Carmichael and his No. 31 Monster Energy Chevrolet team faced adversity before the green-flag waved on the 25th race of the year, as the Raybestos Rookie of the Year Candidate spun and made contact with the wall on his second qualifying lap. With only a minimal amount of time between qualifying and the race, the John Monsam-led crew went to work quickly and was able to repair the primary Chevrolet. After relegating his 13th-place starting position, Carmichael began the race from the rear of the field, faced a “loose” truck for the majority of the race, and crossed the finish line in the 19th position, in only his first race at the 1.5-mile South Florida track and his second race with Turner Motorsports.
“We’ll take it,” said Carmichael at Homestead-Miami Speedway. “Coming into this weekend, we definitely wanted to finish better, but considering the circumstances that we were under with the damage from qualifying, I think everyone did a good job at bouncing back. For most of the race we were pretty loose, but the handling started to get better every stop that we made. At the end we had some type of parts failure with the water hose, which cost us a few spots. I think we would have finished higher if that didn’t happen, but its part of racing. The guys worked hard all weekend and these last two weeks have been able to get us a little more used to each other than just heading to Daytona with a whole new situation.”
During 2009, Carmichael competed on a part-time basis for Kevin Harvick Inc. and Turner Motorsports, racing in a total of 18 races. The Clearwater, Florida native captured two top-10 finishes, along with six top-15 efforts. Carmichael qualified third three times this season, all of which came on 1.5-mile or higher tracks. In addition, Carmichael finished fourth in the Raybestos Rookie of the Year Standings, the first of part-time competitors.
“I’ve learned a lot this season,” continued Carmichael. “Next year when I can go back to these tracks that I’ve already seen once it is going to really help me. The Truck Series is very competitive and a great place to learn before making it to the big boys in the Cup Series. Everyone has been very welcoming to me this season and I would like to thank everyone at KHI and Turner Motorsports for the opportunities that I have been given this year. We’ll take a little bit of a break here, get refreshed, and head to Daytona.”
The 2010 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season kicks off February 12th with the running of the season-opener at Daytona International Speedway. Live television coverage can be seen on SPEED, while MRN Radio and Sirius-XM NASCAR Channel will have the radio broadcast. Carmichael will pair with Turner Motorsports teammate James Buescher for the first time at the legendary superspeedway.
- Turner Motorsports Press Release