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Bristol Motor Speedway
Howard finishes 24th after starting 33rd at Bristol
Practice
Bristol, TN - In the only practice session at Bristol Motor Speedway, Howard posted a lap time of 16
.00 seconds (119.88 mph) which is 16th quick.
Brad Keselowski, Clint Bowyer, Jason Leffler, Elliott Sadler, and Carl Edwards were the top five fastest in practice. Qualifying is scheduled for 4:10 pm and will be broadcast on Speed with race coverage on ESPN.
photo courtesy of Phil Cavali
Bristol Motor Speedway
Michigan International Speedway
Howard finishes 22nd at MIS
Qualifying:
Brooklyn, MI - Howard posts a lap time of 41.74 seconds (172.48 mph) and will start 30th in today's CarFax 250 at Michigan International Speedway.
Final Practice:
Brooklyn, MI- Howard posted a lap time of 41.94 seconds which puts him 25th on the board. Ryan Truex was quickest followed by Brad Keselowski, Kevin Harvick, Justin Allgaier, and Trevor Bayne.
Qualifying is scheduled for Saturday at 10:10 am and will be broadcast live on Speed with race coverage beginning at 2:00 pm on ESPN2.
Thursday Test Session:
Afternoon Session:
Brooklyn, MI - The test session at Michigan International Speedway has concluded with Howard 21st on the board (41.56 seconds). Kevin Harvick was quickest followed in the top five by Kyle Busch, Joey Logano, Brad Keselowski, and Colin Braun.
Practice resumes Friday at 2:30 - 3:30 pm with qualifying scheduled for Saturday at 10:10 am.
Morning Session:
Brooklyn, MI - At the conclusion of the first test session for the new car at Michigan International Speedway, Howard is 24th quick on the board with a lap time of 41.89 seconds (170.99 mph).
Carl Edwards, Kevin Harvick, Paul Menard, Joey Logano, and Jason Leffler were the top five quickest cars on the track. The second session if from 1:00 - 4:00 pm.
Michigan International Speedway
Chris Rice and Tim Carpenter
Iowa Speedway
Shelby Howard and Team 70 Shine at Iowa
Newton, IA - After turning what would be a 20th place lap, Howard would spin on the second lap of qualifying. The results of the spin necessitated repairs to the 70 car. Those repairs forced the InternationalTrucks.com Chevrolet to start at the rear of the field for the US Cellular 250.
Not deterred by starting at the back, Howard quickly moved through the field and into the top 20. By lap 50, the 70 car was running within the top 15 and remained in that area of the field. Smart driving and excellent pit stops kept the ML Motorsports #70 up front throughout the entire race. When a late race caution with about 35 laps to go came out, it was another great pit stop that put Howard back out in 7th place. Several of the front runners that pitted for 4 tires and started near and behind Howard. But Howard fought hard, and although the cup guys had better tires he hung in there to finish 12th. The finish matched his season best finish two weeks ago at Gateway International Raceway in the Missouri - Illinois Dodge Dealers 250.
The great finish by Howard and the InternationalTrucks.com Chevrolet, moved the team up two more spots in the owners points to 29th. The new spot locks the team into the next race and sets the team 45 points ahead of the 31st place car.
The team will begin preparations this week on the new car for the CarFax 250 at Michigan International Speedway on August 14th.
Qualifying:
Newton, IA - Howard posted a lap time of 24.062 seconds (130.91 mph) which would have been good enough to start 20th at Iowa Speedway if not for a spin on his second qualifying lap. Howard will have to go to the back of the field for the start of the U.S. Cellular 250 tonight.
Starting from the pole is Trevor Bayne who starts alongside Kyle Busch. The remaining top ten qualifiers are Brian Scott, Brad Keselowski, Steven Wallace, Jason Leffler, Kevin Harvick, Justin Allgaier, Matt Dibenedetto, and Kevin Lepage.
Race coverage on ESPN2 begins at 7:00 ET with the race beginning at 7:30 pm.
Practice:
Newton, IA - In the only practice session at Iowa Speedway, Howard is 9th quick on the board in the #70 InternationalTrucks.com Chevrolet.
Matt Dibenedetto was quickest followed in the top ten by Steven Wallace, Brian Scott, Jason Leffler, Drew Herring, Kevin Lepage, Chase Miller, Shelby Howard, and Steve Arpin.
Qualifying is scheduled to begin at 4:10 pm ET and the green flag is slated to drop at 7:30 pm ET.
Iowa Speedway
Iowa Speedway
Howard and InternationalTrucks.com Head to Iowa
Newton, IA - Coming off a successful run at O'Reilly Raceway Park, where Shelby Howard and the ML Motorsports Team managed to make mid race corrections that allowed the InternationalTrucks.com #70 Chevrolet charge back up front for a 14th place finish. That 14th place moved the 70 team up two places in the NASCAR Nationwide Series owner's points to within 9 points of being locked in the field for future races.
As the team was working hard on preparing the InternationalTrucks.com Chevy for Iowa, Shelby has been busy preparing himself for his first start at the Iowa track. In 2009 Howard and the 70 team fought an ill handling car and were never able to get the qualifying setup where it belonged. As a result, even though he was 38th quick in qualifying, ML Motorsports joined 6 other teams that were sent home that day.
With a new crew chief this year, Chris Rice, as well as several new cars, the 70 team has shaken off the qualifying bugs for 2010 and is all but assured to make the field. Topping all those improvements, is a great sponsor onboard. Iowa promises to be a great showing for the team and for International Trucks.
O'Reilly Raceway Park
Howard finishes 14th at ORP
Clermont, IN - Shelby Howard came to ORP with a rush job done to put together a back up car after the car that was intended to be used was destroyed on the final lap at Gateway. The team converted an intermediate track car to a short track car in a hurry. The scurrying and long hours paid off as the car seemed pretty good right off the truck. Shelby was 10th quick in the first practice session and 12th quick in the final practice, as the crew set up the car for qualifying.
A good qualifying run resulted in Shelby starting 17th alongside Kevin Swindell in the #43 car. As the race progressed the #70 car remained in the top 20 for the first 50 laps, but as the runs got longer the car continued to get tight. The first caution in the Kroger 200 didn't fly until lap 77 when the #10 car spun on the front stretch. Being one lap down, the team followed the lead of the lap down cars ahead and stayed out to get the wave around and get back on the lead lap.
When the second caution flew Shelby was out of the top 20, but adjustments made on the stop helped move the International Trucks.com Chevrolet back into the top 20. With rain threatening on the radar, it was unsure if the race would reach the scheduled 200 lap mark, but with only 6 cautions, the race progressed ahead of the weather. One last caution on lap 196 would force the race to a green/white/checker finish. The resulting late race adjustments helped Shelby to move ahead and finish 14th, two spots behind his best finish of the year, last week at Gateway International Raceway, however this time the #70 car came home intact.
The team heads home and will begin preparations for next weeks race at Iowa.
Howard will start 17th at O'Reilly Raceway Park
Final Practice:
Clermont, IN - Howard was 12th quick in the final practice session at O'Reilly Raceway Park with a lap time of 22.97 seconds (107.519 mph). The top ten quickest were Brad Keselowski, Paul Menard, Ron Hornaday, Jason Leffler, Matt Dibenedetto, Colin Braun, Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., Trevor Bayne, Justin Allgaier, and Brian Scott.1st Practice:
Clermont, IN - Howard took the backup No. 70 InternationalTrucks.com Chevrolet out for the first time and posted a lap time of 23.08 seconds (107.00 mph). At the end of the first practice session, Howard was 10th quick at O'Reilly Raceway Park.
The top ten fastest at the end of first practice were Brad Keselowski, Ron Hornaday, Morgan Shepherd, Jason Leffler, Reed Sorenson, Aric Almirola, Trevor Bayne, Michael Annett, David Starr, and Shelby Howard.
O'Reilly Raceway Park
Gateway Wreck
O'Reilly Raceway Park
International Trucks teams up with Howard and ML Motorsports
Warsaw, IN - International Trucks, a long time sponsor in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series has signed on to sponsor Shelby Howard in the NASCAR Nationwide series #70 ML Motorsports Chevrolet Impala beginning with the July 24th Kroger 200, to benefit the Riley Hospital for Children, at O'Reilly Raceway Park, near Indianapolis, Indiana.
The agreement tentatively calls for a three race sponsorship for Howard and the #70 entries in the NNS. In addition to the Kroger 200, International Trucks will be on board for the July 31, NNS 250 at Iowa Speedway and the October 23, Gateway 250 at Gateway International Raceway, near St Louis.
This will be International Trucks first sponsorship in NASCAR's second tier series and ORP is a fitting place to begin the relationship with International Truck Engineering Division headquartered in nearby Fort Wayne.
Chris Cage, Willie 103.5
Chris Cage from Willie 103.5 stopped by the shop today and wanted to join our pit crew. Here's a video of his try out: