FANTASY NASCAR Racin

a retired American race car driver. He began racing in 1977 at age 18 at Waukegan in a 1967 Ford Galaxy that he inherited from his brother. He immediately rebuilt the car into a 1967 Ford Torino and won the track's Rookie of the Year title. He and his father built a Ford Mustang using some tips from Dick Trickle to race the next season. Originally from Illinois, Ted moved across the nearby state line so that he could race five nights per week in the CWRA. In 1981, he finished second in the points at Wisconsin International Raceway (WIR), two points behind Alan Kulwicki. In 1987 he moved to Franklin and went national in the ASA series in Terry Baker's ride that Bobby Dotter vacated. Musgrave finished 21 of 25 events, winning at the Milwaukee Mile, Birmingham, and Huntsville. He earned Rookie of the Year honors by finishing fifth in points. In 1990, Musgrave was called upon by Winston Cup team owner Ray DeWitt to replace Rich Vogler, who had been killed at a wreck at Salem Speedway. Musgrave had four starts in Cup that year, his best finish being a 22nd at the Checker Auto Parts 500. From 1991 to 1993 he raced the #55 for the DeWitt/Ulrich team. He was runner-up to Bobby Hamilton for Rookie of the Year in 1991 and had twelve top-ten finishes. In 1992, driving for Dewitt/Ulrich, he led all Winston Cup drivers in laps completed. In 1994, he was hired by Jack Roush to race for Roush Racing in the #16 Family Channel Ford Thunderbird as a teammate with Mark Martin. In his first season, Musgrave had three poles, and finished 15th in points. In 1995, Musgrave had a breakout year of sorts, posting 7 top-five finishes (including two second-place

finishes) and 13 top-tens. At one point in the season, he was third in Winston Cup points. In 1997 NASCAR Winston Cup Series, Roush vowed to give Musgrave whatever he needed to win his first race. The #16 car now had dual sponsorship from The Family Channel and Primestar. Once again, he started off well, and came very close to his first win at Darlington Raceway. Musgrave was running second late in the race and clearly had a faster car than leader Dale Jarrett in the closing laps. At one point, he was side

by side with Jarrett, but Jarrett held him off for the win. Critics of Musgrave would say after the race that he should have been more aggressive and bumped Jarrett out of the way to get his first win. In 1998, Musgrave got full sponsorship from Primestar, and was 18th in points when he was suddenly replaced by rookie Kevin Lepage, to the shock of many. In 1999, Musgrave was signed by Butch Mock Motorsports to run the #75 Remington Arms Ford. Musgrave struggled mightily however, and only put together two top-ten finishes before finally quitting the team after the Pennzoil 400. He began 2000 without a ride, but soon caught on with Joe Bessey Motorsports filling in for the injured Geoffrey Bodine, and ran five races

with that team. After a one-race return to the #15, Musgrave finished the year with Team SABCO, driving the #01 for Kenny Irwin Jr., who had died in a practice accident at New Hampshire International Speedway. Musgrave has run seven Cup races since then, six of them with Ultra Motorsports and one for Petty Enterprises, Musgrave's last Cup race came at the 20-caution Sharpie 500 at Bristol in 2003, when he replaced Jimmy Spencer while he served his one race suspension. Musgrave made his name driving in the NASCAR Truck series. Musgrave made his Craftsman Truck Series debut in 1995 at the GM Goodwrench/Delco Battery 200, driving the #61 Ford F-150 for Jack Roush. He started and finished in fourth place. He ran two more races the next year for Roush's #99 truck, and finished fifth at Phoenix. He did not run trucks again until 2001, when he signed to drive the #1 Mopar Dodge Ram for Ultra Motorsports. He won three of out the first five races that year and

seven races overall, and had eighteen top-ten finishes, but was unable to catch Jack Sprague for the title. The next two seasons, he had three wins apiece and finished third in both season's points. During the 2003 season, Musgrave announced he had been battling bladder cancer while racing. Ironically, his wife Debi has been diagnosed with leukemia since 2000. Musgrave appeared to be in position to win the Truck championship that year, but in the season-ending Ford 200, Musgrave was penalized for attempting to pass a slower truck low on the final restart past the start/finish line, and surrendered the championship to fellow Wisconsinite Travis Kvapil. "All I can say is next year you're going to see a whole new Ted Musgrave. He's going to be the dirtiest son of a gun going out there on the

racetrack and you might as well throw that rule book away. I ain't going by it no more", Musgrave said in reaction to the penalty. In 2005, Musgrave won just one race, winning from the pole position at Gateway International Raceway as he did also in 2001, but he was able to claim the Craftsman Truck Series title. After the conclusion of the 2007 season, Germain Racing announced that they would not renew Musgrave's contract for 2008 season. Musgrave was replaced in the #9 by rookie Justin Marks. He moved to HT Motorsports for 2008, bringing his ASE sponsorship with him to the #59 truck. 18 races into the 2008 season, Musgrave and HT parted ways after a practice wreck at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. He was 13th in points at the time of his release. Musgrave will serve as Ron Hornaday Jr.'s spotter for eight races during the 2012 Truck Series season. The March 2012 press release states

Fantasy NASCAR Racing

THEODORE "TED" MUSGRAVE - 12/18/1955