Billy Ballew Motorsports and Aric Almirola Seeking First Win at Martinsville

MOORESVILLE, N.C. (March 22, 2010) – The Kroger 250 will mark Aric Almirola’s fourth start at Martinsville Speedway.  In his three previous races at the half-mile oval, Almirola has a best finish of 12^th-place.

Billy Ballew Motorsports carries three top-five finishes at Martinsville into this weekend, but has yet to reach victory lane. Almirola is confident that his No. 51 Graceway Pharmaceuticals Tundra has what it takes to end the streak.

Almirola Comments on the Kroger 250:

“Martinsville is typically pretty rough.  It’s a flat half-mile, so usually when you pass someone or someone passes you, it involves some rubbing. The old saying, ‘Rubbing is racing’ is definitely true at Martinsville. It’s a short, little race track and you have to really move people out of the way to get by them.

“It’s an exciting race for the fans and it can be exciting for the drivers at times, too. A lot of the times it’s really frustrating, though. You want to take care of your equipment and have all your fenders on at the end of the race, but sometimes you have to get pushy with the truck in front of you. There’s just not much time to be patient at Martinsville because you can get lapped in a hurry. It makes for exciting racing and a lot of beating and banging, and probably some paybacks.

“At Martinsville, track position is everything.  It’s important to qualify well and get a good pit selection, so you can be quick on pit road. Every spot counts. It’s really tough to pass at Martinsville. If you can get up front and stay up front, usually that’s the way to go at Martinsville. It makes your job a whole lot easier.

“I’m really excited about racing at Martinsville. Our team has come close to winning there before, but never quite made it to victory lane.  I have no doubt that we can get the job done. It would be awesome to get my first Truck Series win, and Billy Ballew Motorsports’ first win at Martinsville, this weekend. ”

Benson Back at Martinsville 

MOORSEVILLE, N.C. (March 22, 2010) – Johnny Benson is returning to NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) competition following a one-race break. The 2008 NCWTS champ is currently without a full-time ride, but Billy Ballew Motorsports (BBM) has given Benson the opportunity to drive the No. 15 Red Top Auto Auction Toyota in the Kroger 250 at Martinsville Speedway. The event will mark Benson’s first time in a BBM-fielded entry.

In his 12 previous NCWTS starts at Martinsville Speedway, Benson has six top-10s, four top-fives and one win. BBM carries six top-10s and three top-fives at Martinsville into the race weekend.   

Benson Comments on Racing with Billy Ballew Motorsports at Martinsville Speedway: 

“I’m really excited about getting back to Martinsville (Speedway). It’s a track that I’ve had good success at. Of course it’s a track that all drivers have had bad luck there, too. Billy Ballew gave me a great opportunity to drive the Red Top Auto Auction Tundra. His teams are known for being successful each and every weekend, so I’m really looking forward to getting behind the wheel.

“Martinsville is one of those tracks where you have to be aggressive, but you have to keep the nose piece and the side fenders from rubbing on your tires. You really have to be aggressive to stay up front, but try not to hit anything. By the end of the race, especially the last 10 to 15 laps, there’s a lot of bumping and banging.  That definitely happens at Martinsville.  Hopefully we’ll be up front and out of the danger zone in the late stages of the race.

“A couple of years ago, I ran into a small incident with one of Billy’s trucks at Martinsville (smiling). I got spun in the last two corners of the race. We were running in second-place at the time. I think most of us drivers have been in that situation before, where we’ve been taken out. It’s one of those things you kind of laugh about now.  It wasn’t funny at the time, but I can joke about it now.  So it is kind of ironic that I’m running one of Billy’s trucks at that race track. It’s going to be neat to go there and race a Billy Ballew Motorsports truck.  Those guys build fast trucks and that’s something that I’m definitely looking forward to.”

MOORESVILLE, N.C. (March 16, 2010) – Red Top Auto Auction will continue its sponsorship of the No. 15 Billy Ballew Motorsports Toyota Tundra for the next two NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) events. The Cartersville, Ga.-based organization will pair with Johnny Benson for the Kroger 250 at Martinsville Speedway on March 27, and with Steve Wallace for Nashville 200 at Nashville Superspeedway on April 2. Red Top Auto Auctions most recently sponsored Wallace’s Billy Ballew Motorsports-fielded entry in the Atlanta 200, which Wallace finished in fourth-place.

“Red Top Auto Auction is thrilled to continue its relationship with Billy Ballew Motorsports,” said Wallace Sanford, managing partner of Red Top Auto Auction. “We’ve got two great drivers who are definitely capable of getting in victory lane. Steve Wallace got things off to a great start for us this season.  He kept his truck up front all race long in Atlanta.  We’ve enjoyed a lot of success this season and look forward to continuing it at Martinsville and Nashville.”

Benson, a former NCWTS and NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) champion, is no stranger to the historic half-mile oval.  Benson has logged 2473 laps in 12 NCWTS events at Martinsville Speedway and has one win, which came at the Kroger 200 in 2008.

“I can’t wait to get behind the wheel of the 15 truck,” said Benson.  “I love racing at Martinsville (Speedway) and I know Billy Ballew Motorsports has the people and equipment to get the job done.  Red Top Auto Auction has given us a great opportunity and I hope we give them a great ride.”

Wallace made his only NCWTS start in the Atlanta 200 on March 6. Driving the No. 15 Red Top Auto Auctions Toyota, Wallace started in sixth-place and finished in fourth-place.  Wallace looks forward to racing at Nashville Superspeedway, a track he has shown he can navigate well. At Nashville Superspeedway, Wallace has scored two pole positions, one in June 2007 in the NNS, the other in ARCA Series competition in April 2006.

“I had a great time racing at Atlanta (Motor Speedway) and I’m really looking forward to doing it again,” said Wallace. “Nashville (Superspeedway) is a lot of fun and I know the Truck Series will put on a good show there.  I want to thank Red Top Auto Auction for coming onboard and giving me a chance to go racing in the 15 truck again.”

Red Top Auto Auction is a subsidiary of Auction Broadcasting Company (ABC). ABC is a full service auto auction company offering transportation, full and partial reconditioning, telemarketing, in-house restaurants, world class auctioneers and ringman, on-line bidding capability, and managers that are car people. ABC has autoims in all its locations to provide simple and seamless communication to our captive finance and Fleet consignors. Customers that unfortunately do not get their vehicle sold in the lane, live on sale day, ABC also provides you with an additional seven thousand bidders to view your vehicle.

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DARLINGTON, S.C. (March 9, 2010) – Darlington Raceway was the latest site for a Goodyear tire test on Tuesday. A total of five teams were on-hand to test tires at the legendary South Carolina track. Clint Bowyer, Marcos Ambrose and Elliott Sadler all tested their respective Sprint Cup Series rides while Aric Almirola and Timothy Peters tested their Camping World Truck Series vehicles in preparation for the series’ return to Darlington on August 14, 2010.

After a couple of early morning spins, the drivers stopped in the media center to discuss the test session. One thing that remained constant across all of the drivers is how difficult of a track Darlington is to drive.

“This place is like no other, it is as intimidating and challenging as it gets,” said Marcos Ambrose. “You’re winging it around the top with no room for error with a lot of speed and a lot of grip on the track. It will punish you if you don’t drive it the right way, it’s an amazing place. I think anyone who wants to run in NASCAR needs to come here to prove themselves because this is as tough as it gets.”

Richard Childress Racing driver, Clint Bowyer, talked about how being close to the coast creates a slick surface for drivers to contend with.

“This track sits and sand and grit gets down in it and makes it really slick and it takes a while to burn that off,” said Bowyer. “You would think that the jet dryers would blow that off but being this close to the beach it settles overtime. Now we’ve got it burned off and the speeds are doing good.”

Almirola and Peters were both excited to see the track for the first time in a Camping World Truck Series ride and both were predicting an exciting race for race fans on August 14 when the trucks return for the Too Tough To Tame 200.

“This is one of the coolest tracks we go to with a ton of history. Just getting here you drive down a two lane road, most of the racetracks we go to you get off the interstate, go down a six-lane road and pull into the racetrack,” said Almirola. “This place still reminds me of Martinsville and the old school racetracks where it’s out in the middle of nowhere and you’re surrounded by a bunch of diehard NASCAR fans that come to watch the race. I think it’s awesome that the Camping World Truck Series is coming here and it’s going to put on one hell of a race, it’s going to be exciting.”

“I was glad that we were able to come for Goodyear. It helps me out a lot; this is the first time I have been on the racetrack. I have been here to watch several races but I had to work my courage up to make myself get up close to the wall and get up to speed,” said Peters. “I’m looking forward to getting to come here to race. It’s going to be an exciting race for the fans, but it’s going to be a challenge for us. We always run close together week-in and week-out, it’s going to be action packed for sure.”

You can keep up with all of the latest news from Darlington Raceway at DarlingtonRaceway.com, on Facebook at Facebook.com/DarlingtonRaceway and on Twitter at Twitter.com/TooToughToTame.