Nadeau's team boss: 'We have to be prepared'

Team looking for drivers in case Nadeau isn't ready in '04

CONCORD, N.C. -- Jay Frye is facing a considerable predicament.

	Credit: Autostock

On one hand, there's loyalty. On the other, there's reality.

The Army racing program was built around Jerry Nadeau, and the hope remains that the veteran driver will return to the car in 2004. But if he's unable to recover quickly enough from injuries sustained in a May accident at Richmond International Raceway, the team has to have a backup plan.

So they're looking. Intensively.

"In our situation, we have to be proactive, always have to be looking," said Frye, general manager of MB2/MBV Motorsports' Nos. 01 and 10 teams. "We needed to be testing by now with Jerry and we're not. We have to be prepared either way."

Frye admitted the team has talked with highly sought-after Busch Series driver Scott Riggs. Riggs, currently second to David Green in the Busch Series point standings, has been rumored in nearly every car currently available.

From the No. 1 at Dale Earnhardt, Inc., to the No. 30 at Richard Childress Racing, he is rumored to be on everyone's short list. Including MB2.

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"We've talked to him, yeah, but we're talking with a lot of people," Frye said. "Again, it's an effort to assure that we're prepared."

The Nos. 01 and 10 Pontiacs are both presently in a state of limbo. Citing personal reasons, No. 10 crew chief James Ince recently left the organization, and driver Johnny Benson could soon be looking to move, as well.

"People are calling us, too," Frye said. "The bottom line is that we have to have a backup plan in place. To do that, we have to be proactive. So that's what we're doing."