A malfunctioning radio and a loose wheel were two obstacles the No. 04 Hemi Dodge driver Scott Lagasse Jr. had to overcome in his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series debut. With the help of his Hemi Dodge Racing Team's fast thinking Lagasse was able to salvage a 30th place finish in the RaceTickets.com 200 at California Speedway.

"This is not what we were looking for in our first race together," said Lagasse, after he climbed out of the truck. "But we were not the only ones with problems. It was comforting to see your teammates not too far in front of you. We all missed it together, but I am confident we will fix it before we go to Atlanta. Bobby Hamilton and Dodge are committed to succeeding in 2006 and I know without a doubt we will get it turned around. It was my first time in a truck and I learned a lot about how adjustments affect the handling of it. It was learning experience for everyone."

Lagasse qualified the No. 04 Hemi Dodge in 24th position on Friday afternoon. The team made unapproved adjustments after qualifying resulting in him going to the back of the pack before the start of the race. By lap 10 the first caution flag was being waved and Lagasse pitted. The Hemi Dodge Racing Team made a major track bar adjustment going down four rounds and adding fuel. He restarted in 26th position.

On lap 14 he radioed in "the truck is a little tight in the center." Crew Chief Randy Seals assured Lagasse he would fix that on the first pit stop. The second caution waved on lap 19 for a stalled truck. The No. 04 Hemi Dodge came back down pit road to the attention of his crew for four tires, fuel and a major air pressure adjustment to aid the tight condition. Immediately after the restart, Lagasse radioed in he was having radio problems and thought the battery was going dead. His spotter encouraged him not to worry about it and not talk unless he had too to save the battery.

On lap 40 the truck was extremely loose and Lagasse had dropped to the 29th position, but he was not alone. All of the Bobby Hamilton Racing entries were running directly in front of him. The fourth caution came out on lap 43 and Lagasse made the decision to pit. "Whatever you do please fix the loose condition," reminded Lagasse. The pit crew did just that changing four tires, adding fuel, making an air pressure adjustment and going down two more rounds on the track bar. He restarted in 30th position.

Under the sixth caution on lap 59 Crew Chief Randy Seals made the decision to pit again for four tires, fuel and another track bar adjustment to aid the loose condition. Lagasse was comfortably running in the 27th position when the seventh of eight cautions of the night came out for debris. Seals made the call to make a wedge adjustment to try to fix the consistent loose condition. He restarted in 25th position on lap 75.

In the final 10 laps of the event Lagasse encountered a major problem. He had to pit for a loose wheel on lap 92. A lug nut was left loose on the previous stop causing the wheel to work its way loose and eventually damaged the axel. It took the Hemi Dodge Racing Team several laps to fix the problem. Lagasse finished the event in 30th place, seven laps down.

"It was a productive weekend and I feel like we overcome a lot," said Lagasse. "I am committed to this team and I know Randy (Seals) and Bob (Bissinger) along with Bobby (Hamilton) are committed to me. I think this team will surprise a lot of people as the season gets underway."

Mark Martin won the RaceTickets.com 200. Todd Bodine, Ted Musgrave, David Reutimann and Jack Sprague followed in the top five.