Huffman Looking for Redemption on 1.5-Mile Track
Shane Huffman will drive the JR Motorsports’s No. 88 Navy Accelerate Your Life Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS in Saturday’s NASCAR Busch Series Ford 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Saturday’s race will mark Huffman’s tenth race of the season and his first visit to Homestead-Miami Speedway. The 32-year-old rookie plans to use this weekend to turn around his luck on 1.5-mile tracks. In his previous three attempts at 1.5-mile tracks, Huffman has scored finishes of 21st at Kansas Speedway, 39th at Lowe’s Motor Speedway and 42nd at Texas Motor Speedway.
For the final race of the season, the JR Motorsports team will run Chassis No. JRM 022. The chassis was last raced by Huffman at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in October. It was previously raced by Robby Gordon at Fontana and Michigan where he scored ninth and third-place finishes respectively.
In his continued effort to gain seat time at tracks he’s never raced on before, Huffman will once again drive the No. 40 Key Motorsports Silverado in Friday’s NASCAR Truck Series race at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
In the last Busch Series race at Phoenix International Raceway, Huffman started fourth and finished eighth after leading 17 laps. The race marked the first time Huffman led in the Busch Series and the JR Motorsports team’s seventh top-10 finish of the season.
Shane Huffman, Driver, No. 88 Navy Accelerate Your Life Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS
“The one-and-a-half-mile tracks haven’t been kind to me this year, but we plan to turn that around this weekend. We’ve had great cars, but I’ve made a couple mistakes and we had a tire blow out at Texas. We’re looking for a strong run at Homestead to finish the season out on a good note.
“The Navy’s been great about putting me in the car to finish off the season and gain additional seat time to prepare for next year. I can’t say enough about the support they’ve shown me this year. The experience I’ve been able to gain in the few races I’ve run this year will be extremely helpful to our team next year.”
Wes Ward, Crew Chief, No. 88 Navy Accelerate Your Life Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS
“I really like Homestead. I won there in 2003 with Kasey Kahne under the new configuration and I also won the first Busch race at Homestead with Dale Jarrett in 1995.
“Shane should adapt fairly quickly to the track. He’s also running the Key Motorsports truck there, and that has helped tremendously the past couple of weeks. We’re looking for a strong run this week at Homestead in the Navy Chevy.”
Navy Notables
The fleet honoree for Saturday’s race at Homestead-Miami Speedway is the Patrol Squadron 30 (VP-30). Also referred to as the “Pro’s Nest,” Patrol Squadron 30 is the U.S. Navy’s Maritime Patrol and Reconnaissance Fleet Replacement Squadron (FRS). It is the largest squadron in Naval Aviation. Patrol Squadron 30’s mission is to provide P-3 aircraft training for pilots, Naval Flight Officers, and enlisted aircrew, ensuring the fleet receives safe and competent replacement flight crewmembers reporting to the operational P-3 squadrons. Patrol Squadron 30 was commissioned in June 1960 at Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Florida, to train flight crews for P-5 Marlin and P-2 Neptune aircraft.
Event Information
Ford 300
11/18/06
Homestead-Miami Speedway
Homestead, Florida
1.5-Mile Oval
TV – TNT 7 p.m. ET
Radio – MRN 7 p.m. ET
Team Information
Chassis – JRM No. 022
Chassis Info – last raced at Charlotte
Engine – RCR
Primary Sponsor – U.S. Navy
Associate Sponsors – Chevrolet, Champion, R&B, Puma, Snap-On, Miller, Mitel, Wix Filters, Sherwin Williams, Racing Radios
