SEASON IN REVIEW
Atwater, California driver Doug George picked up his first LASTCAR Truck Series Championship in 1997, scoring two last-place finishes in twenty starts during a twenty-six race season. George won a bottom-five tiebreaker over Brian Cunningham 5-3.
Like many early Truck Series drivers, George came to prominence in the K&N Pro Series West, where he won the championship in 1995 on the heels of eight wins in fifteen races. Two of those wins were in combination events with the Cup Series at Sonoma and Phoenix, his only two Cup Series starts, where he finished 31st and 41st overall. George joined the Truck Series in 1996 and scored his best career finish at Sonoma, a 5th in the Kragen 151 on October 7, 1996. George finished 12th in points that year driving the #21 Ortho Lawn & Garden Care Chevrolet owned by Jim Venable.
In 1997, George and Venable separated, and the driver raced for seven different teams in twenty starts. Half of those starts came with Bob Blake in his #12 Chevrolets, another five in the #92 Rotary Lift Chevrolet fielded by Raymond Scanlan, and the final five for five other teams. He returned to Sonoma on October 5, where he finished a season-high 8th in his lone start for Charles Hardy. He also failed to qualify for three races and scored six DNFs, including two last-place finishes in the next two races after Sonoma.
George’s first last-place finish came at Mesa Marin on October 12, when he was driving the #34 Concor Tool & Machine Chevrolet for owner Bob Brevak. George broke the transmission after 43 laps of the Dodge California Truck Stop 300, edging the #4 of Bill Sedgwick, who exited on the same lap with engine failure. Six days later came the second, when handling woes stopped his #65 Concor Tool & Machine Ford after 5 laps of The No Fear Challenge in Fontana, where he drove for Kenny Allen. In doing so, George became the first Truck Series driver to score last-place finishes in consecutive races.
George raced in just 12 more Truck Series races through the 2000 season and finished 16th in his final start at Kentucky driving the #12 Hot Wheels Dodge in the June 17 running of the Kroger 225.
OTHER LASTCAR HEADLINES
John Nemechek, the younger brother of 1992 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Champion Joe Nemechek, scored the second last-place finish of his Truck Series career in the Chevy Trucks Challenge, the inaugural race at Walt Disney World Speedway in Orlando, Florida. Nemechek’s #8 Cintas Chevrolet crashed after 47 laps of the race on January 19. John had moved from his brother’s team to his own in 1996 and finished a career-best 13th in points with a pair of Top Tens. Tragically, he suffered fatal injuries in a crash during the March 16 running of the Florida Dodge Dealers 400K at Homestead, passing away five days later. Lonnie Rush, Jr. finished last that day in Homestead when his #53 Purolator PureOne Filters Chevrolet had mechanical problems after 3 laps.
Terry Cook ran fifteen races in 1997, his second Truck Series season, and scored his first career pole at Flemington on August 9. He also picked up his first last-place finish at Texas on June 6 when his #88 PBA Tour Chevrolet lost the engine 11 laps into the Pronto Auto Parts 400K. The next year, Cook won the first of six career Truck Series races at the same Flemington track, starting a career that would extend through 2009.
Bob Keselowski, patriarch of K-Automotive Motorsports with sons Brian and Brad, drove one of the only Dodge teams when the Truck Series arrived in 1995. The 45-year-old driver won his first Truck Series race at Richmond on September 4 in the Virginia Is For Lovers 200, and scored his first last-place finish the same year. That finish came at Nazareth on June 29 when his #29 Mopar Performance Dodge crashed after 2 lap of the NAPA Autocare 200. Keselowski ran in 21 more Truck Series races through 1999 before he turned his attention toward being a team owner.
Rick Crawford competed in his first Truck Series season in 1997, running all 26 races in the same #14 Circle Bar Motel & RV Park Ford that would become a staple in the garage area for more than a decade. Crawford scored his first last-place finish that season at Milwaukee on July 5 when he started 8th, but burned the clutch after 33 laps of the Sears DieHard 200. The first of Crawford’s five series wins in 336 career starts came the next year at Homestead, and he finished a career-best 2nd in points in 2002.
Mike Wallace made one lone Truck Series start for Mike Mittler at North Wilkesboro before he jumped in as Tobey Butler’s replacement in owner Ken Schrader’s #52 Chevrolets for 1997. Wallace finished 6th in his second career start the day Crawford finished last at Milwaukee, then finished last himself seven races later at Nashville on August 16. That day, Wallace’s #52 Dayco No-Slack Belts Chevrolet lost the engine after 30 laps of the Federated Auto Parts 250. Wallace won the first two of five series victories in 1999, coming at Homestead and Pikes Peak.
Longtime NASCAR competitor and 1990 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Champion Chuck Bown joined the Truck Series for his only full season in 1997 driving the #99 Exide Batteries Ford for Roush Racing. It was in this truck that Bown finished last for the first and only time at Watkins Glen on August 24 when the engine let go after 19 laps of the Parts America 150. Canadian road race ace Ron Fellows took his first NASCAR win in the event.
Ernie Irvan, the 1991 Daytona 500 champion, joined the Truck Series as an owner-driver in 1995 while he finished recuperating from a near-fatal wreck at Michigan the year before. He made a total of 12 series starts over the next four seasons and picked up his first and only last-place finish at Richmond on September 4. Irvan’s #28 Federated Auto Parts Ford burned the clutch after 18 laps of the Virginia Is For Lovers 200.
Rookie driver Tony Raines won in his fifth series start at the I-70 Speedway on May 24, propelling him to a 15th-place finish in the point standings despite missing two races. He also finished last for the first time that year at Phoenix when his #19 Pennzoil Dodge lost the engine 4 laps into the November 1 running of the GM Goodwrench / Delco 300. One year later, Raines won three races and finished a career-best 5th in points, sending him to both the Busch and Cup Series in the decade that followed.
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
1st) Brian Cunningham [3 B5s], Doug George [5 B5s] (2)
2nd) Kenny Allen, John Blewett III, Chuck Bown, Terry Cook, Mike Cope, Rick Crawford, Andy Genzman, Ernie Irvan, Tammy Jo Kirk, Bob Keselowski, Rick McCray, Phillip Morris, Randy Nelson, John Nemechek, Lance Norick, Dan Press, Robbie Pyle, Tony Raines, Jerry Robertson, Tony Roper, Lonnie Rush, Jr., Mike Wallace (1)
