Catchfence

CONCORD, N.C. — Justin Marks was riding momentum heading into Friday night’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. After sitting on the pole and finishing 10th in last week’s race at Dover, team morale was high and Marks’ hopes were higher heading into the 134-lap North Carolina Education Lottery 200.

“I think momentum is a big thing in this sport and right now the morale in the shop is up and we’re all very eager to get to Charlotte after our strong day in Dover,” said Marks before the race. “We knew all along that this team was capable of a competitive showing and being able to go into Dover, win the pole, and finish strongly just helps to fire everyone up for what’s ahead.”

What’s ahead included two practice sessions before an evening of action at Charlotte Motor Speedway. “We had a brand new truck so we went through a few teething issues in the first practice,” explained Marks. “Once we got to setting it up in the second practice it became clear to us that we had a very responsive and balanced Chevy for the race. For some reason in qualifying trim we didn’t really have the speed but I was confident that we would race well.”

Race well is exactly what Marks did after taking the green flag from the 25th starting spot. “The race was pretty eventful,” explained Marks, who had picked up 10 positions by lap 43. “We made our way up pretty solidly but we broke a throttle return spring on the carburetor that we had to fix which set us back in the field a bit.” Marks fell to 27th after stopping for repairs. “The GoPro guys did a great job making the fix on pit road without us losing a lap.”

While battling for 25th on lap 70, a three truck wreck took place on the fronstretch and Marks’ Chevy was door slammed in the mess. “We were hit pretty hard in the door and had to come to pit road again to work on the damage a bit but, again, the guys did an awesome job rebounding from the adversity and getting the truck back on the track without losing much time,” he explained.

Marks’ managed to avoid the rest of the event’s record-tying 10 caution flags to claim ninth – his best finish of the year, and his best finish in two starts at Charlotte Motor Speedway. “Once we settled in for the run to the checkered, I found the truck to work real well up high on the track and were able to race our way into the top-10 in the late stages.”

“It was another great run for the team and continued to build our momentum,” said Marks after the race. “I think we have a real good package on the mile-and-a-half’s and I’m looking forward to the next races.”

UP NEXT: O’Reilly Auto Parts 250, Saturday, June 4, Kansas Speedway, Kansas City, Kan.

- Turn One Racing Press Release