“Rookie Scores Another Top 20”

One of the fastest tracks on the circuit for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series provided for a rather bizarre running of the Chevrolet Silverado 350K on Saturday afternoon.  The end result for 21-year-old Chase Montgomery was a 17th place finish in the caution filled event at the 1.5-mile layout of the Texas Motor Speedway.

“In all this was a decent day for us,” stated Chase.  “Our #8 DODGE was strong right off the truck and we ended up with our best qualifying effort since Daytona.  We fought the handling just a little during the race and that hurt us as well as the track position game.  I got into the wall there a little off Turn 2 late in the race and I think that also cost us a few spots.  We have all made great strides on this team in the last few races and that is a good feeling – even when your finish does not totally reflect it.”

Montgomery started the race from the 14th position as a result of his qualifying effort on Friday.  The effort was the best for the rookie since his season-opening outside pole in Daytona.  The competitors were all welcomed on race day with sunny skies as the green flag flew over Texas.  Chase quickly showed his strength by moving inside the top ten by lap 12.  An early caution allowed for a trip down pit road for a small track bar adjustment on the #8 DODGE.

Once back to green flag racing, Montgomery was relegated to restarting the event in the 23rd spot.  As the handling of the truck began to come to him, Chase slowly picked his way through the field.  However, a long green flag run saw the #8 DODGE lose a lap to the leaders - but a caution on lap 53 came at the right time and along with it came the precious “Lucky Dog” honor.  A pit stop on lap 55 saw the BHR2 crew bolt on 4 fresh tires with an air pressure adjustment.  The change helped as Chase returned to the track in the 23rd spot once again and quickly moved inside the top 15 once back to green flag conditions.

The team’s final pit stop on lap 99 once again allowed for fresh tires and fuel along with a final air pressure adjustment.  The last 45 laps of racing were the most eventful of the day and included a red flag condition after a number of trucks got together hard off turn four.  With less than ten laps remaining Chase radioed back to his crew that he had gotten into the wall pretty hard himself coming off turn two.  This would provide some right side damage to the #8 DODGE and result in a few lost positions on the track – but in the end Montgomery matched his effort earlier this year at Texas with another 17th place finish.

“Another solid performance for us,” said Montgomery.  “As has been the case a few times this year, we were better than our finish indicates.  We had some people from our sponsor (Alpine Engineered Products) with us today and we hope that they had a great time.  Also, I hope that David (Reutimann) is OK as it looked like he took a pretty hard hit.  This BHR2 team looks to continue with solid runs as we head back to Martinsville next week for the second time this year.”

Montgomery currently occupies the 21st spot in the overall drivers standings and is fifth in the highly contest rookie of the year race.

For more information on Chase and his team, please visit them at www.chasemontgomery.com