MOORESVILLE, N.C. (June 2, 2015) – Justin Boston hopes the saying “everything is bigger in Texas” applies to race results as well. He is ready to put the Dover race in the rear-view mirror and look ahead to bigger and better things at Texas Motor Speedway on Friday night at the WinStar World Casino and Resort 400.
The rookie contender has never raced at Texas, but feels confident after scoring top-10 finishes at two other 1.5-mile tracks in May, Kansas Speedway and Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway. The ROK Mobile team is taking the same Tundra to Texas which Boston raced at both intermediate tracks last month. He earned a career-best seventh-place finish in the Camping World Truck Series at Kansas, followed by a ninth-place run at Charlotte.
KBM drivers have collected two wins, 213 laps led, four top-five and nine top-10 finishes resulting in an average finish of 14.0 across 17 starts at Texas. Owner-driver Kyle Busch collected both of the team’s wins, including victories in 2010 and 2014. Boston’s KBM teammates Erik Jones and Daniel Suarez both competed in the XFINITY Series race at Texas in April, with Jones claiming his first win in the series. Both drivers will be excellent resources for Boston to learn the nuances of the track, especially for a night race.
ROK Mobile will sponsor Boston’s Toyota Tundra again this weekend at Texas. ROK Mobile, co-founded by entrepreneursJohn Paul DeJoria (Patron Tequila and Paul Mitchell) and JonathanKendrick (serial entrepreneur), is a prepaid, contract-free mobile and music service that offers unlimited talk, text, data and streaming music for a monthly cost of $49.99. There are no activation fees and no hiddencosts. With a music catalogue of over 20 million tracks, downloadable playlists, incredible personalization filters and curated playlists, ROK Music rivals all other streaming musicservices and is included free with a ROK Mobile account.
Justin Boston, Driver of the No. 54 NCWTS ROK Mobile Tundra:
How do you approach a track like Texas with no prior experience there?
“I approach it just like any other track I’ve never been to. I look at as much film as possible and try to pick up as much as I can from it. Besides that it’s just business as usual. KBM has such a strong intermediate program and with the truck we are bringing to the track I feel very confident heading into Texas this weekend.”
How much can you learn from your KBM teammates Erik Jones and Daniel Suarez for this race since they both ran the XFINITY race at Texas in April?
“I can definitely learn a lot. They have already raced there this year and raced on it at night, so that will help us as a team prepare and make the right changes to the truck for the race, especially after practicing and qualifying in the daytime.”
Do you have more confidence going into Texas knowing you are driving a Tundra which finished in the top-10 at two other 1.5-mile tracks last month?
“I really like the truck we are bringing to the intermediate tracks, and it definitely helps knowing that the truck has a lot of speed. It’s really just a matter of making sure that we run all the laps and not defeat ourselves, and I know I will have a Tundra under me that can contend.”
Shannon Rursch, Crew Chief of the No. 54 NCWTS ROK Mobile Toyota Tundra:
After top-10 finishes at Kansas and Charlotte last month, what are your expectations for Texas?
“We are bringing the same truck to Texas that we raced in Charlotte and Kansas, so we expect to have a very strong run in Texas. We have shown potential in our recent 1.5-mile races to run in the top five, so if everyone on the 54 team performs to their potential we will achieve our goal of finishing in the top five.”
Justin Boston’s No. 54 ROK Mobile Tundra:
KBM-030: The No. 54 ROK Mobile team will roll out KBM-030 for Friday’s WinStar World Casino & Resort 400at Texas Motor Speedway. This is the same Tundra Boston raced to top-10 finishes at Kansas (7th) and Charlotte (9th) last month.
KBM-030 Performance Profile
Date |
Site |
Driver |
Start |
Finish |
Laps |
Laps Led |
Status |
5/8/2015 |
Kansas |
Boston |
9 |
7 |
166/167 |
0 |
Running |
5/15/2015 |
Charlotte |
Boston |
22 |
9 |
139/139 |
0 |
Running |
6/5/2015 |
Texas |
Boston |
|
|
|
|
|
Totals |
2 starts, 0 Win |
|
15.5 |
8.0 |
|
0 |
|
Notes of Interest:
Justin Boston 2015:
- Earned a NCWTS career-best seventh-place finish at Kansas Speedway (5/8/15).
- Three top-10 finishes in six starts, currently 11th in the driver championship point standings
Justin Boston 2014:
- Collected two ARCA Racing Series victories (Toledo Speedway and Madison Speedway) and three pole awards
- Registered seven top-five and 13 top-10 finishes en route to a fifth-place finish in the ARCA Racing championship point standings
- Posted top-12 finishes in both of his NASCAR XFINITY Series starts for Joe Gibbs Racing, including a ninth-place finish at Kentucky Speedway in September
- Made NASCAR Camping World Truck Series debut at Bristol Motor Speedway in August
Justin Boston 2013:
- Earned eight top-five and 16 top-10 finishes en route to a third-place finish in the ARCA Racing championship point standings
Justin Boston 2009:
- Garnered four top-10 finishes and 21 laps led in six USAR Pro Cup Series starts
Before getting behind the wheel of a stock car, Boston cut his racing teeth in motocross at the age of five. He won his first race at the age of six in the 50cc class at Timonium State Fairgrounds indoor short track and went on to register over 300 podiums while competing in the 50cc/65cc/80cc and 85cc divisions. The talented youngster won the Maryland State Championship in the 50cc division at Budds Creek Motocross Park in 1998 and competed in the Loretta Lynn Amateur Motocross Championships for three consecutive years (1998-2000), where he raced against current American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) stars Mike Alessi, Zach Osborne and Cole Seely.
Kyle Busch Motorsports’ No. 54 Tundra:
- Is currently 11th in the Driver’s Championship standings with three top-10 finishes in six starts
- Earned five wins, three poles, 963 laps led, 14 top-five and 29 top-10 finishes across 50 starts since 2013
KBM NCWTS Program
- Has collected three NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Owner’s Championships, 39 Truck Series victories and 19 poles across 219 starts since originating in 2010
- 39 career Truck Series victories as an organization ranks third all-time behind Roush (50) and Kevin Harvick Inc. (43)
- 14 victories as an organization during the 2014 season broke the Truck Series record of 12 set by Ultra Motorsports in 2001
- Six different drivers have won a race for KBM, led by owner-driver Kyle Busch with 26. Darrell Wallace Jr. collected five victories, Erik Jones has posted four wins, Denny Hamlin produced two victories and Kasey Kahne and Brian Scott both collected one triumph
- Has collected victories at 17 of the 21 tracks on the 2015 schedule, excluding Atlanta Motor Speedway, Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, Michigan International Speedway and Pocono Raceway
KBM NCWTS @ Texas Motor Speedway
- KBM drivers have collected two wins, 213 laps led, four top-five and nine top-10 finishes resulting in an average finish of 14.0 across 17 starts in the Lone Star state
- Owner-driver Kyle Busch has collected both of his team’s wins at the 1.5-mile track, including victories in 2010 and 2014
The Rursch Report:
Shannon Rursch will call the shots for Justin Boston’s rookie campaign in the Truck Series in 2015. The Iowa native may be new to KBM, but is no stranger to sitting atop the pit box. Rursch comes to KBM from Turner Scott Motorsports (TSM), where he most recently served as crew chief for the No. 31 team in the NASCAR XFINITY Series. In addition to leading the XFINITY Series team in 2014, he collected three top-10 finishes in four starts as crew chief for TSM in select Truck Series events last season.
Rursch has two starts as a crew chief at Texas, both of which happened at the fall race in 2014. On Friday Rursch called the shots to help Cameron Haley finish 10th in the NCWTS race. Then on Saturday he was back atop the pit box for the XFINITY race, guiding Dylan Kwasniewski to a 14th-place finish.
Kyle Busch Motorsports No. 54 Toyota Tundra 2015 NCWTS Box Score:
Date |
Site |
Driver |
Start |
Finish |
Laps |
Laps Led |
Status |
Driver Pts./Pos. |
Money Won |
2/20 |
Daytona | Boston |
25 |
29 |
18/100 |
0 |
Accident |
15/24th |
$14,550 |
2/28 |
Atlanta | Boston |
6 |
16 |
129/130 |
0 |
Running |
43/18th |
$15,168 |
3/28 |
Martinsville | Boston |
21 |
10 |
258/258 |
0 |
Running |
77/13th |
$17,191 |
5/8 |
Kansas | Boston |
9 |
7 |
166/167 |
0 |
Running |
114/8th |
$19,064 |
5/15 |
Charlotte | Boston |
22 |
9 |
139/139 |
0 |
Running |
149/8th |
$16,342 |
5/29 |
Dover | Boston |
8 |
25 |
65/200 |
0 |
Accident |
168/11th |
$16,273 |
-KBM-