TRUCKS: Ted Minor Trails Loudon Field In Benning’s Second Truck
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| SOURCE: Rubbin's Racin' Forums |
A 40-year-old businessman from Weatherford, Texas, Minor has had his sights set on becoming a NASCAR driver since his first short track race in 2001. After nine years of persistence, Minor made his ARCA debut in 2010 at Indiana’s half-mile Salem Speedway, where he drove Truck Series owner-driver Chris Lafferty’s #89 Chevrolet to a 25th-place finish in the 33-car field. It took another four years for Minor to secure his first NASCAR ride - the #12 Chevrolet owned by Joey Cefalia.
Minor and Cefalia were to make their first attempt at Martinsville this past March, but after struggling in the opening pactice, the team withdrew before qualifying. Five races later, team and driver rebounded at Gateway, where Minor finished a career-best 25th in his first-ever NASCAR start. The duo made their next race last week at Chicagoland, where he fell out on the first lap due to electrical issues.
At Loudon, Minor climbed aboard the bright red #57 Chevrolet once fielded by Norm Benning and subsequently run by Benning’s part-time teammate Adam Edwards. Minor’s truck was one of the 30 entered in the race, an entry list shortened by one after the withdrawal of Mike Harmon, who edged Minor for last at Chicagoland. Minor was the slowest of the 27 trucks in the first practice, then did not participate in the other two sessions. He qualified 29th at an average speed fo 94.168 mph, besting Matt Crafton, who failed to complete a timed lap.
Seconds after the start of Saturday’s race, Minor and the #57 were behind the wall. Three laps later came Mike Mittler’s #36 Chevrolet, driven for the second time in three races by Justin Jennings. Jennings, the team’s primary driver, stepped into the team’s second truck as J.R. Heffner took the controls of the #63 ad came home 23rd after a late crash.
Finishing 28th was Caleb Roark, another two-time last-place finisher in 2014, making his third-straight start in Jennifer Jo Cobb’s #0 Grimes Irrigation & Construction Chevrolet. 27th went to Minor’s car owner Norm Benning, whose #6 Crossey Plumbing Chevrolet exited the same lap as Roark with rear gear issues. Rounding out the Bottom Five was B.J. McLeod, his first start since Bowmanville ending with rear gear issues on the #07 Geneva-Liberty Steel / ThunderExhaust.com Chevrolet.
For more about Ted Minor, including a videotaped feature on a local news station, check out his website at http://www.tedminor.com/
LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This is the first last-place finish for the #57 in a Truck Series race since June 10, 2011, when Norm Benning lost the engine on his Norm Benning Racing Chevrolet after 3 laps of the Winstar World Casino 400k at the Texas Motor Speedway. It is also the number’s first last-place run in a Truck race at Loudon since September 13, 2008, when Benning’s Chevrolet lost the rear end after 1 lap of the Camping World RV Rental 200 Driven by Winnebago.
*For the third-consecutive Truck Series race, the last-place finisher failed to complete the opening lap.
THE BOTTOM FIVE
30) #57-Ted Minor / 0 laps / clutch
29) #36-Justin Jennings / 3 laps / vibration
28) #0-Caleb Roark / 4 laps / brakes
27) #6-Norm Benning / 4 laps / rear gear
26) #07-B.J. McLeod / 8 laps / rear gear
LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Ryan Ellis, Justin Jennings, Caleb Roark (2)
2nd) Mike Affarano, Bryan Dauzat, Alex Guenette, Mike Harmon, Blake Koch, Charles Lewandoski, Ted Minor, Tommy Regan, Scott Stenzel, Jason White (1)
LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) #0-Jennifer Jo Cobb (4)
2nd) #36-Mike Mittler, #63-Mike Mittler / Randy Young (2)
3rd) #28-FDNY Racing, #42-Randy Young, #45-Regan Motorsports, #57-Norm Benning, #74-Mario Gosselin, #74-Mike Harmon, #93-RSS Racing, #03-Mike Affarano Motorsports (1)
LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Chevrolet (14)
2nd) RAM (2)