Despite taking home the 2008 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship, team owner Bill Davis has sold the majority stake of his organization. Selling the majority of stake to California businessman, Mike Held and Bill Davis Racing executive, Marty Gaunt, Davis now steps aside from the team he built for more than twenty years.

In addition to the purchase of Bill Davis Racing, Held and Gaunt also took control of Triad Racing Development, which supplied all three of NASCAR's top series with engines, chassis and bodies.

Taking control of the organization, Held and Gaunt will call their new company Triad Racing Technologies.

There has been no formal announcement as to the team's plans for the 2009 Cup Series season, but both Held and Gaunt explained they were interested in fielding the No. 22 next season.

"We're interested in having the No. 22 run Sprint Cup in 2009, and we're trying to put the pieces together," Held told Nate Ryan of the USA Today. "Bill has a long-standing history in the sport, and it's important we figure out a way to preserve his reputation."

Over the years, Bill Davis Racing has been home to some of NASCAR's biggest stars. Bill and his wife, Gail, have helped drivers like Jeff Gordon and Bobby Labonte jump start their amazing careers and have always been a staple in the garage.

Bill Davis Racing won the biggest race of their career when Ward Burton piloted the No. 22 Caterpillar Dodge to victory in the 2002 Daytona 500. In what was ultimately their final season, BDR went out on top, earning the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series title with Johnny Benson behind the wheel.

Addressing the media following his championship celebration, Benson pointed out winning the title for Bill Davis meant more than most could realize.

"It means more to me to get this for Bill and Gail than anything you people can even ever imagine," Benson explained. "Bill has been in the sport for many, many years. He's put a lot of blood, sweat, tears in this, a lot of money, and he deserves it. He deserves more than one, and hopefully he'll get more than one before this is all done with."

Things seemed to fall apart for BDR earlier this year when talks of finding an investor failed to produce anything. Then the team lost the Caterpillar sponsorship to Richard Childress Racing and was forced to run Benson's No. 23 unsponsored in a number of events. Without any prospective sponsors on the Cup side for 2009 and very few on the Truck Series side, Davis seemed to be at the end of his rope.