Homestead, Fla. (November 18, 2008) – J.R. Fitzpatrick made his third career NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series start on Friday night at Homestead-Miami Speedway, marking his first start at a 1.5-mile superspeedway. Fitzpatrick, who won the CASCAR Championship in 2006, made quick work of the steep learning curve and drove the No. 71 Mammoet Chevrolet to 18th before falling victim to a blown right rear tire 98 laps in to the 134-lap Ford 200.
Fitzpatrick, who had his career-best qualifying effort (sixth) last week at Phoenix International Raceway, was on pace to lay down another great lap in qualifying. His first lap clocked in at 32.911 seconds at a speed of 164.079 miles per hour and he was on pace to outdo himself on lap two, but his determination outweighed the trucks abilities and he looped it on the second lap. “In qualifying, I believe we had a top-15 truck but I made a small mistake by not wanting to lift off the gas and that cost us that potential start,” he explained. “We were too free and I spun out on the second lap. But we still maintained a top-20 start.”
Fitzpatrick started the Ford 200 from outside row 10 in 20th position but his Chevrolet was “loose under throttle” and he slid to 24th. When everyone hit pit road, under caution, on lap 43, Crew Chief Jon Wolfe called Fitzpatrick in for four tires, fuel, and a chassis adjustment before returning him to the track in 22nd.
On lap 67, Fitzpatrick brushed the wall but it didn’t cause enough damage to his truck to tell. “It’s really starting to come in,” said Fitzpatrick on lap 75. “It’s really feeling good.” About 15 laps later, his truck began to lose the handling and was slowly losing the nose and pushing loose. He hit pit road under the next caution flag and took on four new tires and fuel, but when the race resumed, he cut down a tire and was forced to pit road for repairs. The crew patched up the damage and sent the Mammoet Chevrolet on its way, but they fell nine laps down while repairing the damage.
“I had a ton of fun, running with eight to 10 trucks all night,” said Fitzpatrick of his first outing at the Homestead, Florida facility. “Our truck was a bit on the loose side and it took about 40 laps before it came in. When it did, we were running some great lap times. We pitted under the caution flag for some tires and adjustments and I knew we were going to have a great truck after that. But only one lap after the restart we went into turn three and we cut down a right rear tire. Luckily I was already running the high groove and just kissed the wall a little but the damage was big enough were it took several laps to repair. The crew took their time fixing the damage because it was crucial that we finish the race because I need my license for next year. They worked very hard and got us back out to see the checkered flag fly.” Fitzpatrick finished 32nd.
“I had a lot of fun and I am really looking forward to what hopes to be a full season in 2009,” he said.
From TRG_motorsports // Jamie Maynard
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