Ron Fellows in Caterpillar Chevrolet at Loudon

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (Aug. 25, 1998) - Ron Fellows, who already has one outside pole run to his credit in his one NASCAR Winston Cup Series race this season, will drive the Caterpillar Chevrolet in Sunday's CMT 300 race at New Hampshire International Speedway. Fellows will replace Hut Stricklin, who had been driving on a race-to-race basis.

Fellows, 38, took over the Caterpillar Chevrolet for owner Buz McCall at Watkins Glen International three weeks ago. The Toronto native put the car on the outside pole for the Bud At The Glen. He ran in the top three the first 10 percent of the race before a drive flange problem put him in the garage, returning late in the race to turn some of the fastest laps on the track.

"I'm ready to get back in that CAT and go," Fellows said. "We had a pretty good run at Watkins Glen and there was a lot of excitement among the guys on the team. I'd pretty happy about having another crack at helping generate that excitement again. Man, that was a lot of fun.

"I've known Buz McCall for a long time and I've driven for him before. He has always had quality teams and quality equipment. What I saw at Watkins Glen was exactly what I had expected, and we did pretty well. We're going to give it everything we have at New Hampshire this week."

Stricklin said he had aggravated an injury he suffered in a crash two months ago in a race at New Hampshire.

"I tore some cartilage in my sternum and I guess that put an extra burden on my left shoulder," he said. "I think that deal at Bristol Saturday night (where Stricklin was forced to spin to avoid crashing cars) pulled on everything again kind of in the wrong directions. I don't know (if) it's all that bad but I don't feel I can give this team 100 percent right now, and that's not fair to Buz or Sammy (Johns, crew chief) or the guys on the team."

"We'll miss him this week but we're excited about Ron Fellows being back in the car," McCall said. "Ron did a great job for us at Watkins Glen and, while his expertise is road course racing, we think he can do a good job for us on a flat track like New Hampshire."

Source: NASCAR Online