In 2005 Ted Musgrave drove the Ultra Motorsports #1 Dodge truck to the Craftsman Truck Series Championship. While teammate Jimmy Spencer dropped out of the top ten in the last race to finish 12th in the final point standings.
Then strange things started happening.
Early in December Ultra Motorsports announced that they had signed a multi-year contract to switch from Dodge to Ford. Then apparently there was some dispute over the contract with Ford and Jim Smith decided that he needed to pull the plug.
Unfortunately this decision leaves a lot of people in a jam. Current sponsor ASE has been with Ultra Motorsports forever is now without a presence in the Craftsman Truck Series. Ted Musgrave is left scrambling for a ride just a week before winter testing in Daytona begins for the truck series. Plus all of the guys in the pits and back at the shop are suddenly unemployed.
This is extremely unusual. When was the last time a defending NASCAR Champion was forced to work the phones to get a job? Although I'm confident that with a Championship on their resume most of those people will be able to land softly very few of them will be able to land on a team with the ability to win a title.
Where will Ted Musgrave and Jimmy Spencer end up? Will Ultra Motorsports suddenly show up at Daytona with Toyota or Chevrolet trucks? If Jim Smith does make a deal how many people on his team will have already found other jobs?
I just don't understand it. It takes years to assemble a Championship team yet after finally reaching the pinnacle of the sport Ultra Motorsports lets all of their talent go.
