Mayhew, BKR Suffer Tire Issues in Texas

David Mayhew finished 24th at Texas Motor Speedway in the No. 19 Steak and Grape / MMI Services RAM on Friday evening. The Brad Keselowski Racing (BKR) team had a tough night all around in Texas. 

Mayhew had a strong qualifying run on Friday afternoon. He put his BKR RAM in the 6th position pacing the 1.5 mile tri-oval in 30.16 seconds or 179.033 M.P.H. to begin the WinStar World 350. 

On lap 31, the yellow flag waved for the first time for teammate Ryan Blaney’s blown right front tire on the front stretch. Mayhew had slid back to the 10th position when the caution flag fell. Crew Chief Jeff Stankiewicz called the Steak and Grape / MMI Services RAM onto pit road for four tires and fuel. At the end of the stop, Mayhew was blocked in by another truck and unable to quickly exit the pits. The BKR RAM restarted in the 19th position for the lap 35 restart.

Mayhew radioed to the team that he was experiencing a vibration, and Stankiewicz called him onto pit road for a green flag pit stop on lap 58. The right front tire was shredded, and it proved to be a great call to pit. The stop was costly, however, as Mayhew lost two laps to the leaders just before the second caution flag of the night. 

The No. 51 truck lost an engine on lap 64 bringing out the caution and trapping Mayhew one lap down after receiving the wave around. Mayhew restarted in 24th position on the lap 69 restart. The Steak and Grape / MMI Services RAM was in position to gain a lap back with the “lucky dog,” but there was never another yellow flag.

Mayhew and the BKR RAM team finished the race in the 24th position three laps down to race winner Johnny Sauter.

“We had another tough night in the Steak and Grape / MMI Services RAM,” said Mayhew.  “We had a solid qualifying effort, but the tire issue hurt us real bad. I’m ready to put this race behind us and look forward to getting to Phoenix next weekend.”

BKR PR