JOLIET, Ill. (August 29, 2009) – Tayler Malsam and the One Eighty Racing team were poised to earn their first top-five finish together in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) until an accident late in the EnjoyIllinois.com 225 at Chicagoland Speedway Friday night relegated the team to a 23rd-place result.
Because the NCWTS had never been to Chicagoland Speedway, teams were given several practice sessions Thursday to become acclimated to the track. On Friday, the No. 81 One Eighty Toyota Tundra was the sixth of 39 trucks to take to the track for qualifying. Malsam posted a speed of 169.940 miles per hour during his two-lap run around the 1.5-mile tri-oval, earning the team 15th place on the starting grid.
Malsam took the green flag for the start of the race and concentrated on finding the most comfortable line for his One Eighty Toyota. A caution flag on lap 21 of the 150-lap event enabled crew chief Doug Wolcott to call his driver in for a pit stop for fuel on lap 22. Malsam returned to the track for the restart in the ninth spot after several of his competitors took on fresh tires, and thus spent additional time on pit road.
With Wolcott coaching the young driver, Malsam continued to work on finding the best line for his truck. Wolcott made air pressure and track bar adjustments during several pit stops in the early stages of the race, and Malsam communicated to the team that the truck was handling pretty well near the half way point of the event. With a round of scheduled pit stops in the works, Malsam worked his way into the top five and eventually led lap 90 before making a stop of his own on lap 92.
Malsam remained in the top 10 and found that his truck handled well after the initial 10 laps of a run. Wolcott asked his driver to conserve fuel with 50 laps left in the event as he had hopes of running to the end with making another pit stop. Malsam was able to remain in the top 10, and the team had hopes of posting its best finish of the season until running into trouble on lap 137. As Malsam battled the No. 24 truck for position heading into turn one, the two made contact. Malsam did his best to control his truck, but was hit by several others while sliding down the track. Eventually coming to a stop in the wet grass, Malsam was unable to get the truck back to the track and was forced to let NASCAR officials tow the battered Tundra to the garage.
The team assessed the damage, but with less than 15 laps remaining in the race, was unable to return to the track. The One Eighty team was credited with a 23rd-place finish.
“This is a rough way to finish what was probably going to end up being a pretty good night for us,” Malsam said following the accident. “We struggled a bit with the handling of the One Eighty Toyota Tundra in the early stages of the race, but Doug and the guys worked on the truck every chance they had, and by the last 100 laps or so, the truck handled a lot better. It’s disappointing, especially since this is the second week in a row that we haven’t finished the race, but like I said, the guys did a nice job working on our truck and at least we were in contention for a good finish when this happened.”
Malsam and his Randy Moss Motorsports team fell to the 13th position in both the driver and owner points battles, but still stand only 15 markers outside of the top 10 and 154 points outside the of the top five.
Tayler Malsam and the No. 81 Randy Moss Motorsports team will return to action at Iowa Speedway on Saturday, September 5. The Lucas Oil 200, the inaugural NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at the speedway, will be broadcast at 9 p.m. (ET) on SPEED TV and on select affiliates of MRN Radio and Sirius-XM NASCAR Radio.
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.