FORT WORTH, Tex. – Set to compete in his third NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) race of the season, Tyler Young (@tyleryoung02) heads to Texas Motor Speedway for Friday night’s winstaronlinegaming.com 400 with new crew chief Chad Kendrick.
Kendrick joined Young’s Motorsports this past Monday and will oversee the team’s truck program moving forward with former crew chief Andrew Abbott serving as truck crew chief and crew chief for the team’s developmental K&N Pro Series East program.
With the abrupt shutdown of Red Horse Racing, Young saw the opportunity to bring Kendrick aboard in hopes with his expertise and leadership he can propel the team forward as they focus to remain a mainstay in the Truck Series.
“I’m excited about the opportunity to work with Chad Kendrick this weekend at Texas Motor Speedway,” said Young. “Chad has the knowledge to help Andrew in a lot of ways and I think with both working together our on-track performance will get better.”
Friday night’s race at Texas Motor Speedway is the first standalone race for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series this season and Young, a native of Midland, Texas always hopes to come to the ultra-fast 1.5-mile speedway and do well, especially at his hometown track.
With Kendrick’s notebook and Abbott’s intuitiveness, Young feels a top-10 finish is feasible.
“I enjoy coming to Texas for a lot of reasons,” he said. “Not only is it my home track, but it’s a place where I enjoy racing. Texas is incredibly fast, but it has always been about handling. With the new asphalt, I’m not sure what to expect, but we’ll have three practices on Thursday to get our No. 02 Young’s Building Systems / Randco. Chevrolet dialed in and ready for the race on Friday night.
“It sure would be nice to have a good showing in front of all my family and friends.”
Eight of Young’s 72-career Truck Series starts have come in the heart of the Lone Star State and eyeing his fifth career top-10 finish, Young says he is still riding the momentum of his top-15 finish at Kansas Speedway last month.
His best finish at Texas came in back-to-back races in 2014 and 2015 where he steered his truck to 14th place finishes.
“The last couple of races haven’t been really good to us in Texas,” Young explained. “For one reason or another, we just couldn’t get the handling the way we needed too. With that being said, we learned a ton at Kansas and I really like the way the truck felt.
“I talked to Chad and we’re going to start there for practice on Thursday and see how the truck performs with the new asphalt. While it’s important to get the handling figured out, it’s equally important to remember that the three practices don’t really give an indicator of what we might expect in race conditions. It’s a curveball, but something we’re used to and nothing we can’t overcome.”
In 72 career NCWTS starts, Young holds four top-10 finishes to his credit with a career-best sixth at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway in February 2016. A sixth-place qualifying effort at Eldora Speedway in July 2015 is his best time trials effort to date. Young’s Motorsports has competed on the tour since 2012.
For more on Tyler Young, please visit YoungsMotorsports.com or click on his Facebook page. Young is also active on Twitter. You can follow and tweet with him @TylerYoung02.
The winstaronlinegaming.com 400k (167 laps / 250.5 miles) is the seventh of 23 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series races on the 2017 schedule. Practice begins on June 8 from 3:00 p.m. – 3:55 p.m., a second practice session has been etched from 5:00 p.m. – 5:55 p.m. with a final practice session is set for 7:00 p.m. – 7:55 p.m. Qualifying is set for race day, Fri., June 9 beginning at 4:35 p.m. The 32-truck field will take the green flag shortly after 7:00 p.m. with live coverage on FOX Sports 1 (FS1), the Motor Racing Network (Radio) and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Satellite Radio, Channel 90). All times are local (Central).
No. 02 Young’s Motorsports Texas Motor Speedway Fast Facts:
Driver: Tyler Young (@TylerYoung02)
Owner: Randy Young (Young’s Motorsports)
Crew Chief: Chad Kendrick
Truck Chief: Andrew Abbott
Manufacturer: Chevrolet Silverado
Engine Builder: Collins Engine Works
