PHOTO: Motorsport.com
SEASON IN REVIEW
Chino, California driver Kenny Hendrick picked up his first LASTCAR Truck Series Championship in 2003, scoring three last-place finishes in twelve starts during a twenty-five race season.
Hendrick - of no relation Rick Hendrick, founder of Hendrick Motorsports - was competing in his third Truck Series season and his only one where he competed in more than four events. He qualified 9th in his series debut at Sonoma on October 7, 1996, but in those first two seasons, he finished no better than 19th in the inaugural Truck Series race at Texas Motor Speedway, the Pronto Auto Parts 400K, on June 6, 1997.
The Texas race was Hendrick’s final Truck Series start until Memphis on June 21, 2003, when he made the first of twelve starts in owner Christopher Beckington’s #9 Fasscore Motorsports Fords. Unfortunately, like Tom Mazzuchi’s team before it, the Beckington team was a “start-and-park” operation. Hendrick failed to finish all twelve of his starts in 2003, never finished better than 31st at Indianapolis Raceway Park on August 1 with an average finish of 34.5, and scored three last-place finishes.
Hendrick’s first two last-place runs of the year came in consecutive races, starting at Kansas on July 5, where his #9 suffered a transmission problem after the opening lap of the O’Reilly Auto Parts 250. The next occurred one week later in Kentucky, where another transmission broke after 4 laps of the Built Ford Tough 225. Hendrick’s third finish came twelve races after that in Martinsville on October 18, where the brakes let go on his #9 Fasscore / Vokal Clothing Ford after 14 laps of the Advance Auto Parts 200.
Hendrick never again finished last in his four remaining Truck Series starts for David Fuge in 2007. However, he also competed in 41 Busch Series races, finishing a career-best 12th at Las Vegas on February 28, 2009, one year after he finished last for the only two times in his career in 2008. His first last-place run came on May 2, 2008 with the prolific MSRP Motorsports, driving their #91 Chevrolet for six laps of the Lipton Tea 250 before a vibration took hold. The other occurred three months later at Michigan on August 16, where his #31 Interush.net Chevrolet owned by Stanton Barrett lost the ignition after the opening lap of the Carfax 250.
OTHER LASTCAR HEADLINES
On March 23, Calgary, Alberta’s Trevor Boys made his first NASCAR start since he finished 35th in James Hylton’s #48 Rumple Pontiac in the Cup race at Pocono on June 13, 1993 when he qualified his #93 Ideal Racing Chevrolet into the final Truck Series race at Mesa Marin, the Lucas Oil 250. Unfortunately, Boys’ truck finished last due to an overheating problem after 76 laps.
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
1st) Kenny Hendrick (3)
2nd) Jamie Aube, Stan Boyd, Morgan Shepherd, Dana White (2)
3rd) Phil Bonifield, Trevor Boys, Johnny Chapman, Rick Crawford, Carl Edwards, Wayne Edwards, Willie Green, Carl Long, Randy MacDonald, Jonathon Price, Loni Richardson, Scotty Sands, David Starr, Rick Ware (1)
