Chevy Silverado 350K at Texas Motor Speedway Preview

OVERVIEW

posted on October 27, 2008

Ryan Lawler Texas Motor Speedway Fast Facts

• The Chevy Silverado 350K will mark Lawler’s eighth NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series start
• Lawler has one prior NCTS start at Texas Motor Speedway. Driving the No. 07 Kent Smith owned truck last June, Lawler started 31st and finished 18th
• Lawler’s career-best NCTS finish is 17th. He achieved this twice – Martinsville Speedway, March, 2008 and Kentucky Speedway, July, 2008
• The No. 15 Billy Ballew Motorsports team’s best finish at TMS is 2nd (Kyle Busch, November, 2006).
• Ryan’s father, Patrick Lawler, has competed in seven NCTS events
• Patrick Lawler drove the No. 15 truck at TMS in October, 2006, where he picked up his career-best finish of 18th

Ryan Lawler Comments on Texas Motor Speedway

“This is a huge opportunity. I have a few truck races under my belt, but I’ve never driven for a team as accomplished as Billy Ballew Motorsports. The Ergon Racing team has shown they are contenders week in and week out. Everybody knows they can get the job done, and I want to prove the same thing this weekend. Hopefully I’ll give the (No.) 15 truck a good ride in Texas.

“I’ve worked with Richie Wauters (crew chief No. 51 team) and some of the crew at a few Late Model races. I’m familiar with the guys on the team and can’t wait to run a race at this level with them. Thankfully we’re not starting completely fresh with each other at Texas. We’ve got a little bit of a head start on our chemistry and that should speed up our learning curve.

“It’s special to race at Texas (Motor Speedway). I grew up in town of Colleyville, which is about 15 minutes away from the track. I’ve still got lots of friends and family that live nearby. Most of my friends have been helping me out at the short tracks for years. It’s cool to think that there will be a lot of familiar faces at the track this weekend that have supported me for years. I definitely want to give a solid run for the hometown crowd this weekend.

“My dad (Patrick Lawler) raced a handful of Truck Series races. To see him on the track racing against some of the best drivers in the sport, and to see the crowd cheering him on was so cool. I always knew I wanted to follow in his footsteps and race in the big leagues one day.”