FORT WORTH, Texas (November 6, 2009) – Fighting a tight handling condition with his Randy Moss Motorsports Toyota Tundra for much of the weekend, Raybestos Rookie of the Year contender Tayler Malsam qualified in the 29th position for the WinStar World Casinos 350k at Texas Motor Speedway and finished the event in the 18th spot.
Malsam fought a tight handling truck in the practice sessions leading up to qualifying and was the 24th of 39 trucks to take to the track for his two-lap qualifying run Thursday evening. His speed of 173.344 miles per hour around the 1.5-mile speedway earned him 29th place on the starting grid. While the team was disappointed in that qualifying run, the crew was confident that the One Eighty Racing Toyota Tundra would race well.
The green flag flew for the start of the WinStar World Casino 350k Friday evening and Malsam wheeled his truck into the 18th spot within the first 12 laps of the 147-lap event. The rookie driver let crew chief Doug Wolcott know that the truck was handling well and on the first pit stop of the day, which came at lap 20, the crew added fuel to the truck and made no other adjustments to the machine.
Malsam settled in for the lap 23 restart in the 13th spot, but found that his Tundra struggled a bit in traffic. He fell to 17th before a caution flag flew at lap 57, enabling Malsam to drive down pit road for four fresh tires. Wolcott also called for a track bar adjustment in an effort to loosen up the truck, and the crew sent Malsam back out on the track for the restart in 20th.
The team was able to make one more pit stop prior to the end of the race and Wolcott made an additional adjustment to the chassis as Malsam was still experiencing a tight handling truck. Malsam went one lap down to the leader with 23 laps to go and when the checkered flag flew, he held down the 18th position.
Malsam currently holds down 13th place in the NCWTS driver point standings. 132 points separate him from the top 10.
The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series returns to action next weekend at Phoenix International Raceway. The Lucas Oil 150k will be broadcast live at 8 p.m. (ET) on SPEED TV and on select affiliates of MRN Radio and Sirius-XM NASCAR Radio on Friday, November 13.
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 visitwww.randymossmotorsports.com.
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