Pre-Race Notes and Quotes
Martinsville Speedway
Kroger 250
Saturday, March 28, 2009
ONE EIGHTY RETURNS: Once again this weekend, the familiar colors of One Eighty will be back on board the No. 81 Randy Moss Motorsports Toyota Tundra. One Eighty Racing has sponsored the first three races of the 2009 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season, as Malsam has finished 10th at Daytona, 24th at California, and most recently 13th at Atlanta.
MALSAM AT MARTINSVILLE: Tayler Malsam, a 20-year-old rookie, has never before raced at Martinsville Speedway. Driving for CHS Motorsports last fall, Malsam attempted to qualify for the 36-truck field at the legendary Virginia short track, but just missed the cut, qualifying in the 37th position.
CHASSIS CHOICE: This weekend, crew chief Doug Wolcott and the No. 81 team will unload Randy Moss Motorsports chassis, TRD 118. Last year, this chassis was one of Mike Skinner’s trucks at Bill Davis Racing. Malsam’s first laps in this Tundra took place at a test session earlier in the week.
TESTING, 1, 2, 3: Malsam and the No. 81 One Eighty Toyota team tested their Martinsville chassis Tuesday, March 24th at the Motor Mile Speedway in Radford, Virginia. The laps paced at the test session where the first laps that Malsam has completed in this Tundra chassis.
OFF-WEEKEND….WHAT OFF-WEEKEND?: As the Truck Series was off two weekends ago, March 13th and 14th, Malsam went to Chico, California to run the World of Outlaws 23rd Annual Mini Gold Cup at Silver Dollar Speedway. Malsam, who began racing sprint cars early in his career, drove the No. 26 Rudeen Racing 410 Sprint Car to a third-place finish in the C-Main on Friday night and a 17th-place finish in the C-Main on Saturday night. Malsam raced with veteran Sprint Car drivers, such as Steve Kinser and winner Joey Saldana. The Seattle, Washington native will race sprint cars numerous more times throughout the year.
RAYBESTOS ROOKIE OF THE YEAR UPDATE: Malsam currently sits third in the Raybestos Rookie of the Year standings, only two points out of second-place and three points behind leader J.R. Fitzpatrick. Malsam captured Raybestos Rookie of the Race honors for the first time at Atlanta Motor Speedway, as he wheeled his One Eighty Toyota to a 13th-place finish.
ROUND ONE: Saturday’s race at Martinsville Speedway will mark the first short track race for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series this season. This will also be race one of the season at Martinsville, as Truck Series action will return to the Virginia short track on Saturday, October 24th.
MARTINSVILLE MILESTONE: Martinsville Speedway is one of just three tracks that have hosted a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race every year since the inaugural season in 1995. Also, this weekend’s Kroger 250 will the mark the 15th season of Truck Series racing at Martinsville.
CATCH THE ACTION: The Kroger 250 from Martinsville Speedway will take the green flag Saturday, March 28th at 2 P.M. Eastern. Race coverage will be televised live on FOX, beginning at 1:30 P.M. Eastern, and heard live on select affiliates of MRN and Sirius XM Satellite Radio. Both practice sessions on Friday will be televised live on SPEED at 11 A.M. and 1:30 P.M. Eastern respectively, along with qualifying on Saturday morning at 9:00 A.M. Eastern.
MALSAM (On racing at Martinsville): “I’m pretty excited to go short track racing for the first time this year in my One Eighty Toyota. I’ve never raced at Martinsville Speedway before, but I’ve seen races there and I know it is going to be hard, beating and banging short track racing. We are testing at Motor Mile Speedway before we head to Martinsville, so we will be able to shakedown the truck and start getting a feel for it. The Toyota that we are taking this weekend is one of Mike’s (Skinner) trucks from last year, so I know that it is going to be a good piece that we can run up front with. All of my guys have been working really hard these past couple of weeks and I know we all are ready to get back to the track.”
MALSAM (On racing in the World of Outlaws Race in Chico, Cali.): “It’s always fun to go back and run Sprint car races on the West Coast. Being from Seattle, I actually raced Sprint cars before I started racing stock cars, so it’s kind of like going back to where I got started. We didn’t have the results that we really wanted this past weekend in Chico (California), but I will be racing in a Sprint car quite a few more times this year so we will have some more chances to finish better and definitely get some wins before too long. It’s always neat to be able to race against the best drivers in Sprint cars, just like it’s fun racing against the Cup drivers. But that’s one of the nice things about the Truck Series schedule – it allows us to go out and race other series on our off-weekends and still have time to come back to North Carolina and get ready to go Truck racing again.”
ABOUT ONE EIGHTY: One Eighty, founded in 1976, encompasses hospitality, senior housing, and international brands, all of which require their customers to “Twist Your Thinking.” One Eighty’s hospitality brand has three divisions – Edibility, PrimeFit, and Twist Travel, which offer a bold take on their individual specialties. Edibility includes retirement community food services, corporate and social event catering, restaurant development and management, culinary classes, and signature food items. Also, PrimeFit and Twist Travel take a similar cover-the-all bases approach. For more information about One Eighty, please visit www.oneeightytwist.com.
ABOUT RANDY MOSS MOTORSPORTS: Randy Moss Motorsports ownership consists of Randy Moss, New England Patriots All-Pro Wide Receiver; and David Dollar, a long-time participant in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. The team fields the No. 81 Toyota Tundra and the No. 5 Toyota Tundra full-time in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. For more information about Randy Moss Motorsports, please visit www.randymossmotorsports.com.
-RMM-