MK Racing Seeks Top-Five Finale, Sponsor

CONCORD, N.C. - The lists of goals are pretty high for MK Racing and the #98 NASCAR Busch Grand National car driven by Elton Sawyer - a top-five finish in the final national points standings, a victory before the season is out, and a sponsor for the 2002 season.

The hottest team in the Busch Series is "beating the bushes" for sponsorship next season, general manager Marty Gaunt said. The team is owned by former Ford Motorsports executive Michael Kranefuss, who brought Gaunt into the team after the pair built the winning combination for the Mobil 1 Taurus NASCAR Winston Cup team.

"We’ve talked to a lot a companies. We think somebody is going to step up and take advantage of the winning opportunities with us," Gaunt said. "Admittedly, we’re starting late. Starter wanted to continue sponsoring us but they’ve undergone some business changes because of the economic climate. We understand what their situation is but it threw us a curve late."

The #98 car of Sawyer has been the hottest team in Busch Grand National racing since early Spring. The team was as far back as 17th in the national standings. Kranefuss and Gaunt began running the day-to-day operations of the team about that point and, since then, Sawyer has vaulted up to fifth in the standings, with a shot at finishing in the top four.

"Everything we’ve done since May has put us in a position to make a hard run at the championship next season," said Sawyer. "When you look at how much this team has accomplished in a short period of time and how far we’ve come, this is a tremendous opportunity for a sponsor."

Sawyer pointed out the technical advantages Kranefuss had brought into the team, specifically an engineering company, Aletheon Technologies, to assist the team’s current engineer.

"The results from that has been pretty evident," Sawyer said. "We’ve reached the point where we have the most technically-advanced team in the series, and we’re showing that on a weekly basis. That’s going to carry over into next season and make us, in my opinion, among the favorites to win the championship."