Kerry Earnhardt
2006

2/27
THORSPORT DUO FINDS  GOING DIFFICULT AT CALIFORNIA

ThorSport Racing’s Matt Crafton and Kerry Earnhardt were unable to mount a serious challenge for victory in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Racetickets.com 200 at California Speedway on Friday.

Crafton, driver of the No. 88 Menards Chevy Silverado, qualified 30 th and finished 20 th at California, a disappointing follow-up to his sixth-place finish there a year ago.  Crafton and crew fought handling issues on the truck throughout the race and never found a comfort zone, preventing him from any shot at consistently running with the race leaders.

Earnhardt, driver of ThorSport Racing’s No. 13 Chevrolet Silverado, experienced similar results at California as he qualified on an owner’s provisional (starting 35 th ), battled aero tightness on his truck for the duration , and settled for a 29 th place finish.

The ThorSport duo sits 19 th and 20 th , respectively, in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series standings after the first two races of the ’06 season.

Next up for Crafton and Earnhardt is the fast track of Atlanta Motor Speedway on March 17 th .

2/23
EARNHARDT SEEKS TO ESTABLISH MOMENTUM AT CALIFORNIA  

Kerry Earnhardt enters the Racetickets.com 200 at California Speedway on Friday night looking to establish momentum following an 18 th place finish in last week’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series opener at Daytona.

The ’06 Raybestos Rookie of the Year candidate makes his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series debut at California, but Earnhardt isn’t unfamiliar with the 2-mile oval.  He has started a pair of Busch Series races at California, finishing 21 st in ’02 and 40 th in ’03, when he departed early due to an accident.

Earnhardt hopes to reverse his fortune at California and begin a string of strong, consistent finishes.  “This is a big ‘motor’ track, and you’ve got to have a strong motor to get the truck around the track here,” Earnhardt said.  “We’ve got our best ‘downforce’ truck with us.  We’re looking to keep the truck in one piece, finish strong and hopefully come out of here with something special.”

2/17
EARNHARDT FINISHES 18 TH IN ’06 CRAFTSMAN TRUCK SERIES OPENER

Kerry Earnhardt avoided the dreaded ‘big one’ in Friday night’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series GM FlexFuel 250 at Daytona International Speedway, but fought an ill-handling car for most of the race and finished 18 th in the 2006 season opener.

Earnhardt started 21 st in the No. 13 ThorSport Racing Chevrolet Silverado, and never found any real trouble.  He finished second among Chevrolets, and third among ten rookies in the race.

“We were able to finish the race, and that’s a good thing,” Earnhardt said.  “But the truck was tight in traffic all night, and I wasn’t able to really race anybody.  We’d get in traffic and lose the nose real bad.  I tried everything I could to get the truck to handle so we could pass somebody, but it just didn’t work.  So I hung on, rode in line, and finished the race.”