Catchfence

CHINA GROVE, N.C. (June 13, 2010) – Robert Richardson, Jr. and the No. 23 HelpTruckers.com Chevrolet team endured a tough time at Kentucky Speedway this past weekend. Between several rain storms, two hot practices and a tight condition around the 1.5-mile track in Sparta, Kentucky; it all added up to a trying time for Richardson and team.

The first practice session was so hot that crew chief Steve Plattenberger opted for minimal laps during that session. With the second session taking place later on Friday, cooler temperatures prevailed allowing the team to get a better read on track and car’s handling conditions.

An early-day rain came over the track on Saturday washing off any rubber that had built up on the track for qualifying. When he finished with his two laps, Richardson recorded a time that lined him up 42nd in the 43-car field.

From the start, there were early cautions that slowed the pace of the race. However, Richardson was able to take advantage and move up 10 positions to 33rd. From there, he conveyed to the team the car was tight on exit from the turns.

A competition caution on lap 25 for the entire field had the black and red HelpTruckers.com Chevrolet in 31st place. After the stop, the team got Richardson out to restart in 23rd place. Several green-flag runs shuffled the field with some teams taking fuel only, some taking right-side tires only and others taking four on caution pit stops.

By the halfway mark of the 200-lap race, Richardson was 34th on the scoring pylon. The next 100 laps had several more cautions for wrecks and shorter green-flag runs.

When the checkered flag finally waved, Richardson was credited with 30th place. The team now stands 26th in the Owner’s Points as the NASCAR Nationwide Series heads to the road course of Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisc.

Robert Richardson, Jr. quotes: “This definitely wasn’t the finish this team wanted this weekend. The struggle was getting the car to exit the turns and not having longer green-flag runs kept us from getting a good read on what the car would do on the track.

“I like the track, but it just didn’t seem to like us this weekend. We have some good tracks coming up and I’m really looking forward to the first Nationwide race in the new car at Daytona.”

- R3 Motorsports Press Release