Brandon Whitt and the #38 Cure Autism Now Ford F-150 team head to the one-mile Dover International Speedway this week for Friday’s MBNA America 200 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race; the sixth race of the season.

After five races into the 2004 campaign, Whitt and the Cure Autism Now team come into Dover 15th in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Standings.  Whitt has demonstrated uncanny consistency in his rookie season. Outside of an unfortunate accident that started with a group of other cars in the season opener at Daytona, the Cure Autism Now Ford has finished in the top 20 in every race.

Following in the footsteps of former California phenoms Jimmie Johnson and Kevin Harvick, Whitt has moved to this level of major league stock car racing. He comes to the Trucks from a successful stint in NASCAR’s Winston West Series – where he qualified on the outside pole for the California race last Spring – and the NASCAR Southwest Touring Series, where he was the 2002 Rookie of the Year.

Jerry Pitts is a veteran crew chief who worked in the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series with Bill Elliott, then moved to lead Eric Norris to the 2002 NASCAR Winston West championship. Marty Gaunt is general manager, coming to the team after a winning stint with Penske Racing.

The Cure Autism Now Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting and funding autism research and accelerating the pace of scientific progress toward effective treatments and a cure. The organization is the largest private funder of biological research in autism, providing more than $12 million in grants since its inception in 1995.

The thoughts of Cure Autism Now Ford driver Brandon Whitt heading into Dover:

“Anytime you come to a track you’ve never raced before, you just can’t wait to get out there for the first time.  It’s one of those things where anticipation is the hardest part…somebody was telling me a guy named Tom Petty wrote a song kind of like that, but I doubt he ever raced.

“You have to really do your homework when preparing for a track you’ve never driven.  Personally, I watch tapes of past truck races because I believe like any sport you can learn by watching past events.  You can see how the trucks are getting through the turns, when they crack the throttle, and what their preferred line is all just by watching tape.

“I also ask questions… lots of questions.  To whoever, whenever.  Jerry Pitts helps tremendously because of his experience in setting up racecars on a lot of the tracks on the circuit.  But, I ask others drivers a lot of questions and try to pick their brain when I can.  Most of the guys are usually helpful.       

“EA Sports’ NASCAR game comes in handy as well.  It does have its limitations because obviously you can’t really get the feel of the bumps in the track or how the weight will shift through the turns.  But, I feel better prepared having seen the track time and time again.  Running thousands of laps on a race simulator can actually help you because when you sit down in the seat for the first time at the track it doesn’t really feel like the first time. 

“Not only have I never raced at Dover, but I’ve never raced on concrete.  I’m extremely curious as to how the grip of the racing surface, being concrete, will differ from the normal paved surface.  The track itself looks extremely fast and watching film it seems like you can really carry a lot of speed through the turns.  That’s great for me - the faster the better.  You know they don’t call it the ‘Monster Mile’ because it’s slow.  You have to love racing on these high-banked ovals and I know the Cure Autism Now team is ready to go racing at Dover.”

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