The National Institute for the Automotive Service Excellence, more commonly referred to as ASE. Will be leaving the NASCAR's Craftsman Truck Series at the end of the 2008 season and also will no longer sponsor the truckseries.com website.
If your not familiar with truckseries.com, it's one of the best racing websites on the Internet and solo dedicated to the NCTS fans.
Team ASE is an original NCTS sponsor, since 1994 they have sponsored a truck. Appears the board of directors have decided that it's time to redirect their resources to other options.
Team ASE is the primary sponsor for the No. 59 Harris Trucking Toyota Tundra driven by Ted Musgrave. Currently he's 14th in the points race, after 16 races and has five Top Ten finishes.
- B/R Ticket Guide
Tim Zilke, the president of ASE thanked both Musgrave and the entire HT Motorsports team for their efforts this year. Calling Musgrave a great spokes person and for his professionalism he represented why driving for ASE.
He remarked that HT Motorsports, have been wonderful and they have a great relationship. It's a fitting end to our sponsorship involvement in NCTS.
Under the Team ASE banner, the NCTSracing program provided organization with numerous out reach opportunities for both our certified professionals and the consumers they serve and look forward to finishing the season with HT Motorsports (Tom Jensen/truckseries.com).
Since 1994, Team ASE has spent eleven years with Jim Smith and the defunct Ultra Motorsports team. They sponsored the No. 2 truck with various young drivers. Which closed after the 2005 season. They moved to Germain Racing with Musgrave driving the No. 9 truck for two years 2006-2007 and would move with Musgrave to the No. 59 HT Motorsports in 2008.
Source:Tom Jensen/truckseries.com
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2 months ago
It sure is sad news SM
from 2 months ago
Yeah they where the last original sponsor left in the series and surprised they didn't try after Jim Smith closed Ultra Motorsports that they didn't try to stay with a Dodge team.
from 2 months ago
Better clarify my comment was in regards to Team ASE staying with a Dodge team and not regarding Ultra Motorsports. Reread it after posting and sounded kind of confusing.
2 months ago
It is terrible when these long time sponsors finally have enough of this sport and move on. Very sad indeed.
from 2 months ago
True Ron, makes me wonder if they stayed with Germain Racing. Would they be making the same decision or on a team that's running better with one of the young drivers, driving for them. Since most of their time at Ultra Motorsports you had them as sponsor on the No. 2 with a variety of young drivers.
Both Jason Leffler, Mike Bliss both currently in the Nationwide Series drove for the team. In Sprint Cup you have Jamie McMurray, Kasey Kahne and Scott Riggs.
Riggs by the way was the most successful recording in 2001 five-wins, five-poles, fourteen-Top Five's, sixteen-Top Ten's and fifth place in the season's final point standing. But Riggs would leave after the season for the Nationwide Series. You also had Jimmy Spencer and Andy Houston spending time driving for the team.
2 months ago
I fear for the Truck Series, sadly.
The entry lists have been dwindling and more and more teams are being sponsored by themselves (if that makes sense) or their manufacturer. All NASCARs series are being hit my the financial situation and the smaller truck teams could soon be casualties.
from 2 months ago
Yeah your right James. Have read where the Series will be back in 2009 with a 25 race schedule. The thing to remember, is the series has increased 53% viewers watching over the past 5 years. Think maybe they have a title sponsor, although nothing has been announced yet. Feel it maybe UPS or the Camping World will be the new sponsor. If it's camping World, then NASCAR will have to bring in a new title sponsor for the East & West Series.
2 months ago
SM, great read. This is indeed concerning news....while the truck series is often where some great veterans go to spend their remaining career, it is also the training ground for so many up and coming great drivers. It has to remain as an integral part of the NASCAR league system and this is concerning news that might threaten its viability. I hope that NASCAR pays attention to the increased viewership and invests some time and effort into recruiting some new sponsors and dollars for this important level of racing.
from 2 months ago
I agree with you, even if they need to invest in it themselves for a year or two. It's just too important for them to eliminate totally, know they will race in 2009 based on the schedule and hope it will continue on beyond just next year.
2 months ago
With the U.S. manufacturers questioning the Truck series' viability (behind closed doors with NASCAR) and Craftsman bailing it's sad to see, but completely understandable, that a long term sponsor is looking for other publicity options.
Something is terribly wrong in NASCAR's ivory tower when they can't focus some energy on re-organizing a quality series like CTS before the hammer falls on the teams that depend on NASCAR as a sanctioning body.
Jim Smith and Ultra Motorsports was a great, great Dodge family team, it was an overlooked omen when they dropped out and just another example of Chrysler's consumer short sightedness.
from 2 months ago
Agree with you LJ, CTS is a important series and they need to reorganize it. Maybe even paying part of the bill, helping the manufactures would be a postive step to keeping it running.
I thought Smith's Ultra Motorsports was a asset for Dodge, since the No. 2 truck ran with a variety of young drivers and they could have made them a developmental team.
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