Written by Andrew McClellan
Monday, 31 January 2011 23:01
Mike Bliss will drive the No. 19 TriStar Motorsports Chevrolet in 2011. Max Dolder Photo/HardcoreRaceFans.com
TriStar Motorsports announced Monday the addition of Mike Bliss to the two-car NASCAR Nationwide Series team for 2011. Bliss hopes to rekindle the magic he and TriStar team owners Mark Smith and Dave Fuge created in the Truck Series.
“It feels good to finalize my plans for the 2011 season by joining the TriStar Motorsports team and to be reunited with Mark and Dave,” said Bliss. “In 2002 Dave and I won the Truck Championship with Mark’s engines under the hood. All of us have high expectations for the upcoming season with TriStar.”
Bliss, who won Nationwide Series events at Charlotte Motor Speedway in 2004 and 2009, drove 31 races for Key Motorsports last season with the remaining four split between JR Motorsports and Kevin Harvick, Inc. The Oregon native completed the 2010 campaign 15th in Nationwide driver points.
“I believe that we have put together a great group of people at TriStar and I only see great things on the horizon," said Mark Smith. "The guys on the team are working hard on building our fleet of new cars for the upcoming season. We are working on finishing up some sponsorship programs with Bliss and we think 2011 will be a huge step in the development of TriStar Motorsports.”
Mark Smith and Dave Fuge partnered with the late Bobby Hamilton for the 1992 NASCAR Sprint Cup schedule under the TriStar Motorsports banner. Hamilton posted four top-10's and beat out Ted Musgrave for Rookie of the Year honors in the No. 68 TriStar Motorsports Oldsmobile that carried sponsorship from Country Time Lemonade.
The two-car TriStar Nationwide operation will also feature Eric McClure in the No. 14 Hefty Chevrolet in 2011.