With a never give up attitude, James Buescher and the Rheem Crew overcame major adversity at Dover International Speedway this weekend. During the two practice sessions on Thursday afternoon, the Rheem crew made many wholesale adjustments to their No. 31 chassis in a effort to tighten up the Rheem Chevrolet Silverado. With a new setup in the truck for qualifying, Buescher was still too loose and, on his second qualifying lap, lost control of the Rheem truck and slapped the outside retaining wall. The damage was excessive to repair and forced them to unload the backup Silverado. During the 200-lap race, Buescher was forced to make his way up from the rear of the field and at one point found himself running inside the top three. As the race went on, the handling on the truck went away and Buescher and the Rheem team were able to salvage a top-15 finish at Dover International Speedway.

Nearing record breaking heat in Dover, Del., the Rheem team went to work to tighten up the handling on their Chevy Silverado during the two practice sessions on Thursday afternoon. While on his qualifying attempt, Buescher felt the truck was stable after the first lap and drove the truck into the corner harder on the second lap. That was when the truck got very loose and got Buescher out of the groove and eventually into the outside retaining wall. This contact with the wall forced the Rheem team to unload their backup truck, featuring the new Ruud paint scheme for the Lucas Oil 200. In order to make the green flag of the race, it was a total team effort from Turner Scott Motorsports (TSM) crews to get the No. 31 set up. This backup truck was the truck that the Rheem team previously used at Kansas Speedway earlier this season. 

Scheduled to roll off 20th, as a penalty for having to go to a backup truck, Buescher had to start at the rear of the field. During the first yellow flag of the day, Buescher developed a power steering problem and ducked down pit road to the attention of his crew. The crew found a loose power-steering line and was able to fix the issue for Buescher. After the race got back to green, Buescher wasted no time in working his way through the pack and was running just outside the top 20 within the first 20 laps.

Racing on a different strategy than many of the teams up and down pit road, Buescher was able to climb inside the top three for a period of the race. With no practice laps on the backup truck, the Rheem team struggled with a tight-handling truck and was too ill handling for Buescher to stay on the lead lap. Hoping for quick caution periods, the race didn’t pan out as planned for the Rheem team, and Buescher fought hard to the checkered flag and came home with a top-15 finish at Dover International Speedway.

“We had a rough weekend for sure at Dover but I’m proud of everyone on my Rheem and Turner Scott Motorsports team for never giving up,” said Turner Scott Motorsports driver James Buescher. “I thought I had a decent truck during my first qualifying lap, and I tried to get a little bit more but the truck got loose on me and I eventually found the wall. There will be days like today, but my team never gives up and we will rebound for this and come back even stronger next time out.” said Buescher.  

TSM PR

Penske Racing announced today that AJ Allmendinger will pilot the No. 22 Discount Tire Ford Mustang in two upcoming NASCAR Nationwide Series road course events at Road America and Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

The move will allow Allmendinger a chance to return to Penske Racing’s NASCAR program. This season, Allmendinger has been competing in a part-time schedule with the Team Penske IndyCar program.  In three races behind the wheel of the No. 2 Team Penske IndyCar, Allmendinger has a best finish of seventh, which came in the 97^th running of the Indianapolis 500 over Memorial Day weekend. Allmendinger, making his first start in the historic race, led 23 laps as a rookie at the speedway.

“I think this is a great opportunity for us to have AJ drive the No. 22 Discount Tire Ford,” said team owner Roger Penske. “He is a great talent on road courses and has been doing a great job for Team Penske already this year in the IZOD IndyCar Series. With his stock car experience and his road course experience, we think this is the perfect opportunity for him and for the team.”

Allmendinger, a Los Gatos, Calif. native, raced in the Champ Car World Series from 2004-2006 when he earned five wins, two poles and 14 podium finishes over a three-year period before eventually moving full-time to NASCAR.  He has amassed 177-career Sprint Cup Series starts, including nine on road courses (Sonoma and Watkins Glen).  In those nine events, he’s scored one top-five and four top-10s, his best being a fourth-place finish at Watkins Glen in 2010.

“I’ve always really enjoyed the road course racing in NASCAR, so to get the opportunity to compete in two events in the Nationwide Series with Penske Racing is amazing,” said Allmendinger, who has just eight-career NASCAR Nationwide Series starts.  “I’ve had the chance to test with the No. 22 Discount Tire team at Virginal International Raceway and the guys are great.  They work hard to make sure they put an amazing piece on the track and that shows in the results.”

The Road America event is set to take place on June 22^nd while the Nationwide Series’ first trip to the famed Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course will run August 17^th.

Penske Racing PR

After laying down the fourth-fastest lap in final practice, the No. 32 Turner Scott Motorsports (TSM) team believed they had what it would take to tame the Monster. However, a 23.717 second qualifying lap put Paludo 21st on the starting grid. After the drop of the green flag, the field hadn't completed the first lap before a multi-truck wreck brought out the yellow flag. Scored in the 17th position, Paludo had little time to assess the handling of the AccuDoc Solutions Silverado.

Racing resumed on lap eight, and within ten circuits around the concrete track, Paludo remarked that he was free on landing and in the middle at both ends of the racetrack. With the leader pulling out a considerable distance from the field, it was not long before Paludo was taken off the lead lap. When the caution flag waved on lap 45, the Brazilian was scored in the 22nd position, one lap down. Paludo reiterated his free condition to crew chief Jeff Hensley, and the crew took the opportunity to provide their TSM truck with four tires, fuel, a track-bar adjustment and an air-pressure adjustment.

Paludo remained in the 22nd spot for the lap 51 restart and initially remarked that the handling of his AccuDoc Solutions machine had improved, but by the time the caution waved 15 laps later, it was once again getting free in the middle. Unfortunately, a long green-flag run kept Paludo on the racetrack until lap 133, when fuel necessitated green-flag pit stops. Paludo brought his truck down pit road for four tires, fuel and more chassis adjustments before returning to the track. Still scored in 22nd, it wouldn't be until lap 160 that Paludo saw the yellow flag.

The adjustments made on the previous stop had improved the No. 32 to the point of maintaining speeds comparable to the top five, but the truck remained too free. Now two laps down, Hensley opted to call his driver to pit road for four tires, fuel and another chassis adjustment, and Paludo returned to the track in 20th for the lap 164 restart.

Once green-flag racing resumed, Paludo's truck was competitive enough to compete with the leaders, but the laps wound down before the No. 32 could return to the lead lap. Paludo picked up two spots before the wave of the checkered flag, crossing the finish line 18th.

"I'm really surprised by how much we struggled here today," said Paludo. "After final practice yesterday, I thought we had a really good piece for today's race. The good part is that this team never gave up. We learned a lot by the end of the race and we made a lot of improvements. We just couldn't accomplish much without being on the lead lap. Fortunately, we head straight to Texas, which is one of my favorite tracks. I feel like we can redeem ourselves and get our first win next week."

Paludo remains ninth in the NCWTS Driver Point Standings, four points behind eighth. The NCWTS heads west to Fort Worth, Texas for a shootout at Texas Motor Speedway on Friday, June 7. The WinStar World Casino 400 will air live on SPEED at 9:00 p.m. EDT.

TSM PR

Mike Bliss and MTM Technologies, Inc. will team up for today’s NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Dover International Speedway. MTM will serve as primary sponsor on Bliss’ Toyota Camry for 200 action packed laps on Dover’s concrete surface.

“I’m really excited to have MTM on board for today’s 5-Hour Energy 200. I am confident we can have a great race in the MTM Toyota Camry and bring home a good finish,” said Bliss.

MTM is well known for designing, implementing and supporting virtualized and mobile computing solutions allowing today’s workers, including NASCAR fans, to have access to their applications and data in a secure manner. When they want, where they want and on any device they want.

“While MTM and I may be in different businesses, we have much in common -- we are seasoned veterans with proven track records, who always strive for excellence and win our respective races by being innovative, and technically sound  with a relentless focus on meeting the needs of our team members and our loyal fans/clients,” said Bliss.  MTM is headquartered in Stamford, CT and is Making Technology Mobile. Catch the 5-Hour Energy 200 on ESPN2 at 3 p.m. EST.

TMI PR

Kyle Busch led twice for 50 laps en route to his second consecutive NASCAR Camping World Truck Series victory this season and second consecutive win at Dover (Del.) International Speedway in NASCAR's third division. Busch, who started the race from the fifth spot, took the lead for good on lap 169 and held serve on two late restarts to pick up his 32^nd career Truck Series victory, third truck win at "The Monster Mile" and his 10^th win across NASCAR's top three divisions in 2013.

"This Toyota Care Tundra was awesome today," said Busch, who picked up his 15^th Truck Series win as a driver-owner for Kyle Busch Motorsports (KBM). "Rudy (Ryan Fugle, crew chief) and the guys did a great job making really good adjustments to it and getting it to where it was less evil to drive.  They were evil -- all of them were.  Ours was a little bit better there towards the end, for sure. Have to thank ToyotaCare, Flexco, All Metal Fabricators, Monster Energy, all the guys in the shop at KBM and the guys at Joe Gibbs Engines - can't say enough about everyone that makes it possible to come out here and race in the Camping World Truck Series in front of these fans." 

Busch found his No. 51 Tundra loose handling in the early stages of the race and ran just inside the top five. When the second caution of the race occurred on lap 44, he came down pit road for four tires, fuel and the insertion of a spring rubber.

The only multiple-race winner in the Truck Series at Dover took the lap-50 restart from the eighth spot. Despite continuing to battle a loose-handling Toyota, the 28-year-old driver slowly but surely advanced through the field. The boss was chasing down his employee, Darrell Wallace Jr. - who led the first 119 laps - when he surrendered the runner-up position to come down pit road for a regularly-scheduled stop on lap 117.

After the completion of a four-tire and fuel stop, KBM's over-the-wall crew returned Busch to the track ahead of Wallace Jr. when lead-lap trucks' pit stops had cycled through. Rowdy took the lead for the first time on lap 142 and began to set sail on the field. He had opened up a six-second lead when Fugle asked him to save fuel for several laps. The lead had narrowed to three seconds when the field was slowed for the fourth time on lap 159.

When pit road opened, Fugle summoned his No. 51 ToyotaCare Tundra to pit road for a four-tire and fuel stop with a wedge adjustment. The crew had an unusually-lengthy stop and when Busch returned to the track he was scored in the second position for the lap-163 restart.

On lap 169, the Las Vegas native worked his way around fellow Toyota driver Matt Crafton to reassume the lead. The second winningest driver in the history of NASCAR's top three divsions would lead the final 32 laps - holding off Crafton on two late restarts -  en route to his 115^th career NASCAR National Series victory.

Busch's victory was the 20^th Truck Series victory for KBM, and his 16^th as an owner-driver in the series. Crafton finished 1.484 seconds behind in the runner-up position. Second-generation drivers Ryan Blaney and Chase Elliott finished third and fourth, respectively, and Brendan Gaughan rounded out the top-five finishers. KBM drivers Joey Coulter (eighth) and Darrell Wallace Jr. (10^th) both finished inside the top 10.

There were six caution periods for 29 laps. Seven different drivers led, exchanging the lead six times - with KBM's Toyota pacing the field for a total of 169 of the 200 laps. Ten drivers failed to finish race number six on the 2013 Truck Series schedule.

With its second win and fifth top-10 finish of 2013, the No. 51 ToyotaCare Racing team moved up one position to second in the owner's championship standings after six races. The team heads to Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth for next Friday's WinStar World Casino 400. Live Television coverage on SPEED beings at 8:30 p.m. ET with the NCWTS Setup Show. The driver of the No. 51 Tundra for Texas will be officially announced on Monday.

KBM PR

Race Highlights:

• Richard Childress Racing teammates finished fifth (Brendan Gaughan) and 31^st (Ty Dillon).
• Gaughan now ranks third in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver championship point standings, trailing leader Matt Crafton by 35 markers, while Dillon ranks 7^th, 57 points back.
• The No. 62 Chevrolet team ranks fourth in the Camping World Truck Series owner championship point standings, with the No. 3 team 8^th.
• According to NASCAR's post-race loop data statistics, Gaughan tied for second in Laps in Top 15 (198).
• Gaughan earned the sixth-best Average Running Position (7.470), had the seventh-best Driver Rating (100.2), was the seventh-Fastest Driver Early in a Run (145.488 mph), seventh-Fastest on Restarts (142.027 mph) and posted six of the Fastest Laps Run, tying him for eighth in the loop data category.
• Dillon made 13 Green Flag Passes during his 23 laps of competition, eight while running in the top 15 (Quality Passes).
• Kyle Busch earned his second victory of the 2013 Camping World Truck Series season and was followed to the finish line by Matt Crafton, Ryan Blaney, Chase Elliott and Gaughan.
• The next Camping World Truck Series race is the Texas 400 at Texas Motor Speedway on Friday, June 7. The seventh race of the 2013 season is scheduled to be televised live on SPEED beginning at 9 p.m. Eastern Time and broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network and Sirius XM NASCAR Satellite Radio.

 

Gaughan Finishes Fifth at "The Monster Mile", Earning Fourth-Consecutive  

Top-Five Finish

Brendan Gaughan and the No. 62 South Point Hotel & Casino Chevrolet team collected their fourth-consecutive top-five finish on Friday in the Lucas Oil 200 at Dover International Speedway. The Las Vegas native started the 200-lap event from the 15^th position and quickly began his charge toward the front of the field, settling into the top 10 by lap eight. Gaughan remained in the top 10 for the majority of the race as he battled a loose-handling black and gold Chevrolet. The pit crew made chassis adjustments during two scheduled four-tire pit stops, on laps 46 and 121, in an effort to remedy the handling issue. The problem persisted for the duration of the event as Gaughan worked his way into the top five during the final laps, crossing the finish line fifth. Following the sixth race of the season, Gaughan gained one position moving up to third in the Camping World Truck Series driver championship point standings.  

Start - 15          Finish - 2         Laps Led - 0          Points - 3rd

BRENDAN GAUGHAN QUOTE:

"This was another great job by Shane (Wilson, crew chief) and the entire team. Our South Point Hotel & Casino Chevrolet was fast all day, but just a little too loose. My pit crew did a great job today along with my spotter. I've got to thank all of them for helping us bring home this top-five finish."

RCR PR

Starting from the 27th position and continuously working to find the right balance in race trim all afternoon, Dakoda Armstrong recovered from missing pit road under the green flag claim a 21st place finish at Dover International Speedway. Crew chief Gere Kennon made a last minute call to come to pit road under yellow with five laps to go, getting the fresh tires Armstrong needed to gain a few valuable positions before the checkered. The finish drops Armstrong unofficially from eighth to 10th in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver point standings. 

"We struggled on new tires all day, but the Turn One Racing team and my crew chief Gere Kennon never gave up and kept making the right changes every pit stop," Armstrong explained. "Our WinField Silverado wasn't too bad in the closing laps and kept getting better, but it was just too late in the game. We learned a lot today though so we can take that with us and build on it for the rest of the season."

Dakoda Armstrong PR