Raybestos Rookie Race Review: Michigan

06-17-2006 | TruckSeries.com Report

Erik Darnell in the No. 99 Woolrich Ford was the Raybestos Rookie of the race at Michigan. Darnell finished 12th and took top rookie honors for the fifth time this season. He UNOFFICIALLY leads the Raybestos Rookie standings by 23 points (95-72) over Aric Almirola. Darnell is UNOFFICIALLY 14th in the Craftsman Truck Series championship standings, 155 behind 10th-place Mike Bliss.

Darnell: This is another solid run for your team. "This was again one of our finishes close to the top-10 where we just missed it. Our Woolrich Ford was pretty decent all day today but not quite where we needed it to be. We were a little bit tight in qualifying and I thought it would be the same way during the race but the track must have heated up a little bit and got a little bit hotter. I was loose all day, just kind of fighting it, hanging on. The guys in the pits did a great job. John Quinn made some good calls and we got the truck tightened up. We were pretty fast there at the end. There was so much slicing and dicing going on out there that we lost a couple spots. We gained a few, just didn't quite end up where we wanted to."

Did the track get slicker and slicker because of the heat? "It seemed to get a little bit slicker, yeah. I was sliding around. We were making adjustments during our pit stops to tighten it up and it really didn't seem to do much. I think it was getting slicker as the day went on."

Did you just need another set of adjustments to have a chance to finish in the top-10? "Maybe just another set of adjustments or just another couple of laps. Those guys are running hard out there. I really see why the truck series racing is as exciting as everybody talks about. You were holding your breath out there today but it was fun."

You are pretty close to the top-10 in Craftsman Truck Series points. "We were 15th coming in to this and I don't know where that will move us up to. It's our ultimate goal to get back into the top-10 in points and of course win Raybestos Rookie of the Year. I think we're getting our season turned around. We're going to be on the right track."

Aric Almirola, No. 75 Spears Manufacturing Chevrolet:
"Two flat tires in two weeks. I don't understand it. That's the second week in a row that we've cut down a right front. I guess it's two weeks in a row that I've run over something. We just can't get a break. We started to make a gain in the points and the Raybestos Rookie points and just when we felt like we were doing better and hammering out top-10s we start having a streak of bad luck here. I imagine we'll get back out there but it won't be a whole lot of fun."

Chad McCumbee, No. 08 U.S. Restoration Chevrolet:
"That was not exactly what I was looking for. I really think we could have run 11th or 12th. It's just aggravating. I had a little racing deal there. Someone missed a shift in front of me and I couldn't cut it away in time and knocked the right front in. From then on there were probably 10 of them that were better than me behind me but I was just doing everything I could to hold them off because it would not turn. Bobby and Gene gave me this opportunity and we're still showing that we're competitive here and hopefully we can still turn some heads. I wanted to be the Raybestos Rookie of the Race and had it in sight but it's hard to do with a hole in your front end."

Is this another building block for the team? "Yeah, we're learning more and more about our trucks. This is just the second time that I've drove one for them. I really think for us being able to jump out there and run this competitive already, I'm pretty happy. Like I say, I wish we could have finished a little better."

Boston Reid, No. 25 Woodard Racing Dodge:
"We were really good considering what we unloaded with yesterday and how far we came. I can't thank the guys on the Woodard race team enough. Mark, my crew chief, did a good job. None of these guys gave up. I can't thank Rick Woodard enough and everybody for putting this deal together because we have been solidly improving the last couple of weeks."

Did the cautions at the end of the race help you or hurt you? "It actually hurt us because right there at the end we got our truck really good. The Red Rocks truck was awesome. We just can't thank them enough. We got it good there at the end. I'd like to have seen it go green the last 30 but we'll take what we got. We hit the wall there the last lap and we ended up 17th again. We'll take these better than the 30ths.

Joey Miller, No. 12 Curb Records Toyota:
"We had a decent day. We kept on adjusting on it every time and gained on it a little bit at a time. I've been to this track a couple of times and have never been able to run a full race. I got some more seat time. I'll definitely do stuff a little different now after we've been here once."

What did you learn that will help you when you come back here? "Definitely what to look for in the feel of the truck. That's most of what I learned and what to look for the next time we come back."

Kraig Kinser, No. 46 U.S. Army Chevrolet:
"I learned quite a bit especially about how important the draft is here with the trucks. The restarts at the end, I got burned on them pretty bad. I will definitely be trying to work on that for next race and the next time we come back here. Just getting going and getting trapped on the bottom on some of those restarts weren't good for us. We probably should have been about a 15th-place truck and we ended up about 20th."

How difficult is it to get a clean restart? "It's hard to get a good enough start where the guy behind you doesn't get a big enough run where he's going to do something with you. You've just got to protect the top because if you keep them below you, more than likely you'll be able to beat them down the back straightaway and keep them out of the draft. There were a couple times where I thought I could make some moves on the bottom and got stuck down there and that was my fault."