In only his second trip to the Irish Hills of Michigan, Tayler Malsam recorded his career best finish in his 11 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series starts, with a sixth-place run Saturday afternoon at Michigan International Speedway. The 20-year-old driver overcame ignition box troubles in the first five laps of the race and right front damage from a multi-truck wreck on lap 34 to capture his fourth top-10 finish of the 2009 season.
Malsam qualified in the 14th position and quickly realized a problem on board his No. 81 One Eighty Toyota Tundra. On lap five, the Raybestos Rookie of the Year Contender had to switch ignition boxes as his first box expired. As a result of switching boxes, Malsam was running in 22nd-place on lap six. The first caution of the afternoon came out on lap 10 and crew chief Doug Wolcott called Malsam to pit road for a track bar adjustment and fuel.
Road block number two for Malsam came on lap 34 as a multi-truck incident caused the One Eighty Toyota to receive right front damage. After the Randy Moss Motorsports crew repaired the damage, Malsam restarted the 100-lap race from the 20th position. Within 15 laps, the Seattle, Washington native broke into the top-10. For the final 50 laps, Malsam steadily moved up within the top-10 positions, getting as high as fifth on lap 73. The rookie battled teammate Mike Skinner in the final laps of race and brought home a sixth-place finish. This was Malsam's career best finish in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.
After recording his eighth top-15 finish of the season, Malsam broke into the top-10 in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship point standings, as he sits tied with Terry Cook for the seventh position. He is currently only 23 points behind fifth-place Kyle Busch. In addition, Malsam took back his lead in the Raybestos Rookie of the Year standings, as he leads second-place Johnny Sauter by two points.
This Friday, June 19, Malsam and his No. 81 One Eighty Toyota Tundra team will head to the oldest active track in the world for the one day show at The Milwaukee Mile. The green flag will drop at America's Legendary Oval just shortly after 9 P.M. Eastern.
SPEED will have live coverage of the 200-lap event, starting at 8:30 P.M. Eastern. Select affiliates of MRN Radio and Sirius-XM NASCAR Radio Channel 128 will also have the live radio broadcast.
Tayler Malsam Quotes:
How was your race?
"Just got to give credit to this team. These guys have been working their butts off in the shop and out here. It was an ignition box and then getting in that accident, they got us back out there fast so it's all these guys. I'm just holding it down."
It appeared that your truck got better as the race went on.
"Doug (Wolcott) kept throwing changes at it and kept working. We kept loosening her up and loosening her up and making the high side work again."
What did you need to finish a little better?
"I think we just needed more laps. I think we were getting tight with that front fender knocked in. Overall it was a good day."
What happened in that accident?
"I don't know. I just saw smoke and they said, 'Watch out' and the next thing I know we were hitting someone. It was all good though."
How important is it to score another top-10 as you continue the learning process?
"It's huge. I mean, the guys are working their butts off at the shop and stuff and to keep running good for them is all I can do. These guys keep working out here and at the shop and top-10s and top-fives and everything leads to a win. Hopefully all the stars will line up one night and we get one of these. I need to thank everyone at Randy Moss Motorsports and Toyota and send a big thank you to One Eighty for everything that they do and for the amazing food that they sent us this weekend."
