Bobby Allison to head new truck team

NASCAR legend Bobby Allison is the Director of Racing Operations for a new NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series team to be based in the Washington, D.C., area.

Allison, the most famous of NASCAR's "Alabama Gang" and third on NASCAR's all-time Winston Cup win list with 85 victories, will work with veteran driver Jimmy Kitchens for Myers and Long Motorsports, based in Ashburn, Va.

"I think it's a really neat opportunity," Allison said. "We're committed to attempt the whole season. We want to give the first races of the '01 season our best effort to put us on the best road to season-long competitiveness."

Allison called Kitchens a driver who "really has a lot of talent." Kitchens' career began 20 years ago, when he won the Street Stock title on the short track in Birmingham, Ala., in his first year. He went on to score three Late Model track championships at the facility and chalk up 221 feature wins. He has competed in NASCAR's All Pro Series, and since 1997 has run limited NASCAR Busch Grand National, Winston West, Craftsman Truck and ARCA events.

"I'm looking forward to going back to Daytona and compete in the Craftsman Truck Series again," said Kitchens. "It's a new team, and I like their enthusiasm. We share the same goals, which is important between drivers and team owners. I'm grateful to Bobby Allison, Bob Myers and Boyd Long for giving me the opportunity."

Owners Myers and Long, both racers themselves, said that they are thrilled to have Bobby Allison overseeing their race team, and thrilled to have Kitchens as their driver.

"It's not every day that you get to associate with someone like Bobby Allison, who has written the history books of NASCAR," said Myers, who owns a construction company in Inwood, W.Va., where he promotes racing at Mountaineer Speedway. "And Jimmy Kitchens is an asset to the race team because of his driving ability, talent, and experience in different classes of cars."

Long, also the owner of a construction company, grew up around racing - his grandfather once owned Hagerstown (Md.) Speedway. He echoed Myers' enthusiasm for the race team's personnel, and added that the decision to base the team in the Washington, D.C., area was made because "we want a presence here, because of the potential sponsors in this area. ... We want to have the team here for their disposal."