David Starr
No. 81 Randy Moss Motorsports Toyota Tundra
Pocono Raceway – Pocono Mountains 125
July 31, 2010
David Starr and the No. 81 Randy Moss Motorsports Toyota team brought their Tundra home in the 13th position after a hard-fought battle at Pocono Raceway on Saturday afternoon. The 125-mile event was the inaugural race for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series at the Pennsylvania track and also marked Starr’s debut at the “Tricky Triangle.”
Starr kept the No. 81 Randy Moss Motorsports Toyota Tundra in the top-11 throughout both practice sessions on Friday while the team worked through a variety of options to determined which setup would benefit them the most in Saturday’s 50-lap race.
As a result of his fast practice speeds, Starr went out late in the pack for his qualifying attempt on Saturday afternoon. The driver of the No. 81 Randy Moss Motorsports Toyota Tundra laid down a lap of 57.048 seconds which stuck for the 15th starting position.
Starr maintained his track position throughout the opening laps of the race despite struggling with a truck that was free in the center & tight off the exit. The team serviced the No. 81 Toyota Tundra with four tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment during the second caution period on lap 27. Crew chief Doug Wolcott hoped the changed would help their truck travel through Pocono Raceway’s three unique turns.
Just laps later, another caution flag was displayed around the 2.5-mile tri-oval. Starr’s Toyota Tundra was extremely tight handling through turn two and the middle of turn three. Since the team had tires to spare, Wolcott called for four more tires, fuel and another air pressure adjustment changing their strategy to a two-stop race.
Starr restarted the event in the 20th position, but within just 10 laps he had picked up enough positions to move back inside the top-10. By the first attempt at a green-white-checker finish, Starr was racing just outside the top-five and looked poised to finish near the front. During the second attempt at a green-white-checker finish, Starr was forced up into the marbles when another competitor ran him high around a turn leaving him to fall through the field. Without another restart to pick up more positions, Starr crossed this finish line in 13th.
Starr remains ninth in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver points.
“The No. 81 Randy Moss Motorsports team did a great job today,” said David Starr. “Our truck wasn’t very good when the race started, but Doug Wolcott and the crew made a couple of adjustments that made our Zachry Toyota Tundra come alive. With just a couple laps left, I was running eighth when I got forced up in the marbles and lost about 10 spots. We fought back to finish 13th, but I’m very disappointed because I know our truck was better than that. It’s frustrating for the guys who work on the trucks and everybody on our team. I am happy with the hard work that everyone puts in week after week. If we could get a little good luck on our side, I believe we would be finishing near the front every week.”
Next weekend the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series will return to Nashville Superspeedway for another night of racing action under the lights in the music city. The Nashville 200 will be broadcast live on SPEED beginning at 8:30 p.m. EST on Saturday, August 7. Coverage on Sirius XM Radio and MRN Radio will begin at 8:45 p.m. EST. Practice sessions and qualifying will take place on Saturday but will not be televised.
