TRUCK RACER TOWNLEY TO UNVEIL NEW TRUCK SPONSOR IN DAYTONA
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John Wes Townley's victory in Saturday's ARCA Lucas Oil 200 driven by General Tire at Daytona International Speedway was historic for many reasons.
The 26-year-old Townley became the first winner of a stock car race at the newly-minted World Center of Racing, the first motorsports facility to feature stadium-styled seating.
He also became the first driver to take General Tire, the new official supplier of tires to ARCA teams, to victory lane.
Townley, the 2013 winner of the Lucas Oil 200, remains the lone Georgia driver to win an ARCA race at Daytona during a rich history that stretches 53 years.
"There's so much to be thankful for," said Townley, after being made aware of the significance of his win. "The guys at Athenian Motorsports, and I mean every one of them that travel with us and all of them that work so hard in the shop, gave me a fabulous Zaxby's Chevrolet.
"(Crew chief) Kevin Reed and (team engineer) Skip Pope did a masterful job calling the race from the pit box. And my spotter, Terry Cook, is the best in the business."
So how does winning for the second time at Daytona compare to last year's NASCAR Camping World Truck Series victory in Las Vegas?
"Oh, my gosh," Townley said. "That's a tough question. When you're at this level, it's so hard to win these races. So, I certainly take nothing for granted. But if I had to pick two places to win races, I don't think you could do much better than Daytona and Las Vegas."
Townley will have little time to celebrate his win.
He and his Athenian Motorsports team are already working to apply what they learned on Saturday to the season openers in Daytona for NASCAR's Camping World Truck Series and Xfinity Series.
"I think I've become pretty decent at working the draft and I'm going to have to draw on all of my experience and knowledge to run well on Friday night (in the Truck) and Saturday (in the Xfinity Series race)," Townley said.
"We're running for the championship in the Truck Series and will only run a handful of races in the Xfinity Series and here's what I'm excited about...Michael Shelton will be the crew chief for us in all of those races. And we've got everybody on the road team that was with us in 2015 back this season.
"I'm so excited because we started jelling as one unit during the second half of last year. That gives me a lot of confidence that we'll be strong right out of the gate. I can't wait to get the NASCAR season started."
Fresh off a victory at Daytona International Speedway in Saturday’s ARCA Lucas Oil 200 driven by General Tire, John Wes Townley’s No. 05 Chevrolet will sport the colors of Batesville, Ark.-based Bad Boy Mowers during Friday night’s season opener for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series at the World Center of Racing.
Townley, who finished eighth in the Truck Series driver standings last season, is among the favorites to win the NextEra Energy Resources 250.
“Athenian Motorsports built us the winning car last weekend for the ARCA race and I have no doubt they have prepared a Chevrolet Silverado for Daytona that will give us a good shot to take Bad Boy Mowers to victory lane Friday night,” said Townley, who won the Truck race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in October.
“We’re really excited to have Bad Boy Mowers onboard with us for this race. We started second at the Talladega truck race last fall and ran up front all day. I’m confident we’ll be able to do the same thing at Daytona.”
On the heels of a solid 2015 campaign that saw him flex plenty of muscle during the second half of the season,
Townley has reason to be optimistic that he can carry Bad Boy Mowers to the winner’s circle at Daytona.
Townley’s entire team, from the crew chief to the team’s tractor-trailer driver, is back intact.
“We’ve got the band together for another season,” said Townley, a two-time ARCA race winner at Daytona. “I would put my crew chief, Michael Shelton, up against anyone in the Truck Series garage. And I’ve got Terry Cook, a former driver in the Truck Series, back in the spotters’ stand.
“It’s pretty rare in this day-and-age to not lose anyone during the offseason. I’m ecstatic that all of our guys are back with us. That will bode well for us at Daytona and beyond.”
Bad Boy Inc. began operation in 1998, with the sole purpose of producing the Bad Boy zero-turn commercial lawn mower. The Bad Boy Mowers research team started working with one goal in mind: to develop the strongest, most durable zero-turn mower available and to deliver excellent quality of cut, reliability, productivity and comfort.
Bad Boy Mowers are now manufactured, assembled, and stored in multiple facilities comprising over 850,000 square feet in Batesville, Arkansas. Bad Boy Mowers has a specially equipped fleet of tractor trailer rigs that ensure the mowers arrive directly to dealers all across the country completely assembled, factory inspected and ready to mow.
“We are very excited to be part of the Truck Series race at Daytona and, without a doubt, think that John Wes Townley wheeling the Athenian Motorsports Bad Boy Mowers Chevrolet can get to the front,” Bad Boy Mowers’ Bill Hurst said. “Hopefully, he can get his second win of the year and give Bad Boy Mowers its first victory of the 2016 season.
“Good luck, John, and we hope to see you in victory lane.”
The NextEra Energy Resources can be seen live on Friday Feb. 19th on Fox Sports 1. Race coverage will begin at 7:30 p.m. EST and the event can also be heard live on MRN Radio and SiriusXM Radio, channel 90.
