Kittleson, Choquette and Boyd In Roush Final Twelve
Travis Kittleson, now living in North Carolina, Jeff Choquette and Jason Boyd are among finalists
MARTINSVILLE, Va. – After two days of testing at Martinsville Speedway this week, Roush Racing today narrowed the field of 25 contestants to just 12 drivers who will advance to the next round of competition to begin August 15 at Darlington Raceway. These drivers are all competing for a spot on Jack Roush’s race team and a fully sponsored ride in the 2006 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.
Discovery Channel has teamed up with Roush Racing to capture all of the excitement and drama of the competition on film with unprecedented access to Roush’s gong show. Candidates are competing on and off the track, testing their skills behind the wheel as well as their marketability and fan appeal. The high-energy 13-part series DRIVER X: RACE FOR THE RIDE will debut on Discovery Channel October 31, 2005.
Jack Roush and his team of judges poured over 1,700 applications at the start of the competition and narrowed it down to a list of 25 drivers from across the United States, Canada and New Zealand in search of the best drivers to take part in this exclusive competition.
“The competition at Martinsville was impressive,” said Jack Roush. “We had a tough decision narrowing the field down to 12 drivers, but I think the 12 we have selected will be very strong candidates for our NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series ride in 2006. We are going to put the 12 drivers through some various marketing activities next week in Charlotte before we take them to Darlington for their final test the following week. I personally watched all 25 drivers at Martinsville and look forward to seeing what they’ve got at Darlington.”
Following is a list of the drivers selected to compete in the second round at Darlington Raceway, August 15-17:
Name Age Hometown Current Racing Circuit Tim Andrews 22 Concord, NC Legends Pro Division; NASCAR Busch North Series
Chuck Barnes 23 Louisville, KY Sunoco Super Series Late Model Division
Jason Boyd 24 Orlando, FL Fascar Sun Belt Series
Jeffrey Choquette 19 Loxahatchee, FL Late Models
Erik Darnell 23 Beach Park, IL ARCA; AutoZone Elite
Jason Hogan 23 Cleveland, GA AutoZone Elite SE Series
Travis Kittleson 26 Mooresville, NC Sun Belt Series
Matt McCall 24 Denver, NC UARA Late Models
Danny O'Quinn 20 Coeburn, VA ARCA; USAR Hooter's Pro Cup
David Ragan 20 Kannapolis, NC ARCA
Peter Shepherd 19 Norval, Ontario, Canada CASCAR
Auggie Vidovich 24 Lakeside, CA AutoZone Elite Southwest
Roush Racing is a subsidiary of Livonia, Mich., based Roush Industries that operates 10 motor sports teams; five in NASCAR Nextel Cup with drivers Mark Martin, Matt Kenseth, Kurt Busch, Greg Biffle and Carl Edwards; three in the Busch Series with Martin, Kenseth and Edwards; two in the Craftsman Truck Series with drivers Ricky Craven and Todd Kluever. If you are interested in sponsoring the show's winning driver for the 2006 Craftsman Truck Series season, please contact Torrey Galida, Roush Racing, (704) 720-4600.
