The crews and drivers at Motegi were greeted to a cold, brisk morning, but as the sun rose it turned out to be a beautiful day and the things really started to heat up when the cars destined to compete in this Saturday's Coca-Cola 500 took to the 1.549-mile track, the Twin Ring Motegi.
Mike Wallace of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck, Touring series was quickest in practice at Motegi today. Wallace has been a strong contender in the Winston West. He has won two WW races in the 1999 season. The only other drivers to accomplish that are Butch Gilliland, Sean Woodside and Kevin Richards. Wallace, although not a regular in the NASCAR Winston West brings with him a strong crew, including a former Winston West crew member, Jeremy West, who was part of Butch Gilliland Championship Racing before making the move to the trucks.
Points leader Sean Woodside seemed a bit off the pace in practice but with a 119 point lead over 2nd in the points Austin Cameron, who practiced 2nd quick, he is still expected to be the next NASCAR Winston West Champion. Third in the points is Joe Bean who was 17th fast in practice. But a lot can change between practice and qualifying.
Interesting to note the 4th place team owned by Tim Buckley (who has been putting Cameron in a Craftsman Truck) and driver of the car two-time NASCAR Winston West Champion Bill Sedgwick is not participating at Motegi.
Rookie points leader Jason Small turned in the 18th fastest practice time. Spokesman for the team said, "It's our first time here and we are still learning. We should be ok though. Hey, there are a lot of guys behind us." But one of the drivers faster than Small in practice is rookie competitor, Sammy Potashnick. Small has been in a tight battle with Potashnick all year long, for both Rookie-of-the-Year honors and for a good place in the standings. Currently Small is leading Potashnick in both, but there are only 2 points separating the two young guns in the standings. Potashnick, has been a threat at the super-speedways before. This is going to be an interesting battle between these two.
Scott Gaylord was pleased with his practice time and if he can back it up in qualifying he just may have a shot at the win. If he does it will be a long time coming for this veteran driver who has been so close so many times.
1997 WW Champion Butch Gilliland was pleased with his car. "The team gave me a great car. They always do. I think we should be ok. Our goal is to get a good finish for our sponsor, Ralph's. I just love coming to Japan and meeting all the new fans. To win in front of them would be awesome."
Qualifying is set for Friday. And yes, a lot can change between practice and qualifying.
