Mayhew, Vidovich teamed with series newcomer, Motley
By Kevin Green, NASCAR
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Jan. 14, 2011) – Car owner Steve McGowan has teamed two veteran stock car drivers with a newcomer to the NASCAR K&N Pro Series for this year’s NASCAR Toyota All-Star Showdown.
The trio will face some of the top short track racers from across North America competing in the prestigious all-star event at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale (Calif.) on Jan. 28-29.
McGowan has expanded his Bakersfield, Calif.-based team to three cars for the postseason event. David Mayhew and Auggie Vidovich will be joined by Travis Motley, who will be making his series debut.
Mayhew finished second in the championship standings in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West in 2010, driving McGowan’s No. 17 MMI Services/Ron’s Rear Ends/KHI Chevrolet. It marked the third full season of series competition for the 28-year-old driver – who originally called Atascadero, Calif., home, but now resides in Bakersfield.
With two months gone by since the final race of 2010, the team is anxious to get to Irwindale and return to competition, according to Mayhew.
“We’re really looking forward to getting back to racing, again,” he said. “It’s been a long time.”
Although he has finished in the top 10 in all three of his starts in the NASCAR Toyota All-Star Showdown, including seventh a year ago; Mayhew said the team is working to overcome issues they encountered in recent visits to the track.
“We’ve struggled at Irwindale the last couple of years,” he said. “So, we’re really looking forward to this year.”
Fielding multi-car efforts at the all-star event is nothing new for McGowan. He has done it the past couple of years.
“It’s pretty standard for Steve,” Mayhew said. “He’s always got three cars at the Showdown. It’s fun to have a bunch of people to bounce ideas off of and all work together.”
Vidovich scored his first career series victory in 2010, winning at Toyota Speedway in one of three starts he made for Team Cass Racing during the season. The win secured him a starting spot in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series all-star race. The 29-year-old capped off his season with a fourth-place finish in a McGowan entry at the season finale at Phoenix International Raceway.
Vidovich is also looking forward to returning to racing and the postseason all-star race.
“I’m pretty excited,” the Lakeside, Calif., driver said. “I think we have a pretty good shot at doing good.
“There’s going to be a lot of competition,” he acknowledged. “With the East guys coming out, they’ll be pretty tough. It will make it hard. We’ve just got to be good on set up and good on strategy.”
Vidovich won the 2003 championship in the former NASCAR Southwest Tour and made 21 starts in the NASCAR Nationwide Series in 2006. He has raced in the K&N Pro Series all-star race two times, finishing 17th two years ago and 32nd last year. He won the Elite portion of the NASCAR Toyota All-Star Showdown in 2005.
Motley, who has competed the past four seasons at Toyota Speedway in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Late Model division, is looking to make his first start in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series. The 20-year-old college student from Tucson, Ariz., attends Whitworth University in Spokane, Wash.
Qualifying for the NASCAR K&N Pro Series is set for 3:30 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 28. Drivers will have an additional opportunity to qualify for the all-star feature through the 50-lap NASCAR K&N Pro Series Open set for 8:30 p.m. on Friday night.
The 225-lap NASCAR K&N Pro Series all-star race on Saturday, Jan. 29 – which is slated to roll at 8:30 p.m. – features secured starting spots for the 2010 champions of NASCAR’s developmental series and race winners of the NASCAR K&N Pro Series from the 2010 season.
The NASCAR Toyota All-Star Showdown schedule also includes a 75-lap NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Super Late Model race on Friday and a 50-lap NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Late Model race on Saturday.
Both nights of racing will air live on SPEED, beginning each night at 10 p.m. ET. The coverage will be anchored by Rick Allen and Phil Parsons in the booth, with Dick Berggren and Jim Tretow covering action in the pits.