Catchfence

“Idaho Native Makes Strong Move In NCWTS Points Race, Climbs From 12th To Seventh”

KANSAS CITY, KS (April 27, 2009) – It seems the soundtrack for Brian Scott and his No. 16 Albertsons Toyota Tundra team on their trip to Kansas was the late 1960’s hit “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head.” Despite battling four days of the wet stuff and 34 other NASCAR Camping World Truck Series competitors, Scott was able to claim a hard fought 3rd place finish in Monday afternoon’s rain delayed and rain shortened O’Reilly Auto Parts 250 at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, KS. The top three finish was Scott’s third consecutive top 10 or better finish and his first top-five of the NCWTS season, and=2 0it moved him up 5 spots in the series points race, from 12th to 7th.

“It was definitely not the way we wanted to see our weekend end,” Scott said in the media center after the event. “We were really good on the long runs. We had fresh tires and enough fuel to make it all the way. We were set up to be in great position to win the race, so in a way the end was disappointing for us. It was a great points day for us though. I was kind of joking with this Xpress team because I am frustrated by the third place finish, and they had to call it when we had a truck that could have certainly won the race. I thought that our team and Ron Hornaday’s were on a really even basis. All in all it was a good day, moved up to 7th in points and had a top five, led some laps so we can’t complain too much.”

Scott started the weekend off in fine fashion by posting the fastest time in both of Friday’s practice sessions. He then qualified his No. 16 Albertsons Toyota in the 7th position during Saturday morning’s qualifying session. Scott hung in the top 10 through the first few green flag segments, biding his time. He radioed his crew on lap 26, saying that his Toyota Tundra was, “Just a little tight. Track position is everything right now. It is throttle tight, I need it to turn better under throttle.” When the next caution flag fell Scott brought his truck down pit road twice, once on lap 39 for tires and then again a lap later for fuel and a chassis adjustment designed to loosen up his truck. He restarted the race in the fifth position and moved up to fourth before the rain came calling and postponed the rest of the day’s action.

After a 44 plus hour delay, the NCWTS competitors finally sprang back to action on Monday afternoon shortly before 2pm CT and under much cooler temperatures. Scott restarted in fourth and quickly served notice that his truck was one to be reckoned with. He moved up to third on lap 64 and was up to second on lap 74. When the caution flag fell on lap 86 Scott darted down pit road the next lap for a quick splash of fuel and was able to beat everyone off pit road. Scott restarted in the lead with Ron Hornaday, Jr. in quick pursuit but fell back a few spots on the restart to competitors with fresher tires. When the next caution fell Scott came back down pit road on laps 102 and 103 for fresh Goodyear tires and Sunoco fuel. He restarted in the 15th spot but quickly moved his way back in the top 10. Scott came back down pit road under caution on lap 114 for just enough fuel to ensure he would make it to the end. He restarted in the third spot, fell back one position under green, then reclaimed third before the rains came again, ultimately forcing NASCAR to call the race. Scott was left with a third place finish, a good points day and thoughts of what might have been if he could have raced under dry green flag conditions for the last 20 laps.

“I’m really proud of everyone on the Albertsons Toyota Tundra team,” Scott said on pit road. “We have been running really good. Our results haven’t shown just how good we’ve run this year. Fortunately, we were sitting where we needed to be for this race. With how good we are, we should always be in the top five. I think our team is the best out there on the mile-and-a-half tracks. Our crew chief Jeff Hensley definitely knows the mile-and-a-half tracks very well. The moisture on the track definitely changes how you feel driving into the first corner. You know it is raining and the pucker factor gets a little bit higher. When the other guys don’t slow down going into the corner you have to stay in the gas and keep up with them. You think, man I hope this t hing sticks. NASCAR makes really good calls on the weather conditions and they made the exact right call today. The track still had really good grip when we went back racing, a little slicker but you could still run wide open. The truck still had good speed and we were able to pick up one more spot so I am glad we ran as long as we did. Wish we could have finished it for the fans that came out today. I appreciate them sticking it out and hanging in there with us.”

Crew Chief Jeff Hensley, like Scott, would like to have seen the race go the distance. At the same time the veteran, one who has been in the thick of a championship chase, knows a good points day when he sees it.

“We had a good day,” Hensley said. “You have to be a little disappointed because we thought we had a truck capable of winning the race if we had been able to run those last 20 laps. Brian drove a heck of a race and the guys on this Xpress team did a great job on pit road. Anytime you run in the top five in this series you have had a good day.”

Mike Skinner won the rain shortened O’Reilly Auto Parts 250 at Kansas Speedway. Johnny Benson, Scott, Hornaday Jr. and Brian Ickler rounded out the top five. The next race for the NCWTS is the North Carolina Education Lottery 200 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Concord, NC. The event is slated for Friday May 15th and will be telecast live on SPEED at 8:00pm ET. It will also be broadcast live via radio worldwide on the Motor Racing Network (MRN) and on SIRIUS Satellite Radio NASCAR channel 128.

- Xpress Motorsports Press Release