FATHER’S DAY IS MORE THAN JUST A HALLMARK HOLIDAY FOR THESE COMPETITORS

Without racing fathers, nearly half the starting field in Saturday’s Con-way Freight 200 might be doing something other than competing in NASCAR.

At least 15 competitors TAKING the green flag at Michigan International Speedway have fathers who drove race cars.

Some of those fathers have left the driver’s seat; others continue to compete – often against their sons.

In any case, all HAVE had a major influence on their sons’ careers.

Johnny Benson (No. 23 Toyota Certified Used Vehicles Toyota), who grew up in Grand Rapids, Mich. not far from MIS, was seven when he began working in his father Johnny Benson Sr.’s race shop.

The elder Benson won seven championships at Berlin (Mich.) Speedway and more than 200 races. He currently owns a race equipment business.

“I was welding and working with tools while other kids were playing in the neighborhood,” said Benson, fourth in NASCAR Craftsman Truck point standings entering the season’s 10th race. “The biggest thing was helping build the cars and going through all the different parts and pieces.

“Going to the track was a bonus. I got to see how all the different things we worked on at the shop applied at the race track.”

David Reutimann (No. 17 Team Tundra Toyota) and Kraig Kinser (No. 46 Centrix Auto Finance Chevrolet) grew up idolizing their fathers – then racing against them.

Both still do on occasion.

Reutimann, the 2004 Raybestos Rookie of the Year, recalls his first race against father Emil “Buzzie” Reutimann, one of the nation’s top modified and late model drivers. He was 16 when the pair rolled out of the pits and onto the dirt-surfaced East Bay Raceway near Tampa, Fla.

The elder Reutimann got tangled up with another car early in the race, cut a tire and returned five laps behind – but just ahead of his son. Like a long-haul trucker in the “rocking chair,” the teenager glued his car to his father’s bumper and together the pair slashed through the field.

“He was making me look like a hero when he was actually doing all the work,” said Reutimann.

That is, until trouble surfaced.

“I was so excited that I was racing with my dad up until what happened next,” said Reutimann. “With 10 laps to go I overdrove the corner and spun him out and cut his tire down. After spinning him out, someone else drove down there and hit him.

“I finished ahead of him but it wasn’t legit.”

Kinser not only raced with his father but beat the legendary Steve Kinser, the 20-time World of Outlaws champion, in sprint car racing’s equivalent to the Daytona 500 – the Knoxville Nationals. Between father and his racing grandfather, Bob Kinser, the now 21-year-old received what amounted to racing’s version of a Harvard doctorate.

“He started my passion for racing without even knowing it. He let me decide what I was going to do by myself,” said Kinser of his famous dad. “He never pushed me but he gave me a good foot in the door. He is probably the single most important person involved in my career.

“I listen to everything he says and he gives me advice all the time.”

The Kinser clan – grandfather, father, uncle, Randy Kinser and now Kraig – pretty much epitomize racing as a family sport. All pitched in toward a common goal.

“We slowly and surely blossomed from there,” said Kinser.

NEWS AND NOTES, PART II

Todd Bodine’s (No. 30 Lumber Liquidators Toyota) June 9 victory at Texas Motor Speedway put the series point leader in elite company. His Sam’s Town 400 win was Bodine’s 10th in 49 NASCAR Craftsman Truck races ranking the New Yorker fourth all-time in fewest starts to reach double figures.

Fewest Starts to 10 Victories Driver Starts Season(s) 1. Mike Skinner 26 1995-96 2. Ron Hornaday Jr. 38 1995-96 3. Ted Musgrave 47 1995-02 4. Todd Bodine 49 1996-06 5. Greg Biffle 61 1998-00

Mike Skinner (No. 5 Toyota Tundra Toyota) – the competitor Bodine passed on the final lap at Texas – is quickest to win No. 10. Skinner won eight times in a 20-race 1995 season and added his 10th victory in the next year’s sixth race.

Four competitors – Skinner, Ron Hornaday Jr. (No. 33 Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Chevrolet), Ted Musgrave (No. 9 Team ASE Toyota) and Bodine – are the only 10-time series winners to reach the mark in fewer than 50 races.

Bodine has won three of his last four starts at TMS and three times in 2006. He now has won seven times on 1.5-mile tracks – the layouts that comprise more than one-third of the schedule. His next 1.5-mile start comes July 1 at Kansas Speedway where Bodine is the defending winner of the O’Reilly 250.

* Homecoming week for Kirkendall family … Terry Cook’s (No. 10 Ford Power Stroke Diesel by International Ford) boasts a husband and wife team hailing from Tecumseh, Mich., a community located just north of Detroit. Jeff Kirkendall is the team’s engineer while wife Teresa scores for Cook among other duties. The pair’s mutual love of racing resulted in marriage and relocation to North Carolina. “Teresa has always supported my racing career and luckily she too enjoys racing, said Kirkendall. “When I started college, I had an eye toward business management and wanted to run my own mail-order parts business and eventually sponsor my very own race car. However, the business bored me and so I switched to mechanical engineering,” Teresa said. “I didn't have much interest in working for a race team while living in Michigan. I enjoyed scoring for teams as often as I could because I love to go to the race track. After moving to North Carolina and as they say, ‘living the dream,’ I became very interested in the business aspects of racing. ppc Racing is a very family-oriented company and I feel very much at home with this team. They have given Jeff and me an opportunity that not many husbands and wives have, to race together. “ * This Week’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Leaders … Through nine races of the 25-race season: • Points leader – Todd Bodine (1,490) • Money won – Todd Bodine ($370,380) • Laps led – Mark Martin (288) • Miles led – Mark Martin (466.460) • Victories – Todd Bodine, Mark Martin (3) • Budweiser Poles – David Reutimann, Mike Skinner (2) • Top-five finishes – Todd Bodine (7) • Top-10 finishes –David Reutimann (8) • Raybestos Rookie Leader – Erik Darnell (14 over Aric Almirola) • Races led – Todd Bodine (6) • Weeks in Top 10 – 4 drivers (9) * ETC. … David Starr (No. 11 Red Horse Racing Toyota) is set to make his 150th start at Michigan, the 10th driver to reach the number. … Cook will reach $3 million in series winning with a top-20 finish in the Con-way Freight 200. ... Ted Musgrave (No. 9 Team ASE) can become the series’ third $4 million winner with a third-place finish. He would join Jack Sprague (No. 60 Con-way Freight Toyota) and Dennis Setzer (No. 85 E85 FlexFuel Chevrolet). … Cook and Setzer are the only drivers to complete all 600 laps and 1,200 miles at Michigan. … Sprague, still seeking win No. 1 for Wyler Racing’s Con-way team, recalls that Travis Kvapil’s Line-X Toyota was the winner of the 2004 race that was sponsored by – Line-X. … Twenty-three different drivers have led a lap through the season’s first nine races. … Chad McCumbee (No. 08 Death Toll The Movie Chevrolet) was the fourth different Raybestos Rookie of the race with a ninth-place finish at TMS. It was McCumbee’s first top 10. … Michel Jourdain Jr. (No. 50 Roush Racing Ford) made his NASCAR Craftsman Truck debut with a solid, 13th-place effort on the lead lap. Jourdain becomes the 17th member of this year’s huge Raybestos Rookie class. … Reutimann, who finished sixth in Saturday’s NASCAR Busch Series Federated Auto Parts 300, will drive Michael Waltrip’s entry at Kentucky Speedway this week. … Erin Crocker (No. 98 Cheerios/Betty Crocker Dodge) will see double duty at Michigan. She’ll compete in Friday’s ARCA RE/MAX event in which she finished seventh a year ago. … Bill Lester (No. 22 Bill Davis Racing Toyota) is slated to make his second NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series start on Sunday.

ON THE RIGHT TRACK

* Musgrave, Sprague solid on MIS-style tracks … While neither driver has won a series race at Michigan, there’s no arguing with the record of Musgrave and Sprague on 2-mile speedways. Combining their records at Michigan and sibling California Speedway, the pair counts five wins, 13 top fives and 16 top-10 finishes. At Michigan, Musgrave twice has finished second (2003-04) while last year’s fourth place stands as the best by Sprague.

QUOTEBOOK

* “My sponsor is based about 45 minutes from the track in Ann Arbor and they are bringing a thousand or more employees to celebrate their sponsorship of the No. 60 Toyota. I can’t tell you how badly I want to bring home the checkered flag for them as thanks for their support.” – Jack Sprague. * “Daytona is for the team, Texas is for our owner Mr. (Tom) Mitchell, Michigan is for (crew chief) Cowboy. Cowboy has been working over time and then some to keep our team up front. Michigan is Cowboy’s home track and there is nothing like a home track-win.” – Rick Crawford on hoping to reward crew chief Kevin “Cowboy” Starland with a Michigan victory. Starland is from Chesaning, Mich. * “I look forward to racing in Michigan every year because General Motors is not too far away. It is always great to be able to meet the individuals that support our team from the manufacturer’s side and I look forward to bringing our momentum off a good run in Texas.” – Dennis Setzer, No. 85 E85 Flex Fuel Chevrolet, the defending winner of the Con-way Freight 200. Setzer’s sixth-place at Texas Motor Speedway is his best finish of 2006.

IN THE LOOP

Although winner Dennis Setzer posted the top Driver Rating of 129.8, three competitors in last year’s race finished high on the statistical charts. Kevin Harvick was second at 122.7 while Mike Skinner scored a 122.4.

Setzer recorded only the fourth-fastest lap of the race at 180.550 mph. Rick Crawford led all drivers at 181.202.

Where is the “passing zone” at Michigan International Speedway? Ask Setzer and he’ll probably say Turn 3. He executed more than one-third (22) of his 61 passes en route to Victory Lane.

Here’s a snapshot of Loop Data from last year’s two events at Michigan International Speedway. A complete rundown along with a 2006 season to-date chart is available at www.nascarmedia.com.

Speed in Traffic Quality Passes Average Running Position Driver Speed (mph) Driver Passes Driver Average Place Kevin Harvick 176.862 Kevin Harvick 72 Mike Skinner 5.660 Bobby Hamilton 176.708 Ted Musgrave 67 Kevin Harvick 5.670 Dennis Setzer 176.546 Bobby Hamilton 63 Dennis Setzer 6.740 Mike Skinner 176.536 Dennis Setzer 54 Ted Musgrave 8.820 Ted Musgrave 176.312 Terry Cook 49 Terry Cook 9.420

FROM THE ARCHIVES

The 1999 inaugural running of the Con-way 200 saw family history made on the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series as a father and son led a series race for the first time. Jay Sauter finished second while his father Jim Sauter came home in 10th-place. The elder Sauter, at age 56, is the oldest driver to compete in a NASCAR Craftsman Truck event at Michigan International Speedway.

FAST FACTS

What: Con-way Freight 200 (Race 10 of 25).

Where: Michigan International Speedway, Brooklyn, Mich.

When: 3:15 p.m. ET, June 17.

Track layout: 2-mile paved oval.

Race length: 200 miles/100 laps. Posted awards: $595,299

TV: SPEED Channel, 3 p.m. (ET), Radio: MRN, XM Satellite.

2005 winner: Dennis Setzer 2005 polesitter: Kyle Busch

Top 10 drivers: 1.Todd Bodine 1,490. 2. Ted Musgrave 1,375. 3. David Reutimann 1,354. 4. Johnny Benson 1,258. 5. Jack Sprague 1,203. 6. David Starr 1,187. 7. Mike Bliss 1,187. 8. Dennis Setzer 1,175. 9. Rick Crawford 1,168. 10. Matt Crafton 1,155.

Pre-race schedule (all times local): Thursday –Practice 10:15 a.m. – 11:25 a.m. Rookie Practice 1:10 p.m. – 1:40 p.m. Final Practice 1:50 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. Friday – Qualifying 11:40 a.m. Trucks impounded after qualifying.

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