NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
Texas 350
Texas Motor Speedway
November 2, 2012
Race Highlights:
Richard Childress Racing teammates finished fifth (Ty Dillon), seventh (Joey Coulter) and 17th (Brendan Gaughan).
Dillon is second in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver championship point battle, 15 markers behind the leader; while Coulter ranks fifth in the standings.
The No. 3 Chevrolet team is second in the Camping World Truck Series owner championship point standings, with the No. 22 team fourth in the standings and the No. 2 team 14th.
Dillon leads the Sunoco Rookie of the Year point standings ahead of Cale Gale.
According to NASCAR’s Loop Data Statistics, Dillon earned the fifth-highest Driver Rating (109.8), while Coulter ranked eighth with a rating of 100.1.
RCR drivers made a total of 104 Green Flag Passes during the 147-lap event with Gaughan earning 44 passes, Coulter with 31, and Dillon with 29 passes.
Dillon scored the fourth-highest Average Running Position of 5.803, while Coulter ranked eighth with a 6.626 and Gaughan ranked 15th with a 14.388.
Dillon was the sixth-Fastest Driver on Restarts, and Coulter ranked eighth-fastest in Saturday’s affair.
Combined, RCR drivers ran the Fastest Laps for 18 laps. Dillon scored 10 of those laps, with Gaughan earning five, and Coulter with three laps.
Gaughan ranked first in the Closers category for the 147-lap event.
Coulter was the third-Fastest Driver Early in a Run, while Dillon was the eighth-quickest and George ranked 17th.
Dillon spent 100 percent of the event in the top 15 ranking him first amongst the rest of the field, while Coulter ranked fifth (99.3 percent) and Gaughan was scored in the top 15 for 61.9 percent of the race, ranking him 13th in the category.
Johnny Sauter took the checkered flag at Texas Motor Speedway and was followed to the line by Parker Kligerman, Nelson Piquet Jr., Kyle Busch and Dillon.
The next scheduled Camping World Truck Series race is the Lucas Oil 150 at Phoenix International Raceway on Friday, Nov. 9. The 21st race of the 2012 season is scheduled to be televised live on SPEED beginning at 7:30 p.m. Eastern Time and broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network beginning at 7:45 p.m.
Brendan Gaughan Earns Top-20 Finish in the “Lone Star State”
Brendan Gaughan recorded a 17th-place finish in the Texas 350 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race on Friday night at Texas Motor Speedway, recording his seventh top-20 finish in as many starts in RCR’s No. 2 South Point Hotel & Casino Chevrolet this season. The four-time Texas Motor Speedway race winner started the 147-lap NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race from the 15th position and immediately noted to crew chief Gere Kennon that the handling on his black and gold Chevrolet was extremely tight. Although the RCR crew made chassis and air pressure adjustments throughout the course of the event, the balance remained tight on the No. 2 truck. The Las Vegas, Nev., native climbed to as high as seventh in the running order following a two-tire pit stop in the middle stages of the race but continued to struggle with the tight-handling condition, ultimately recording a 17th-place finish.
Start – 15 Finish – 17 Laps Led – 0 Owner’s Points – 10
BRENDAN GAUGHAN QUOTE:
“I tried as hard as I could, but it was just really, really difficult to maneuver around the track with the truck handling as tight as it was. Towards the end of the race we were able to get the truck loose enough that I could make up some speed if I manipulated the driving line and turned into the corners just right, but overall it was a difficult race. We’ll chalk this up to not racing together every weekend and try to learn from it.”
Dillon Collects Fifth-Place Finish at Texas Motor Speedway
Despite battling a tight-handling Chevrolet for the majority of the Texas 350, Ty Dillon and the No. 3 Bass Pro Shops team earned a fifth-place finish and gained valuable points in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver championship point standings. Dillon started the 147-lap event at Texas Motor Speedway from the ninth position and reported a tight-handling condition on the Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet. As the 20-year-old driver was running in the fourth position, the engine temperature rose. Crew chief Marcus Richmond called Dillon to pit road during a caution period on lap 64 for four tires, fuel, air pressure adjustment and tape removal to avoid overheating the engine. Due to the extra adjustments on pit road, Dillon restarted in the 10th position when green flag racing resumed. The 2012 Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender improved his position to fourth by lap 115. The No. 3 Bass Pro Shops team made one additional pit stop under green-flag conditions before collecting a fifth-place finish at Texas Motor Speedway. With the fifth-place result, Dillon remains second in the driver championship point standings, 15 markers behind the leader.
Start – 9 Finish – 5 Laps Led – 1 Points – 2
TY DILLON QUOTE:
“Overall, I’m happy with our finish tonight. This fifth-place finish helped us a lot in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship point battle. Marcus (Richmond, crew chief) and the No. 3 Bass Pro Shops team did a great job tonight on pit road. We’re going to keep digging next weekend and gain more ground in the points.”
Joey Coulter Caps Off Solid Run with Top-10 Finish at Texas Motor Speedway
Joey Coulter and the No. 22 OneMain Financial Chevrolet team earned a seventh-place finish in the Texas 350 at Texas Motor Speedway. After a top-five qualifying effort, the 22-year-old driver settled into the fourth position for the early stages of the 147-lap event. On a lap-36 restart, the Richard Childress Racing driver ran three-wide before contact with another competitor caused the driver of the No. 22 Chevrolet to drop to ninth place. Wrestling with a tight-handling condition, the Miami Springs, Fla., native climbed to as high as sixth on the leaderboard before bringing the OneMain Financial Chevrolet home in the seventh position to secure his 13th top-10 finish of the 2012 season. Coulter remains fifth in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver championship point standings, 43 markers out of the top spot.
Start – 5 Finish – 7 Laps Led – 0 Points – 5
JOEY COULTER QUOTE:
“Overall, it was a great effort from the No. 22 OneMain Financial Chevrolet team this weekend at Texas (Motor Speedway). We had really good practices and a strong qualifying effort, but could not shake off the tight-handling condition during the race, especially on long green-flag runs. We will work hard to get back into Victory Lane at Phoenix (International Raceway).”
