NCWTS: JUSTIN BOSTON Next Race Could Be the Gateway to Boston’s Best Finish

MOORESVILLE, N.C. (June 9, 2015) – Justin Boston hopes history does repeat itself, at least this weekend at Gateway Motorsports Park. Last year the No. 54 Tundra ended the race in victory lane and Boston wants the same result this year for his ROK Mobile team.

Entering Gateway, Boston’s best finish this season is a seventh-place showing at Kansas Speedway in May. He has earned four top-10 finishes in seven starts, including an eighth-place finish last weekend at Texas Motor Speedway where he also received credit for leading his first lap of the season (and his first in the Truck Series). The Maryland native has been looking forward to the Gateway race since the flat, mile-and-a-quarter oval resembles many of the tracks he raced on in the ARCA Racing Series the past two seasons.

KBM drivers have collected one win, 85 laps led, one top-five and one top-10 finish resulting in an average finish of 11.0 across three starts at Gateway. Darrell “Bubba” Wallace Jr., qualified second and led a race-high 85 laps en route to victory in the No. 54 Tundra in last year’s 160-lap event at the Illinois track. Boston’s KBM teammate Erik Jones also led four laps late in the race until an accident took him out of contention for the win.

ROK Mobile continues to sponsor Boston’s Toyota Tundra this weekend at Gateway. ROK Mobile, co-founded by entrepreneurs John Paul DeJoria (Patron Tequila and Paul Mitchell) and Jonathan Kendrick (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 hidden costs. With a music catalogue of over 20 million tracks, downloadable playlists, incredible personalization filters and curated playlists, ROK Music rivals all other streaming music services and is included free with a ROK Mobile account.

Justin Boston, Driver of the No. 54 NCWTS ROK Mobile Tundra:

Do you feel Gateway suits your driving style since it is a flatter track?

“I’ve had Gateway circled on my calendar since I started driving for KBM. The flatter tracks seem to suit my driving style and I feel like this weekend could be that ‘breakthrough’ race for us.”

The 54 Tundra is the defending winner of this race. Does that give you confidence, or put more pressure on you?

“It definitely makes me feel good knowing that we will have a solid baseline to go off of when we unload this weekend. As far as pressure goes, it’s like that every week driving for Kyle (Busch)! The pressure is always on.”

After another top-10 finish at Texas last week, do you feel a top-five finish and/or win is getting closer?

“I do feel like we are getting closer for sure. Top fives are a very reachable goal for us right now, and we are knocking on the door of one. We just need to have a solid race, and I know I will be in a good position to capitalize and come out with a top-five finish. The rest is up to me.”

Shannon Rursch, Crew Chief of the No. 54 NCWTS ROK Mobile Toyota Tundra:

This will be your first time at Gateway as a crew chief and Justin’s first time driving there. How much will the notes from last year’s win help?

“Justin really excels at the flat, short tracks so I’m confident he will get a grasp of the track very quickly.  He has a couple ARCA wins on short tracks and we had a decent run at Martinsville earlier in the year, so I expect to run very well at Gateway.  KBM has a good notebook for Gateway from last year and that will definitely help the 54 Rok Mobile team heading into this race.”

Justin Boston’s No. 54 ROK Mobile Tundra:

KBM-014: The No. 54 ROK Mobile team will roll out KBM-014 for Saturday’s Drivin’ for Linemen 200 at Gateway Motorsports Park. This is the same Tundra Boston raced to a 10^th-place finish at Martinsville.

KBM-014 Performance Profile

Notes of Interest:

Justin Boston 2015:

• Earned a NCWTS career-best seventh-place finish at Kansas Speedway (5/8/15).
• Four top-10 finishes in seven starts, currently 10^th 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 10^th in the Driver’s Championship standings with four top-10 finishes in seven starts
• Earned five wins, three poles, 964 laps led, 14 top-five and 30 top-10 finishes across 51 starts since 2013

KBM NCWTS Program

• Has collected three NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Owner’s Championships, 39 Truck Series victories and 20 poles across 222 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 @ Gateway Motorsports Park

• KBM drivers have collected one win, 85 laps led, one top-five and one top-10 finish resulting in an average finish of 11.0 across three starts at Gateway
• Darrell Wallace Jr., qualified second and led a race-high 85 laps en route to victory in last year’s 160-lap event at the Illinois track

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.

This will be Rursch’s first time atop the pit box at Gateway in any series, but he has great notes to study from Darrell “Bubba” Wallace Jr.’s win there last year in the No. 54 Tundra.

Kyle Busch Motorsports No. 54 Toyota Tundra 2015 NCWTS Box Score:

-KBM-