Texas Motor Speedway Race Report

OVERVIEW

posted on June 06, 2008

Mitchell Scores Season Best At Texas
Justin, TX (June 6, 2008) – Marc Mitchell overcame throttle problems and a pit road miscue to score a 12th-place finish in the Sam’s Town 400 at the 1.5-mile Texas Motor Speedway Friday night. The effort marked his best finish of the season.
Mitchell qualified the Ergon Toyota in the 23rd position. His truck was too tight in the early goings of the race to pick up any spots. Crew chief Doug George made a drastic adjustment to the No. 15 Tundra under the night’s second caution period (lap 60), loosening up the truck with wedge, track bar and air pressure adjustments. Mitchell re-claimed 23rd-place when he rejoined the field.
When the race went green, Mitchell blazed through the field. Mitchell worked his way up to 12th-place, often turning lap times faster than the leaders. The only thing that could slow him down was the caution flag, which halted his progress on lap 87. George called for a two-tire pit stop, along with a minor wedge adjustment to loosen up Mitchell’s ride. During the pit stop, a member of the pit crew experienced radio difficulties and made the wedge adjustment to the wrong side of the truck. Correcting the mistake prevented Mitchell from picking up any positions from the two-tire service, leaving him in 13th-place for the restart.
To make matters worse, the No. 15 truck’s throttle stuck on the restart, lap 92, and caused Mitchell to push up the track. Several competitors ducked under him, relegating him to 21st-place. Not about to give up, Mitchell fought back into the twelfth position in only 65 laps. On lap 163, Mitchell became the “meat in the sandwich” in a three-wide battle for the tenth spot. The three cars all made contact, sending the car below Mitchell into the wall. Mitchell was sent sliding all the way through Turns 3 & 4, but made an incredible recovery. The incident brought out the caution flag and set the stage for a green/white/checker finish.
In the “overdrive” section of the event, Mitchell’s throttle stuck once again, allowing one truck to pass Mitchell before the checkered flag. Mitchell finished a season-best 12th-place.
“It was a pretty good night,” said Mitchell after the race. “This team never gave up. We had to overcome a lot of obstacles, so to finish in twelfth-place isn’t so bad. The truck was probably capable of finishing in the top-five, but our night could have definitely been a lot worse.
“I’m not sure what was making the throttle stick,” continued Mitchell. “A piece of rubber around the gas pedal looked like it was getting stuck to the floor board. Maybe it was from the heat. I’m not sure, but it was sticking on the restarts and making me push up the track. That cost us a spot or two tonight.
“The good news is that we’ve got a really good truck and it’s still in one piece, “concluded Mitchell. “We got our best finish of the season and we’ll look to do even better than that next weekend in Michigan.”