St Louis: Larry Kopp Returns to the Drivers Seat

Madison, Ill. (June 17) - This weekend at the Third Annual Sears Craftsman Nationals in St. Louis, Mo. Winston Champion Larry Kopp will return to competition in Pro Stock Truck.

Kopp, the 1998 Winston Pro Stock Truck Champion and driver of the Speedco Truck Lube Chevrolet S-10, left competition at the close of last season to have his injured shoulder repaired. Whiles he recovered he placed Tim Freeman in the driver's seat and assumed the duties of crew chief.

Two weeks ago, Kopp raced the Speedco Truck in a match race in Atco, N.J., where he won two out of three races. When the Speedco truck started experiencing troubles in Columbus, the team decided to place Kopp back in the truck for this race in an effort to get a fresh perspective on their set-up.

"I'm excited to be getting back behind the wheel of the Speedco Chevy S-10," said Kopp. "I had to quit racing after I had my shoulder operated on. Then two weeks ago we did a match race in Atco, N.J. I drove the truck and we ended up winning. My shoulder felt fine, and I feel like I'm ready to drive again.

"Tim (Freeman) does a great job driving for me, and I don't want anyone to think that he is being replaced. He will be working on the crew here this weekend. We DNQ'ed at the last race in Columbus. We just thought that sometimes when you have problems that you can't find, you try different things. We feel like maybe if I get behind the wheel, I can't get a different perspective on what is going with the truck. Then maybe we will figure out what is going on, and get back on track.

"Beside I would like to get another shot at this racetrack. We DNQ'ed here last year. We had electrical problems that we couldn't find. That caused us not to qualify. We fixed the problem and then went on to the next race and runner-up'ed. I would like to have another chance to qualify here and possibly goes some rounds on Sunday."

Qualifying at the Third Annual Sears Craftsman Nationals, Madison, Ill. begins on Thursday June 22, and continuing on Friday June 23. Eliminations will take place on Saturday June 24.