Race 2 Win: Dickies 500 - Scott Wimmer Notes

Nextel Cup Series

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Dickies 500 - Scott Wimmer Notes

Scott Wimmer No. 22 CAT Racing Event Preview

Track: Texas Motor Speedway (1.5-mile tri-oval) in Justin, Texas
Race: Dickies 500 Date: 11.06.05

NASCAR Nextel Cup driver points position: 33rd (same as last week) Owner points: 33rd (same as last week)

Notes:

The No. 22 Caterpillar Dodge Charger at Texas Motor Speedway this weekend is Chassis No. 83. The No. 22 Caterpillar Dodge this weekend was last run in 2004 as the No. 23 Dodge. The car has since been rebuilt to comply with the new 2005 rules.

Davis’ hit the road … After they finish racing this weekend at Texas Motor Speedway, team owners Bill and Gail Davis are biking it to Phoenix International Raceway. The Davis duo will begin the motorcycle excursion when they depart from Texas Motor Speedway late Sunday evening, and they plan to arrive in the Phoenix area midday Wednesday, Nov. 9. This will be the second time this year the Davis pair has made the bike hike from Fort Worth to Phoenix. The couple made the same trip in April the week between both track’s spring races.

Make that four, not three … For the second weekend in a row, Bill Davis Racing will field four truck teams in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. Steve Park, driver of the No. 67 South Padre Island Toyota, came on board with BDR last week to race in the EasyCare Vehicle Service Contracts 200 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, and will race again for BDR this weekend at Texas Motor Speedway in the Silverado 350K. The No. 67 South Padre Island team had a premature conclusion to its race weekend at Atlanta, when a hit from another truck on the first circuit of the 130-lap competition sent Park’s truck spinning and then slamming into the outside wall. The wreck ended the day for the No. 67 Bill Davis Racing truck team. It was a huge disappointment for everyone, especially after the team had put forth a great effort in practice and qualifying for the ninth-starting position leading up to the Saturday afternoon competition. This weekend at Texas, Park will again team up with Davis’ three full-time drivers—Johnny Benson, driver of the No. 23 Toyota Certified Used Vehicles Tundra; Bill Lester, driver of the No. 22 Crown Royal Toyota Tundra; and Mike Skinner, driver of the No. 5 Toyota Tundra. The 23rd race of the 2005 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season is scheduled to start at 9:15 p.m. ET Friday, Nov. 4. It will broadcast LIVE, starting at 9 p.m. ET, on SPEED (TV), MRN (Radio) and XM Radio Channel 144.

Watch and listen … Qualifying for the NASCAR Nextel Cup Dickies 500 is scheduled to start at 4:10 p.m. ET Friday, Nov. 4, and will broadcast LIVE on SPEED (TV), PRN (radio) and XM Radio Channel 144. The Dickies 500 is scheduled to start at 3:50 p.m. ET Sunday, Nov. 6, and will broadcast LIVE on NBC (TV), PRN and XM Radio Channel 144.

Scott Wimmer Quotes:
Scott, you are heading to Texas where you haven’t had the best luck the last two times you have run there. What are your thoughts heading into this weekend?
“Yeah, we definitely haven’t had the best luck while racing in the Lone Star State. Both times I’ve raced there in the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series, the day has ended prematurely for me, and both times it has been after getting collected in a collision.

“When we raced at Texas this past spring, there must’ve been something in the air because there were so many accidents right at the beginning of the race. I know we got banged up when another car spun ahead of us. I tried to escape the wreck, as well as the guys around me, and some of us got tangled up because of our attempted escape routes. I believe it was around lap 32 when we were taken out, and that was the fourth yellow flag of the race, less than 35 laps into the show.

“We tried to recover from the hit, and the guys did a great job salvaging what they could with the car, but once we got back on track we just couldn’t get the car to go, and NASCAR black flagged us for not maintaining minimum speed. So we had to pack it up and head home early that day. Any time you go home early like that, it’s hard. I mean, it is nice getting home early on Sunday, but not for that reason. We had really overcome a lot leading up to race day. We didn’t have the strongest practices on Friday or qualifying run, but Derrick [Finley, crew chief] and the guys did their homework, and we really got the car feeling comfortable in the second practice session and picked up some speed in final practice on Saturday morning. We were in the top 15 on the speed chart, so we were really looking forward to seeing what else the car would give us on Sunday.

“In 2004, it was a similar fate, except we weren’t really happy with the car. Then, it really started to come around to us, and I was feeling real comfortable with it. That is when we got caught up in an accident that ended the day early for us that day.

“Going into this weekend, it is a goal to finish the race. That is for sure, but I want to get the No. 22 Caterpillar car up front. We only have three races left, and it would be nice to end this year with a strong finish.”

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