Associated Press
The NASCAR notebook …
KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Chris Showalter has been there for all 399 starts, all 399 checkered flags.
Today at Kansas Speedway, he’ll be there when the green flag drops for the 400th NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race.
The truck chief for Travis Kvapil’s No. 5 Toyota is the only person to be involved in every race on the circuit over the last 16 years.
Showalter says it has “been a very cool” to see the series evolve into a proving ground for Nationwide and Sprint Cup drivers — some of whom still race trucks from time to time — while raising its own crop of veterans.
BAYNE UPDATE
JOLIET, Ill. — Daytona 500 winner Trevor Bayne is ready to go racing.
The 20-year-old Bayne said Friday he feels fine and his goal Saturday night in the STP 300, a Nationwide series event at Chicagoland Speedway, is simple: to win the race.
Bayne hasn’t competed since April 23 after fighting a mysterious illness. And even though he spent time at the Mayo Clinic, doctors weren’t sure of the causes of the inflammatory condition. Symptoms included impaired vision and initially some numbness in his arm.
Bayne told reporters last week that he went through a series of MRI exams, a spinal tap and at one point had 16 needles in him.