Kluever Bangs Out Sixth Place Finish at Atlanta

10-30-2005 | TruckSeries.com Report

What should have been a good finish for Todd Kluever took a frightening turn as the race ended.  Kluever was coming out of turn four on the final lap as several trucks spun in front of him.  Although he finished sixth, he took several hard hits while crossing the finish line.

Kluever started his No. 50 Shell Rotella® T Ford F-150 in fourth place.  A 30-minute red flag delayed the race after only two laps for a three-truck accident that happened behind Kluever.  Once the race resumed he told the team the truck was a tick free.  The team planned to make a wedge adjustment during the first pit stop, but in the meantime Kluever worked his way toward the front of the field.

By the third caution of the race on lap 45 Kluever was up to third place.  He came into the pits for four tires, fuel and a wedge adjustment to tighten-up the truck.  The team had trouble on the stop as a lugnut jammed in the rear gun and Kluever returned to the track in eighth place.

It did not take long for him to realize that the truck was too tight after the adjustment.  Again, it did not stop him from moving up through the field.  He moved into seventh place by lap 75.

Debris brought out the fourth caution on lap 90.  Kluever was in fifth place and pitted for four tires, fuel and the team reversed their previous wedge adjustment.  A 17-second pit stop helped him gain one position in the pits and return to the track in fourth place.

Kluever was shuffled back a bit after the restart and fell back to seventh place.  The truck was good and he was able to gain a few positions back as the race progressed.  With 10 laps to go, he was up to sixth place.

The race took an interesting turn on lap 124 when the caution came out for debris.  Half of the top-10 trucks elected to pit for tires and the other half remained on the track.  Kluever stayed out to maintain his track position since there would only be a few laps remaining when the race resumed.  He was fourth when the green flag was displayed with three laps to go.

Kyle Busch was one of the drivers who pitted for right-side tires and restarted ninth.  He, along with a few other drivers who took tires, shot through the field to the front.  Kluever fell to sixth place, and as the leaders came off turn four to take the checkered flag Busch moved to the outside of Jack Sprague which started several trucks spinning.  Kluever could not avoid the truck of Bobby Labonte.  He hit the outside wall trying to miss the accident, bounced into Labonte, shot across the track through the tri-oval grass, and took another hard hit on pit wall.  He was credited with a sixth-place finish, but also ended up with a totaled truck and a bruised ankle.  Busch won the race.

"It was a pretty good day for us," Kluever said.  "We were as high as third, and for the first part of the race we really had a good truck.  We just really couldn't get it to do exactly what I needed it to do to run better than that.

"That ending there, I came off four and I saw the 60 truck sideways going across the start-finish line.  I checked up and I tried to go to the outside just because there were so many people.  Everybody was checking up and I had a couple of trucks on the inside of me, and I just tried to go to the outside.  By that time, I was committed and there was smoke so I couldn't really see.  I was trying to get out by the wall so I could hope to maybe squeeze by, but with so much smoke I couldn't even see the wall and I hit it and it bounced me back into Bobby (Labonte).  The throttle was stuck and I went across the infield and hit the pit wall a ton.  It's a shame since it was a brand new truck, but the guys promise me they'll build more."

The top-10 finish helped Kluever gain two positions to 12th in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series point standings, and is now just 40 points out of 10th place.  He continues to lead the Raybestos Rookie of the Year point standings.