simply stating she “no longer owned it.”
Busy Weekend For Ellis:
Ryan Ellis is pulling double-duty this weekend at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway and Iowa Speedway.
Well, kinda of.
Ellis is scheduled to make his second start of the year driving for FDNY Racing in the No. 28 Endo Optiks Chevrolet Silverado. Saturday morning, the Ashburn, Virginia native will hop on a plane and make the trek to Iowa Speedway, where he’ll compete in final practice in the No. 46 The Motorsports Group Chevrolet Camaro in the NASCAR Nationwide Series.
While Ellis is hoping to duplicate or better his 18th place finish NCWTS from Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway with the all-volunteer team, he’s remaining optimistic.
“Running double duty in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and Nationwide Series makes this the biggest weekend of my career. These are only my eleventh and twelfth stats even in the top tiers of NASCAR and to have them both at new tracks will be a big learning curve for me, but I’m really excited.”
Ellis is scheduled to run the full-distance Friday night at Charlotte, but for Iowa Speedway, he’ll only turn a few laps, but he’s OK with that.
“This is about me getting seat time and experience in these cars and at these tracks. It’s not the ideal situation, but I’m still blessed to have these tremendous opportunities to work with great people and can’t wait to get the weekend started.”
Ellis will return to his affiliation with Jennifer Jo Cobb in the No. 0 at Dover (Del.) International Speedway, as well another Nationwide effort with Rick Ware Racing.
Clint Bowyer Wins Sprint Showdown; Allmendinger; Wise Advance:
Clint Bowyer and A.J. Allmendinger dominated the top-two positions during Friday night’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series showdown to earn their perspective positions in Saturday night’s Sprint All-Star race. Just two cautions slowed the 40-lap dash, both in the first segment. Allmendinger led the first 18 laps, while Bowyer took control of the lead on Lap 19, a lap before the mandatory caution for the halfway break.
Utilizing pit stop strategy, Austin Dillon led the group off pit road, but would start alongside Michael Annett who decided not to pit. On the restart, Dillon quickly took control of the lead, but was unable to fight off Bowywer, who retook the lead on Lap 24 and sung that tune to victory lane. Bowyer claimed a 2.547 second victory over the No. 47 JTG-Daugherty Racing.
Josh Wise though pulled the upset in the Sprint Fan Vote, as the Phil Parson Racing driver beat out favorite Danica Patrick for the third and final transfer spot. Wise’s Dogecoin and Reddit.com family to the aid of one of their own and collectively dethroned Patrick. By far the powerful tool
“I’m still trying to wrap my head around it,” said Wise, whose campaign gained momentum after a posting by a teenager on Reddit.com. “They (the Reddit community) started voting for this, and I thought it would be a pretty tough thing to accomplish, but they did it.
“It’s unreal. I’m just glad to be a part of it.”
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
