NEW YEAR, NEW TEAM: by Richard Head G2 Auto Racing is proud to announce the teams for the upcoming 2006 Busch Series Championship. Both Lincoln Griffin and Frank Gordon will continue to field their Busch series programs after a successful venture in 2005, which saw Griffin win the first Championship trophy. Also, 2006 will be the first time we see Celtic Racing, a team owned and operated by Joe Kelly. Kelly, who operates out of Flowery Branch, GA., will wield a strong first time team lead by team captain Carl Edwards. With both team Captains from last year moving to Nextel Cup, Griffin and Gordon had to overhaul much of their respective teams. In a shocking move that is sure to have implications throughout the year, Gordon selected Griffin Motorsports favorite and Nextel Cup driver Kevin Harvick to lead his team. Griffin stated, "Well that was a shock, and something that I hope would not happen. Kevin and I have always had a great relationship, and I suspect that to continue, its just a situation where we will be enemies on Saturdays and good friends on Sunday!" For his own team captain, Lincoln looked at an organization with which he is very familiar in Hendrick Motorsports by selecting Kyle Busch to be the point man for his team. "Obviously, I have had a lot of success with Jimmie Johnson, so I know what kind of equipment I am getting with the 5 car. After Kevin was off the board, I knew that Kyle would be my man" Griffin said. Oddly enough, Busch was not selected until the 5th round, a move that could seem brilliant if Griffin Motorsports can win Back to back Championships, or be looked at disastrous if things go down hill. The season officially kicks off Sat. Feb. 18th with the Hershey's Kissables 300.
