Kluever looking forward to future with Roush

HAMPTON, Ga. -- Although most NASCAR fans have never heard of Todd Kluever, Kluever has something that a lot of Nextel Cup Series drivers wish they had.

Job security.

Kluever, currently 14th in the Craftsman Truck Series standings, will take over the No. 6 Ford in 2007 after Mark Martin leaves Nextel Cup racing.

	Todd Kluever will take the reins of the No. 6 Ford in 2007
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So far, the toughest job for Kluever has been keeping his soon-to-be job a secret.

"It's everything I've dreamed of in my entire life," Kluever said. "You want to run out and tell everyone, but unfortunately, you can't.

"I've known for a little while now, and it's nice having it all out in the open now."

And to know where your next several paychecks are coming from.

"It's pretty cool to have a planned out future here at Roush, even though I knew I kinda always had one, but it's nice to see it laid out."

So far this season in the Truck Series, Kluever has posted eight top-10 finishes, including second-place efforts at Kansas, Indianapolis and last weekend at Martinsville.

While a lot of drivers would be clamoring for a victory, Kluever says he's taking everything in stride -- now.

"I've let it consume me for the last five or six races, and it hasn't happened yet," Kluever said. "I'm coming in with the attitude for the rest of the season that if we win, we win, and if we don't, we don't and it wasn't meant to be.

"It will come when it comes and there's nothing we can do to force it," he said. "I just need to take some of the pressure that I've been putting on myself to win off and just go back to racing."

This weekend, Kluever is racing at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Saturday's Easycare 200. In the spring race at AMS, his only other start there, Kluever finished 36th from a ninth-place starting spot.

He's confident things will be much different this time around.

"I'm a lot more comfortable in the truck now," he said. "The place is really fast, but it seems slower to me now.

"We didn't get many laps here in the spring because of engine problems, so it's definitely better this time around. It's a lot easier to process mentally now because I have more experience in the truck and more experience on this type of racetrack."

Kluever was 12th in Friday's final practice for Saturday's race, and said he learned quite a lot about the track Friday, including how to figure out the multiple racing grooves at the ultra-fast Atlanta track.

"You can definitely tell differences in how hard to get into the corner," he said. "Once the tires get old, you have to figure out how hard to get in and where you pick up the throttle and how it affects your truck.

"I've been a big fan of this place because you can race here," he said. "You can't really hide and you can't block because there's always a way around."

Not to mention that it's a little easier to deal with racing when you've got a premier Nextel Cup Series ride in your back pocket.

"This is not a career where there's a lot of job security and it's nice to know that they have a plan for me and they plan to keep me around for a long time," he said.

"It kind of lets me get back to just worrying about driving race cars."