Team Conseco names staff for 2000

After consulting with each of the manufacturers currently participating in NASCAR, A.J. Foyt has selected Pontiac for Team Conseco's number 14 car.

'When it came down to making the hard decision, I stuck with what I knew,' said Foyt.

'All of my other race cars are GM products. We won the Indy 500 this year with the GM Oldsmobile. GM and I have won big in the past and now, I'm looking to win big in the future with the Pontiac Grand Prix.

'We could not be more exited to be joining the Pontiac racing family, which includes legendary names like Richard Petty, and surefire winners like Joe Gibbs.'

Team Conseco also announced that several key positions have been filled for its Mooresville-based NASCAR operation, which is headed by Vice President of Operations Tommy LaMance and General Manager Waddell Wilson.

Terry Wooten has joined the team as crew chief. Team Conseco's engine builder will be Gregg Wilson.

Bobby Watson has joined the team as its fabricator.

Several other key team positions have also been filled with veteran crew members who will join Team Conseco after they complete their personal commitments to their current NASCAR teams.

Wooten has worked his way through the ranks of great NASCAR shops starting as a jack man in the mid-1970s and most recently serving as assistant crew chief and shop foreman for Mattei Motorsports and its drivers Geoffrey Bodine (1998) and Michael Waltrip (1999).

'Terry has always had a great ability to sense what is wrong with a car during a race,' said Foyt.

'We have never seen anyone communicate better with a driver than Terry. He has a unique talent to figure out just what the car and driver need to get to the front of the pack.'

Wilson joins Team Conseco from Fischer Engines, where he worked for the number 60 car driven by Geoffrey Bodine.