Hard Fought Top-15 for Ergon Racing in Nashville

OVERVIEW

posted on August 09, 2008

LEBANON, Tenn. (August 10, 2008) – David Stremme and the Ergon Racing team rebounded from going two laps down in the Toyota Tundra 200 at Nashville Superspeedway to finish in 13th-place. It looked like it was going to be a sub-par debut for Stremme with the No. 15 team when a loose wheel forced him to make an unscheduled pit stop on lap 60 of the 150 lap event. Stremme, along with crew chief Doug George, wasn’t about to accept defeat, though. The tandem made all the right decisions to get the No. 15 truck back on the lead lap and score a top-15 finish.
Stremme started the event from 21st-place. It didn’t take long for him to pedal his way to the front. On lap 27, the Ergon Tundra cracked into the top-15. The first caution flag waved on lap 36, bringing an end to his run. Under the yellow flag, the team changed all four tires, topped off the fuel cell and made a wedge adjustment to help correct a “loose in, tight off” condition that Stremme was fighting. Following service, Stremme returned to the track in 16th-place.
When the race resumed, Stremme radioed to his crew that he felt a vibration coming from one of the wheels. The vibration continued to get worse, which forced him to bring his truck down pit lane under green flag conditions on lap 60 for the crew to change his tires. When the team finished service, Stremme was down two laps to the field in 28th-place.
Stremme and George focused on getting the Ergon Toyota in position for the “lucky dog” pass. A caution flag waved on lap on lap 73 that allowed the team to recoup one of their laps. Stremme was the first truck one lap down to the leaders when another caution period ensued on lap 122, allowing him to get back on the lead lap.
The green flag waved on lap 128 with Stremme in the 23rd position. Only 22 laps remained in the event, but Stremme made each one count. Stremme clicked off ten positions in the remaining laps, moving him up to 13th-place when the checkered flag waved.
“That was an exciting race,” said Stremme. “The Ergon truck was pretty good tonight. It was a little loose on entry early on, but we were moving to the front. After we made our first pit stop, I started feeling a vibration coming from a wheel. I don’t know if a balance fell off, or if the lug nuts were loose, but it was shaking pretty bad. Fortunately the truck was good enough to put us in position for the “lucky dog” twice. I just wish we had more laps in this race. I think we had a top-10 truck for sure, we just ran out of time to get there.”