Huffman Scores First Top-5 in Navy Chevy at Memphis

Shane Huffman

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (Oct. 30, 2006) – After scoring JR Motorsports’s best-ever qualifying effort on Saturday morning, Shane Huffman drove the No. 88 Navy Accelerate Your Life Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS to a fifth-place finish in the NASCAR Busch Series Sam’s Town 250 at Memphis Motorsports Park.

Huffman qualified third for the race with a fast lap of 22.806 seconds, 118.390 mph.

The team pitted three times during the race, on Lap 47, Lap 100 and Lap 143, to make minor adjustments to help the car’s handling. Huffman ran in the top-five for most of the afternoon and was able to dodge a number of close-calls in the caution-filled race.

The race was extended two laps for a green-white-checkered finish, and Huffman brought home a fifth-place finish in the Navy Chevrolet. The finish marked Huffman’s career-best finish in the Busch Series, and the team’s second top-five of the season.

“The Navy Chevrolet was awesome today,” Huffman said. “Wes (Ward, crew chief) made some great calls and we were able to stay up near the front all afternoon.

“I can’t say enough about the teamwork of this Navy team. They did a great job all weekend. We’ve had a rough few weeks, but today was exactly what this team needed.”

The JR Motorsports team remains 19th in the owners point standings.

Navy Racing in the Media
On Thursday, Huffman participated in the NASCAR Busch Series parade through downtown Memphis. The event was covered by the local NBC, CBS, ABC and FOX affiliates. On Saturday, Huffman was interviewed by MRN Radio before and after the race. Senior Chief Jeff Priest, the U.S. Navy’s Motorsports Program Manager, was a featured guest during MRN’s coverage of the race. Huffman was also interviewed by NASCAR Scene after the race.

Next on Deck
Next Saturday the JR Motorsports’s No. 88 Navy Chevrolet team will compete in the NASCAR Busch Series O’Reilly Challenge at Texas Motor Speedway. The race will air live on TNT and PRN affiliates at 2 p.m. ET.