HUFFMAN READY FOR NO. 88 NAVY CHEVY DEBUT AT BRISTOL
Bristol Notes
Shane Huffman will make his debut in the JR Motorsports’ No. 88 Navy Accelerate Your Life Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS in Friday night’s NASCAR Busch Series Food City 250 at Bristol Motor Speedway.
JR Motorsports announced last week that Huffman has been named to take over the helm of the No. 88 Navy Chevrolet for the remainder of the season. Prior to this weekend, Huffman has been driving the JR Motorsports USAR Hooters Pro Cup Series car in the Southern Division. He racked up four wins, two pole awards and seven top-five finishes in the Southern Division’s first 10 races.
Friday’s race will be Huffman’s fourth event at Bristol. He won the USAR Hooters Pro Cup Series inaugural race at the track in 2004 and finished 19th in last year’s race. He is scheduled to run the No. 88 in Wednesday night’s Pro Cup Series Food City 150.
The team is running chassis No. 018 at Bristol. This chassis last raced at Darlington Raceway, where the team finished 18th. No. 018 also raced at Bristol in March, where the No. 88 team was fastest in practice, but started the race from 19th position after qualifying was snowed out. The team finished 31st after contact with another car busted the radiator.
JR Motorsports and The Cycle Xchange have teamed up to create a one-of-a-kind custom chopper benefiting the Make-A-Wish Foundation® of Central and Western North Carolina. The 2006 TCX/Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chopper debuted at the Speed Street Festival in Charlotte on May 25 and is scheduled to be on display at select NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series races and select motorcycle rallies including Sturgis Bike Week. The chopper will be up for bid on eBay (http://www.ebay.com/dalejr) starting at 11 p.m. EST on Sept. 29. Dale Jr. will present the chopper to the winning bidder during on-stage festivities at the 7th Annual Celebrity/Sports Auction on Oct. 24.
Shane Huffman, Driver of No. 88 Navy Accelerate Your Life Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS
“It’s an honor to be chosen to drive the No. 88 and represent the U.S. Navy in the NASCAR Busch Series. I look forward to representing all of the sailors and other Navy personnel out on the track each week.
“Bristol is a tough track, but I’m glad it’ll be the site of my first race in the No. 88. It’s one of the few tracks we’ll go to this year that I have experience on. I’ve run there in the Pro Cup Series the last two years and my win there in 2004 is one of the highlights of my career.
“I’m also running the Pro Cup race on Wednesday, so I’ll have an additional 150 laps of practice before we even unload on Thursday for tech. That should help some with the learning curve I’m facing in the Busch Series.”
Wes Ward, Crew Chief of No. 88 Navy Accelerate Your Life Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS
“Bristol has a great Friday night racing atmosphere. It’s short-track racing at its best. There’ll be a lot of beating and banging on the track. Bristol is definitely a place where you can have a really good car and easily get taken out. The Navy Chevrolet has a good shot at running well on Friday with Shane (Huffman) making his debut in the No. 88.”
Navy Notables
The fleet honoree for Friday’s race at Bristol Motor Speedway is the Navy Band Mid-South. The Navy Band Mid-South is the United States Navy's premier musical organization in the Mid-South region. Attached to Commander, Navy Personnel Command, this diverse group of 35 professional Navy musicians is comprised of all active duty men and women performing full-time for the Navy. Under the direction of LTJG Dave LaTour, the ensembles within the band perform music ranging from Bach and Sousa to the most current pop, country, and jazz hits. The band operates from Millington, Tennessee, and is responsible for an eleven-state area that stretches north into Indiana and Illinois, west into eastern Colorado, and south into Mississippi and Alabama.
