AMERICAN SPEED ASSOCIATION MEMBER TRACK CHAMPION MAKES THE MOST OF HIS OPPORTUNITY WITH HIS JOE GIBBS RACING TRYOUT

Source: ASA Media Relations/kr
Date: 11/21/2008

DAYTONA BEACH, Florida — It’s Thursday morning and in the Greensboro, NC airport Cary Stapp is starting to feel the gravity return to his feet. For the past three days, Cary along with his wife Kelli realized a dream that many local drivers hope for, a chance to show his talents to a successful NASCAR team.

Stapp, the 2008 American Speed Association Joe Gibbs Driven Racing Oil Member Track National Champion, got his opportunity to tryout with Joe Gibbs Racing, one of his awards for being the National Champion.

“Oh man, it was more than what I expected,” Stapp stated while waiting to board his flight back to his hometown of San Marcos, TX. “Joe & JD Gibbs and their entire staff treated us so well. This is something I will never forget.”

The three-day adventure started on Monday morning as Dennis Huth, American Speed Association President, met the Stapps at the airport and was their personal host. The three went to Gibbs Nationwide Series shop where Stapp got fitted in the two cars that he would be testing in on Wednesday.

After that it was over to Gibbs Sprint Cup Series shop, and as soon as they walked in the door, Cary and Kelli met the new driver of the #20 Home Depot Toyota Joey Logano.

“We were pulling into the parking lot of the shop and I saw this real cool hot rod in the parking lot and I am big hot rod fan,” Stapp commented. “We walked in the door and there was Joey talking to the secretary. We had a good five to ten minute conversation with him. After he left, I heard this loud sound and looked out the window and it was Joey driving off in the hot rod.”

They then got a tour of the shop, “It was about three times bigger than I thought it would be,” Stapp said in a surprised voice. “It was incredible to see what they did from the fabrication to everything else. What amazed me is they do everything there from building the car from the ground up. The place didn’t even smell like a shop, it had a nice scent and you could eat spaghetti off the floor. You wonder how many people they have employed to keep it looking that incredible.”

After the tour, they visited with JD Gibbs for about 45 minutes. While they were visiting, they got a surprise as Joe Gibbs also joined in on the conversation. “We talked about a lot of normal life stuff, our families and such,” Stapp recalled. “JD talked a lot about his drivers. Kelli asked him about Tony Stewart because he is her favorite.”

The second day was spent visiting Lowe’s Motor Speedway, Hendrick Motorsports and Roush Fenway Racing shops, just like any other visitor. Later that day, they traveled up to South Boston Speedway in preparation for the test on Wednesday.

Under sunny skies and cold temps, Stapp was able to run over 100 laps in testing two different Camping World Series cars. One was a former Denny Hamlin car and another was a former Tony Stewart car according to Stapp.

As for the test itself, Stapp showed his stuff on the track, “Marc Davis shook the cars down a day before and he was running lap times in the 16.0 to 16.4’s. I went out and found the groove right away and was running 16.0’s on fresh tires. As the tires went away, I was doing about 16.5 second laps.”

Stapp had the full support of the Joe Gibbs Racing staff and even Larry McReynolds of Fox Sports dropped by to take a peek at the champion.

At the end of the day, the dream was realized and a weekly competitor got its opportunity. What the future holds for Stapp, only time will tell. But, overall Cary and Kelli Stapp will have stories to share for a lifetime.

“Kelli took over 200 pictures,” Stapp stated with a smile in his voice. “Funny thing is that Thunderhill Raceway (his home ASA Member Track in Kyle, TX) has our drivers meeting on Saturday and I have a feeling that most of the time will be me talking about this experience.”

“I would like to truly thank Dennis Huth. He went more than out of his way for us and we just can’t thank him enough for what he did for us over the last few days,” Stapp stated as he was about to board the plane.

He also passes along a word of thanks to MaryAnn Nauman and the staff at Thunderhill Raceway for their participation in the ASA Member Track program.

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