Kelly Sutton. (VPS Motorimages Photo)

Kelly Sutton made her first start of the 2007 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season this past weekend at the Kansas Speedway for the running of the O'Reilly Auto Parts 250 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series event on Saturday. Sutton, who has not been behind the wheel of a Craftsman truck in 13 events, drove the No. 51 Team COPAXONE (glatiramer acetate injection) Chevrolet Silverado as part of a four race deal with Billy Ballew Motorsports.

Rain on Friday canceled the second practice session for the NCTS drivers at the 1.5 mile tri-oval just outside of Kansas City. Sutton was forced to qualify with only one, one hour practice session to get back in the mode of NCTS qualifying. Sutton, not unlike the rest of the competitors, was unsure what their trucks would be like with an extreme temperature jump from the previous day. Sutton took her qualifying lap and qualified in the 28th position for the 167-lap event, posting a time of 32.793 seconds at a speed of 164.669 mph.

Sutton's goal was to have a clean race and to finish the event, but Kansas Speedway had other plans for her. During a rash of green flag pits stops, Sutton elected to stay out and was in the 12th position when Johnny Benson got loose in turn three and four collecting Sutton's Silverado. The contact broke the suspension on the truck and ended her day on lap 71 relegating Sutton to a 33rd place finish.

"The rain canceling the second practice really hurt us," Sutton said. "I haven't had that many laps in this truck to know exactly how it would handle, but I knew I we'd be pretty solid during the race. We were in a perfect position to get at least a top-15 if not top-10 finish with the green flag pit stops. But then Johnny (Benson) got loose coming off of four and collected me. It was like deja vu all over again because that's where I wrecked so hard last year. I just hate it for this Billy Ballew Motorsports team. They gave me an awesome truck and I'm really looking forward to some testing before we head to Mansfield next month."

Sutton's next race in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series will be at the Mansfield Motorsports Park slated for May 18, 2007. For more information on Billy Ballew Motorsports and Kelly Sutton visit www.BillyBallewMotorsports.com.