Mitchell Grabs Ninth in Backup Truck

OVERVIEW

posted on July 19, 2008

Sparta, KY (July 19, 2008) – It was a busy day for the Ergon race team, but their hard work paid off. After a qualifying mishap forced the team to use a backup truck, the #15 team rallied from the tail-end of the field to score a ninth-place finish in the Built Ford Tough 250 at Kentucky Speedway. The Ergon team’s effort marked their first top-10 of the season and Mitchell’s third Raybestos Rookie of the Race award.
Mitchell’s qualifying lap of 31.597 seconds around the 1.5 mile oval was fast enough for sixth-place on the starting grid, however the Ergon Tundra smacked the outside retaining wall in Turns 3 and 4 on the second lap. Knowing they couldn’t repair the damage in time for the main event, the team was forced to roll out the backup truck. As a result, Mitchell had to start the race from the rear of the field.
The team only had one-and-a-half hours to prepare the backup #15 machine, but it was ready to go when the green flag dropped. The Ergon Toyota was tight in the initial stages of the race and Mitchell was held at bay outside the top-20. Crew chief Doug George made several adjustments on the first four pit stops of the race, but the nose on Mitchell’s truck kept pushing up the track.
Knowing track position came at a premium, George made a gutsy call when the caution flag waved on lap 113. George had Mitchell come into the pits for a “gas only” stop, despite already having 41 laps on his tires. George’s strategy moved Mitchell up to fourth-place for the restart.
The green flag restarted the action on lap 119 with 31 laps remaining. Even with the older tires, Mitchell hung strong for the balance of the race to capture ninth-place.
“It was a true team effort today,” said Mitchell after the race. “Most of the time, when you race in a backup, you’re just trying to finish the race; you really don’t expect to have a good race. But tonight the Ergon team never quit. The truck was a tight early on, but not too bad. We just couldn’t get any track position. We seemed stuck right outside the top-20. When Doug (George) made the call for gas only in the pits, it worked out perfectly. Not only did it put us up front, but it gave me clean air to race in and the truck handled great. I’m really proud of this team and I can’t wait for ORP.”