Truex Finishes Third at SOBO Speedway

SOUTH BOSTON, Va. (May 30, 2009) – Brett Moffitt already broke one of Joey Logano’s NASCAR Camping World Series records. It didn’t take him long to take care of another.

Moffitt became the youngest winner in NASCAR Camping World Series history Saturday night with his win in the South Boston 150 at South Boston (Va.) Speedway. His Andy Santerre Motorsports' No. 44 brettmoffitt.com Chevrolet led 81 laps – including the last 67 – and outpaced a pair of fellow teenagers in runner-up Ryan Gifford and third-place Ryan Truex.

Moffitt doesn’t turn 17 until August 7. Joey Logano, now driving the No. 20 Home Depot Toyota in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, was 1 month, 5 days of turning 17 when he scored his first win in the NASCAR Camping World Series West, and he set the NASCAR Camping World Series East mark 11 days later with his win at Greenville (S.C.) Pickens Speedway. In the 2009 NASCAR Camping World Series East opener, Moffitt broke Logano’s record as the series’ youngest Coors Light Pole Award winner.

With Saturday’s win, Moffitt also secured a starting spot in the postseason NASCAR Toyota All-Star Showdown.

Moffitt and Truex traded the lead three times. Moffitt pulled away on the final lap 103 restart and won by 3.691 seconds. Truex, the 19-year-old younger brother of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Martin Truex Jr. and a Michael Waltrip Racing development driver, won his first career Coors Light Pole Award earlier in the day.

Gifford, 19, is driving a limited schedule for Richard Childress Racing. He started 10th and charged up through the field. He got to second when Truex got loose coming off Turn 4, but was unable to close the gap on Moffitt.

Point leader Jody Lavender finished fourth and maintained a 26-point lead on Moffitt. Joe Gibbs Racing’s Max Gresham, making his first series start, finished fifth.

Alan Tardiff, Sean Caisse, Ty Dillon, Eddie MacDonald and Dustin Delaney rounded out the top 10.

Truex Captures MWR's 2nd Pole of the Weekend at SOBO Speedway

SOUTH BOSTON, Va. -- Ryan Truex was the second car out for NASCAR Camping World Series East qualifying at South Boston (Va.) Speedway and then had to sweat out watching the rest of the field take time before he could celebrate his first career Coors Light Pole Award.

Truex turned a fast lap of 16.176 seconds (89.021 mph) in his No. 00 NAPA Toyota at the .400-mile oval for Saturday night's South Boston 150. The 17-year-old younger brother of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Martin Truex Jr. became the third driver in as many years to earn their first career pole at South Boston - following Peyton Sellers (2007) and Ricky Carmichael (2008).

Truex's closest challenger was Brett Moffitt in the No. 44 brettmoffitt.com Chevrolet, who came within two one-thousandths of a second with a lap of 16.178 (89.010).

Sean Caisse, making a spot start in the No. 03 RCR Driver Development Chevrolet, qualified third at 16.258 (88.572). Jonathan Smith was the last car to qualify and grabbed the fourth spot, bumping 2007 race winner Matt Kobyluck to fifth.

Series points leader Jody Lavender will start 11th.

The South Boston 150 is scheduled to take the green at 7 p.m.

NAPA Toyota Catches Fire After Engine Failure at Darlington

Waltrip Relegated to 40th-Place Finish and Drops to 28th in Championship Standings

DARLINGTON, S.C. – The “Track Too Tough to Tame”, Darlington Raceway, lived up to its reputation on Saturday night. A record breaking 17 caution flags were thrown for incidents including the No. 55 NAPA Adaptive One Brake Pads Toyota Camry. Just 74 laps into the 500-mile event, NAPA driver Michael Waltrip experienced a catastrophic engine failure. A rod broke piercing the oil pan and causing the No. 55 Toyota Camry to burst into flames. Waltrip quickly brought his car to a stop and climbed out safely. The early end to the night caused the NAPA team to finish 40th place and unfortunately, drop to 28th in the championship points standings.

“The engine just blew up,” said Waltrip who qualified his No. 55 NAPA Adaptive One Brake Pads in 36th position during Friday’s Coors Light qualifying session. “I had a spin earlier in the race and in order for that to cause damage to the engine, you have to kill the engine and turn it over backwards. I kept the motor running the whole time and went on. It didn’t have anything to do with that. Luckily, I had Adaptive One Brake Pads. When the car caught on fire, I got on those brakes and brought it right to a stop – safe and sound.

“When a car catches fire, it’s tense at first. You don’t know what’s going to happen. You don’t know if the flames are going to engulf the car or if they are going to blow out. When you are going straight, the flames are streaming behind you. If you turn backwards, they come toward you. I was working it and trying to keep going in the right direction knowing it could get bad. Luckily, it was just a flash fire. It went out and I was fine.”

Matt Kenseth brought the 43-car field to the green flag. It was not long until Waltrip informed his team that his car was extremely hard to drive. It was very loose and the two-time Daytona 500 champion was doing everything he could not to spin out. But on lap 21, the NAPA Adaptive One Toyota Camry spun in Turn 4 without getting significantly damaged. Under caution, the pit crew went to work to tighten up the car. Crew chief Bootie Barker called for wedge and track bar changes. Waltrip returned to the track, one lap down, in 41st position.

It took just seven laps for the wrath of the Lady in Black to strike again. This time Casey Mears clipped Brian Vickers. The cars of Denny Hamlin and AJ Allmendinger also were damaged in the altercation. The caution flag was thrown and Waltrip was awarded his lap back. Barker used the opportunity to improve the Adaptive One Brake Pads Toyota as it was still extremely loose. Spring rubber and more track bar changes were made. Waltrip returned to the track in 36th place and Ryan Newman was the new leader when the green flag waved on lap 37. Waltrip’s lap times improved during the run enabling him to pick up five positions on the track. He was posted in 31st place at the time his engine expired.

Winning the Southern 500 was Mark Martin. It was his second win of the season. Rounding out the top-10 finishers were Jimmie Johnson, Tony Stewart, Newman, Jeff Gordon, Martin Truex Jr., Brad Keselowski, Greg Biffle, Joey Logano and Matt Kenseth.

Overall, Michael Waltrip Racing had a tough night at Darlington. Besides Waltrip’s engine failure, David Reutimann and Marcos Ambrose also experienced trials and tribulations as they both made hard contact with the wall. Reutimann suffered a 29th-place finish and Ambrose finished 33rd.

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series will hold its annual Sprint All-Star Race at Lowe’s Motor Speedway on Saturday night. Broadcast coverage starts at 7 p.m. ET on SPEED with the running of the Sprint Showdown. Then the All-Star Race kicks off shortly after 9 p.m. ET. It also can be heard on PRN and Sirius XM Satellite Radio.

Ambrose Overcomes Late Race Incident to Post Top-15 Finish at Richmond

Marcos Ambrose and his JTG-Daugherty Racing team scored their fifth top 15 with an 11th-place finish Saturday night at Richmond International Raceway. The team rebounded after Ambrose had substantial damage to No. 47 Bush’s Best® Baked Beans Toyota from being shoved into the outside retaining wall with 94 laps remaining. "Not sure what happened there, but Sam Hornish got into us and then we were in the wall," Ambrose said. "We had a lot of damage to the rear end, but the crew worked on it and didn't give up. Thankfully we were able to stay on the lead lap and have a good finish."

The swift recovery by the JTG-Daugherty Racing team kept Ambrose 19th in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series owner points standings and closer to the top 12 cut off for The Chase. The team is now 120 points out of 12th heading into Darlington Raceway this weekend. On Saturday, rain earlier in the day had NASCAR hustling to dry the .75-mile oval before the start of the 400-lap race. The event started as planned, but the first six laps were led by Brian Vickers under caution because the track was still damp. As NASCAR turned the 43-car field loose on Lap 7, Ambrose started from 21st position and was inside the top 20 by Lap 19 running lap times the same as leader Brian Vickers. “We were loose off,” Ambrose said.

By Lap 69, Ambrose was turning laps faster than leader Jeff Gordon. With his sights set on the top 10, the Australian driver marched into the top 15 at Lap 87. Ten laps later under green he was on pit road for four tires, fuel and adjustments. When a caution occurred at Lap 114, Ambrose was in 11th place when he drove back onto pit road. “The Bush’s Best® Baked Beans Toyota was a little tight, but it was good other than that at the time,” Ambrose said. “It didn’t seem like it was getting full power until the start finish line though.” Following the team changing four tires and making more adjustments, Ambrose restarted 11th on Lap 121. A moment later, Ambrose communicated to crew chief Frank Kerr that he was loose off the corners. As he maintained his top 15 run the car’s handling worsened. The over-the-wall crew took another stab at it on Lap 151 under caution.

Less than 20 laps later, the yellow flag waved again. Kerr and Ambrose wanted to try something different so the crew put on only two tires and made adjustments. On Lap 183, the pit crew was hoping for a caution because Ambrose had no grip. Ambrose slid outside the top 15 eight laps later. The JTG-Daugherty team caught a break and Ambrose returned to pit road at Lap 192. He restarted 15th five laps later, but his car continued to have handling issues. Even though his car was a handful, Ambrose was back inside the top 15. “We were tight in the middle and loose off,” Ambrose said as he entered pit road on lap 213 under caution.

Following a track bar adjustment, pulling a quarter rubber out and four tires, the No. 47 Bush’s Best® Baked Beans Toyota team was scored in 17th place. As the car did not respond to the changes positively, Kerr had the team put the track bar back where it was, put a rubber in the left rear and make a small air pressure adjustment on Lap 274. “The No. 47 Bush’s Best® Baked Beans Toyota was a handful,” Ambrose said. “We would get a handle on it and then we would lose it.”

On Lap 285, the team elected to stay out when the caution flag waved again. “We were really tight through the middle and loose off,” Ambrose said. “We had only run five green flag laps,” Kerr said. “So, we stayed out there.” Shown in 13th place as the field took the green, Ambrose went back to work and was focused on capturing his third top ten of the season. On Lap 306, his efforts were derailed as the No. 26 car of Jamie McMurray and the No. 77 car of Sam Hornish Jr. slid up the track. The contact made to the No. 47 Bush’s Best® Baked Beans Toyota by the No. 77 car sent Ambrose spinning into the outside retaining wall in Turn 2.

There was substantial damage to the rear end of the No. 47 Bush’s Best® Baked Beans Toyota. Ambrose came in on Lap 308, 309 and 311 for tires, repairs and fuel. As Ambrose was leaving pit road on Lap 312, the field took the green. Fortunately, the caution flag was displayed immediately as Martin Truex Jr. and Mark Martin was involved in an incident. Ambrose was back on pit road. After all the adjustments and repairs were made, the 32-year-old restarted 21st on Lap 317. An accident involving Jimmie Johnson, David Stremme and Kasey Kahne on Lap 325 allowed the team to put on four tires and make another track bar adjustment under caution. “It was loose in and tight in the middle,” Ambrose said. “The crew did a great job of repairing the car and they didn’t give up. They just kept working at it.”

With 50 laps to go, Ambrose settled into the top 15. The JTG-Daugherty team had one last chance to work on the car at Lap 358 under caution. “We did what we could to repair the car and we told Marcos to do what he could and that we were not coming back in,” Kerr said. “Marcos did an amazing job. He almost had another top 10 finish. This time with a car that was wrecked. He’s impressive.” Ambrose almost captured his third top 10 of the season by crossing the finish line in 11th-place. Kyle Busch won the event, Tony Stewart finished second, Jeff Burton finished third, Ryan Newman finished fourth and Mark Martin rounded out the top five.

After a two-day Goodyear tire test on Monday and Tuesday, Marcos Ambrose and his JTG-Daugherty team travel to Darlington Raceway for race number 11 on the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series circuit. Live coverage of the Southern 500 on Saturday, May 9th begins at 7 p.m. ET on FOX and 6:30 p.m. ET on MRN Radio. The event will also air on Sirius XM Satellite Radio.

Waltrip Finishes 24th in Crown Royal 400 at Richmond International Raceway

NAPA AUTO PARTS Driver Remains 24th in Championship Points Standings

RICHMOND, Va. -- NAPA driver Michael Waltrip rallied back from being one lap down to finish on the lead lap and in 24th position in Saturday night’s Crown Royal 400 at Richmond International Raceway. Waltrip, driving the Adaptive One Brake Pads paint scheme for his sponsor, battled an ill-handling car during the first half of the race, but by the halfway mark, his car was a top-10 contender. Waltrip’s seventh top-25 finish of the season keeps him 24th place in the championship standings – just 213 points out of 12th and just 75 markers out of 20th.

“All I wanted to do was run a mistake-free race,” said Waltrip who started the Crown Royal 400 in 30th position. “I did that. I just wish my Adaptive One Brake Pads Toyota would have handled better at the end. It pretty much went to pieces as it had no forward bite. It was a top-10 car in my opinion and it’s a shame we couldn’t have gotten that result.”

“Michael drove hard and drove fast,” said crew chief Bootie Barker at the end of the race. “We only had scuffed tires for him to run at the end so he did a heck of a job out there with what we could give him.”

A damp track forced the 43-car field to start the race under caution, but just six circuits later, polesitter Brian Vickers led the field to the green flag. However, it took only two laps for the first caution flag to be thrown as Dave Blaney spun out in Turn 4. Waltrip came over the radio to tell Barker that his car was loose off the corners and not down into the track. Barker put his pit crew to work to make an air pressure change to tighten up the car. Waltrip returned to the track in 41st position.

The next 100 laps saw Waltrip running outside the top-25 and one lap down to the leader Jeff Gordon. Despite the challenge in track position, Waltrip’s lap times in the NAPA Adaptive One Brake Pads Toyota were consistently improving. By the time the third caution flag was thrown on lap 115 for an accident involving Jeremy Mayfield, Barker told his driver he had gained a lot of speed during the last run so more air pressure changes were made. Waltrip went back out in 31st position and Clint Bowyer was the new leader when the green flag was thrown on lap 121.

“We started way far off on the set up in the beginning of the race,” said Waltrip. “But the car was getting much better. Bootie was making good calls on the adjustments.”

Kasey Kahne would bring out the next caution on lap 149 when he spun out on the frontstretch. As before, Waltrip’s car was picking up the pace, but was still loose off the corners. This time, Barker added a wedge adjustment along with air pressure changes. The pit crew completed the stop in 14.2 seconds allowing the Adaptive One Brake Pads Toyota to pick up two positions on the track. The race was back up to full speed on lap 155 with Virginia-native Denny Hamlin in the top spot.

Waltrip’s teammates David Reutimann and Marcos Ambrose were running up in the top 15 and the NAPA Adaptive One Brake Pads Toyota was running the same lap times. All Waltrip needed was to get in contention for the Lucky Dog-free pass and that’s exactly what was happening as the race continued on. By lap 300, Ryan Newman was the new leader and Waltrip was racing David Ragan for the free pass. The only challenge for Waltrip was on restarts. It took the NAPA Toyota about 10 laps to get up to speed so Regan was the beneficiary as the next caution came out just seven circuits later when Waltrip’s teammate Ambrose had an accident after Sam Hornish Jr made contact with him. Ambrose’s car was damaged in the rear, but was still able to continue on and remain on the lead lap. Barker opted to keep Waltrip out in favor of track position. When the race returned to green conditions on lap 312, Gordon was once again the leader and Waltrip was scored in 24th position and in line for the free pass. Barker’s call was the right one as Mark Martin, Newman and Martin Truex Jr. got tangled just one lap later.

Waltrip showed his emotions as he cheered over the radio as he was back in the game. This time the NAPA Adaptive One Toyota was brought in for service for just four fresh tires and fuel. The two-time Daytona 500 champion went back out in 22nd place and kept his forward momentum going as he picked up four positions on the track by the time the 13th caution was thrown after Bobby Labonte made contact with David Stremme. The incident also collected Jimmie Johnson and Kahne. Waltrip used the opportunity to come back in for four fresh tires. The race went green on lap 335 with the NAPA Adaptive One Toyota in 16th position.

During this next run, the handling on the NAPA Adaptive One Toyota was once again loose off the corners. Barker felt the track was changing as the night went on but believed Waltrip was better off staying out on the track in favor of the track position. Plus, the large number of caution flags had teams on pit road, including the No. 55, searching for a set of fresh Goodyear tires. Waltrip did the best he could as his car was a handful. The NAPA driver held on as he saw his driver Reutimann and Vickers run into problems in Turn 2. The incident brought out a caution on lap 357. Barker chose to bring his driver in for air pressure and a spring rubber change. The team bolted on four scuffed tires and returned to the track in 24th position. The lack of four, fresh sticker tires appeared to have hampered Waltrip’s attempt to pick up positions on the track. He had to settle for a 24th-place finish.

Meanwhile, Kyle Busch claimed his third victory of 2009 and the Richmond weekend sweep on his 24th birthday. Busch is the first driver since Cale Yarborough to win a Cup race on his birthday. The night before, Busch claimed the Nationwide Series event.

Waltrip’s teammate Ambrose didn’t let his accident on the track faze him as he finished in 11th place. Reutimann didn’t have the same luck as he had a disappointing 28th-place result which dropped him to 13th position in the championship standings.

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series once again goes Saturday night racing. This time the Cup boys head to the track “Too Tough to Tame” – Darlington (S.C.) Raceway. Broadcast coverage starts at 7 p.m. ET on FOX. It also can be heard on MRN and Sirius XM Satellite radio networks.