Wells working toward second Nextel Cup team

MARTINSVILLE, Va. -- PPI Motorsports may have a couple cars and a couple crew chiefs in the mix this week when it tests at Kentucky Speedway in Sparta.

	Cal Wells

PPI owner Cal Wells III has long craved a second team to run alongside Ricky Craven's No. 32 Tide Chevrolet. He said the search is picking up steam.

"It's a little premature to be talking about a second team," Wells said. "We've been working on some sponsorship opportunities and they're cooking pretty good.

"We're not quite zeroed in yet on what we're going to do, we're just talking away on it."

In the interim, PPI is working hard at reversing its fortunes in a season in which driver Ricky Craven is 29th in the Nextel Cup standings, working with first-year crew chief Dave Charpentier.

"We're going to take Rick to Kentucky this week (to test)," Wells said. "We're looking at maybe running two cars, the number 32 and 96, to sort through a couple of issues we've got."

Former Cup crew chief Joe Garone, who most recently has been a high-ranking official at NASCAR's research and development center in Concord, N.C., will accompany PPI, Garone said at Martinsville.

Garone has left NASCAR and is looking to get back into the Nextel Cup garage as a crew chief.

Wells said his sponsorship talks might result in a limited program of races later this season.

"Our talks have got us close to, not a full deal, but maybe a few races later in the season, in the second half of the year," Wells said. "We're probably looking at something in the last third of the season."