The 20-Year-Old Gains Two Positions to Sixth-Place in Championship Point Standings
WEST ALLIS, Wisc. (June 22, 2009) – In his first trip to The Milwaukee Mile, Tayler Malsam showed once again why he is leading the Raybestos Rookie of the Year Point Standings. Overcoming a tight-handling Toyota Tundra, Malsam kept running his race and received a lucky break on lap 128 as numerous competitors were trapped one or more laps down for making green-flag pit stops, leaving only half of the field on the lead lap. For the final 70 laps of the 200-mile event, the 20-year-old ran in the top-eight positions, eventually bringing his No. 81 One Eighty Toyota Tundra home in seventh-place. This was Malsam’s fifth top-10 finish of the 2009 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season and he currently sits sixth in the Championship Point Standings.
After rain cancelled qualifying and postponed the race on Friday, Malsam started from the ninth position on Saturday afternoon, under hot conditions. The Seattle, Washington native quickly felt his Toyota handling tight and came to pit road as the caution flew for the first time on lap 38. Crew chief Doug Wolcott called for four fresh tires on lap 40, followed by fuel and a track bar adjustment the next lap. Unfortunately, the track bar wrench broke while making the adjustment, forcing Malsam to return to pit road on lap 42 to remove the broken piece. While on pit road, the One Eighty pit crew put two left side tires on the Tundra. On lap 44, Malsam restarted from the 22nd position.
Still fighting tight handling conditions while running in 20th-place, Malsam returned to pit road under caution on lap 54 for an adjustment and to top off with fuel, which proved to be a wise move for the One Eighty team. Five laps later, the Raybestos Rookie Leader restarted in the 18th position. A long green-flag run came over the 33-truck field and the extra fuel that Malsam received allowed him to stay out on the track longer than some of his other competitors. The caution flew on lap 128, placing half of the field a lap down and allowing Malsam to have track position for the first time in the race. On lap 129, Wolcott called the No. 81 Toyota to pit road for four ties and then the following lap for fuel.
Malsam restarted the race on lap 133 from the fourth position and ran in the top-eight for the remainder of the race. Showing his talent even when the truck wasn’t to his liking, Malsam came home in the seventh position.
"Our No. 81 One Eighty Toyota Tundra wasn't to our liking today,” said Malsam. “We were just really, really tight no matter what adjustments we made. But, like always, my Randy Moss Motorsports team never gave up. Doug (Wolcott, crew chief) and everyone on this team gave it all they had. To come away with another top-10 finish at a track that I haven't raced on before is awesome and a testament to this team. We will take this run and head onto Memphis next week."
After recording his ninth top-15 finish of the season, Malsam gained one spot to the sixth-position in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship point standings. He is currently only 14 points behind fifth-place David Starr. In addition, Malsam held his lead in the Raybestos Rookie of the Year Point Standings.
This Saturday, June 27, Malsam and his No. 81 One Eighty team will look to end their five-week stretch with a win as they head to the Home of the Blues for the running of the MemphisTravel.com 200 at Memphis Motorsports Park. Malsam will look to rock and roll to Victory Lane as the green flag waves shortly after 6 P.M. Eastern. The 200-lap race will be televised live on SPEED starting at 5:30 P.M. Eastern. It can also be heard live on select affiliates of MRN Radio, along with Sirius-XM NASCAR Radio Channel 128.
-RMM-