Busch Notes: R. Gordon sets partial season

HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- Seeking additional oval track experience in stock cars, Richard Childress Racing Winston Cup driver Robby Gordon will run 24 NASCAR Busch Series races next season in his own No. 55 Fruit of the Loom Chevrolet.

	Robby Gordon will run a partial Busch Series schedule next season. Credit: Autostock

Gordon, who raced a limited oval schedule when he drove CART Indy cars and has only 133 total Winston Cup starts, will open his new program with the Feb. 14 Hershey's Kisses 300 at Daytona International Speedway.

Robby Gordon Motorsports will own the entry and will operate from its new facility in Huntersville, N.C. Bob Temple, a former Indy car engineer that worked with Gordon at Derrick Walker's Indy car team, will be crew chief.

"Something I'm lacking is miles and miles of oval track racing, and this is another way of gaining more of that," Gordon said. "I did not even do a lot of oval racing in Indy cars, so this should help me all the way around.

"I am very proud to have the support of an American icon like Fruit of the Loom. With Team Gordon, I hope to take (them) to Victory Lane in their first season of racing."

Gordon also said a decision has not been made on whether or not he would put another driver in his car for 10 races to complete a full, 34-race season.

Marines re-up with Team Rensi

Team Rensi Motorsports and the U.S. Marine Corps announced Friday the renewal of their marketing agreement that will keep them together for the fourth consecutive season, with Bobby Hamilton Jr. as driver of the No. 25 Marines Ford.

	Bobby Hamilton Jr. sits sixth in the Busch Series standings heading into Saturday's season finale. Credit: Autostock

Hamilton Jr., in his second year with Team Rensi, has driven to four wins and a sixth-place standing in the Busch Series heading into Saturday's Ford 300.

At a news conference at Homestead-Miami Speedway, the participants also talked about possible races for a second Busch Series car, the No. 35 that is being driven this weekend by Elliott Sadler, and a No. 35 Winston Cup car that Hamilton drove in two races this season.

"The Marine Corps is proud to be associated with Team Rensi Motorsports," said Major General Chris Cortez, commanding general, Marine Corps Recruiting Command. "They have proven they can carry our message to NASCAR fans and be of great benefit to the Corps and its recruiting efforts.

"Team Rensi Motorsports has been selected from a field of highly competitive teams to represent the Marines. The bidding and review process was rigorous and Team Rensi demonstrated they could provide a comprehensive, integrated and quality marketing program in support of our recruiting efforts."

Baldwin Racing sets driver development

Tommy Baldwin Racing and Unilever Bestfoods Friday announced a 12-race "Hungry Driver" program for 2004 that will serve as a driver development series for a possible full Busch season in 2005.

Drivers Mark McFarland, the 2003 NASCAR Dodge Weekly Series national champion; open-wheel standout Tracy Hines; and Busch North competitor Paul Wolfe were announced Friday as three of the four drivers that will each do three races next season, beginning with the season opening Hershey's Kisses 300 at Daytona.

The fourth driver for the cars that will be sponsored by Unilever's Country Crock, Ragu and Hellman's mayonnaise brands will be announced later.

Baldwin also said his original partner in TBR, Eddie D'Hondt, had moved on from his team after recently assuming the role of general manager for Robert Yates Racing.

Hornaday coming back

Former two-time Craftsman Truck Series champion Ron Hornaday knows what it takes to win a national touring series title, but he had acknowledged hindering himself somewhat when he qualified his ACDelco Chevrolet 17th.

	Ron Hornaday will try to make the best of a bad situation Saturday at Miami. Credit: Autostock

He did himself no further favors Friday when he crashed his primary car in Happy Hour, forcing the Richard Childress Racing team to start from the rear in its backup car. Hornaday was undaunted, however.

"I just have to keep my cool (because) this whole RCR team is awesome," Hornaday said of his prospects. "We know we have a good backup car, which is just as good if not better than the one we qualified.

"I learned something in the Busch car where I didn't do it in the Cup car. It actually worked out as the slower you go the faster you go. I'd like to sit a little farther up, but we're in the show and that's all that counts."

Contreras makes Busch return

Aspiring Hispanic race driver Carlos Contreras made a successful return to the Busch Series for the second time this season when he qualified 33rd for Saturday's Ford 300.

2003 Busch Series  •  Results  •  Standings  •  Schedule  •  Drivers  •  Best 25: Last 6 races  •  Best Starts by Driver  •  Best Finishes by Driver

Contreras jumped into Innovative Motorsports' No. 48 Chevrolet and with the backing of hair accessory company Scunci and Innovative's season-long sponsor Goulds Pumps, is trying to carry a message Saturday.

He'll get some help from the latest celebrity to migrate to NASCAR, Mexican singer and actress Pilar Montenegro. Montenegro's face becomes the second woman's to adorn a car this weekend, joining Pamela Anderson, who is "all over" Jimmy Spencer's No. 7 Sirius Dodge in the Winston Cup garage.

"I couldn't miss out on a chance to be there with Scunci to support a fellow Mexican who is opening doors for more Hispanics to follow," Montenegro said. "The message is positive, that Hispanics can do anything and I'm happy to get the message out."

Contreras is the latest in a list of Hispanics participants in NASCAR that include team owners Felix Sabates, Armando Fitz and Rudy Rodriguez; and driver Mario Hernandez, who was one of the first to team with Fitz and who hopes to make a return to the series.

Wood takes off

After an eye-opening eighth-place finish in Friday's Ford 200 that locked-up a career best fifth-place finish in the Craftsman Truck Series championship, young Jon Wood is anticipating Saturday's Ford 300 in a U.S. Air Force Ford.

	Jon Wood

The car is a third ppc Racing car that was entered, according to a ppc spokesman, as an insurance plan in case either of ppc's championship contenders, Scott Riggs or Jason Keller, has a problem on the grid and needs to change cars.

Wood said the Air Force backing was a bonus.

"I know how my dad and Uncle Len (Wood) feel about their Motorcraft team's association with the Air Force," Wood said. "For me to be able to represent the Air Force, too, really makes me proud."

Wood will have pit help from his Roush Racing Truck Series crew in his first Busch start of 2003.

"It's really special that the car will be Air Force blue because we have such a great relationship with the United States Air Force," said Eddie Wood, Jon's father and co-owner of Wood Brothers Racing. "We are so proud of that association and to have your kid driving for them, too, really makes you feel good."

Evernham hopes for Busch return

Team owner Ray Evernham was extremely enthused after Jeremy Mayfield's top-five run in the first time out with a Busch Series Evernham Motorsports Dodge, which was sponsored by Mountain Dew at North Carolina Speedway last weekend.

	Ray Evernham

Evernham said further races in 2004 for the team would be driven by sponsorship more than anything, but were a definite possibility.

"We're looking at doing some Busch engine programs next year, because we've got to continue to grow our engine facility, so, we were testing to find out if we could build a good Busch engine," Evernham said. "Plus, we felt like it would help our Winston Cup cars if we could be involved with Busch on Saturday, and it absolutely did at Rockingham.

"Hopefully we can do that some more next year (but) there's obviously a lot of other things that have got to fall in line -- again, what we're doing with the Winston Cup cars and whatnot.

"I want to be able to do a couple of Busch engine programs. I would love to be able to run my own Busch car, to enter 15 times next year with Jeremy driving it because I feel like it can help that team while they're still growing -- but, again, a lot of that is going to be sponsorship driven.

"It was pretty much a one-off deal that we did at Rockingham, and we were hoping that something good would come out of it. So, we'll see if maybe Mountain Dew and some of the people that were involved in that would be interested in continuing."

Grissom, DCT have big plans

With former two-time championship winning crew chief Ricky Pearson and former champion Steve Grissom as driver, DCT Motorsports has high hopes to come from the back of the pack in the Ford 300 to gain momentum for an aggressive 2004 program.

The team owners, Ohio businessmen John McGill and Carl Natale, are seeking sponsorship for next season for a planned schedule of 20-24 races.

"This year has been a learning one for this DCT team (but) Carl and John have learned a lot in the few races that we've been to," Grissom said. "This is their first-ever experience and attempt at putting a team together like this.

"We haven't been at every race, but the ones that we've been to, we've done a pretty decent job -- made the races, had some good times and had some learning times. We have always learned new things to try the next time.

"This isn't a sport that you can just walk into blindly and come out a winner the very first time you try -- you need time to build, learn and improve on what you know (and) we've done that this year. A good run this weekend would go a long way in making that all happen."