Truex to drive Junior's No. 88 car in Busch race
McFarland hurt last week; Earnhardt also entered in Friday's race
By Dave Rodman, NASCAR.COM
June 28, 2006
11:32 AM EDT (15:32 GMT)

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Martin Truex Jr. has won the last three Busch Series superspeedway races he's competed in, and Wednesday he found out he will get a chance to make it four in a row.

Because of a shoulder injury suffered by JR Motorsports driver Mark McFarland in a late-race pig-pile accident at the Milwaukee Mile last Saturday night, Truex will drive the No. 88 Chevrolet in Friday night's Winn-Dixie 250 at Daytona International Speedway.

The move provides a new dimension for Busch fans, as Truex's Nextel Cup teammate and the owner of the No. 88 car, Dale Earnhardt Jr., will drive a No. 8 Chevrolet fielded by Dale Earnhardt Inc. on Friday night.

Either Truex or Earnhardt Jr. have won five of the last eight Busch Series restrictor-plate races, with Truex winning four of them.

"Mark's well-being is our primary concern," JR Motorsports' director of racing Steve Crisp said. "We will follow the doctor's directive to give Mark the necessary time to heal properly.

"Our relationship with the [primary sponsor] U.S. Navy is very important to us and we wanted to give them the best while Mark recuperates. Martin is a two-time series champion and the defending champion of the race -- that's as good as you can get."

McFarland went for X-rays immediately upon his return from Milwaukee Sunday morning. He had additional evaluation by doctors and an MRI late Tuesday, a team spokesperson said, and was scheduled for more doctor visits Wednesday.

As of Wednesday, his hiatus is for one race. The series races on subsequent weekends at Chicagoland and New Hampshire, in conjunction with Nextel Cup, and at Martinsville Speedway on July 22 in a stand-alone event.

Truex will work with veteran chief mechanic Wes Ward, who was named crew chief for the No. 88 team prior to last weekend. JR Motorsports team manager Rich Hubbs had been serving as crew chief.

This season, Ward has attended some of the 88 team's Busch races, but worked primarily as the crew chief on JR Motorsports' Hooters Pro Cup team with driver Shane Huffman. As of this week, that team has three victories.

The interesting twist for Truex is that JR Motorsports will be the third team he's raced Busch cars for in the last two years.

Truex scored victories at Talladega and at Daytona's July event in 2005 racing for the Chance 2 Motorsports team for which he scored Busch Series championships in 2004 and 2005 before moving into the Nextel Cup Series this season as a rookie of the year candidate.

Earlier this season, driving the No. 8 DEI car that Earnhardt will drive this weekend -- as he and Truex alternate races in it -- Truex won the Aaron's 312 at Talladega Superspeedway, his second consecutive victory in that event.

Truex won at Talladega for Chance 2 in 2004, with his mentor, Earnhardt Jr., second.

 

I will email the Busch Series league members about this late breaking change tonight. Please note, if you have already chosen McFarland, you will need to change your picks to avoid receiving negative five points for him. Truex will be added to the Busch-wacker list, so you may pick him if you choose.