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Craftsman Trucks: Cintas Rookie Of The Year Candidates Ready For The Challenge

26 March 1998

Miami, FL. - The Class of '98. This year's field of Cintas Rookie-of-the-Year contenders comes to the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series with a diverse range of success in all forms of motorsports. The Cintas Rookies are facing a brand new challenge, though, the veterans of a series that boasts the closest margin of victory among NASCAR's top touring series. The competition is close and it will take truly outstanding talent to duplicate Kenny Irwin's amazing Rookie victory at Homestead last year.

Kenny Irwin, Jr.
Kenny Irwin, Jr.
Perhaps the Cintas Rookies that present the greatest threat in Homestead will be Wayne Anderson and Scot Walters, due to their experience at the 1.5 mile oval. Both Anderson and Walters come to the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series from the popular Slim Jim All Pro Series where they battled fender-to-fender at many of the same tracks that the truck series will visit this season. Anderson will be piloting the Liberty Racing Ford which carried Kenny Irwin to the Cintas Rookie-of-the-Year Championship in '97, while Walters will be driving the Brewco Motorsports Chevrolet for the team's first full season. In '96, Walters won the All Pro Series race at Homestead, while Anderson finished fifth.

Challenging veterans such as Ron Hornaday and Jack Sprague, fielded by Dale Earnhardt Incorporated and Hendrick Motorsports, may be an "intimidating" experience for some of the Cintas Rookies. "The combination of top veteran drivers with some of the top young talents makes exciting racing for the fans. I'm honored to be on the same track with these guys," said Porter Cable driver Wayne Anderson.

Each of the Cintas Rookie candidates feels confident in his abilities as a race car driver, but facing the NASCAR Craftsman Truck contingent tests the abilities of the best driver. "We expect it to be a challenge, but we've got our sights set on the Cintas Rookie-of-the-Year award and we'll work all season toward achieving that goal," stated Dominic Dobson. With seven consecutive Indy 500 starts to his credit, MCI-sponsored driver is sure to be a serious threat.

In addition to Anderson, Walters and Dobson, drivers competing for the coveted Cintas crown include Andy Houston, son of famed Tommy Houston, Rob Morgan of Sportscar racing, Greg Biffle driving for Jack Roush, Tommy Archer with 38 championships to date for Archer Motorsports, Rick McCray from the Winston West Series, Joe Gaita of the Winston Racing Series and Randy Nelson who is the youngest Cintas Rookie candidate at age 19.

Editors Note: The photos shown in this article are available for larger viewing in the Racing Image Galleries.