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Wednesday, June 29, 2005
Maine driver ready for Busch Series debut
Copyright © 2005 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc. | ||
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SCARBOROUGH — Ryan Moore, a Scarborough native, sounded older than his 21 years when he talked about his upcoming NASCAR Busch Series debut. "Obviously we've been trying to make it happen for a long time," Moore said. "I've been working with Dale Earnhardt Inc., since last summer working on some stuff I can do better. Now we've got a car, a sponsor and a team together." Moore will make his first start in the Busch Series, the Triple-A equivalent in NASCAR's hierarchy, July 16 at New Hampshire International Speedway in the New England 200. Since signing a driver development deal with DEI in 2004, Moore has been targeted for a handful of Busch Series starts this season in addition to racing the full Busch North Series. Moore, whose father, Kelly Moore, is the all-time Busch North wins leader, has made four starts at NHIS, finishing no worse than sixth. "Actually at first we weren't going to (debut at NHIS), only because of the fact that it's one of my home tracks and there's just a lot of pressure that goes along with that," Moore said. "There's going to be so much stuff going on for me, the Busch North race, every reporter wants to do something, every TV company wants to do something. But I learned a lot about that stuff over the winter." Moore will get his first seat time in the Busch car July 5-6 at NHIS test sessions. Tony Eury Sr., will be in charge of the No. 81 Busch Series car. A sponsor hasn't been announced. "Tony Eury Sr., will be leading everything and he will lead most of my driver development program," Moore said. "He's a pretty smart guy and has lot of years of experience. "I'm not just looking forward to driving for him and driving really great cars made by DEI, but I should be able to learn so much with him, stuff that will make us even more competitive on the Busch North Series." Busch North Series qualifying at NHIS is July 14. The next day, Moore will get up to two hours of Busch Series practice before driving his regular No. 72 BNS car in a 5 p.m., 125-lap race. July 16 will be Busch Series time trials in the morning and a 200-lap afternoon race. Moore said an announcement about future Busch Series starts will come "at Loudon or right after Loudon." Possible locations and dates for future races include Indianapolis Raceway Park (Aug. 6), Richmond International Speedway (Sept. 9), Dover International Speedway (Sept. 24), and Memphis Motorsports Park (Oct. 22). Bristol Speedway, where a former DEI development driver, Martin Truex Jr., made his first Busch start, is a possibility. The race is the day before the Aug. 27 Busch North event at Oxford Plains Speedway. Steve Craig covers local auto racing for the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram. He can be reached at:
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