Dover International Speedway was one of Stacy Compton's "all-time" favorite tracks heading into the AAA Insurance 200 which was rain delayed and run on Saturday, but following 200 laps of hard charging action at "The Monster Mile", Compton's view of the one-mile concrete oval may have changed after he was running third with ten laps to go and slid to 13th at the drop of the checkered flag.
"I have probably never been as disappointed in a weekend as I was in Dover," said Compton. "We had a good truck in practice and the driver just made a bad mistake at the end of the race."
Compton qualified his No. 60 SafeAuto Insurance Toyota Tundra in 12th place for the AAA Insurance 200 with a fast lap of 23.591 seconds at a speed of 152.601 miles per hour. Lining up outside row six, Compton quickly showed why Dover is a track that suits his driving style. Compton would drive to the high side and around his competition, a maneuver not many had the courage to try.
"Marcus (Richmond, Crew Chief) made great pit calls, we had good pit stops, and we made some big swings at the truck throughout the race," Compton said of his crew and strategy. "We thought we made it better." Compton was running in 12th position just before the final caution flag flew for a single truck wreck in turn two. Richmond made the call for Compton to stay out while other teams pitted for fresh tires and fuel.
Compton and his No. 60 Toyota moved into third position when the race resumed, and everyone thought he had a solid shot at the win. "It was the right call staying out," said Compton. "Obviously, a guy that stayed out won the race." But Compton ventured from his signature move on the final restart and dove to the low line, a decision that admittedly cost the team a top-five finish. "I made a pretty big mistake right there at the end when they dropped the green flag," Compton explained. "I drove underneath the eight truck and tried to get by him on that last restart and that killed our momentum. That let the whole train get by us on the outside and that probably cost us a top-five finish."
"I'm pretty disappointed in the driver side of it," Compton continued. "I think the guys are doing great and Marcus had some great pit strategy that kept us upfront throughout the race with different pit calls. We battled some tire issues like everyone did, but everyone was in the same boat. I'm pretty disappointed with where we finished when - with fifteen to go - we were sitting there running third. I've kicked myself every day and every night since then, but on the flip side, if I didn't go for it, I wouldn't be a race car driver either. You've got to take chances and this time, those chances just didn't work out."
Compton entered the night ninth in the 2009 Championship Point Standings and even though he finished just outside the top-ten, he slid to 11th in the standings, one point out of the top-10.
"I think the entire weekend was a success with the exception of our finish," said Compton. "We'll move on to Texas on Friday and see if we can redeem ourselves from Dover."
