Erik Darnell scheduled to start only 15 Nationwide races in 2009
By Jared Turner - SceneDaily Staff Writer
Sunday, November 02, 2008
Erik Darnell, driver of the No. 99 Roush Fenway Racing Ford, finished 18th in Friday's NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Texas Motor Speedway.
(Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)
Jonathan Daniel
Getty Images
FORT WORTH, Texas - The 2009 NASCAR Nationwide Series season is already shaping up to be a bittersweet one for Erik Darnell.
The 25-year-old NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series driver is getting a promotion as he will share driving duties next year with David Ragan in the No. 6 Roush Fenway Racing Nationwide entry.
But Darnell is scheduled to run just 15 races – less than half of the schedule. Unlike the last three years in trucks, Darnell won’t be competing for a drivers championship. He also doesn’t know which 15 races he will drive.
“It’s going to be an opportunity for me to go out and kind of advance my career and run some Nationwide races, which I haven’t really had much of a chance to do yet,” Darnell, who has one previous Nationwide start, said at Texas Motor Speedway. “I’ve done quite a bit of testing and some practice and qualifying but haven’t really got to race them yet so it’s going to be good. I don’t want to say [it’s] frustrating, but we’re not going to be running for a championship next year, we’re only running 15 races, but that is going to be experience and hopefully we can build on that and see where that takes us as far as 2010 goes.”
Darnell is no stranger to the No. 6 Nationwide team. He practiced and qualified the car on a couple occasions in 2007 while Ragan was fulfilling Cup duties. That experience, Darnell hopes, will give him a leg up next season.
“I feel that I’ve already kind of got a relationship with those guys, which is good,” Darnell said. “So they’ll be able to help me out a little bit as well. I don’t know. I’m sure David will help me with some stuff if I need it, which sounds kind of weird considering the fact he’s younger than I am. But he’s got some more experience doing it than I do so I’m sure he’ll help me out if I need it.”
Darnell says he would entertain the idea of also running select Truck races next season if given the chance. But he doesn’t plan be in a truck at all.
His Truck sponsor, Northern Tool, is moving to the Nationwide Series to be on board the No. 6 car for each of Darnell’s starts. Discount Tire will serve as the primary sponsor for Ragan’s 20 appearances.
“As far as I know right now, I’m not going to be doing any Truck stuff next year, i’s going to be strictly Nationwide,” Darnell said. “If the opportunity should present itself - if we had a sponsor come along that wanted to do a race or a couple races or something - I’d be more than happy to do it. I love running in the Truck Series. But as of now, no plans for that.”
Darnell’s move to the Nationwide ranks comes on the heels of a relatively successful 2008 truck campaign. In 23 starts, Darnell has nine top-fives and 11 top-10s highlighted by a win at Michigan in June. He is fourth in the standings - 353 points behind leader Johnny Benson, 347 behind second-place Ron Hornaday and 130 behind third-place Todd Bodine.
Darnell finished 12th in truck points in his previous two seasons in that series.
“For the most part, we’ve had a pretty successful year,” he said. “If we could have run as well in the first half of the year as we did the second half I think we would probably be fighting with Johnny and Ron for the championship. [It’s] a little bit disappointing to be sitting fourth in points and just have to kind of watch these last couple races, watch them guys fight it out for the title. But all in all, it’s been a good year.
“[We’ve had] a lot of top-fives, led a bunch of laps, run up front in a lot of races. I think that’s what we were looking for. I would have liked to have won a couple races. [We’ve finished] finished second too many times this year. But it’s been a pretty decent year so far.”
Looking ahead to 2010, Darnell has his sights set on a full-time Nationwide Series schedule should the pieces fall into place.
“I’d love to do a full-time [Nationwide] deal,” he said. “I guess it all depends on how next year goes. And it’s all sponsor dependent nowadays. It’s tough to find sponsorship.
“Hopefully, we’ll be able to get some results and show people what we’re capable of and build on that.”
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3 responses to "Erik Darnell scheduled to start only 15 Nationwide races in 2009". Post a Comment.
Werner Boehmert said:
Nov 2, 2008 at 3:01 PMhere's a kid that just wants to race...i watched him on the local level...so far no ego here...
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» Confirm Abuse ReportTruex and Sadler said:
Nov 3, 2008 at 5:19 AMHope Roush doesn't "handle" Erik's career in the same manner he did Danny O'Quinn or the poor guy is going nowhere in a hurry when he moves up.
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» Confirm Abuse Reportgail rowley said:
Nov 7, 2008 at 9:36 AMErik is a great little driver. Hope he moves up quickly and shows Roush he made the right choice! Go Erik!!!
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