Iron Man: Showalter A Member Of Every NASCAR Camping World Truck Race
Champion Crew Chief Part Of 400th Race Celebration
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (June 2, 2011)– Both the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and Chris Showalter will make history at Kansas Speedway in Saturday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 250 at Kansas Speedway, ringing up their 400th race.
Now Travis Kvapil’s crew chief for Randy Moss Motorsports, Showalter is the only individual to participate in all 399 series races beginning with the 1995 inaugural event at Phoenix International Raceway.
Showalter hasn’t just been there. He’s done it all, at least on pit road. The Ohio native, Kvapil’s 2003 championship crew chief, boasts three wins in that role at Xpress Motorsports including the Bristol Motor Speedway victory that proved to be pivotal to Kvapil’s title. He also guided Jack Sprague to series victories in 2004-05.
“I think it says a lot that the series is so strong that we are celebrating 400 starts and that I have not had the desire to go do anything else,” said Showalter. “The truck series kind of reminded me of our Saturday night down-home racing that I grew up doing. It’s grassroots. We ran the shorter tracks in the beginning and it just seemed like a home for me.”
As a truck chief, Showalter was part of Mike Bliss’s 2002 championship that included five victories. Showalter also scored truck chief wins with Terry Cook, Dennis Setzer and Randy Tolsma.
Showalter went to Victory Lane for the first time in July 1995 at Colorado National Speedway as a shock specialist for Liberty Racing. That was the afternoon that Butch Miller edged Mike Skinner in a photo finish that, at an estimated 0.0001 seconds, remains the closest, non-electronic decision in series history.
Showalter also has performed as spotter and tire changer. He’s been a crew member for six different teams and since 2006 with Morgan Dollar Motorsports which became Randy Moss Motorsports in 2009. There have been many highlights for Showalter during his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career topped by his 2003 championship season with Kvapil.
“But winning at Mansfield (Motorsports Park) in 2004 with Jack Sprague is special to me for personal reasons. I grew up about 30 minutes from the track,” Showalter said. “So to grow up dreaming of racing, leaving town to follow my dreams and then come back and win the inaugural race was just amazing.”
Please see the following page for a timeline of Showalter’s career.
Year Team Driver Job /At-Track Duty Awards/Memorable Moments 1995 Liberty Racing Butch Miller Shock Specialist Showalter’s first NASCAR victory (Colorado Nat’l Speedway) 1996 Liberty Racing Butch Miller Shock Specialist 1997 Liberty Racing Kenny Irwin Shocks/Spotter Irwin’s First Victory (Homestead) 2 Wins (Homestead/Texas) 1998 Sealmaster Racing (Thorsport) Terry Cook Truck Chief/ Tire Changer Cook’s First NASCAR Victory (Flemington) 1999 Sealmaster Racing (Thorsport) Terry Cook Crew Chief/ Tire Changer Showalter’s first action as a Truck Series crew chief 2000 Impact Racing Randy Tolsma Truck Chief/ Spotter Tolsma’s second (and final) Truck Series victory; 1 Win (Nashville) 2001 Joe Gibbs Racing Coy Gibbs Truck Chief/ Tire Changer 2002 Joe Gibbs Racing/ Xpress Motorsports Coy Gibbs/ Mike Bliss Truck Chief/ Tire Changer Truck Series Championship (5 Wins) 2003 Xpress Motorsports Travis Kvapil Crew Chief/ Tire Changer Truck Series Championship as Crew Chief; (1 Win – Bristol) 2004 Xpress Motorsports Jack Sprague Crew Chief 1 Win (Mansfield)/6 Poles 2005 Xpress Motorsports Jack Sprague Crew Chief 1 Win (Texas-1) 2006 Morgan Dollar Motorsports (Randy Moss Motorsports) Kraig Kinser Truck Chief 2007 Morgan Dollar Motorsports (Randy Moss Motorsports) Dennis Setzer Truck Chief 1 Win (Mansfield) 2008 Morgan Dollar Motorsports (Randy Moss Motorsports) 9 Drivers Truck Chief RMM established, with first race at Kentucky Speedway 2009 Randy Moss Motorsports Mike Skinner Truck Chief Third-place points finish 3 Wins (Kansas, Iowa, Gateway) 2010 Randy Moss Motorsports Mike Skinner Truck Chief 2011 Randy Moss Motorsports Travis Kvapil Truck Chief
