Unscheduled Stop Hurts Compton at Kansas

04-30-2007 | TruckSeries.com Report

Stacy Compton Brings No. 09 Zaxby's Ford F-150 home in 14th Place

Only one thing could help Stacy Compton salvage a good finish in Saturday's O'Reilly Auto Parts 250 at the Kansas Speedway - a good race truck.

Despite making an unscheduled pit stop for a loose wheel, Compton managed to rally the No. 09 Zaxby's Ford F-150 to a 14th-place finish.

Compton, who is sharing the driving duties this year in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series with Joey Clanton, started 16th and was moving toward the Top 10 when he was forced to make the early stop. When he returned, his Wood Brothers/JTG Racing truck ran lap speeds that matched the leaders. He pitted out of sequence with the other leaders, and that cost him a better finish.

The truck series will race again on May 18 at the Lowe's Motor Speedway near Charlotte, N.C. Clanton will take controls of the No. 09 Zaxby's Ford for that race.

Stacy Compton, driver of the No. 09 Zaxby's Ford F-150:
""We had a great truck," he said. "We ran about third in line all night. We passed the second- and third-place guys a couple times. We just had a loose wheel early on and had to pit under the green and got a lap down. We had some great calls in the pits to turn a bad situation into something that was a little more manageable.

"The truck was great all night. It was fun. It was fun to essentially be a Top-Five truck, but it was a little disappointing that we didn't come away with that kind of finish. The racing was good. There were a lot of long green-flag runs. That's when you find out who has the good trucks. It made it interesting when we had to pit under green. I just wish we could have pitted with everybody else. If we could, we would have been right up there."

Joey Clanton, who finished sixth in the season-opener at Daytona, will be back in the No. 09 Zaxby's Ford F-150 for the Quaker Steak and Lube 200 at the Lowe's Motor Speedway on May 18.

The next race for Stacy Compton in the No. 09 Zaxby's Ford F-150 is the AAA Insurance 200 at the Dover International Speedway on June 1.