Mooresville, NC

Billy Ballew Motorsports has announced John Andretti will be behind the wheel of the No. 15 Chevy Silverado for this weekend’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series event at the Kansas Speedway.  Andretti becomes the sixth different driver for Billy Ballew Motorsports, which currently retains the fifth position in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series owners’ points standings.

“I look forward to working with John this weekend,” said team owner Ballew.  “We’ve had conversations in the past about working together and the opportunity arose for him to drive the No. 15.  This deal just came together yesterday afternoon, and we made the decision to go forward.  John has a lot of talent, is a super nice guy and I think he’ll do a great job for us at Kansas.”

Andretti will be competing in his first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race, after years of competing in NASCAR’s Nextel Cup Series.  A two-time winner in NASCAR’s elite series, Andretti has also driven in the Indianapolis 500 numerous times, including becoming the first driver to do the double of racing in both the Indy 500 and the Coca-Cola  600 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Charlotte, N.C.  Andretti is familiar with Kansas Speedway, having competed there from 2001-2003 in the Nextel Cup Series.

“I’m anxious to get to Kansas Speedway,” said Andretti.  “This will be my first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race, and it couldn’t happen in better equipment than Billy Ballew’s.  They’re proven winners, so I know the No. 15 Chevy Silverado will be prepared when it rolls off the trailer.  I’ve raced at Kansas before in the Cup car and had pretty decent finishes so I’m hoping the experience will carry over to the truck and we’ll be contenders for the win on Saturday.”

The No. 15 Chevy Silverado is unsponsored at this time, but like last week Ballew hopes to piece something together at the last minute.  “We don’t have a sponsor for Kansas, but hopefully we’ll have that rectified by the end of the week,” Ballew stated.

The O’Reilly Auto Parts 250 gets underway at 2:15 p.m. CT from Kansas Speedway.  The race will be broadcast live on SPEED Channel and MRN Radio.

NASCAR Busch Series Champion Martin Truex, Jr. made his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series debut piloting the No. 15 Earl Small’s Harley-Davidson Chevrolet for this past weekend’s event at The Milwaukee Mile and brought the Billy Ballew Motorsports-entry home in 19th position.  With the finish, Billy Ballew Motorsports was able to maintain their fifth place positioning in the owners’ points standings after 11 events and five different drivers.

During the practice sessions, Truex, Jr. struggled getting a good handle on the machine.  At first, the truck was tight.  Crew Chief Richie Wauters called for several adjustments, including different springs, shocks, and raising the track bar.  Then the truck got loose, so more adjustments were called.  In the end, the team thought they had the set-up that would be good for qualifying and the start of the race, since trucks were impounded following time trials. (more…)

Milwaukee might be home to Harley-Davidson Motorcycles, but it’s Atlanta-based Earl Small’s Harley-Davidson that has agreed to come on board and sponsor the Billy Ballew Motorsports-entry for tonight’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at The Milwaukee Mile.  NASCAR Busch Series Champion Martin Truex, Jr. has been tabbed to drive the No. 15 Chevy Silverado for this weekend’s event, after rival Kyle Busch has driven the machine to two victories, one pole and one runner-up position in the last three out of four events.

“I can’t thank Earl Small and Earl Small’s Harley-Davidson enough for coming through for me and this whole Billy Ballew Motorsports team,” said team owner Billy Ballew, who hails from Blairsville, Ga.  “Earl has been a great friend to me over the years and has supported this team to no end.  This deal came about last night after we were unsuccessful in our efforts to obtain a sponsorship package for Milwaukee.  I called Earl up and he said, ‘No problem.  I’ll help you out.’  It’s friends like Earl who make you successful.” (more…)