Part of that success included running Brian Simo to the 2000 Championship last year. During its 1980s campaign, Huffaker came away with the Series Championship in 1982. They re-entered the series in the late 1990s, resulting in the aforementioned Championship for Simo.

For 2001, Simo and the Magusta deal went to Tom Gloy Racing. Leaving the Huffaker team without a driver or manufacturer to support them.

Huffaker's record in the Trans-Am series is very impressive. It scored the two aforementioned Championships in only six years of competition. Huffaker has scored 14 wins, one Owners' Championship, a Crew of the Year award and boasts 52 top-ten finishes in only 72 races.

Joe Huffaker has just completed a new "continued development" chassis that offers better handling and more horsepower than ever before. He is confident that this late-year entry into the series will interest observers and customers.

Huffaker has taken this year to re-structure his company and develop a new 2001 Jaguar, which will debut with driver Ross Thompson on September 8th at Laguna Seca. This begins a new generation of future championship cars.

Thompson, an accredited driver whose resume includes NASCAR's Craftsman Truck, Winston West and Southwest Series, will make his return to the Trans-Am series as well. In 1998, Thompson was runner-up in Rookie of the Year honors, finished sixth overall in points and lef the series with two straight podium finishes in the final two races of the season.