EARNHARDT LEADS FINAL NCTS KENTUCKY PRACTICE
Top Speed Increases 2.635 mph in Evening Session

Kerry Earnhardt raised the speed bar for 38 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series
competitors at Kentucky Speedway this evening by turning a top lap of 177.421
mph (30.436 seconds) in the final practice session for tomorrow's "Built Ford
Tough 225 Presented by the Greater Cincinnati Ford Dealers."

Earnhardt's lap was the fastest of three sessions today and bettered the
previous fastest lap by 2.635 mph (0.459 seconds). Earnhardt will make his
first career NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series start at the track tomorrow night.

"This is the truck we had at Kansas. It has been fast the whole time,"
Earnhardt said. "We just took our time with everything and made some laps. We
finished off with a qualifying run and it put us at the top of the board. I
love Kentucky. I test here all the time and I've got a lot of laps here, just
not a lot of race laps. I hope to get that changed tomorrow with a good
finish."

Defending series champion Ted Musgrave (No. 9 Team ASE/Germain Motors Toyota)
was second quickest in the session with a 176.142-mph (30.657 seconds) lap,
two-time series winner Johnny Benson (No. 23 Bill Davis Racing Toyota) was
third fastest with a 176.114-mph (30.662 seconds) lap, David Reutimann (No.
17 Toyota Tundra Toyota) was fourth on the speed chart with a 176.079-mph
(30.668 seconds) lap and Marcos Ambrose (No. 20 Team Australia/Aussie
Vineyards Ford) closed out the top five with a 174.870-mph (30.880 seconds)
lap. Ambrose scored his first top-five series finish with a third-place
showing last week at Kansas Speedway in just his ninth series start.

Series leader Todd Bodine (No. 30 Lumber Liquidators Toyota) placed 25th in
the series final practice session. He turned his best lap of the session at
172.469-mph (31.310 seconds) lap. He placed 32nd in the opening practice
session and 23rd in the second session.

"We're not running as good as we need to be by any means," Bodine
said. "We
got better in the second practice, but are still off. Teddy (Musgrave) is
running really well so we are going to take some things off his truck and
some notes from him to try to apply it to what we are doing. The truck is way
too tight in the middle of the corner and you can't run fast with it like
that. We have our work cut out for us."

He owns a 138-point lead over Reutimann in the series standings.

The series will qualify for the "Built Ford Tough 225 Presented by the
Greater Cincinnati Ford Dealers" tomorrow at 4:30 p.m. The full day of
activity at the speedway begins when gates open at 1:00 p.m. with USAC Ford
Focus Midget Car Series qualifying heats and a feature races. The Charlie
Daniels Band will be in concert at 6:00 p.m., on the Turn 1 Concourse and 36
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series drivers will take to the 1.5-mile tri-oval at
8:15 p.m., for the weekend's feature event.

Tickets for the race are still available and will be on sale beginning at
noon tomorrow at speedway ticket booths.

The ARCA RE/MAX Series "WLWT-TV Channel 5 150" is up next.

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