Defending NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion Ted Musgrave fought back from a pit road miscue and wrestled the No. 9 Team ASE Toyota to a 19th-place finish in the O'Reilly Auto Parts 200 at Memphis Motorsports Park on Saturday.  Musgrave, one of four former Memphis winners in the field, started 13th and hovered just outside the top-10 for much of the night.

After racing 89 consecutive green flag laps, Musgrave came to pit road for a final adjustment from his Tom Ackerman-led crew when the caution waved with just over 20 laps to go.  However, an ill-timed misfortune on pit road dropped Musgrave out of the top twenty.  Rather than a patented charge to rally for a top-10 finish, it was all Musgrave could to do score 19th at the checkered.

"It was pretty cool to get some green flag racing," Musgrave said. We don't get to see that a lot in the Truck Series. The guys that had their trucks set up for long green flag runs were dominant.  We were adjusting on it, and we were getting a little better.  Todd's (Bodine) truck and my Team ASE Toyota were about the same.  We pretty much ran together at the same pace on the track all night long.  We had a miscue on pit road and that hurt, the jack got dropped and we didn't have any left side tires on it. It was just another roller coaster night for us."

Musgrave's misfortune late in the going also cost him in the series points battle.  He now sits 248 points behind teammate and series championship leader Todd Bodine, and dropped one position in the standings to fifth.  Musgrave is just 17 points behind Rick Crawford for fourth, and is 8 markers ahead of Ron Hornaday in sixth.

The No. 9 Team ASE Toyota and driver Ted Musgrave will take a two-week respite from competition before the next series event at O'Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis on August 4.  The Power Stroke Diesel 200 is slated for an 8:30 P.M. Eastern start, with live coverage on Speed Channel and selected affiliates of the Motor Racing Network.  TruckSeries.com will provide comprehensive coverage throughout the day, including practice, qualifying, and race updates at www.truckseries.com.