Mitchell Claims Fifteeth at Milwaukee Mile

OVERVIEW

posted on June 20, 2008

Milwaukee, WI (June 20, 2008) – Marc Mitchell drove the Ergon Toyota to a fifteenth-place finish in the Camping World RV Sales 200 at the Milwaukee Mile. Mitchell’s finish was the highest among the rookie class, and marked his third top-15 of the season.
The Ergon Tundra started the race from the ninth position. The #15 machine was “tight from the center off” in the early goings of the event, allowing five competitors to slide by Mitchell on the first green flag run. Fortunately Mitchell was able to make up the lost positions with a gutsy pit strategy by crew chief Doug George - Mitchell remained on the track after several trucks entered pit road for service. An auspicious caution flag waved on lap 70, before Mitchell made his trip down pit road, which moved him into fourth-place. During the yellow flag, the crew changed Mitchell’s tires, topped off the fuel cell and made a track bar adjustment to loosen up the truck.
The race returned to green on lap 77 with Mitchell in sixth-place. The adjustments that the crew made worked a little too well; Mitchell’s truck was now “loose on exit,” according to the driver. Only five green flag laps were completed before the caution flag waved again. George used pit strategy once again to improve his driver’s track position. He left Mitchell on the track during the yellow flag. When the other drivers pitted, Mitchell inherited the lead.
The race went green on lap 99 with the Ergon Tundra leading the parade. With his hands full, Mitchell fell to 13th-place while fighting the handling of his truck. Bad weather conditions put an end to the green flag run on lap 143. When the weather subsided, the crew serviced the #15 truck with four tires, fuel and a track bar adjustment to tighten up the Ergon Toyota. Mitchell rejoined the field in 11th-place for the restart.
On lap 155, the race resumed. Once again, the team’s adjustments on Mitchell’s truck were too extreme. The Ergon Tundra was “too tight on entry” now. Mitchell hung strong in the top-15, but was unable to fend off four competitors before the checkered flag. He finished the day in 15th-place.
“We had a finicky truck tonight,” said Mitchell after the race. “It went from tight to loose, and back to tight again. We just couldn’t get it quite right. We made the most of it, though. The Ergon team never gave up. Doug made some great calls in the pits and kept us up front most of the night. Things could have been a lot worse; that’s for sure. If you have an ill-handling truck, and you still lead a few laps, end up with a top-15, and are the rookie of the race, that’s not so bad.”