#18 DANA Dodge Race Report: Hubert Makes Truck Series Debut
21 July 1997
Hubert Makes Truck Series Debut in #18 DANA Dodge FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Cornelius, NC (July 19, 1997) -- The multi-talented Tom Hubert made his NASCAR Craftsman Trucks Series debut in the Roehrig Motorsports-owned #18 DANA Dodge this week at the Colorado National Speedway, the 14th stop in the 1997 Truck Series season. Hubert, who made motorsports headlines in early May when he qualified and drove the #78 Diamond Rio/Hanes NASCAR Winston Cup car in Sonoma, is currently shop foreman and fabricator for Roehrig Motorsports. On weekends, Hubert works as tire changer for the #30 Pennzoil Winston Cup team, and also manages to find the time to run a limited schedule in the NASCAR Featherlite Southwest Tour, winning one such event just four weeks ago at the Portland Speedway. As pilot this week of the #18 DANA Dodge, Hubert qualified 25th, and battled the leaders and lapped traffic on the tight 3/8 mile racetrack to a respectable 23rd place finish. "Tom did a great job for us," said team manager Scott Treichler. "We just missed the setup here. We don't do that very much at all, but it happens sometimes. It was the first time Roehrig Motorsports has come to this racetrack, and it was also the first time for Tom Hubert. Tom posted the fastest lap in the race, and the truck was very good. We made a bunch of changes on it, and the DANA Dodge got better, but the tire wear at this track was extreme, and that created some problems." "We were real happy with Tom's performance," said team owner Kurt Roehrig. "He drove a good, smart race, didn't make any rookie mistakes, and brought the truck home in one piece. He did manage to knock the front grill off, but we're not worried about that. We were joking earlier that if he brought the truck back with any damage, as shop foreman and fabricator, he's the one who'd have to fix it!" Next up for the DANA Racing team... ...is the Lund Look 275 in Topeka, Kansas, one of three road courses on the 1997 schedule. "Tom Hubert will again drive the #18 DANA Dodge in Topeka," said Roehrig. Next up on the driver schedule for the #18 DANA Dodge will be ASA standout Kevin Cywinski making his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series debut in the Cummins 200 at Indianapolis Raceway Park on July 31, and Michael "Rockin" Dokken will again take the wheel of the #18 DANA Dodge in the Federated Auto Parts 250 at Nashville Speedway USA on August 16th. Cywinski is the current American Speed Association points leader, and has visited Victory Lane three times this season so far in that series. He follows in the footsteps of Tony Raines, driver of the #19 Roehrig-owned Pennzoil Dodge, last season's ASA champion. In teammate news... Teammate Tony Raines in the #19 Pennzoil Dodge, with associate sponsorship from DANA Corporation, posted his sixth top-10 finish of the season to date with his 9th place finish in the Colorado 250. Raines, starting from the 4th position, kept the Pennzoil/DANA Dodge up front most of the day. The Pennzoil/DANA Dodge fell back one lap towards the end of the first segment, but quickly got that lap back shortly after the start of the second half. A fortunate caution on lap 216 of 250 allowed Raines to maintain his lead lap position, just as the leaders were closing in. This set the stage for the final 34 lap run to an ultimate top-10 finish for the #19 Pennzoil/DANA Dodge. About DANA Corporation... DANA Corporation and four of its major divisions- Spicer, Victor Reinz, Wix, and Perfect Circle, is currently in their second year of sponsorship involvement in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. DANA is a global leader in the engineering, manufacture, and distribution for the vehicular, industrial, and off-highway markets. Founded in 1904 and based in Toledo, Ohio, DANA operates facilities in 30 countries with more than 48,000 people. In addition to DANA's sponsorship efforts in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, DANA is involved in many different motorsports venues through its divisions. Victor Reinz is a contingency sponsor in the NASCAR Goody's Dash and Winston Racing Series, various Spicer divisions are contingency sponsors in the NASCAR Winston Cup and Craftsman Truck Series, and the Wix division is an associate sponsor on the #18 Joe Gibbs-owned Interstate Batteries Pontiac, along with its contingency sponsorship participation in all three upper echelon NASCAR series- Winston Cup, Busch Grand National, and Craftsman Truck. DANA Corporation is involved in Monster Truck Racing, in IHRA Drag racing, and many other motorsports venues. For more information on DANA's racing involvement, check out the DANA web site at http://www.DANA.com.