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Ram Tough 200
| Gateway Int'l Raceway
Race No. 12 | July 16-17, 2004
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Good morning from Gateway!
07-16-2004 10:18 am
Good morning from Gateway International Raceway! There are some gray clouds floating around, and a brief shower passed over the speedway earlier this morning, getting things damp, but not soaking wet. There are some showers in the area, but the main area of rain has missed the metro St. Louis area to the south and the west. The jet dryers are on the speedway now preparing the track for ARCA practice, scheduled for 10 am ET, with NASCAR Camping World Truck Series practice to follow. ARCA spotters have been called to the spotter's stand, so the track should be hot relatively soon.
Gateway stats
07-16-2004 10:23 am
Gateway International Raceway is a unique 1.25-mile oval, almost shaped like an egg. Turns one and two are a shorter radius with higher banking, while turns three and four are almost flat, but much more sweeping. Turns one and two are banked 11 degrees, with 9 degrees in three and four. The front stretch is 1,922 feet long and the back stretch is 1,976 feet long. The race is scheduled for 160 laps, which is 200 miles.
The NCTS first raced here in 1998, and in the six previous runnings of the Dodge Ram Tough 200, there has yet to be a repeat winner.
1998: Rick Carelli
1999: Greg Biffle
2000: Jack Sprague
2001: Ted Musgrave
2002: Terry Cook
2003: Brendan Gaughan
The only driver to win from a starting position outside the top-5 was Terry Cook, who started 8th.
Greg Biffle is the only two-time pole winner here, 1998 and 2000, with Stacy Compton (1999), Ted Musgrave (2001), and Mike Bliss (2002) also earning the top spot in qualifying. In 2003, qualifying was cancelled due to rain.
Manufacturer wins are deadlocked at 2 each for Chevrolet, Dodge, and Ford.
The track qualifying record was set by Stacy Compton in August 1999 at 33.811 seconds/133.093 miles per hour. The 200-mile record was set by Jack Sprague in May 2000 at one hour, 35 minutes, 31 seconds/113.726 miles per hour.
ARCA on track
07-16-2004 11:06 am
The ARCA cars have been on the track for about 10 minutes, so practice is underway here at Gateway. A few stray sprinkles have been felt in the garage, but nothing that would affect the track surface at this point. No word from NASCAR yet on how the slight delay will change the track schedule for the NCTS.
Entry list notables
07-16-2004 11:14 am
Wayne Edwards is entered for the second week in a row in the No. 0 Richardson Racing Chevrolet...Johnny Chapman is entered in a third Green Light Racing truck, the No. 20 Chevy...the No. 23 Bill Davis Racing Toyota is not entered this weekend, the second consecutive week that truck has not been on the entry list...Brad Keselowski is back in the No. 29 K-Automotive Ford after Deborah Renshaw drove it in Kentucky...Mark McFarland is listed in the No. 59 Harris Trucking Dodge this weekend...David Ragan is back in the No. 67 Fiddleback Racing Ford...Eric McClure, son of NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series team owner Larry McClure, is listed as the driver of the No. 72 AXE Equipment Chevy for MacDonald Motorsports...
Double duty...
07-16-2004 11:22 am
One one driver is entered in both the ARCA Re/MAX Series race tonight and tomorrow's Dodge Ram Tough 200: Ken Weaver. Last week in Kentucky several drivers were entered in both races.
Change to the Green-White-Checker rule
07-16-2004 11:28 am
NASCAR has announced this weekend that all three of the nationally touring series, including the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, will utilize a Green-White-Checkered rule to help ensure a green flag finish. However, the rule now states that there is a limit of one green-white-checkered attempt per race. Previously, the NCTS could have several attepts to get a green-flag finish. For instance, at Texas in 1999, there were three attempts at getting a two-lap green flag finish, which added 12 laps to the race distance.
Hey Shorty!
07-16-2004 11:39 am
Have you ever had one of those days? The Circle Bar Racing crew had one early this morning when they found out their truck was just a little too short during NASCAR Camping World Truck Series inspection. Rather than unload the backup truck, the team managed to pull off the rear panel and extend it to the appropriate length.
Entry list update
07-16-2004 11:43 am
Eric McClure has been removed from the entry list, replaced in the No. 72 Warrior Custom Golf Chevy by Ryck Sanders.
Some blue sky over GIR
07-16-2004 11:47 am
The thick cloud cover of the early morning is starting to break up and now some patches of blue sky are seen over Gateway International Raceway, with the occasional ray of sunshine beaming down on the garage area. Everyone is keeping their fingers crossed that the weather will indeed hold up for us and we will get qualifying in after two consecutive rainouts at Kansas and Kentucky.
Double duty redux
07-16-2004 11:53 am
While only one driver is doing double duty this weekend, there are two teams doing both races this weekend. Ken Weaver's team is doing both races this weekend, K-Automotive is entered in both races this weekend with Brad Keselowski racing in the NCTS race and brother Brian running the ARCA car again this weekend.
Today's track schedule
07-16-2004 11:59 am
10:15-12:15 pm ET: ARCA Practice
12:20-2:20 pm ET: NCTS Practice
1:30 pm ET: ARCA Qualifying
4:30 pm ET: NCTS Bud Pole Qualifying (Exclusive LIVE! Coverage on TruckSeries.com)
7:30-8:30 pm ET: NCTS Final Practice
9:00 pm ET: ARCA race
Over the wall changes at Orleans...for the week
07-16-2004 12:04 pm
Steve Park will have a few new over-the-wall helpers this week. With some employee turnover within Orleans Racing, some of the pit crew members have been over worked and haven't been able to workout and practice their pit stops, so team manager Fritz Kroyerhas brought in some hired guns from Five Off/Five On to assist with pit stops this weekend. This is a one-week program, and the team emphasizes none of their crew members has been let go or reassigned. The team's regular crew will begin working with a pit stop consultant in coming weeks, and will return to action in the next event in two weeks at Michigan International Speedway.
Spotter dance...time for Trucks!
07-16-2004 12:12 pm
The ARCA spotters are on their way down and the NCTS spotters are on their way up...we should have Trucks on track in a matter of minutes! Keep it locked on to TrackSideLive! right here at TruckSeries.com for all the action as it happens!
Trucks are on track!
07-16-2004 12:16 pm
First out are Carl Edwards, Matt Crafton, Steve Park, Travis Kvapil, and Dennis Setzer. Look for updates as they happen!
Entry List Update #2
07-16-2004 12:26 pm
Randy LaJoie is now listed as the driver of the No. 59 Harris Trucking Dodge, replacing Mark McFarland.
Early rundown
07-16-2004 12:30 pm
Just a few minutes into practice, here is the rundown:
1. Sprague (34.365 seconds)
2. Kvapil
3. Edwards
4. LaJoie
5. Crafton
6. Reutimann
7. Cook
8. Park
9. Musgrave
10. Chaffin
11. Lester
12. Parker, Jr.
13. Montgomery
14. Houston
15. Whitt
16. Huffman
17. Starr
18. Keselowski
19. Wimmer
20. Sieg
21. White
22. Love
23. Setzer
Red Flag out at Gateway
07-16-2004 12:41 am
Mike Skinner made contact with the turn four wall and has brought out the first red flag of today's practice sessions. The track crew is out inspecting for debris, and we should go back to green shortly. We will follow up with the Bang! team to check on if the truck suffered any damage.
Rundown #2
07-16-2004 12:53 am
As of 1:55 pm ET:
1. Hamilton (34.100)
2. Kvapil
3. Sprague
4. Chaffin
5. Edwards
6. LaJoie
7. Wood
8. Cook
9. Crafton
10. Starr
11. Reutimann
12. Houston
13. Lester
14. Park
15. Musgrave
16. Crawford
17. Setzer
18. Skinner
19. Huffman
20. Parker, Jr.
21. Montgomery
22. Hines
23. Keselowski
24. Whitt
25. Sieg
26. Wimmer
27. White
28. Ragan
29. Sutton
30. Hmiel
31. Weaver
Rundown #3
07-16-2004 1:11 pm
Here is the rundown, as of 1:15 pm ET:
1. Hamilton (34.100)
2. Kvapil
3. Sprague
4. Chaffin
5. Edwards
6. LaJoie
7. Wood
8. Cook
9. Crafton
10. Starr
11. Reutimann
12. Hmiel
13. Houston
14. Lester
15. Crawford
16. Park
17. Musgrave
18. Sezter
19. Skinner
20. Huffman
21. Parker, Jr.
22. Montgomery
23. Hines
24. Whitt
25. Keselowski
26. Sieg
27. Wimmer
28. White
29. Ragan
30. Sutton
31. Chapman
32. Weaver
33. Sanders
All trucks have passed inspection, the only truck not to practice to this point is the No. 0 of Wayne Edwards.
Skinner to backup
07-16-2004 1:16 pm
Mike Skinner has been forced to a backup truck as a result of his accident earlier. The rear end housing was pushed over too far to be repairable at the track.
They said it...#1
07-16-2004 1:23 pm
Terry Cook, No. 10 Ford: "It feels like the sway bar is bound up across the front."
Tracy Hines, No. 88 Chevrolet: "It feels a little free on initial entry, they it snaps around and I have to put a lot of wheel to it."
Shane Hmiel, No. 15 Chevrolet: "The right front is not turning good. It feels like it is transfering a lot of weight."
Ted Musgrave, No. 1 Dodge: "It feels like I am in a four-wheel drift. It's like it's locked up and not rolling through the center."
David Reutimann, No. 17 Toyota: "We need something to help make it pivot. It's not too tight through the center of the corner, it just needs to roll better through the center."
Red flag out for blown engine at Gateway
07-16-2004 1:37 pm
The second red flag of the session is out after Chris Wimmer in the No. 63 Ford lost an engine on the front stretch. Track crews are out inspecting...we should be green again soon.
Red flag rundown #4
07-16-2004 1:39 pm
Here is the rundown as of the red flag, 1:43 pm ET:
1. Hamilton (34.100)
2. Kvapil
3. Sprague
4. Chaffin
5. Hmiel
6. Reutimann
7. Edwards
8. Houston
9. Musgrave
10. Crawford
11. LaJoie
12. Wood
13. Cook
14. Crafton
15. Starr
16. Park
17. Lester
18. Setzer
19. Skinner
20. Huffman
21. Parker, Jr.
22. Hines
23. Montgomery
24. Whitt
25. Keselowski
26. Sieg
27. Wimmer
28. White
29. Ragan
30. Sutton
31. Chapman
32. Richardson
33. Weaver
34. Sanders
Skinner's fast lap was set in the primary truck, which was crashed early in the session.
TruckShots!
07-16-2004 1:53 pm
Click here
to see TruckShots from Gateway! You will find EXCLUSIVE! images of Mike Skinner's damaged truck following his practice incident, as well as the creative engineering Circ le Bar Racing used to grow their truck an inch or two to meet NASCAR templates.
Back to green
07-16-2004 1:57 pm
After an extended clean up process, we are finally back green at Gateway with about 20 minutes left in the session.
Contact brings out red flag again
07-16-2004 1:59 pm
The No. 42 of Mike Skinner and the No. 62 of Steve Park made contact coming out of turn four to bring out the thrid red flag of the afternoon. One of the trucks made contact with the inside frontstretch wall, but both trucks continued on to the garage. We will follow up on damage reports from both teams shortly. UPDATE: There was no contact between the No. 42 of Mike Skinner and the No. 62 of Steve Park. Park got loose and spun, while Skinner was merely nearby on the track when it happened.
Five minutes left...rundown No. 4
07-16-2004 2:08 pm
Here is the rundown with mere minutes remaining:
1. Sprague (33.958)
2. Kvapil
3. Hamilton
4. Musgrave
5. Starr
6. Parker, Jr.
7. Edwards
8. Crawford
9. Crafton
10. Park
11. Setzer
12. Wood
13. Chaffin
14. Hmiel
15. Reutimann
16. Houston
17. LaJoie
18. Cook
19. Huffman
20. Whitt
21. Lester
22. Montgomery
23. Skinner
24. White
25. Hines
26. Keselowski
27. Sieg
28. Sutton
29. Wimmer
30. Ragan
31. Chapman
32. Weaver
33. W. Edwards
34. Sanders
Qualifying next
07-16-2004 2:16 pm
Don't forget to log on for exclusive coverage of NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Bud Pole Qualifying here at TruckSeries.com. Live! Qualifying is scheduled to roll off at 4:30 pm ET.
Notable quotables, No. 1
07-16-2004 2:40 pm
Shane Hmiel, No. 15 Chevrolet: “We had to make some adjustments after just a few laps of practice. I felt like I had a bit of a soft push off and we weren't turning well coming into the corners. The crew was able to pinpoint the adjustments that were needed. The adjustments seemed to pay off, our speeds increased and the truck is pretty good. We'll probably make a few more adjustments before the race. I'm just thankful for not having rain today and actually being able to get practice in. We were lucky enough to draw last for qualifying, which will help. The track temperature will be closer to what it will be like during the race on Saturday night. Maybe this is just the start of the black cloud lifting."
Chad Chaffin, No. 18 Dodge: "I am going to go down and talk to Bobby about his truck. I think we are pretty close, as far as the trucks are concerned. He is probably doing something with his driving technique that is making him a little quicker than us. But if you told me we could leave here and keep our top-10 streak intact, I would take it right now and roll out of here. This has never been one of those places I circled on the calandar as a track I knew we would run real well. If we get out of here with a good finish, I'll make sure it's circled next year."
Notable quotables, No. 2
07-16-2004 2:53 pm
Tracy Hines, No. 88 Chevrolet: "We got better during the practice, but we still need a little more. We're tight in the center and loose off. We've got a a game plan for qualifying. If it works, we think we can pick up two or three more tenths."
Paul White, No. 13 Chevrolet: "It was great to get a full practice session in. I think the rain at Kentucky hurt us some last week. We weren't happy being a back-marker like that last week. We feel a lot more competitve after the way things went in practice. "
Notable quotables, No. 3
07-16-2004 3:21 pm
Terry Cook, No. 10 Ford: "The International Truck and Engines Ford was actually quite good through practice. We did a good thing this week going to Greenville-Pickens Speedway and worked on this truck. We struggled with it every time. We knew to come here and be competitive we needed to go and test it and get some laps on it. We went to Greenville and had an extremely good test and learned some stuff. Here we are applying it at Gateway (International Raceway). We're not where we want to be, we need to be on top of the sheet but we're definitely in a very competitive fashion right now."
Weather update
07-16-2004 3:25 pm
The sun has been shining brightly and temperatures have warmed considerably since this morning, but some big puffly clouds are moving in as we zero in on NCTS Bud Pole Qualifying. Looks like it will be hit or miss shade for the drivers, which could be the deciding factor in who sits on the pole and who doesn't.
Crawford carrying decal in memory of Darrell Russell
07-16-2004 3:34 pm
Rick Crawford's truck is carrying a special decal this weekend in memory of NHRA Top Fuel racer Darrell Russell, who was killed in a racing crash here at Gateway International Raceway two weeks ago. "I was the grand marshall for the event in 2003, and it really hit home to lose a guy like that," Crawford said. "It (the decal) is not anything we are doing to get any attention or anything like that, it's just a gesture for a fallen friend."
Long day for Skinner getting longer?
07-16-2004 3:39 pm
Mike Skinner's No. 42 Bang! Racing team is currently working hard at diagnosing an engine problem under the hood of their Toyota. Combined with the incident earlier in practice, they have been excused from their assigned position in the qualifying draw. He was scheduled to go out second, but now will likely be among the final qualifiers of the afternoon.
Notable Quotables, Chevrolet drivers
07-16-2004 4:17 pm
Jack Sprague, No. 16 Chevrolet: “So far so good for our Chevy Trucks Silverado. Our last bonzai lap is when we jumped to the top of the chart but we ran in the top-three or four most of the practice session. Finally the weather looks like it is going to cooperate with us and give us an opportunity for happy hour to fine tune the Chevy Trucks Silverado in conditions close to what we are going to race tomorrow night. I feel pretty good about qualifying and so far our race setup seems really solid. We have to make sure we keep the truck neutral and not tighten up too much. That gives us the balance we need to go because the corners here are so different on both ends.”
David Starr, No. 75 Chevy: “Our Spears Silverado is really pretty good. Looking at the time sheet, there are a few trucks out there better than us but we are pretty happy with things as they sit right now. We were a little tight so we kept losing the nose in the corners but we worked and made adjustments and got it much better. I am ready for happy hour so we can actually work on our truck in weather and track conditions similar to what the race will be.”
Matt Crafton, No. 6 Chevy: “The GM Goodwrench Silverado is pretty good but I am definitely not satisfied. I am a little tight in both sets of corners. We really only got one qualifying run because the #63 spun and I had to check up. I am not worried about where we ended up on the practice sheet because we made longer runs on the same set of tires and in race trim. I will be very happy to qualify in the top-ten.”
Dennis Setzer, No. 46 Chevy: “I guess the best thing to say is we are still searching for something in our Chevrolet Silverado. We just can’t seem to get what we need out of the truck today. We will do what we can qualifying and then really concentrate in happy hour to get the truck better for tomorrow nights’ race.”
Kelly Sutton, No. 02 Chevy: "This is a unique track, and a little tricky find a set-up that works in Turns 1 and 2, but which also works in Turns 3 and 4. These were my first laps on this track, and we're here with a brand new truck…"007", or "Sleepy" as the guys nicknamed it. They worked very late working on the set-up, and I feel fortunate to have such a great crew with us now. The times on our first few laps were slower than we had hoped, but we knocked off over a half second on those late qualifying runs. It still felt really loose in three and four and it shoved the nose in one and two. We'll make some adjustments over the next hour or two, and then let it loose during qualifying later."
Park on practice incident
07-16-2004 4:38 pm
“I just spun. The truck was loose all day. It was loose in qualifying and race trim. The damage was cosmetic. I think I got the right rear and then spun around and hit with the left front, but the guys have already fixed it for qualifying.”
Qualifying notes...
07-16-2004 6:13 pm
This is Sprague's third Bud Pole of 2004 and the fourth time he starts from the No. 1 position; his previous poles were at Memphis and Martinsville, while he started from the top spot at Mansfield based on the NCTS rule book...it is Sprague's 23rd career pole, which is a series record, five more than second-place Mike Bliss...Bobby Hamilton will start a season-best second; he started third four consecutive times and won from the third position at Memphis and last week in Kentucky...Rick Crawford bettered his best career start here at Gateway and will roll from third position; in seven attempts here, he has only started out of the top-10 once...all four manufacturers, Chevrolet, Dodge, Ford and Toyota, will have a starter among the top-5 (Sprague, pole; Hamilton, second; Crawford, third; Kvapil, fifth)...Robert Huffman was the highest qualified rookie, and will grid 16th for tomorrow's race...NCTS Raybestos Rookie of the Year leader David Reutimann qualified 17th.
Jack Sprague, No. 16 Chevrolet
07-16-2004 6:19 pm
"I love this racetrack. I like these wierd places. We have a few places we go to where turns one and two are drastically different from turns three and four, and I run well at all of them. I didn't know what the track record was, so I didn't have any idea we were faster than it, but the lap felt good. I had to shift a lot earlier going down the backstretch, so I knew we were faster than we were in practice, but we just didn't know by how much."
Toyota Notable Quotables...
07-16-2004 6:23 pm
Travis Kvapil, No. 24 Toyota: "It was a pretty good run. The driver probably just gave up a hair down in turn three. On my second lap, turns one and two were pretty good - but I went into turn three too hard and had to use up a little more racetrack to get it slowed down to make the corner. My run was a little better than we were in practice. We've been running good all day and the Toyota horsepower is really good down the straightaway. Of all the tracks we go to, I probably have more laps here at Gateway than anywhere else. I ran the NASCAR Midwest Series a half-dozen times before I ever came here in a truck. I feel very comfortable here and know what I need to feel underneath me."
Hank Parker, No. 21 Toyota: "The biggest thing is I have my favorite truck, Smokey, back this weekend. It is by far our best truck. It does everything we tell it to do and it listens really well. We unloaded really good and have stayed good. We call it Smokey because it caught fire at Milwaukee and "smoked" me out of the truck."
Robert Huffman, No. 12 Toyota: "We were a little bit tight, but we've been tight all day in the middle of the corner. The guys worked really hard on it, and we were actually 3/10ths better than we were in practice. This place is unique because a lot of people shift here, and I have never been to a track where you need to shift. So, I have had to learn all that. I seemed to adapt to it pretty well, it's just a matter of getting as many laps as you can."
David Reutimann, No. 17 Toyota: "We needed to be a lot better than we were. We tried some things in practice that seemed to help some. It was just too free in qualifying. We just have to work on it some more so we can have a good truck in the race. It's encouraging because we have been in the top-10 most of the day. Every other flat track we have been to we have been near the bottom of the sheet. I am comfortable here, it's just a matter of getting the feel you need in the truck."
Qualifying spinner quotes
07-16-2004 6:38 pm
Tracy Hines, No. 88 Chevrolet: "A little loose would have been good, but it was way loose. I went down in the corner there and it just got away from me."
Bill Lester, No. 22 Toyota: "It hadn't been loose at all all day. I had a great first lap, and just went for more and it got loose. That's a heck of a way to end up with a top-10 run, but they guys have it back together, and on TV, you'll never even know the difference!"
Happy Hour next...
07-16-2004 7:19 pm
The teams are preparing for the final practice of the day...most are concentrating on converting from qualifying setups to race setups, and with the first practice and qualifying taking place in the heat of the day, and happy hour and the race taking place at night, the changes to the setups are often quite significant.
Brad Keselowski, No. 29 Ford: "We're changing all four shocks and springs. Basically, everything but the number."
Brandon Whitt, No. 38 Ford: "We've been loose all day, and we expect the track to tighten up quite a bit at night, but we're still going to make some pretty big changes to tighten it up. We can always work backwards off that if it's too tight."
Happy Hour is on!
07-16-2004 7:25 pm
The first group on the track include: Sprague, Setzer, Edwards, Chaffin, Wood, Musgrave, Crafton, Kvapil, Hamilton, and Starr...stay right here for news from this session as it happens...
New owner of the No. 72
07-16-2004 7:29 pm
There was some discussion regarding the starting position of the No. 72 Chevy driven by Ryck Sanders, whether it would be 33rd or 34th. The entry was originally recorded for MacDonald Motorsports and owner Merrill "Doc" MacDonald. However, this morning, the team apparently changed hands and while the number on the door remains the same, it is officially listed with NASCAR as No. 172. Lisa Watson is the owner of record now and the team is now called AXE Motorsports.
Debris on track...red flag out...HH Rundown 1
07-16-2004 7:37 pm
A piece of debris has been spotted on the backstretch, so we are stopped while the track crew cleans it up and makes a quick inspection.
Here is the rundown 15 minutes into the final hour of practice:
1. Hamilton (34.095 seconds)
2. Sprague
3. Starr
4. Kvapil
5. Park
6. Setzer
7. Chaffin
8. Skinner
9. Edwards
10. Reutimann
11. LaJoie
12. Wood
13. Hmiel
14. Crafton
15. Crawford
16. Houston
17. Parker, Jr.
18. Cook
19. Musgrave
20. Sieg
21. Huffman
22. Keselowski
23. Whitt
24. Ragan
25. Montgomery
26. Hines
27. White
28. Wimmer
29. Sutton
30. Weaver
31. Sanders
More TruckShots
07-16-2004 7:45 pm
Click here
for more TruckShots, exclusively on TruckSeries.com...
They said it...
07-16-2004 7:47 pm
Travis Kvapil, No. 24 Toyota: "We are too tight from the center off."
Brandon Whitt, No. 38 Ford: "It just doesn't want to turn when I initially get on the throttle."
Terry Cook, No. 10 Ford: "If the race pace slows down some, I think we'll be okay. If it doesn't, we might want to think about what changes we need to make to get better."
Hank Parker, Jr., No, 21 Toyota: "The front tires are just sliding across the track, and I don't know what we can do to fix it."
Carl Edwards, No. 99 Ford: "It's freer through the center, but we need to get it free through the transition. If we can do that, I think we'll be better all the way around the track. We also might want to think about changing the gear, because we are on the chip on every good lap on the frontstretch."
Power problems at Gateway
07-16-2004 7:54 pm
Some sort of power outage has struck the track here in Gateway. The media center is partially dark, and the main lights all around the speedway are out as well. The caution lights still are functional, and the lights that light up the speedway for night racing appear to be coming up to power. Practice continues while track officials and NASCAR investigate the problem.
HH Rundown #2
07-16-2004 8:00 pm
Just over 30 minutes into Happy Hour, here is the rundown:
1. Hamilton (34.095 secs)
2. Sprague
3. Starr
4. Kvapil
5. Skinner
6. Park
7. Setzer
8. Chaffin
9. Edwards
10. Lester
11. Reutimann
12. LaJoie
13. Crawford
14. Wood
15. Hmiel
16. Crafton
17. Houston
18. Musgrave
19. Parker, Jr.
20. Cook
21. Hines
22. Sieg
23. Huffman
24. Whitt
25. Keselowski
26. Ragan
27. Montgomery
28. White
29. Wimmer
30. Weaver
31. Sutton
32. Sanders
They said it...Part 2
07-16-2004 8:09 pm
Rick Crawford, No. 14 Ford: "It feels like I want to carry the left front tire off the track coming off the corners. It looks like everyone else is pretty planted."
Bill Lester, No. 22 Toyota: "It feels really nice, just need to be a little more free going into turn one."
David Reutimann, No. 17 Toyota: "If you can get it a little more snug through three and four by taking some wedge out of it and not lose the drive off the corner, I am all for it."
Final Practice, Final Rundown
07-16-2004 8:22 pm
With just moments left, here is the rundown of Happy Hour:
1. Hamilton (34.095 secs)
2. Sprague
3. Kvapil
4. Chaffin
5. Starr
6. Skinner
7. Park
8. Crafton
9. Setzer
10. Edwards
11. Lester
12. Reutimann
13. LaJoie
14. Crawford
15. Wood
16. Hmiel
17. Houston
18. Musgrave
19. Parker, Jr.
20. Cook
21. Hines
22. Montgomery
23. Sieg
24. Huffman
25. Whitt
26. Ragan
27. Keselowski
28. White
29. Wimmer
30. Weaver
31. Sutton
32. Sanders
Blown transformer
07-16-2004 8:25 pm
There are reports of a blown transformer on the speedway grounds that has caused sporadic power outages here at the track. The track is busy working on a solution, but it appears the ARCA race could be delayed because the lights are not powering up to provide them enough vision to see once it gets dark. It has not affected the NCTS, as the final practice session ended just moments ago.
Notable quotables, Version 4
07-16-2004 8:37 pm
Mike Skinner, No. 42 Toyota: "I’ve had a very, very rough day today,” Skinner said. “I wrecked the truck right off the hauler. It was nobody’s fault but mine. I overdrove the corner in four, and the truck got loose. I’ve had a pretty rough week and probably wasn’t very focused, but that’s no excuse. I shouldn’t have wrecked it, and I did. But my crew has done an awesome job in overcoming adversity. They have kept their head’s up and have stayed pumped up. They’ve been phenomenal today. I think three times throughout the day we all said at some point, we’re not going to make it. And I felt like I did what I had to do to help rally my team. If we only went out and out qualified three or four trucks, that’s three or four trucks that I won’t have to pass when that flag drops tomorrow night. And that’s exactly what I did. I went out there and beat 15 trucks on my first lap with all the equipment that was on the other truck und! erneath our back up. So I’m fired up about it. During qualifying, we didn’t know what the truck was going to do since it hadn’t been out on the track, and it turns out that I didn’t have any power steering. The steering locked up in three, and I almost wrecked it again. At that point in time, I threw in the towel and said I’ve got one lap in, so I’ll just take what we’ve got. I’m looking forward to happy hour and getting my Tundra a little bit better for the race.”
Terry Cook, No. 10 Ford: "Qualifying was not indicative of our practice speeds. We drew an early number for qualifying, and the Hoosier rubber was apparently still down on the track. Track temperatures were hot for us and we didn't get a cloud, and some other guys did. The track temp dropped over 20 degrees by the time the 15th truck went out, allowing them to run faster than they practiced. I hope the new paint job can help us to a top-10 finish. Gateway has been really good to us the past few years, but we've had some back luck lately. Coming to a place like Gateway where we run well could really help us get over the hump and get us back into the top 10 in points."
That's a wrap for the night...
07-16-2004 9:11 pm
The teams are slowly wrapping up their work for the night and filing out of the Gateway International Raceway, and NASCAR is getting ready to close the garage area for the night. The stories of the day have to be Jack Sprague's throttling of the field in qualifying, and breaking the track record that was set in 1999 with a much larger carburetor, and the troubles Mike Skinner suffered through all afternoon.
The garage area opens tomorrow at 1 pm ET, and we will pick up coverage of the Dodge Ram Tough 200 as soon as the gates swing open. With all of the action that took place today, there will undoubtedly be some twists and turns that pop up tomorrow as we zero in on the green flag. Keep it locked on to TruckSeries.com for all the news from the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and continuing exclusive coverage of the Dodge Ram Tough 200 here at Gateway International Raceway. Good night everybody!
Good afternoon from GIR
07-17-2004 2:15 pm
Good afternoon from Gateway International Raceway! The garages opened just a few moments ago, and the teams are already busy preparing their trucks for inspection and setting up their pit stalls for tonight's 160-lap battle around the 1.25-mile egg-shaped oval. The weather is supposed to stay decent throughout the afternoon and evening, with some cloudcover keeping temperatures in the 70s and a nice breeze blowing in off the mighty Mississippi River. Keep it locked on to TrackSideLive! throughout the afternoon as we keep you abreast of all the news from the Dodge Ram Tough 200 here at Gateway...
Engine change on the No. 38
07-17-2004 2:19 pm
The Clean Line Motorsports crew was permitted to enter the garage area a little early this afternoon to continue working on an engine change they started last night after final practice. "The engine started to drag a little bit, and then it lost oil pressure," driver Brandon Whitt said. The team will move to the back for the start of the race per NASCAR rules.
To the back...
07-17-2004 2:21 pm
Three teams will move to the rear of the field prior to the green flag for tonight's Dodge Ram Tough 200: Mike Skinner's No. 42 Bang! Racing Toyota (accident), Chris Wimmer's No. 63 Mittler Bros. Racing Ford (engine), and Brandon Whitt's No. 38 Clean Line Racing Ford (engine).
New pit road open/closed system
07-17-2004 2:25 pm
NASCAR has instituted a new system to inform drivers and teams that the pit road is open or closed under caution. There is now a big, bright light that flashes red to say the pits are closed and green to say the pits are open. In many cases, especially in night races, the flag that informed the drivers of the pit road status could not be seen by the driver and/or spotter, leading to much confusion.
Green-White-Checker update
07-17-2004 2:32 pm
NASCAR called in all of the drivers and crew chiefs for a meeting at 1:30 pm ET to explain the changes to the green-white-checkered system as they apply to the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. As with the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series and the the NASCAR Busch Series, the NCTS will only have one attempt to finish the race under green flag conditions. If the caution appears during a green-white-checkered, the race will now finish under caution. In the nearly 10-year history of the NCTS, there have been four races with multiple attempts to finish the race under green-flag conditions.
Sun popping through the clouds
07-17-2004 3:01 pm
The sun is now popping through the clouds, which should warm the ambient temperature as well as the track temperature. Track temps could be a major issue early in the race as there is 150 miles worth of ARCA rubber on the racetrack, and hotter track temps could make an already slick track even slicker.
Park returns to Gateway
07-17-2004 3:03 pm
Steve Park is making his first start at Gateway International in a Truck, but has two previous starts here in the NASCAR Busch Series. His best finish came in the first ever race here at Gateway in 1997, an extremely hot day when the track actually started coming apart due to the heat, when he finished 15th. He finished 25th here in 2000. He is in the same truck that won the race here last summer with Brendan Gaughan at the wheel.
A little Gateway history...
07-17-2004 3:16 pm
Four drivers entered in today's race were also here back in 1997 for the first ever race here at Gateway. Dennis Setzer finished 10th in the Busch Series event that July, while Steve Park was 15th, Randy LaJoie 17th, and Johnny Chapman was 22nd. Speed Channel color commentator Phil Parsons finished 23rd that day.
Five drivers entered today were here for the first-ever NCTS race at Gateway in 1998. Jack Sprague finished fourth, Rick Crawford 7th, Setzer was 13th, Tery Cook was 22nd, and Andy Houston finished 30th. The winner that day, Rick Carelli, is here this weekend and will be the eyes in the sky on the spotter's stand for Matt Crafton.
Special Awards
07-17-2004 4:48 pm
Here are tonight's special award winners, to be presented during driver introductions:
Bud Pole Award: Jack Sprague
Featherlite Most Improved Driver: Ted Musgrave
International Truck Crew Chief Award: Chris Showalter, Xpress Motorsports
Mobil 1 Command Performance Driver of the Race: Bobby Hamilton
Raybestos Rookie of the Race: David Reutimann
Waste Management Picking Up Places Award: Robert Huffman
WIX Filters Lap Leader Award: Bobby Hamilton
Pit road map
07-17-2004 4:53 pm
Here are the pit assignments for tonight's Dodge Ram Tough 200, starting with the number one pit stall at pit exit in turn one and ending with the number 38 pit stall at pit extrance in turn four. Ray Dunlap will cover the drivers listed in purple, Wendy Norris will cover the drivers listed in green.
Sprague
Park
Musgrave
Kvapil
Sieg
Wood
Houston
Montgomery
Ragan
Skinner
Hines
White
Starr
Keselowski
LaJoie
Chaffin
Lester
Crawford
Scoring Camera/Start-Finish Line
Break in pit wall
Open Stall
Hamilton
Setzer
Parker, Jr.
Wimmer
Edwards
Huffman
Whitt
Sutton
Cook
W. Edwards
Reutimann
Sanders
Crafton
Weaver
Chapman
Hmiel
What to expect tonight at Gateway...by the numbers
07-17-2004 5:03 pm
Breaking down the past races at Gateway, by the numbers:
The average starting position of the winner is 4th (Steve Park rolls off fourth tonight). There are an average of 13 drivers on the lead lap at the end of 200 miles, with 7.3 lead changes per event. There has been as many as 11 lead changes in 2001, and as few as 3 in 2000. There are an average of 4.5 leaders per race, with a high of 7 leaders in the inaugural NCTS race in 1998 and as few as 2 leaders in 2003. There are an average of 4.8 caution flags per race, with the most coming in 1998 and 2003 when the yellow flag waved five times, and the fewest being three, which happened three times. There are an average of 25.8 caution laps. The most laps under yellow was 27, again in 1998 and 2003, and the fewest number of laps under the caution was 13 in 2001. The fastest average speed was 113.726 in 2000, and the slowest was 99.489 in 2003. The average speed for all races here is 100.695 miles per hour.
Gates open...fans on the track
07-17-2004 5:30 pm
Hundreds of fans showed up early to participate in an on-track autograph session with about a dozen NCTS drivers, including Carl Edwards, David Ragan, Ted Musgrave, Bill Lester, Travis Kvapil, Jack Sprague, Dennis Setzer, Matt Crafton, David Starr, Chris Wimmer, and Tracy Hines. Lines at the four various tables at times were nearly 40 to 50 deep. After the session concludes, the drivers will all move into race mode, as the driver's meeting is scheduled for the top of the hour.
Drivers meeting notes
07-17-2004 6:11 pm
Here are the notes from the drivers meeting, concluded just moments ago...
Driver intros are 7:45 pm ET...the National Anthem is 8:15 pm ET...the command to start engines is 8:22 pm ET...the pit road speed will be 45 mph, the caution truck speed is 50 mph...drivers pitting must use the entrance lane whenever they come to pit road; they can re-enter the racetrack if the caution comes out, but will receive a stop-and-go or drive-thru penalty if they do it at any other time...the new light system will be tried out to inform the drivers and spotters when the pits are opened; if the light is off, the pits are closed, if the light is flashing, the pits are open; pit road speed is in effect starting 216 feet before the first pit stall thru 75 feet after the last pit stall...the tower is in control of when the pit road is opened, and they will try their best to make sure it is opened as soon as possible...the teams are allowed 4 cans of fuel for the event tonight...the outside of the pit box is the white line...drivers must use the exit road and enter the race track coming out of turn two..."Ladies and Gentlemen, this is a fast racetrack with sharp turns. If you have a problem, please give the groove to the faster trucks. Give them the entrance to the corner and let them continue their race," advised NCTS Series Director Wayne Auton...the minimum lap time to remain in competition after an accident tonight is 39.21 seconds...the new Green-White-Checkered rule will NOT be in effect here tonight; the bulletin will be issued on Monday to the teams, and the rule will be in effect starting with the next race in Michigan...
Largest NCTS crowd in GIR history?
07-17-2004 6:20 pm
Gateway officials expect the largest NCTS crowd in the history of the event. Advance ticket sales are up 8 percent over the previous largest crowd, which was last year.
Truck Shots!
07-17-2004 6:50 pm
Click here
for our exclusive Truck Shots gallery, with shots from the grid as the teams prepare for tonight's Dodge Ram Tough 200, and from the on-track autograph session held just a short while ago.
Some season-to-season comparisons
07-17-2004 6:58 pm
So how has the 2004 NCTS season compared to 2003? Let's take a look at some of the numbers:
Season to date:
The point spread between 1-5; 2004: 161; 2003: 71
The point spread between 1-10; 2004: 244; 2003: 217
Wins by Chevrolet; 2004: 3; 2003: 2
Wins by Ford; 2004: 3; 2003: 3
Wins by Dodge; 2004: 5; 2003: 6
(Toyota did not compete in 2003)
Number of race winners; 2004: 7; 2003: 8
Average start of winner; 2004: 7.8; 2003: 4.8
Number of pole winners; 2004: 6; 2003: 6
Number of lead changes; 2004: 105; 2003: 115
Average number of lead changes per race; 2004: 9.5; 2003: 10.5
Total laps under caution; 2004: 507; 2003: 381
Average caution flags per race; 2004: 7.8; 2003: 6.8
How Tough is Gateway?
07-17-2004 7:12 pm
How tough is Gateway to get a hold of? Only five drivers, not including drivers that have won here, have scored their outright best career finish here, and none of them are entered here tonight. Joe Cooksey, Jon Flemke, Ryan Hanson, Michael Ritch, and Shane Wallace all scored career bests here. All of those drivers ran very limited schedules, and in some cases, Gateway was their only career start.
Cook hoping change of colors means change of luck
07-17-2004 7:41 pm
Terry Cook is sporting a slightly different look this week. Gone is the red and black look that he has run all season, replaced with an orange and black look, and he is sporting International Truck and Engines rather than the traditional Power Stroke Diesel logos. "We need something to change our luck here, and hopefully this will do it," said Cook, the 2002 winner at Gateway.
Cook hoping change of colors means change of luck
07-17-2004 7:41 pm
Terry Cook is sporting a slightly different look this week. Gone is the red and black look that he has run all season, replaced with an orange and black look, and he is sporting International Truck and Engines rather than the traditional Power Stroke Diesel logos. "We need something to change our luck here, and hopefully this will do it," said Cook, the 2002 winner at Gateway. Cook will sport the orange and black colors in eight of the remaining 13 races.
Been a quiet afternoon...let's get ready for some noise!
07-17-2004 8:14 pm
It has been a relatively quiet afternoon here at Gateway, but we are closing in on the command to start engines. Can Jack Sprague continue his dominance of the weekend here and win his second race at GIR, or will Bobby Hamilton continue his recent dominance and avenge a bad race here last season? Can Rick Crawford step up and make a run at Victory Lane? Will Toyota make their first ever trip to Winner's Circle? Pit road observers are saying Travis Kvapil is as strong as anyone out there, and he's due. Can Steve Park pick up where his team left off last season? In 160 laps we will know! Tune in for Speed Channel's live coverage, and keep it locked on to TruckSeries.com for all the post-race coverage from the Dodge Ram Tough 200.
Notable quotables, Post race No. 1
07-17-2004 11:22 pm
Shane Hmiel, No. 15 Chevrolet: "I went down on the restart and there was speedy dry all over the place and got loose. I can understand not blowing it if there was 100 laps to go, but not with a green-white checkered. I hate that it happened. I didn't have any radio, so I couldn't hear my spotter say anyone was out there. As far as the rule change for the next race, you can't implement that on Thursday before the race. I understand we would have won, but NASCAR did the right thing by doing that. They do a great job."
Andy Houston, No. 2 Dodge: "I went down beside him (Crawford) and he drove me down to the grass. I did all I could do to keep it off him, but I just couldn't hold on to it. I am sure he is mad. I would be too, but it wasn't anything we did on purpose. I haven't been doing anything different the past few weeks, but we have really started running a lot better. I have had more fun the past three weeks than I have the rest of the season."
Terry Cook, No. 10 Ford: "We wanted to chop the snout off this thing anyhow, now we have a real reason to. We had been having brake problems with about the last 30 laps prior to that restart. We let off the throttle a little early getting into the corner so we made sure we had plenty of brakes so we could get whooed up there but we got guys racing three wide behind us and the driver on the bottom doesn't have a good entry in the corner because he's pinched down. He flat overdrove the corner and drove right into us and turned us. The International Truck and Engines Ford had another bad weekend because people just weren't using their heads but I can guarantee that by the time we get to Michigan we are going to be on track and the rest of the season will be like a dream come true."
Rick Crawford, No. 14 Ford: "I just got drove up into the fence and put on my side. I better not say anymore than that."
Chad Chaffin, No. 18 Dodge: "My truck was not goon on restarts, but I was good after a couple of laps. But that was a cheap shot. I am not crying, and I probably would have done the same thing, but David Starr is a mirror driver. He is the mirror-drivingest driver of them all out there, and for him to knock me off the bottom like that is a total cheap shot. I am not gonna forget it. I left him a hole, but he drove it through like a bulldozer. You can't change it, but what comes around goes around."
Notable quotables, Post race No. 2
07-17-2004 11:38 pm
Matt Crafton, No. 6 Chevy: "I was coming down pit road and the 46 was right along side me. The 42 pulled out, and the 46 must not have seen me because he turned right into me. We banged together pretty good, and it knocked the left front fender in and flattened the tire. We had to come in for lefts and it really threw our strategy off. At the end of the race, we were on much older left sides and were just slippin' all over the place. To come out of here with a sixth-place finish is pretty good."
Ted Musgrave, No. 1 Dodge: "This is one that everyone is going to remember! This is only the second time I can remember a race needing more than one try at a green-white-checkered, and I think I was in the top three in the other one too. It sure was an exciting race. I know the fans got their money's worth, and I hope it sells some tickets for next year. Races like this ought to fill the stands here next year."
Shane Sieg, No. 07 Chevrolet: "We came out of here in one piece. We had the wrong truck here, we came with a drop snout and it just pushed all day. I think if they had one more of those green-white-checkereds we could have come out of here with a top-10 finish."
Chris Wimmer, No. 63 Ford: "I couldn't see too much of what was going on up in front of me, just a lot of smoke. But after the luck we have had lately, I am just happy to get out of here in one piece. The truck has four fenders on it, and that is all you can ask for on a night like tonight."
Paul White, No. 13 Chevrolet: "I told you I was tired of running in the back like that! We lost a cylinder with about 20 laps to go and we were just chugging along on those last few starts. They were beatin' and bangin' all over the place and we were trying our best to stay out of it. I tell ya what, I think I am starting to like this Truck racin'! We're working on a way to get up to that test in Chicago on Monday to see if we can't work on getting even better."
Notable Quotables, Post race No. 3
07-18-2004 12:01 am
Kelly Sutton, No. 02 Chevrolet: ""We battled a loose truck all night, and I dialed in a little front brake to help. Our pit stops were awesome. Tim and the crew made a wedge adjustment on the left side and dropped the track bar, and the truck started feeling really good. We got fast at the end, and picked up a few spots, and turned our fastest lap on like lap 140. We drove through or under those late wrecks , and brought home another top-25 finish! "This is the fourth race since Tim Shutt came on board, and it's our third complete race and third top-25 finish. He's done a great job leading the crew, and the whole team is stepping it up. We're ready for an exciting second half of the season, and look forward to bringing home some top-20 finishes. We're going to enjoy a few days off, but we'll be back and ready to go in Michigan at the end of the month!"
Brad Keselowski, No. 29 Ford: “This was a frustrating race for me. No matter how many adjustments we made to the truck, it seemed like it just would not respond to anything. We tried everything we could think of during the race and it just did not seem to get the truck where we needed it in order to be fast. When the race started we were dealing with an extreme tight condition in the center of the corners, then as we started to make adjustments we became loose off and still tight in the center of the corners. By the end of the race, we were just extremely loose and it was everything I could do to hold onto the truck in the corners. The end of this race was just crazy. It was like several of the drivers out front just went crazy every time they dropped the green flag. There at the very end I was more concerned with keeping the fenders on the truck when it was over. When the wreck happened between Bobby (Hamilton) and Shane (Hmiel), I was clearing them to the bottom when suddenly they were right in front of me and I had to come to a complete stop on the race track. It seemed like I had a front row seat for all of them and I was just happy to be able to load the truck up in one piece.”
Chase Montgomery, No. 8 Dodge: "We battled all night and just kept our nose as clean as we could. It got a little wild out there at the end. We fought a truck that was a little free at the end but my guys hung with me and we brought home this #8 Dodge to our career best finish. We continue to learn more and more each week and we are gaining on it and the results are starting to show."
Tracy Hines, No. 88 Chevy: "We lost a cylinder before half way and still stayed on the lead lap and finished 15th. Unbelievable. First time all year we've had an engine problem."
Notable Quotables, Post race No. 4
07-18-2004 12:19 am
Hank Parker, Jr., No. 21 Toyota: “I knew we had a good truck yesterday in qualifying. We had a really good lap in qualifying, but then the clouds came out and some guys were faster. So, we didn’t start where we wanted, but we made some small changes and I think we definitely learned some things. We made a pretty big adjustment the last time we stopped with a rubber in the right rear, and we took some wedge out, and some other things. Those changes really helped. It was still pretty tight all night, but we had a pretty good truck, we stayed out of trouble, and we got a top-5 finish. My crew chief Wesley Sherrill did a good job and Gere Kinnon was spotting for me and talking me through the whole race. “We don’t need a back-up – where going to run this truck the rest of the year.”
Travis Kvapil, No. 24 Toyota: “Tonight wasn’t what I expected. I thought we had a truck that was going to contend for the win. It was good all weekend in practice. We just started the race and it was too tight from the middle of the corner off -- at both ends of the track. Our adjustments didn’t really help us until the last time we pitted when we made some really good adjustments and fought our way into the top-10. Then all the guys ahead of us had trouble at the end and we set ourselves up for a top-5 finish. But, we had our tire pressures set-up for longer run and in that really short run to the flag at the end -- my truck would just not go My Tundra wasn’t set-up for a two-lap run, and we lost a couple of spots.”
David Reutimann, No. 17 Toyota: “The motor ran awesome tonight, but at the end of the race I lost fourth gear in the transmission – and we couldn’t hold anyone off. You need fourth gear here to run down the straightaway. I probably lost fourth gear with about 15 laps left. All in all, for what happened to us tonight, it was still a pretty good run. It was good to run up front and that’s where we need to be running. This team has the caliber to be running up front every week.”
Bill Lester, No. 22 Toyota: “We can’t understand why we started so poorly tonight – it just went violently loose. We couldn’t understand that because my Tundra was good during ‘Happy Hour.’ Something is going on with the truck that we haven’t figured out, but my guys will get to the bottom of it. These guys made some violent adjustments – as far as dropping the track bar, tire pressure, wedge – you name it and they did it to make the truck better. And the important thing is that we were fortunate enough to avoid everything that happened out there. We’re usually the ones who get caught in some of those incidents on the track.”
Notable Quotables, Post race No, 5: Chevrolet
07-18-2004 12:12 am
David Starr, No. 75 Chevrolet: ON THE WIN: “Man this was awesome for our whole Spears Silverado team. We weren’t the best truck or the fastest truck tonight but Dave McCarty (Crew Chief) and the crew never gave up. They kept making us better and better as the race went on. Chad (Chaffin) was trying to protect his spot and got a little loose coming through one and two. I got underneath him and he had to lift to keep his truck straight.
“I can’t say enough about how proud I am of all my guys. We struggled all weekend with our Spears Chevy Silverado being tight in the center and not rotating right. I watched (Jack) Sprague and (Bobby) Hamilton and they could run around on the white line through all the corners and that is how you get around here fast. We kept working and working on getting it to turn better through the corner. I am just the lucky guy that gets to drive my Silverado after my guys work so hard on giving me a good truck to race. Sprague and some of the other faster trucks had some misfortune tonight and I was able to take advantage of it and bring home the win for our Spears team and the Silverado brand.
ON THE MULTIPLE GREEN-WHITE-CHECKERED ATTEMPTS TO FINISH THE RACE: “This is what makes the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series good hard racing. The fans got their money’s worth tonight. This was just an awesome race for us tonight. I couldn’t be prouder of my guys.”
Dennis Setzer, No. 46 Chevrolet: “We weren’t as good as we should have been at the start of the race but Danny (Gill, crew chief) and the guys already were planning the changes they needed to make during our stops. I just try to give them as much information as I can to help them and my guys made all the right calls. I can’t tell you what a great group of people I work with at Morgan Dollar. We went the wrong way on the first stop but were able to make it better the second time around.”
ON THE FINISH:“I was just riding back there to see what was going to happen with everything. We had a good truck to finish where we were going to get us a good finish. It was just because my team gave me a good Chevrolet Silverado that I could be there at the end to take advantage of the situation that unfolded in front on me.”
Danny Gill, Crew Chief, No. 46 Chevrolet: “This was a good night for us. We were pretty good at the start We made some changes on the first stop and went the wrong way but Dennis helped us with good information and we fixed it the next time we were in. We got a little out of sequence with everyone and got lucky on some pit stops. Track position was everything tonight. We got where we need to be to take home a good finish. We turned what started out to be a mediocre weekend into a good race for our Silverado team.
ON CHEMISTRY WITH DENNIS; “July has been a rough month for us but we worked together as a team and we pulled out a good night for this team. We need to still work on a couple of aspects of our program but we will keep moving forward.
ON THE POINTS: “We want to look at each race as winning a championship that night. We go to win each race and then when you add it all together at the end of the year that is how you win a championship. It is hard in this series now to get a top-five finish so we feel what is best for our program is to take it one race at a time."
Jack Sprague, No. 16 Chevrolet: “Our Chevy Trucks Silverado was so awesome tonight. I can’t tell you how good that truck was. I had just come over the radio and told the guys we were going to finish second but that was ok cause the 15 truck (Shane Hmiel) was stout. Then the right front blew without any warning and completely tore up all the suspension. I was trying to limp around and the left front blew and I hit the inside wall and we were done at that point. It was a bummer it was only five laps from the end but we still had a great night. We just seem to have streaks of bad luck that keep moving the target of the big picture for us. We will just go on to Michigan and see if we can’t get things back on track there.”
Wow...what a night!
07-18-2004 12:25 am
All of the haulers are starting to roll down the highway, and the fans have hit the road. What they are taking with them are lasting memories of a record-breaking night that saw more green-white-checkered attempts than any other race in NCTS history, more added overtime laps than any other race in NCTS series history, two trucks on their side on aborted late-race restarts, a ton of hurt feelings, and a bump-and-run pass for the win to boot! Like Mike Wallace said in Victory Lane after winning the inaugural NCTS race at Daytona in 2000, 'if that didn't turn you on, I don't know what will.'
With that, we'll call it a night from the Dodge Ram Tough 200 at Gateway International Raceway. We will take a much needed week off to regroup and get tempers and emotions back in check before the series takes to the wide, fast highbanks of the Michigan International Speedway. TruckSeries.com will have you covered like a wet blanked with all the news and notes from the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, including much more reaction from the race here in Gateway and previews of the Michigan race in the coming days. TrackSideLive! will pick up exclusive coverage from Michigan on Friday July 29 when the gates swing open, and we'll follow you through to the banquet in Miami. Keep it locked on to the Toughest Site on the Internet, TruckSeries.com for your one stop source for news and information on the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.
Good night everybody!
TrackSideLive! from IRP
08-03-2004 11:43 pm
TrackSideLive! coverage of the Power Stroke Diesel 200 from Indianapolis Raceway Park starts Friday morning!
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