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Besides the much-heralded Sprint Cup debut of Joey Logano at Richmond, another 18-year-old Gibbs driver, Marc Davis, will make his first start this weekend.
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Davis is in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series on Saturday at Gateway International Speedway, in a truck fielded by the new Randy Moss Motorsports team.
Davis, who is black, was originally signed by Gibbs as part of the Joe Gibbs Racing/Reggie White diversity program. It seems only appropriate that Davis is moving up with the team owned by Moss, a star wide receiver in the NFL.
"This is a big day for me," Davis said. "I have been preparing for it all my life, a chance to race in NASCAR on a national level. Randy Moss and (team co-owner) David Dollar have given me a wonderful opportunity for my first start in the NCTS."
Moss, who had two-time Cup champion Jimmie Johnson in his truck for the team's debut two weeks ago at Bristol, said he is just as excited this week.
"This is why I came to NASCAR," he said. "This is pretty cool deal. Marc has worked hard and raced his way up to this level. I'm glad I have the opportunity to help him develop and succeed."
Davis is in the middle of his second season running in the NASCAR Camping World Series East for JGR and is fifth in the standings with three top 5s and six top 10s in 10 starts. The youngster is just 75 points out of second place.
Last year, while Logano was winning the championship, Davis finished ninth in points with four top 5s and six top 10s in 13 starts.
Davis began racing at age six with BMX, then continued through quarter midgets, bandoleros, and two national championships in legend cars before moving to limited and late model stock cars. He has also made two starts in the ARCA/REMAX stock car series.
Moving on
Alan Johnson, one of the leading Top Fuel crew chiefs in NHRA history, will leave driver Tony Schumacher at the end of this season to field a two-car team in 2009 through a partnership with Qatar-based Al-Anabi Racing.
Johnson is a seven-time NHRA top fuel champion with 76 professional-level national event victories to his credit, including Schumacher's win Monday in the U.S. Nationals.
The new team will field a Top Fuel dragster and a Funny Car, but the drivers have not yet been announced.
"This is an exciting opportunity for Alan Johnson Racing," said Johnson, who has tuned Schumacher to the last four Top Fuel titles and the current points lead. "We look forward to our relationship with Al-Anabi Racing and the people of Qatar. It's widely known that my goal for quite some time now has been to become a team owner again, and this is my best opportunity to achieve that goal."
Including his sportsman-level successes with his late brother, Blaine Johnson, Alan Johnson has amassed 11 championships in his career, four in Top Alcohol and seven more in Top Fuel. He has also tuned his drivers to eight national records over the years, including six elapsed time marks and two top speed records.
Heading the new partnership is Sheikh Khalid Bin Hamad Al Thani, who hopes to promote awareness of motorsports in Qatar. As a result of his efforts, Al-Anabi Racing has emerged as one of the leading drag racing teams in the region and is nearing completion of a state of the art drag race track in Qatar. Built by U.S. experts, the track is expected to host its first race in December 2008.
New driver
Bill Davis Racing has hired 20-year-old Brian Scott as a full-time driver in the 2009 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.
The youngster from Boise, Idaho, has competed in 23 truck events the last two seasons. This season, Scott has one top-10 in 16 starts and is 21st in the points.
"We are excited about the addition of Brian Scott to our program," Davis said. "Brian has done a great job this season learning what it takes to win in the truck series and we are looking forward to having him in one of our Toyota Tundra entries in 2009. Our two veteran drivers, Mike Skinner and Johnny Benson, have done a great job mentoring both Scott Speed and Michael Annett, and I think they will both take Brian under their wings."
Bill Davis Racing's truck program has been the most successful in the garage since joining the series in 2004. Since winning its first race in 2005, BDR has amassed 22 victories. The team, based in High Point, N.C., has accumulated 91 top-five and 144 top-10 finishes along with 39 poles.
