BUSCH: Kim Crosby departs Black Cat Racing

DAYTONA BEACH, FLORIDA (SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2004) - - NASCAR Busch Series rookie driver Kim Crosby announced today she has parted ways with Black Cat Racing.

In an official press release issued earlier this week, Crosby teamed up with Black Cat Racing owner Rhea Fain, along with Drew White, and White Motorsports to attempt to make the starting lineup for Saturday's Hershey's Kisses 300. Boudreaux's Butt Paste, was to serve as the primary sponsor of the No. 28 Pontiac Grand Prix

Crosby competed in the open NASCAR Busch Series test session last month at Daytona International Speedway with mixed results and feelings. She had posted the fastest time in testing, but it was disqualified, as a miscue by the team in the restrictor plate gave the team a little too much horsepower.

When the team received the legal restrictor plate, she maneuvered her machine to decent lap time, but she knew she could not return to Daytona this week with the same engine program if she wanted to make her NASCAR debut.

By competing in the test session, Crosby was granted permission by the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) to participate in the secondary series of NASCAR.

Speedweeks 2004 was not good by any means for Kim. When she hit the 2.5-mile Superspeedway for her first practice session, she was struggling. The No. 28 lacked horsepower, and lacked it bad. With several changes to her machine, and every effort by her team to find some more speed, the results were disappointing in the other practice sessions.

The team was praying for a miracle heading into time trials. The only female entered for this week's Busch event piloted her racecar to a time of 51.809 seconds, equaling a speed of 173.715 MPH, almost eight miles per hour off the pace. After posting the 49th fastest time out of the 54 qualifiers, and without a provisional starting position to fall back on, the team was forced to pack up the hauler and watch the race from the sidelines.

"I lived up 100% to my obligations with Black Cat Racing," said former NHRA driver Kim Crosby. "I came down this week with every hopes of making my first Busch Series event, however things did not go as originally planned, and I felt it was in the best interest of my racing career to sever all ties with BCR."

Crosby, who competed in the ARCA RE/MAX Series opener a week earlier also mentioned "despite the disappointment with Rhea Fain and Black Cat Racing, I would like to give a huge thanks to Drew White and his crew for the incredible job they did this week at Daytona. They worked very hard all week, we just didn't have enough to get the job done, but they should be commended on their efforts, I won't ever forget it."

Crosby, who serves as a junior high school principal during the week, stated they she was not going to let this failed relationship ruin her thoughts on racing, especially the NASCAR Busch Series.

"I am going to head home, and concentrate on my ARCA RE/MAX Series team, along with continuing to talk to potentional teams and sponsor about competing in the NASCAR Busch Series later this year. I would like to thank my sponsors, my fans, and my team for continuing to have faith in me and believe in me, it's what keeps me going, we will overcome this."

There seems to be a little light at the end of the tunnel for this likeable racecar driver. While in Daytona this week, Crosby received a call from the Oprah Winfrey show and plans are in the works for Kim to join the award-winning talk show soon, discussing her battle in the racing industry, along with her unique, but popular sponsor, Boudreaux's Butt Paste.

"I'm very honored to have been contacted by the Oprah Winfrey show," she said.

Crosby Motorsports will announce the remainder of their ARCA RE/MAX Series schedule in the coming weeks.

-cm-