American Commercial Lines 200 at Atlanta Motor Speedway Practice Report

OVERVIEW

posted on March 08, 2008

HAMPTON, Georgia (March 7, 2008) – An accident during the Craftsman Truck Series practice session has forced the No. 15 Ergon team to roll out a backup truck for tonight’s American Commercial Lines 200 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Marc Mitchell was 24th fastest before the incident occurred.
Mitchell was exiting pit road and ran through a wet spot on the track. After passing though the moisture, the Ergon Silverado spun into the outside retaining wall, damaging the left-side of the vehicle. “I hate it that this happened,” said Mitchell after the incident. “We had a really fast truck. It started out a little tight through the corners, but we were adjusting on it and it was getting better as practice went on.
“When I was leaving pit road to go back on the track, I ran through a wet spot and all four tires started sliding. I was along for the ride at that point.” The Ergon Silverado suffered damage to the front and rear of the driver’s-side. Although the damage wasn’t severe, it was significant enough for the team to use the backup car for the race. “I think we could fix up the car and have it ready for the race, but it wouldn’t have been as fast as it was in practice,” said Mitchell. “The damage to the front would have affected the aerodynamics it would have made a big difference to the handling.”