Category: Truck Series

• Peters at Texas…The WinStar World Casino 350 will mark Timothy Peters’ sixth career start at Texas Motor Speedway. In five previous starts Peters has earned four top-20 finishes. Earlier this season, he started 11^th and finished seventh, capturing his first top-10 finish at TMS.

• Bouncing Back…After a couple rough weeks Peters seems back on track. Accidents at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Martinsville Speedway left him with 26^th and 34^th place finishes respectively. Hoping to turn things around, Peters did just that at Talladega Superspeedway by earning a seventh place finish. That top-10 marked the #17 team’s 16^th top-10 of the season in 22 events.

• Every Point Counts…As the season winds down, Peters knows that every point he earns in the last three races will be critical. A top-10 finish at Talladega Superspeedway helped Peters to gain a little ground in the driver point standings. He currently sits seventh, just seven points behind sixth place and 85 points behind fifth place.  With the goal of getting back inside the top-five, Peters knows he must earn as many points as possible before the checkered flag falls at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

• Crescent Tools Back On Board At Texas… The Crescent Tools logo will adorn the #17 Toyota Tundra as an associate sponsor at Texas Motor Speedway. The Crescent brand product line now consists not only of adjustable wrenches, but also a wide selection of other tools. These include several styles of pliers, ratcheting wrenches, screwdrivers, and tool sets. One of the most recent examples of Crescent innovation is the new RapidSlide™ adjustable wrench.

Timothy Peters on racing at Texas Motor Speedway “I’m looking forward to our return to Texas. We had a really good run going there earlier this year but I had a problem on the last restart and lost our top-five finish.  I get my favorite truck back this weekend and I’m ready to get back behind the wheel of that chassis. We need to unload strong and get that top-five finish that eluded us in June. We are doing everything we can to get back inside the top-five in points and the only way to get there is to finish in the top-five these last three weeks. I know this team is more than capable of getting it done.”

Jeff Hensley on racing at Texas Motor Speedway “Texas is one of my favorite tracks. I’ve never been able to get a win there but I’ve finished second about five times.  We had another second place run going this summer but got shuffled up on the green white checkered restart and lost some spots. If we start off like we left off there in June we should have a shot at it. The only way to win in Texas is to be better than Todd Bodine so that is our goal for this week.”

Equipment Information Timothy Peters will compete with chassis #138 in the WinStar World Casino 350 at Texas Motor Speedway. This is the same chassis he last raced at Darlington Raceway where he started on the pole and finished 2nd.

Timothy Peters Seeks Sponsorship Partner Peters is still seeking sponsorship for his #17 Toyota Tundra. Red Horse Racing is currently running the #17 without primary sponsorship. For more information on sponsorship opportunities please contact Tom DeLoach at 704-662-0039.

NUMBER 10: Elliott Sadler returns to the No. 2 this weekend for his Truck Series debut at Texas Motor Speedway. The race will be Sadler’s 10th-career start in the Truck Series, and his seventh in a Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI) truck. In his nine previous Truck Series races, Sadler has one win, one pole (both achieved at Pocono Raceway earlier this season), two top-five finishes and three top-10 finishes. He has led a total of 104 laps in the Truck Series, all of which were led this season in a KHI truck.

GONE HUNTING: The No. 2 is going hunting for a win this weekend, sporting Realtree camouflage at Texas Motor Speedway. Realtree is the world’s leading camouflage designer, marketer, and licensor with over 2,000 licensees utilizing the Realtree camouflage brand. Additionally, Realtree is one of the nation’s leading contributors to conservation groups such as Ducks Unlimited, the National Wild Turkey Federation and the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation.

GUNS BLAZING: Sadler comes into this weekend with all the arsenal he needs to win the famed cowboy hat and guns awarded to Texas Motor Speedway winners. Although he has never started a Truck Series race at the track, he has 17 Cup Series and six Nationwide Series starts at Texas Motor Speedway. In those starts, Sadler has earned one Cup Series win (2004) and one Nationwide Series pole (1998) on the 1.5-mile quad-oval. In his 23 combined starts at the track, Sadler has racked up three top-five finishes and six top-10 finishes.

THOUGHTS FROM THE DRIVER: Elliott Sadler

How do you feel going into this week’s race at Texas Motor Speedway?

“Texas is one of my favorite tracks on the schedule. I’ve won there before and it’s one of the fastest places we race all year. I’ve got a win under my belt in the truck, and of all the things I’ve accomplished in my career, knowing that I’ve won in all three series is something I’m very proud of. Hopefully we can get a win, a cowboy hat and that cool trophy from Texas this weekend.”

What have your Cup Series win and Nationwide Series pole at the track taught you about what it takes to be successful at Texas Motor Speedway?

“Obviously, at any mile and a half, horsepower is a big deal. But when you look at Texas, you’re in the corner for a long time so it’s important to have the truck turning well. We’ll focus on race trim during practice and get the No. 2 Realtree Chevrolet ready for a good weekend. Hunting season in Texas will be in and I’ve been bow hunting back in Virginia, so it’s really cool to represent the Realtree brand.”

PREVIOUS RACE RECAP: Last weekend at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway, Ken Schrader broke his streak of six top-10 finishes in the No. 2 truck after fender damage received in “the big one” ended his chances of earning a KHI victory in 2010. After leading his first lap in a KHI truck, heavy fender damage sustained in a multi-truck wreck on lap 93 brought Schrader down pit road for repairs before the green-white-checkered restart, affecting the truck’s aerodynamics and costing him track position. Schrader crossed the finish line 11th in the Moore’s Marinade Chevrolet Silverado, but was assessed a post-race penalty for passing before the restart and was ultimately scored in the 14th position.

CHASSIS HISTORY: The No. 2 team will utilize chassis No. 047 this weekend at Texas Motor Speedway. Chassis No. 047 made its debut at Las Vegas Motor Speedway where it was driven by Ron Hornaday to an 11th-place finish after starting in the seventh position.

ARE YOU A FOLLOWER? Twitter users can now keep up-to-date with Kevin Harvick Inc.’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Teams by following at http://twitter.com/KHI_TruckSeries. In addition, you can follow KHI’s Nationwide Series team at http://twitter.com /KHI_NNS. Want more from KHI? Follow KHI’s co-owners Kevin and DeLana Harvick at http://twitter.com/kevinharvick and http://twitter.com/delanaharvick.

MEDIA ACCESS: Members of the media can now log on to www.kevinharvickinc.com to gain access to press kit information online. For more information, please email Jessica Trippy at KHI: jtrippy@kevinharvickinc.com.

About Realtree

Realtree is the world’s leading camouflage designer, marketer, and licensor with over 2,000 licensees utilizing the Realtree camouflage brand. Thousands of outdoor and lifestyle products are available in Realtree camouflage patterns. In addition, Realtree is committed to supporting individuals and groups that work to ensure our outdoor heritage, the conservation of natural places, and the wildlife that resides there. In fact, Realtree is one of the nation’s leading contributors to conservation groups such as Ducks Unlimited, the National Wild Turkey Federation, and the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. Realtree promotes its products and relationships widely on ESPN2, Outdoor Channel, and other television networks, as well as through Realtree.com and many other outlets. For more information on Realtree, visit www.realtree.com.

About Kevin Harvick Inc.

Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI), established in 2001 by Kevin and DeLana Harvick, is an 80,000 sq. ft. facility located in Kernersville, N.C. Home of the 2009 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship team, KHI enters 2010 in its seventh full year of competition with two full-time Truck Series teams and one full-time Nationwide Series team. Four-time Truck Series champion Ron Hornaday returns to the helm of the No. 33 Truck team looking for his fifth title and third championship for KHI (2009 and 2007), while Sprint Cup series stars Kevin Harvick and Elliott Sadler guide the No. 2 Truck team. Two-time NASCAR Nationwide Series champion Harvick will again shine as the lead driver of the No. 33 Nationwide Series team as he continues to make his mark in motorsports and establish KHI as one of the top teams in NASCAR competition. For more information about KHI and its teams, please visit www.KevinHarvickInc.com.

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Peters never gave up and worked his way back to the lead lap and a top-10 finish; marking his 16th top-10 finish of the season.

TALLADEGA, AL. (Oct 30)- Timothy Peters headed for Talladega Superspeedway hoping for a repeat of his last superspeedway performance. Peters won the season opener at Daytona International Speedway and armed with the same chassis once again, he was looking for similar results. Qualifying 15th for the Mountain Dew 250, Peters had a plan to get himself to the front. When the green flag dropped, he found his drafting partner, and the #17 started moving forward. After nearly reaching the top-10 in the first four laps, Peters noticed the window net had come loose. Peters dropped to the back and rode around until the caution came out and the team could fix it. Once repaired Peters was on the move but radio issues were making it hard to communicate with the team. The crew worked on that problem during the next stop but the green flag waved before Peters caught up to the pack and he lost the draft. Unable to catch up, he eventually went a lap down on lap 73 when the draft caught up to him. Peters got hit from behind and spun on the apron. With no damage but four flat tires, the #17 hit pit road. All fixed up, Peters was hoping to catch a break with the “Lucky Dog” which he received on lap 85. He never gave up and was back in the hunt on the next restart. Exercising patience and good judgment, Peters avoided the “big one” in the final laps of the race and was able to bring home the #17 Red Horse Racing Tundra in the seventh spot after such a challenging day.

The #17 team had only one practice session on Friday morning to get their Toyota Tundra in race ready condition. Peters did a couple mock qualifying runs then switched over to drafting practice. Confident his truck was still as good as it had been in Daytona, Peters was ready to find his way back to Victory Lane.

Peters qualified 15th on Friday afternoon but knew he wouldn’t stay there for long once the green flag waved. Under sunny skies on Saturday afternoon, it was finally time to see how the #17 would fair at one of NASCAR’s toughest tracks.

When the Mountain Dew 250 started, Peters quickly found drafting help and shot up to the 11th spot by lap four. Peters came on the radio and told the crew his window net had come unlatched at the bottom. Forced to drop to the back of the pack and ride around until the first caution, Peters was holding the net closed with one hand and driving with the other.

He was so relieved to see the first caution fly on lap 22. Peters hit pit road on lap 26 for four fresh tires, fuel and adjustments. The team also took some extra time to fix the window net so it would stay closed on its own.

He restarted 23rd on lap 32 and in just on lap had already worked his way to the 16th spot. Using the draft to his advantage, Peters broke inside the top-10 on lap 40. On lap 44, Peters once again came on the radio with bad news. He reported that the window net had somehow come undone again. He dropped back to the 19th spot still having to hold the net himself.

The caution came out again on lap 60 just before Peters was about to make a green flag pit stop. He hit pit road for four tires, fuel and adjustments. The team also worked to repair the window net. Experiencing radio problems the last green flag run, Peters came back to pit road one lap later to let the team switch out his radio.

He headed back out on track to catch up with the pack before the restart but the green flag flew before he reached the lead pack. As a result, Peters lost the draft and was left to ride around by himself hoping for another caution. Eventually the pack caught up to him from behind and put Peters a lap down on lap 73. Just as Peters was merging into the lead draft, another truck bumped him from behind and spun the #17 down towards the apron. Peters kept it off the wall and the truck had no damage but all four tires were flat. He hit pit road on lap 74 for four tires and fuel.

The #17 restarted 18th still one lap down to the leaders but a quick caution gave Peters the “Lucky Dog” on lap 85 and he was back on the lead lap and back in the game. Restarting 18th, he worked his way to 16th before a huge wreck broke out in front of him on lap 91. Able to avoid any contact, Peters snuck through unscathed. The red flag came out to allow officials to clean up the debris. When the track was clear once again, the engines re-fired and Peters lined up to restart ninth for a green, white, checkered finish. Holding his position, Peters used the draft to gain two spots before the end of the race. After the battles he experienced during the race, he was elated with a seventh place finish.

The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series heads to Ft. Worth, Texas this week. The WinStar World Casino 350 at Texas Motor Speedway is scheduled for Friday, November 5th and will be televised live on SPEED Channel at 8:30pm EDT.

TALLADEGA, Ala. (October 31, 2010) – Ken Schrader broke his streak of six top-10 finishes in the No. 2 truck after fender damage received in “the big one” ended his chances of earning a Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI) victory in 2010. After leading his first lap in a KHI truck, heavy fender damage sustained in a multi-truck wreck on lap 93 brought Schrader down pit road for repairs before the green-white-checkered restart, affecting the truck’s aerodynamics and costing him track position. Schrader crossed the finish line 11th in the Moore’s Marinade Chevrolet Silverado, but was assessed a post-race penalty for passing before the restart and was ultimately scored in the 14th position.

With KHI teammate Ron Hornaday on the pole, Schrader started the Mountain Dew 250 fueled by Fred’s in the fourth position. Losing several positions on the initial start, Schrader was scored in 15th by lap three. Working his way back toward the front, Schrader drafted back into fifth before the first caution of the day waved on lap 24 for a two-truck incident.

Crew chief Ernie Cope called Schrader down pit road for four tires, fuel and a track-bar adjustment to improve the handling of the Moore’s Marinade machine. The No. 2 restarted seventh on lap 33, and with the best drafting line constantly changing, Schrader slid back to 13th on lap 34, but surged to sixth on lap 47 while Hornaday led. As the lead pack of trucks ran single file, Schrader darted to the outside and attempted to start a second drafting pack on the high side, but few trucks followed initially, preventing the line from making much progress. However, on lap 53, Schrader’s persistence in the outside line paid off, and the group charged ahead, allowing Schrader to take the lead for the first time in a KHI truck.

Hornaday reclaimed the lead a lap later, and Schrader moved around the top 10 as the leaders began green-flag pit stops on lap 57. Cope called Schrader into the pits on lap 58 while in the seventh position, but Schrader was unable to maneuver past the train of trucks inside him and remained on track. Cope warned that if he did not pit on the next lap he would run out of fuel, but the caution waved for an accident in the trioval before Schrader could come to pit road.

With Cope relaying that he would have to pit immediately regardless of whether the pits were open, Schrader brought the No. 2 down pit road while it was still closed, and the crew provided him with four tires and fuel. Returning to the racetrack, Schrader informed Cope that he had acquired a bad vibration. Cope called Schrader back to pit road with the intention of tightening all the lug nuts, but decided not to risk the chance that the vibration was a tire problem, ordering the team to change all four tires and top the truck off with fuel before the restart.

Penalized for pitting before the pits were opened, Schrader was sent to the end of the lead lap and restarted 13th on lap 65. Schrader worked his way back into the top 10 on lap 70, and the yellow flag waved again on lap 75 for a two-truck accident. With several leaders choosing to top off with fuel one final time, Schrader and the team chose to do the same, and he restarted 11th on lap 78. Schrader moved into 10th before the caution waved for a stopped truck on lap 87, and he remained on the track before restarting on lap 89.

Schrader once again tried to use the high line to his advantage and work his way to the front, but his efforts were thwarted on lap 93 when rookie Grant Enfinger bump drafted too aggressively with points leader Todd Bodine, sending him into Mike Skinner and initiating “the big one.” While Hornaday went airborne and tumbled down the apron, Bodine swerved and bounced off of Enfinger, careening into Schrader’s right-front fender. Following a brief red flag, Schrader drove into the pits and the team quickly attempted to repair the fender and reshape the hood. One of several drivers rushing back onto the track for the restart, Schrader was 15th when the green flag waved for a green-white-checkered restart.

With a damaged truck and a jumble of competitors around him, Schrader skillfully navigated the No. 2 into the 10th position before the white flag. Schrader lost one position on the final lap and was initially scored in the 11th position. However, after video playback, it was determined that Schrader and Skinner had made passes before the start/finish line on the restart, and both were assessed post-race penalties and scored at the tail end of the longest line, ultimately putting Schrader in 14th.

“It’s a shame,” said Schrader following the race. “We had a shot until we lost the right-front fender in the wreck, and we were still competitive until the final lap. I thought that I was going to be able to follow the No. 3 and get that top-10 finish, but we got separated and everybody spread out at the start/finish line. I’m really disappointed that I didn’t get to take the No. 2 truck to victory lane this season, but I can’t thank Kevin and DeLana [Harvick] enough for the opportunity, and I’ve got to thank all the guys at KHI for all their hard work.”

Kyle Busch took the checkered flag in the closest Truck Series finish (.002 second margin of victory) since the implementation of electronic scoring, followed by Aric Almirola, Johnny Sauter, Matt Crafton and Ricky Carmichael rounding out the top five. The No. 2 remains fifth in the Owner’s Point Standings, 405 points out of first place.

The Truck Series hits the track again on Friday, November 5th for the WinStar World Casino 350 at Texas Motor Speedway where Elliott Sadler will be behind the wheel of the No. 2 truck. The race can be seen live on SPEED at 8:30 p.m. ET.

Kyle Busch earned his sixth win of the season in Saturday’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) race at Alabama’s Talladega Superspeedway.  

Busch led three times for a total of eight (of 95) laps in today’s race and came to the checkered flag just two-thousandths second ahead of fellow Tundra driver Aric Almirola.    

The victory marked the second for Busch at Talladega (October 2009), fourth for a Tundra at the Alabama oval and 13th win this season for Tundra.  

Timothy Peters (seventh) and Craig Goess Jr. (10th) also posted top-10 results for Toyota at the 2.66-mile superspeedway.  

Tundra drivers David Starr (11th), Mike Skinner (15th), Todd Bodine (18th), Chris Fontaine (19th), Max Papis (27th) and Justin Lofton (33rd) were also in the field.  

Bodine continues to lead the unofficial NCWTS driver standings following Martinsville, holding a 216-point advantage over Almirola.  Peters (seventh), Skinner (eighth) and Starr (ninth) are also in the top-10 in points after 22 of 25 races.  

With the win, Kyle Busch Motorsports now leads Germain Racing in the unofficial NCWTS owner standings by 42 points with three races remaining in 2010.

KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 Traxxas Toyota Tundra, Kyle Busch Motorsports Finishing Position:  1st What did you think of the move you made to win the race? “That was cool.  I didn’t want to do it.  Man, Aric (Almirola) deserved to win the race and deserved it from last year.  I had Johnny (Sauter) pushing on me and I was getting loose through the tri-oval – just trying to stay with the 51 (Almirola).  I turned it back to the bottom to try to straighten it back out and I was still loose alongside of him.  I thought the 13 (Sauter) was going to my bottom so I wanted to block him.  It was just crazy there at the end.  I can’t thank Traxxas, Toyota Tundra – these guys do an awesome job here at Kyle Busch Motorsports.  M&M’s, Flexco, NOS Energy Drink, Gillette and my good friend Jim Hunter who passed away this morning.  Thoughts go to him and his family and everybody.  Real proud of all these guys and this is a cool one.” Did you want to stay behind Aric Almirola at the end of the race? “That’s exactly what I thought – I was like, I just want to push him (Aric Almirola).  I got under his back bumper off of four and we came to the tri-oval and I started getting loose.  I thought I had Johnny (Sauter) pushing me so I kind of steered up a little bit to try to save it.  I couldn’t go too high because Johnny was going to go to my bottom so I had to bring it back down.  I got underneath Aric and at that point you just have to stay in the throttle and keep digging.  I don’t even know where the yellow line was.  For as loose as my stuff was through there, I was trying to save it and get away from those guys and not spin out.  All in all, great job by these guys.   Everybody with Camping World and all the great folks – the fans in the stands is cool too.” Do you feel like the NCWTS owner’s championship is almost wrapped up? “It’s not over until it’s over.  It ain’t over.  I don’t know where they are right now, but we feel comfortable with where we’re at and to win today with our Traxxas Tundra and to go to Homestead with Traxxas on board and of course Interstate Batteries at Texas next week and then Phoenix is going to be Z-Line Designs again.  It’s going to be cool.  We’re looking forward to these last four races and it’s going to be a shootout and a fight to the end.” Was your plan to make a move in the final lap of the race for the win? “I know what happened here last year with Aric (Almirola) pushing me to the win.  That is all I was planning on.  I was going down the backstretch thinking stay behind him, stay behind him.  If you get two wide you just make such a big hole in the air for all the guys behind you to get you.  I came to the tri-oval pushing Aric and I thought the 13 (Johnny Sauter) was on my butt and I was loose through the tri-oval so I started chasing it up a little bit.  Once I got out there I was like, ‘Man, I’m too far, the 13’s going to go to my inside.’  I saw him in my left mirror so I kind of ducked back down and tried to block the bottom.  I got underneath Aric and then I beat him to the line obviously.  I hate it that Aric went through that, but this was a great race truck right here.  This Kyle Busch Motorsports Traxxas Tundra was awesome and these guys did a great job.  We didn’t qualify up front, kind of as we expected, but it was fast when it mattered in the race there.  We stayed out of trouble and luckily we made it here.  This is very cool.” Were you aware of how close you were to the yellow line? “I was so busy watching the mirror and the 13 (Johnny Sauter) truck and seeing where he was and trying not to run into the side of the 51 and trying to get away.  I was just sideways.  The yellow line never even crossed my mind there at the end.”

KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 Traxxas Toyota Tundra, Kyle Busch Motorsports (continued) How was your race overall today? “As far as our race day goes – obviously it was pretty exciting.  In the beginning there we just were kind of hanging out and biding our time kind of riding.  We were a little hot so we just decided that we would just stay back there and not worry too much.  Once we got to the first pit stop, we took some tape off the grill and stuff like that and was able to get the thing a little cooler for running in the draft.  Once we did that, we were just biding our time and working out way up through traffic.  Matt Crafton and I worked well together on the outside.  I remember the 2 (Ken Schrader) and I worked together on the outside really well a couple times.  All in all you really had to be smart up on the outside lane to get the draft to really work and to get up towards the front.  Jason White at the end of the race was a really good friend for us and he did a great job getting us out front and getting the lead and just kind of racing with the 51 (Aric Almirola) there and the 13 (Johnny Sauter) coming to the checkers.  It was crazy and it was a battle.  I was just trying to keep the thing straight and luckily I was able to do that.” Is this the way driver’s like to win races? “It’s pretty spectacular the way you come down towards the end and you have no idea how it’s going to play out and then all of the sudden you cross the start-finish line and you’re wondering, ‘Did I win?  What happened?  Who crossed the start-finish line first?’   It’s pretty amazing the way this place and the way it races and what happens and how close the finishes can be.  You run 250 miles or tomorrow you run 500 miles and the finishes are as close as they are.  We remember, I don’t, but I’m sure some fellow people remember back in the 60s or 70s races being finished by a lap – the winner won by a lap or something like that.  It’s pretty amazing and for how tight competition is nowadays and what it comes to, but with myself and Kyle Busch Motorsports and our Traxxas Tundra today – I’m ecstatic.  I’m real proud of the way the guys worked.  We were frustrated yesterday.  We didn’t qualify anywhere near where we thought we should have or could have.  Unfortunately, we didn’t quite get the speed out of it by ourselves that we would like to.  Hopefully we go to Daytona in the spring and bring the same piece back or build a new one or whatever and maybe we can find some more speed.”  

ERIC PHILLIPS, crew chief, No. 18 Traxxas Toyota Tundra, Kyle Busch Motorsports How was today’s race from your perspective today? “It was pretty uneventful for us other than a few pit stop issues.  Made a decision on some shock settings today.  Couldn’t get the tires off when we first came in the pits.  Just told the guys to take their time and make sure they did the pit stop right and they did.  Was able to get the truck back up front at the end.”

ARIC ALMIROLA, No. 51 Billy Ballew Motorsports Toyota Tundra, Billy Ballew Motorsports Finishing Position:  2nd Do you feel like you should have been the winner of today’s race? “I was at his (Kyle Busch) mercy.  He could have went to my outside, he could have went to my inside.  I tried to do everything I could to try to protect as long as I could.  I think NASCAR maybe should look at that.  It looked like he went below the yellow line right there before the start-finish line.  It was really close, but I hate to lose one like that.  These guys work awfully hard on our speedway stuff.  To lose one like that is bad.  He’s below the yellow line.” Were you planning to work with Kyle Busch in the closing laps? “We had talked about it and we knew we wanted to stay together.  We had good trucks and we saw that in practice yesterday.  I knew I had a good truck yesterday.  I pushed Johnny (Sauter) to the lead and I felt like it was time to go.  It’s disappointing if they give that win to him (Kyle Busch).  I feel like I let these guys down, but I don’t know what else I could have done.” What is your perspective of today’s race? “My perspective is that I won the race.  NASCAR’s perspective is that we ran second.  I guess today we lose.  I’m disappointed in that because I felt like we had a truck capable of winning.  I knew we did all day.  I rode around in the back and tried to be smart and take care of my stuff.  When it was time to go – I went.  I pushed Johnny Sauter up there to the lead and I took the lead myself.  I felt like we had the truck to win the race.  I feel like I let my guys down, but I really don’t know what else I could have done.  He (Kyle Busch) had shown signs of going high so I attempted to block high and as I was turning back low, he was back under me and it say plain as day in the rule book that you can’t advance your position by going below the yellow line.  Now I guess I have not seen the proper replay, but the one that I saw, I felt like he went below the yellow line to advance his position and he ran a shorter distance and he beat me by two one-thousandths of a second.  Call it what you will – we finished second.” What were you told my NASCAR about the yellow line rule? “I just went and talked to him and the reason that they gave me was that Kyle’s (Busch) truck was sideways when he was next to me and that’s what made him go below the yellow line.  I didn’t force him below the yellow line, they didn’t tell me that I did.  They said that he went below the yellow line because he was trying to regain control of his truck.  I guess they’re going to have to do a better job elaborating in the driver’s meeting on what’s acceptable and what’s not acceptable.  I guess if you get out of control and you go below the yellow line and save it and still gain a position that is okay.  I’m still confused and I’m still disappointed.  I probably shouldn’t even be doing interviews right now because I’m obviously biased because I finished second.”

TIMOTHY PETERS, No. 17 Red Horse Racing Toyota Tundra, Red Horse Racing Finishing Position:  7th

CRAIG GOESS JR., No. 46 Greenville Toyota Tundra, Team Gill Racing Finishing Position:  10th

DAVID STARR, No. 81 Zachry Toyota Tundra, Green Light Racing Finishing Position:  11th

MIKE SKINNER, No. 5 Exide Toyota Tundra, Randy Moss Motorsports Finishing Position:  15th How was your truck in today’s race? “Our Exide Tundra was really good today.  We started in the back and it didn’t take any time at all to get to the front.  We just sat there and rode – 10th, 12th, 15th – whatever it was.  We used patience and tried to sum up who we were going to work with at the end of the race.  Our Tundra would push good and it wouldn’t pull good.  You always make plans that you’re going to work together and you’re going to do this and that.  We all thought we were going to work together.  Talladega and Daytona – as soon as the green flag comes out, all that pretty much goes out the window.”

TODD BODINE, No. 30 Valvoline Toyota Tundra, Germain Racing Finishing Position:  18th What happened that took you out of the race? “That’s a shame that things like that happen.  I think the 95 (Grant Enfinger) just gave me the shove from hell and thought he was going to bump me somewhere.  Turned me sideways and caused a big wreck.  My guys being the great crew they are were trying to put the truck back together to pick up a few spots.”

CHRIS FONTAINE, No. 84 Glenden Enterprises Toyota Tundra, Glenden Enterprises Finishing Position:  19th MAX PAPIS, No. 9 GEICO Toyota Tundra, Germain Racing Finishing Position:  27th

JUSTIN LOFTON, No. 7 visitPIT.com Toyota Tundra, Red Horse Racing Finishing Position:  33rd How disappointed are you to be out of the race so early? “It’s real unfortunate for everyone over on the visitPIT.com Toyota Tundra.  We had a really good truck.  I was just sitting there playing around.  I would jump up out of the pack and fall back – then move back up.  Real proud of all the guys and all the hard work that they put into it.  Real unfortunate that it had to end this way.”

Talladega, Ala. (October 30, 2010) – Every driver fears “the big one” when racing at Talladega, and Matt Crafton came as close as possible to getting swept into a big accident yet still managing to avoid it as possible en route to a fourth-place finish in the Mountain Dew 250 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Talladega Superspeedway. Crafton’s finish extends his top-ten streak to 13 consecutive races, the longest such streak of any driver in the NCWTS this season.

Crafton was running 15th when several trucks immediately in front of him tangled, sending many of them sideways across the racetrack and Ron Hornaday up into the air and onto his roof. Crafton held his line and missed the spinning trucks- some just by inches – and once the race restarted tagged onto the bumper of his ThorSport Racing teammate Johnny Sauter and chased him towards the front. Crafton pushed Sauter to a third-place finish, crossing the line just behind his teammate in fourth, just 70 one-thousandths of a second behind winner Kyle Busch.

“We hung out in the back for most of the race because we knew it would be rough up towards the front,” Crafton said. ‘We were right, there was a lot of trouble up in the lead draft so we definitely made the right call. We raced up into the front when Busch was pushing us but he hung us out to dry so I went to the back of the lead draft because even with 10 laps to go there’s still too much time for something big to happen. Then it looked like the 30 got turned and it started a huge wreck. I only had one choice, to ride right where I was next to the wall and thankfully everyone went down to the inside. But it was definitely close. Another foot or two and we’d have been right in the middle of it.”

Coming to the checkered flag on the final lap, Crafton saw then second-place Busch rub the back bumper of leader Aric Almirola. Both trucks got sideways and broke momentum, which gave Crafton’s teammate Sauter a run to the outside. Crafton followed; he needed to give Sauter a shot in the bumper but just couldn’t get close enough to make it happen.

“I saw Johnny get a run to the outside when Busch got into Almirola but I just couldn’t get close enough to give him a shot in the bumper to get him past,” Crafton said. “If I could have pushed him he’d have sailed right past and won the race. He had so much momentum that if the race was a few feet longer he’d have won. There’s no disappointment here at all though, to come out of here with two trucks both in the top five and both in one piece is a big accomplishment. I’ve been wrecked at the beginning of these races, in the middle of these races, and at the end so to make it to the checkered and get a top five at both Daytona and Talladega in the same season is huge.”

Crafton leapfrogged into fourth in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship standings, seven points ahead of fifth place Austin Dillon. Crafton trails teammate Johnny Sauter by 94 points with three races remaining in the 2010 season.

Next up for Crafton and the No. 88 Menards/SealBest Chevrolet is the Winstar World Casino 350 at Texas Motor Speedway on Friday November 5. The race will be televised live on SPEED starting with a 30-minute pre-race show at 8:30 P.M. Eastern. The race can also be heard live on select affiliates of the MRN Radio network nationwide and on Sirius NASCAR Radio Channel 128.