Catchfence

Advertisment

Fitzpatrick has been busy this weekend making adjustments to his No. 7 Chevy.  The 20 year old from Cambridge, Ontario, Canada posted a time of 42.768 and 168 mph that will see him start from the 11th row. Fitzpatrick is visiting the track in the valley of the San Gabriel Mountains for the first time.    

“We made improvements for sure,” Fitzpatrick said.  “I held it to the mat all the way around, I just didn’t have much grip in the front.  We are improving.  This is my first time here.  I think the truck will be pretty decent in the race, we will see how it goes.”

J.R. is getting his feet on the ground at this tricky Auto Club Speedway tri-oval.

“Just trying to find the right line and get a good idea of what I need at this place is a challenge.  I am still learning what the truck needs and I need to get around here fast.  I think it will be alright.”

The trucks had to qualify on race setup as NASCAR impounds the trucks after qualifying.

“Yesterday we were faster in race trim than we were today.  Improving the truck for the qualifying run will definitely help us for the race.  We will just have to go and not wreck anything and we can have a good finish.”

Kevin Buckler, TRG Motorsports team owner, likes the way that Fitzpatrick is progressing.

“J.R. has done a good job all weekend getting up to speed at what is a new track for him,” Buckler said.  “Butch Hylton and the TRG Motorsports guys have a lot of experience on these tri-ovals so we have a good truck for him for the race tomorrow.  If he takes the same patient approach as he did at Daytona last weekend we’ll have a good day.”   

Fitzpatrick is coming off an excellent run at Daytona last weekend where he led the most laps with 17, was the top finishing Chevrolet Silverado driver, won the Wix Filters lap leader award and was the Raybestos Rookie of the Race Award winner.

 
The San Bernardino 200 from the Auto Club Speedway will be televised live on FOX starting at 3:00 p.m. ET.

TRG Motorsports is based in Mooresville, North Carolina where they run a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series team as well as an ARCA RE/MAX Series effort.  2008 marked the first full season of competition for TRG in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series where they recorded one win, one top-five and ten top tens overall.  The team’s sister company, The Racer’s Group, was founded in 1993 has been competing at the top level of motor racing ever since.  TRG has the most wins of any team in the Grand-Am Rolex Series with 26, including the 2005 and 2006 Rolex Series GT championship trophy to go along with wins at the Rolex 24 at Daytona and the 24 Hours of Le Mans.