STEVE WALLACE TO MAKE NASCAR TRUCK SERIES DEBUT
February 26, 2010MOORESVILLE, NC (February 26, 2010)—Rusty Wallace Racing’s (RWR) Steve Wallace and officials of Billy Ballew Motorsports (BBM) announced today that Wallace will make his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series debut behind the wheel of BBM’s No. 15 Toyota Tundra in the March 6 Atlanta 200 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Wallace’s No. 15 Tundra will feature primary sponsorship from traditional BBM partner, Red Top Auto Auctions. The venerable Kevin “Cowboy” Starland will serve as crew chief for Wallace in the event.
Wallace currently drives RWR’s No. 66 5-Hour Energy Toyota Camry in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. He is riding a streak o
f four consecutive top-ten finishes in the Nationwide Series heading into his 125th career series start this weekend in Las Vegas. Wallace is currently ranked seventh overall in the Nationwide Series driver standings.
Noted Wallace, “I’m really excited about the opportunity to run my first truck race next weekend in Atlanta. I’ve always enjoyed watch
ing that series; those guys race really, really hard. Running one of those races is something that I’ve wanted to do for awhile, but the timing has never been right until now. I’d like to thank Billy Ballew and everyone at Red Top Auto Auctions for this opportunity.
“While running the truck race is going to be fun, my main focus is 100% on putting the No. 66 5-Hour Energy Toyota Camry up front and in contention for the Nationwide Series championship. Atlanta is a track where we traditionally haven’t run as well as we’d like in the Nationwide car, so getting some extra seat time at Atlanta will help on that side as well.”
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Almirola Scores Top-15 in Season Opener
February 23, 2010DAYTONA BEACH, FL (February 13, 2010) – In only his second NASCAR Camping World Truck Series start at Daytona International Speedway, Aric Almirola cruised to a 12th-place finish in the NextEra Energy Resources 250. Piloting the No. 51 AKAwareness.com Graceway Pharmaceuticals ®, LLC Toyota Tundra fielded by Billy Ballew Motorsports, Almirola and crew overcame a damaged vehicle to score a top-15 in the season opener.
Almirola qualified his No. 51 Tundra in seventh-place. When the action got underway, it didn’t take long for the unpredictability of restrictor plate racing to kick in. On lap 1, the No. 3 truck bounced off of Almirola’s machine and triggered a multi-vehicle wreck. Fortunately, the AKAwareness.com Toyota wasn’t damaged in the incident and lined up in seventh-place for the restart.
The yellow flag waved on lap 19, giving Almirola a chance to bring his truck to the attention of his crew. Almirola assured his team, “This truck is awesome! Really good; I don’t need any changes, just looking for someone to draft with.” Following service, Almirola returned to the track in 11th-place.
On lap 24, another “big one” took place when the No. 33 truck spun in front of the field. This time Almirola wasn’t as lucky. The No. 51 truck received damage to the left-front fender and needed repairs. The Richie Wauters-led crew reshaped the fenders and front bumper of Almirola’s truck and sent him back on the track. The repairs sent Almirola one lap down to the leaders.
The damaged fender was causing the No. 51 truck to handle more tightly than it had beforehand. The crew took advantage of the ensuing cautions to continue restoring his truck to its original shape. Their hard work finally paid off when Almirola raced his way into the “Lucky Dog” position, lap 61, and a fortuitous caution flag allowed him to return to the lead lap. The No. 51 Toyota lined up in 14th-place for the restart.
With nowhere to go but up, Almirola did just that. When green flag action resumed, Almirola tactfully negotiated the draft and avoided trouble to improve his position. Although his truck was still fighting a tight condition, Almirola managed to pick up two additional spots to take the checkers in 12th-place.
The No. 51 AKAwareness.com Graceway Pharmaceuticals ®, LLC Toyota Tundra will return to competition at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Saturday, March 6 at 2:00 PM. MRN and SPEED TV will cover the event.
For more information on actinic keratosis (AK) please visit www.AKAwareness.com; ‘Is it AK or OK’ is sponsored by Graceway Pharmaceuticals®. Graceway’s sponsorship is part of a national public education campaign to raise awareness of actinic keratosis (AK) — a potential early warning sign of skin cancer — as well as the long-term consequences of sun damage over a lifetime. It is estimated that about 10 million Americans have AK, a common pre-cancer that often develops on skin frequently exposed to the sun.
Graceway Pharmaceuticals®, LLC, headquartered in Bristol, Tennessee, is dermatology focused pharmaceutical company which focuses on acquiring, in-licensing, and developing branded prescription pharmaceutical products. Current prescription products marketed by Graceway include Aldara®, Maxair® Autohaler®, and Atopiclair®.
Aldara®, Maxair® Autohaler®, Maxair and Design™, Atopiclair, and the Leaf Design® are trademarks owned by or licensed to Graceway Pharmaceuticals, LLC.
Wrecks Upend Musgrave’s Night
February 22, 2010DAYTONA BEACH, FL (February 13, 2010) – Daytona International Speedway delivered exactly what fans have come to expect from the legendary 2.5-mile superspeedway – 100 laps of nail biting excitement. Lightning-fast speeds, side-by-side racing, and unfortunately, “the big one” were all a part of Saturday night’s NextEra Energy resources 250. Former NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion Ted Musgrave fell victim to two multi-vehicle accidents in the early stages of the event before his No. 15 Toyota was unable to return to the track. Musgrave was unable to show the true potential of his Tundra and finished in 31st-place.
With support from Hope For Haiti, Magic Jack, EcoClear Solutions, Bee My Bear and Red Top Auto Auction, Musgrave looked forward to piloting his Billy Ballew Motorsports-fielded Toyota to the front of the pack. However, on lap 1, several trucks collided in front of Musgrave, leaving him nowhere to go. Musgrave’s Tundra received significant damage to the right side of his front bumper and had to go behind the wall for repairs.
The crew fixed Musgrave’s damaged vehicle and sent him back on the track to collect valuable championship points. Unfortunately, Musgrave was in the wrong place at the wrong time yet again. Another Musgrave was caught in another multi-truck accident shortly after returning to the track. The damage to Musgrave’s Toyota was too severe for repairs. Musgrave retired from the event, resulting in a 31st-place finish.
“We had a great truck today; it’s too bad we didn’t have a chance to prove it,” said Musgrave after the event. “It didn’t take long for things to get out of hand in the race. A wreck took us out on lap 1. We got caught up in the mess and that pretty much ended our night. This team never quits, though. They worked hard, made some tough repairs and got me back on the track. It didn’t take long for another wreck to happen right in front of us. That ended our night. It’s a shame. Billy Ballew Motorsports fields great trucks and I know we would have been able to race with the leaders if we could have stayed out of trouble.”
About Hope for Haiti: Naples, FL resident and humanitarian, JoAnne Kuehner, wanting to make a difference through focusing on education, she put her trust and support into “people” who were already striving for success. Joining forces with Dr. Keith Hussey in 1997, the focus to make a difference expanded to nutrition and healthcare. Now nearly 20 years later, Hope for Haiti prides its long-term success of our mission on the foundation on which it was built. Hope for Haiti continues to believe in “people” and therefore partners with those in Haiti who are doing an excellent job and supporting them in furthering their work. We do not build and run our own schools. Rather than reinvent the wheel, we work directly with those who are successfully ministering to the poor and who will be there for the long term. In this way, we make sure that over 95 cents of every dollar donated is used for programs that can help create a better future for the children of Haiti. Hope for Haiti has held the vision from the very beginning that the people of Haiti are the ones who take control of their future and we are here to lend a needed hand along the difficult path.
For more information on Billy Ballew Motorsports sponsors, logo onto:
Almirola – Ballew Ready for 2010 Season Start in Daytona
February 8, 2010
‘Florida native promotes AkAwareness.com sponsorship’
Tampa, Florida native, Aric Almirola and Billy Ballew Motorsports head to Daytona International Speedway for the season opening NextEra Energy Resources 250 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race Friday, February 12, 2010.
Almirola will pilot the No. 51 AkAwareness.com Graceway Pharmaceuticals®, LLC Toyota Tundra in 2010 after coming off a stellar 2009 series season with Billy Ballew Motorsports.
“Billy Ballew has worked really hard over the winter to secure Graceway Pharmaceuticals again as our primary sponsor,” Aric Almirola said. “It really is a great opportunity that we have with Graceway’s backing to race for a championship in 2010.”
Almirola joined the team at Texas Motor Speedway competing in 16 events, posting seven top-five and 10 top-10 finishes. The 25 year-old driver recorded the closest margin of victory at Talladega Superspeedway, after pushing his Billy Ballew Motorsports teammate to the win, giving the team its first one-two finish in their 300th NASCAR Camping World Truck Series start.
Almirola has one previous NASCAR Camping World Truck Series start, two Nationwide Series and one Sprint Cup Series starts on the 2.5-mile Daytona International Speedway.
“We’re looking forward to starting the season off where we left off in 2009,” Almirola said. “Our trucks are really strong and we are looking to visit victory lane as much as we can! Richie (Wauters) and all the guys have been working long hours to make sure our trucks are as good as they can be.”
Billy Ballew Motorsports has had eight prior entries at the high-banked racetrack where the team has one-pole and two second-place finishes to their credit.
Almirola, of Cuban-American descent, grew up in nearby Tampa, Florida and always looks forward to going to Daytona International Speedway.
“Any chance I get to go to Florida to race, I’m excited,” Almirola said! “Daytona is only two hours from Tampa; where I grew up; so all my family can come over and watch. When I was a kid, this was the track we came to. We always would drive over in February and July for the 500 and the Firecracker 400.”
The NextEra Energy Resources 250 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race is slated to begin Friday, February 12, 2010 at 8:00pm. SPEED has expanded event coverage televising both practice sessions and truck series qualifying. Practice: Wednesday, February 10th at 6:00pm, Thursday, February 11th at 9:00am. Qualifying: Thursday, February 11th at 6:30pm. Race coverage begins on SPEED, MRN & Sirius Satellite Radio beginning at 7:30pm local time.
For more information on actinic keratosis (AK) please visit www.AKAwareness.com; ‘Is it AK or OK’ is sponsored by Graceway Pharmaceuticals®. Graceway’s sponsorship is part of a national public education campaign to raise awareness of actinic keratosis (AK) — a potential early warning sign of skin cancer — as well as the long-term consequences of sun damage over a lifetime. It is estimated that about 10 million Americans have AK, a common pre-cancer that often develops on skin frequently exposed to the sun.
Graceway Pharmaceuticals®, LLC, headquartered in Bristol, Tennessee, is dermatology focused pharmaceutical company which focuses on acquiring, in-licensing, and developing branded prescription pharmaceutical products. Current prescription products marketed by Graceway include Aldara®, Maxair® Autohaler®, and Atopiclair®.
Aldara®, Maxair® Autohaler®, Maxair and Design™, Atopiclair, and the Leaf Design® are trademarks owned by or licensed to Graceway Pharmaceuticals, LLC.
For more information on Graceway’s racing program contact: Ben Blessing -Graceway Pharmaceuticals® -ben.blessing@gracewaypharma.com -423-274-2111
