Sam's Town 400K at Texas Motor Speedway Preview

OVERVIEW

posted on June 02, 2008

Texas Motor Speedway Fast Facts:
Marc Mitchell has never raced at Texas Motor Speedway prior to the Sam’s Town 400K.
Mitchell averages a 15th-place starting position and a 26th-place finish at mile-and-a-half tracks this season.
Mitchell will be driving BBM chassis #22 in the Sam’s Town 400K.  This truck was most recently used by Shane Sieg in last week’s AAA Insurance 200 at Dover International Speedway. Sieg started 19th and finished 14th.
The #15 Ergon Hyprene Tundra will compete in 21 races in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series in 2008.  Mitchell is competing for Rookie of The Year Honors.

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Raybestos Rookie Contender Marc Mitchell Comments on Sam’s Town 400K:
“These last few weeks have given me a lot of confidence.  There have been some big upsets in the Truck Series, and I wouldn’t be surprised if we see another this week, but we are all going to have to go through Todd Bodine first. Todd Bodine owns Texas.  He’s won at least one race a year there since 2004.  He’s definitely the man to beat, but the past three races have shown me that anything can happen.  Donny Lia and Scott Speed are living proof that rookies can get the job done. I get excited thinking that me and the other rookies are mixing it up with the veterans. The Ergon team has proven that we can run with all of those guys, and with a little luck, we can be the next new winners.
“I’ve never raced at Texas before, but I’ve heard it has some similarities to the mile-and-a-half tracks we’ve already raced at.  Texas is pretty smooth and Kansas is smooth as well. I think Texas is going to be a lot faster than Kansas was. Atlanta was a pretty fast race track, but a rough surface. They say that you wear your tires out at Texas, but I think the speeds are going be faster than anywhere I have been so far. From what I hear, drafting plays a pretty big role. I’m looking forward to learning the race track and learning how to run with the veterans because you’re going to have to compete with Kyle (Busch), Ron Hornaday and all those guys that run up front every week. I feel that if we can be up there with them, that we can come out on top one of these days.
“I’ve had great trucks at Charlotte and Kansas. Hopefully, Texas is pretty similar to those two places.  The Ergon team had a good setup for both tracks.  We want to hit the ground running at Texas. I’m hoping to get a feel for the track pretty quick, and we can fine tune on the truck to have it ready for qualifying and the race.
“We’re taking  chassis #22 to the track this weekend.  It’s the same truck that we used in Charlotte and Kansas.  Shane Sieg used it last week and scored a top-15 at Dover.  It’s a great truck, and I know it can get the job done at Texas.  Doug (George, crew chief) and I are working really well together.  We’re spending less and less time at the track trying to fix problems and more time tuning the truck.  We’re definitely headed in the right direction.  This week should prove it.”