Speed to race trucks for Bill Davis

04.02.08 (6:29 am)   [edit]

Scott Speed is set to add more races to his stock car schedule this year, competing in eleven NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series events for Bill Davis Racing, Red Bull Racing Team announced Tuesday.

The former Scuderia Toro Rosso driver has competed in two truck events thus far driving a Chevrolet Silverado for Morgan Dollar Motorsports, first at Atlanta and then at Martinsville, where he scored a tenth-place finish last weekend.

Red Bull Racing Team has now secured a deal to allow Speed to compete in eleven races driving the No. 24 Toyota Tundra for Bill Davis Racing. Richard 'Slugger' Labbe, who used to be Jacques Villeneuve's crew chief, will work alongside Speed.

"We're very fortunate to work with a Truck Series team as successful as BDR, and a crew chief of Slugger's credentials," said Jay Frye, Red Bull Racing Team General Manager and Vice President. "They'll both be great assets and resources for Scott through the next phase of his stock car development program."

Speed's first race with BDR will be at Kansas Speedway on April 26, and he will alternate between his ARCA RE/MAX Series commitments and his new Truck Series schedule. That means he will compete in no less than 30 stock car events this season.

Former Truck Series champion Mike Skinner and Johnny Benson will be Speed's new teammates. Skinner is currently driving the No. 84 Red Bull Toyota in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series replacing AJ Allmendinger, who had also competed for BDR in the Trucks in 2006.

"This is a great opportunity for me to work closely with Skinner while I get my feet wet in the Truck Series," Speed said. "He knows what it takes to run well and win races, and that's a hell of a mentor for me to have. The more I can learn from him, the quicker my learning process will be in these Trucks."

Speed's next race will be the second round of the ARCA RE/MAX Series at Salem Speedway, Indiana on April 13th.

Ford says U.S. sales fall 14 percent in March

04.02.08 (6:16 am)   [edit]
Ford Motor Co said on Tuesday its U.S. sales fell 14 percent in March as weaker sales of trucks and sport-utility vehicles more than offset gains for its new vehicles, such as the Edge crossover.

Sales of light trucks were down 16.7 percent from a year earlier, while car sales were down 9.6 percent.

The automaker said its retail sales were down 17 percent, while sales to fleet customers, including car rental agencies, were down 13 percent.

Sales of Ford's market-leading F-Series pickup trucks were down almost 24 percent. Overall, Ford sold 227,143 vehicles compared with 264,975 a year earlier.

The results were broadly in line with the expectations of industry analysts, who had forecast weak sales results across the industry in March due to the ongoing housing slump, tighter credit and more cautious consumer sentiment.

Ford was the first of the six major automakers to report monthly sales results for the U.S. market, the world's largest.

Ford reports its sales figures without adjusting for the number of sales days in the month. Other major automakers, including Toyota Motor Co, report the adjusted figures more widely tracked by analysts and investors.

There were 26 selling days in March, two fewer than a year earlier, meaning that Ford's adjusted sales decline would have been 7.6 percent.

Analysts had forecast an adjusted sales decline of up to 10 percent for Ford, now the third-largest automaker in the U.S. market behind Toyota.

Despite the overall sales decline, Ford pointed to success with its new Focus sedan, where sales rose 24 percent from a year earlier. In a statement, the company also said its Edge crossover was selling more strongly outside its strongest market in the Great Lakes region.

Ford shares were up over 2 percent at $5.85 in afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange.