CONCORD, North Carolina (May 18, 2016) – – Like every NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) team wanting to do well near their home base, Tyler Young and his Young’s Motorsports team head to Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway this weekend planning to end a stretch of three consecutive races with their second top-10 of the 2016 season.
Last Friday at Dover (Del.) International Speedway, Young in his No. 02 Young’s Building Systems / Randco Chevrolet Silverado struggled with the handling throughout the two-day event and when the checkered flag was thrown, the Mooresville, North Carolina-based team was left with their worst finish of the season, 21st.
While the finish would be respectable to some, the Young’s Motorsports team left the track frustrated, but assured the team did all they could to ensure the best finish possible. Friday night’s N.C. Education Lottery 200 provides the team an ample opportunity to bounce back and return to form.
“We know Dover was a little disappointing, but that’s behind us and we’re ready to move on,” said Young who sits eighth in the championship standings entering the fifth race of the season. “The good news coming out of Dover is that we learned a lot – and can take what we learned and apply it and come back better in 2017. Charlotte is what’s ahead and we’re anxious to get underway.”
Young, the Midland, Texas native has three prior starts at the 1.5-mile speedway with a personal best coming last May where Young finished 18th after starting 20th. Considering how his family-owned team has run on intermediate tracks this season, Young is optimistic for a top-10 finish.
“I think we’re plenty capable of finishing in the top-15 on Friday night, but we want to be back in the top-10,” he said. “We’ve come a long way with our Young’s Motorsports program since last year and other than our finish from Dover last weekend, I think the results have spoken for themselves. Charlotte is an extremely fast track, especially at night. While horsepower is crucial, handling is just as important. Thankfully, we have three practice sessions on Thursday that can help us dial in our No. 02 Young’s Building Systems / Randco Chevrolet Silverado.”
Even with the three practice sessions on Thursday, an eerie weather forecast for the weekend could potentially leave teams scrambling for track time, including both Thursday and Friday. Young says his team has kept their eye on the forecast hoping for the best.
“We know that weather is going to be a factor this weekend, we just have to see when the systems gets here, that will determine a lot,” he said. “We’ll look at practice in both qualifying and race setup, just in case the weather strikes on Friday and we can’t qualify. If not, we should be fine nonetheless.”
As for the race, Young is hoping the chassis that the team finished 11th with at Kansas Speedway earlier this month will have similar results near the Queen City.
“This truck has been pretty good to us,” added Young. “The truck was really solid at Kansas. We kept working on it and working on it and it got better the more we adjusted. Unless something happens and we don’t race on Friday night, the conditions should be similar to Kansas on Friday night, so we’re upbeat. We made a gutsy call at the end of the race which paid off. We’re keeping that in the memory bank and hope we’ll be in position to capitalize once again.”
With four top-13 performances in five races, including a career-best finish in the season-opening NextEra Energy Resource 250 at Daytona, Young is happy with the season thus far.
“Thankfully, we don’t have a lot to complain about,” he mentioned. “We lost some spots in the points last weekend, but we’re confident we can get them back. The points are a tight race. Ideally, we’d like to be here sitting with five top-10 finishes in a row, but that’s just not how it goes sometimes. We’ve made some vast improvements from last year and at this point – that’s all we can ask for.”
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 N.C. Education 200 (134 laps / 200 miles) is the sixth of 23 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series on the 2016 schedule. Practice begins on Thursday, May 19 from 12:30 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. A second practice has been etched in from 2:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. with a final session on deck from 4:30 p.m. – 5:55 p.m. Qualifying is set for race day, Friday, May 20 beginning at 5:30 p.m. The 32-truck field will take the green flag shortly after 8:30 p.m.with live coverage on FOX Sports 1, the Motor Racing Network (Radio) and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Satellite Radio, Channel 90).
Young’s Motorsports Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway Fast Facts:
Driver: Tyler Young (@TylerYoung02)
Owner: Randy Young (Young’s Motorsports)
Crew Chief: Andrew Abbott
Manufacturer: Chevrolet Silverado
Engine Builder: Collins Automotive
