Chris Fontaine and the CFI team are shifting gears to run the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series after running their best ever Late Model season in 2008.
The team has purchased three trucks from TRG Motorsports and is in the process of preparing them for the March 28 NCWTS race at Martinsville.
Fontaine will be driving the Glenden Enterprises Chevrolet in the team’s season debut.
“We think it is the right time to step up it, and given the economy, it made the most sense to start doing it now because of the opportunities that exist with the changes NASCAR has made to make it more affordable,” Fontaine said of the team’s decision to run trucks this year.
The 27 year old Lakeland,Florida native also plans to run six other NCWTS races in 2009, including Dover, Memphis, Indianapolis, Bristol, Madison, and the fall race at Martinsville.
“Unless we can get more money that is all we can run. The lack of sponsorship is holding us back from running more races, and we are able to do what we are doing with the support of Glenden Enterprises” Fontaine said.
Fontaine said his goal for the 2009 NCTWS season is to be able to finish a race in the top ten.
Chris ran three NASCAR Craftsman Truck races driving the #4 for Bobby Hamilton Racing in 2005. His best finish was 17th at Mansfield.
He drove the Xpress Motorsports #16 NASCAR Craftsman Truck in races at Mansfield and Memphis during 2007. Once again his best finish was 17th at Mansfield.
In 2008, Fontaine and the team had their best Late Model season to date.
He finished out the ASASoutheast Asphalt Tour 2008 season fourth in points with three top fives, six top tens and one pole. Fontaine finished only 13 points out of third, and would have had third place had it not been for getting wrecked in the last points race of the season.
In addition to the ASASAT schedule, Fontaine also ran some Late Model, Super Late Model and V-8 Thunderstock dirt races in 2008.
He got four wins, seven top fives and nine top tens of thirteen races in those series’. His qualifying record was five poles, ten top fives and fifteen top tens of 20 ASASAT, Super Late Model and Late Model races.
Fontaine’s career record from 2003 through 2008 is eight wins, 50 top five’s and 85 top ten’s out of 160 races. His career qualifying record from 2003 through 2008 is 14 poles, 45 top five’s and 86 top ten’s out of 132 recorded runs.
Late Model Digest Editor Jim Carson interviewed Chris for the publication’s November 19, 2008 article entitled “Late Bloomers”:
“Chris Fontaine set out to run the full ASA Southeast schedule. His results on the tour were nothing special, with a pair of fourths as his best finishes.
But it was how he spent his off-weekends in his home state of Florida that turned his season around.
From mid-August to mid-October, Fontaine ran four times and captured three victories and three fast times.
The list of drivers with Late Model wins at three different racetracks around the country after July 1 is very short, but Fontaine is prominent on it after taking checkered flags at DeSoto Superspeedway, Auburndale Speedway and Charlotte County Motorsports Park.
He’ll also count a win in the V-8 stock class on dirt at Ocala Speedway, but the biggest boosts came on pavement.
“It’s pretty exciting…nice to put ‘em all together,” Fontaine said. “It keeps everybody…especially at the shop, everybody gets in a little better mood and gets more confidence in everything that we’re doing. We know what we’re doing; we’ve just gotta put it together at some of these tracks out of state.”
Chris Fontaine began his racing career in 1998 at the age of 16 driving minicup race cars.
In his first year of racing, Chris racked up 2 wins, and finished in the top five 13 of 14 races.
In 1999, Chris continued his winning ways in mini-cup cars with 12 wins and 23 top five finishes out of 25 races.
He took home the 1999 MMRA Mini-cup National Indoor Championship and the 1999 North Florida Region MMRA Championship.
Also in 1999, Chris began racing Late Models taking 3 top five’s out of 9 races run for the year in the FASCAR and SARA series.
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