O’Reilly Auto Parts 350
KANSAS CITY, MO, (July 2, 2005) – BHR Driver Chase Montgomery
fought a tight No. 18 TracRac Dodge all day at Kansas Speedway. Montgomery
was able to overcome the tight condition in the final laps of the
O’Reilly Auto Parts 350 to finish in the 20th position. It was
the team’s fifth top-20 finish of the season.
Montgomery qualified his No. 18 TracRac Dodge in the 30th position
and consistently ran there in the opening laps. “The front end
will not stick and it is causing me to go up the track,” Montgomery
radioed. He was able to adjust his driving style to fix the tight
condition allowing him to gain ground on the competitors in front
of him until the first scheduled pit stop.
Montgomery was driving hard to stay ahead of the leader to prevent
himself from going one lap down when the first caution came out. Crew
Chief Kip McCord called Montgomery to pit road. Montgomery pitted
for four fresh tires, fuel and the crew made a major air pressure
adjustment. He stalled the No. 18 TracRac Dodge as he was exiting
pit road giving up several positions. He restarted in the 30th position.
The second caution came out on lap 51. “I am really tight running
the high line and very loose when I am underneath another truck,”
Montgomery said. “I may be overdriving the truck through traffic.
Whatever the problem is, it is holding us back.” The team made
the decision to bring Montgomery into the pits for fuel only because
they had nothing to lose running in the 28th position. Once again
Montgomery stalled the truck on pit road; the No. 18 crew was quick
to jump over the pit wall and pushed Montgomery until the truck restarted.
While running in the 29th position the third caution waved. “I
am still tight in the center,” Montgomery said. He drove the
No. 18 TracRac Dodge into the pits for fuel and fresh tires. The crew
made a track bar adjustment to aid the tight condition. He restarted
in the 30th position.
Montgomery worked his way up to the 25th position, but was unable
to keep the leader behind him causing the No. 18 Dodge to go one lap
down. Under the fourth caution Montgomery brought the No. 18 TracRac
Dodge in for fuel and fresh tires for the final time. The team made
another air pressure adjustment to try to fix his tight condition.
Montgomery restarted in the 22nd position. Following the restart he
fell to the 25th position and stayed there during the next two cautions.
In the closing laps of the race Montgomery was able to work his way
through traffic. The final caution waved with two laps to go setting
the stage for a green-white-checkered flag finish. On the last lap
Montgomery passed two trucks in the final corner to finish in the
20th position.
“Today was a productive day for the TracRac Dodge,” Montgomery
said. “The truck was tight in the opening laps and didn’t
really get any better as the race went on. It forced me to adjust
how I drove the track and I needed to learn how to do that. My guys
gave me great pit stops and stayed with me all night. At the end of
the day it was a good finish for us because we did not wreck and I
learned a lot on the track. We will go home and get ready for Kentucky.”
Todd Bodine won the O’Reilly Auto Parts 250. Todd Kluever, David
Reutimann, Mike Skinner and Bill Lester followed in the top five.
TracRac products are hand crafted in the USA of tough rust free aluminum
and are featured as original equipment by GM, Ford and Chrysler. For
dealer information or to request a TracRac DVD video contact TracRac
at 800-501-1587 or visit the website at www.tracrac.com.
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