On a bizarre full moon night in Wisconsin with thunder storms approaching and only one caution for a 200 lap event Chase Montgomery was looking for luck, but found none. On lap 35 Montgomery felt a loss of power in the engine. The problem was later diagnosed as a broken carburetor resulting in a 33rd place finish in the Toyota Tundra Milwaukee 200 at The Milwaukee Mile.

Montgomery qualified for the event in 31st position. He rode comfortably in the top 30 before experiencing engine problems on lap 35. “It feels like I just lost a cylinder,” he radioed in to Crew Chief Kip McCord. Five laps later McCord made the decision to pit to better diagnose the problem. The TracRac Racing Team went work under the hood for any noticeable problems, but was unable to find anything. Montgomery returned to the track six laps down to the leader who was setting a rocket-fast pace.

“I am telling you something is wrong it will not get up to speed,” Montgomery said. “It feels like the engine is flat.” McCord radioed for Montgomery to come pack down pit road. The TracRac Racing Team once again looked underneath the hood. McCord made the decision to pull a chip out of the motor to see if that would eliminate the problem. Montgomery returned to the track in 36th position, 10 laps down to the leader.

On lap 50 when nothing had made a difference Montgomery pulled the No. 18 TracRac Dodge behind the wall so the team could get a better look at the problem. Once again, The TracRac Racing Team looked underneath the hood for the problem, but was unable to locate one. Montgomery returned to the track in 36th position.

The No. 18 TracRac Dodge was unable to hold the minimum speed requirement set by NASCAR and was forced to go behind the wall again on lap 104. “If it was the motor I think it would have blown by now,” McCord said. “Let’s change the carburetor and see if it is the problem.” The TracRac Racing Team went to work and replaced the carburetor in record time. A secondary linkage in the carburetor gave way on lap 35 and proved to be the problem plaguing the No. 18 TracRac Dodge.

Montgomery pitted on lap 121 for tires and fuel. The only caution of the night waved 20 laps later for a spin in turn one. Montgomery elected not pit and restarted in 36th position.  “We have nothing to gain tonight, but seat time for me,” Montgomery said under caution. “I am going to ride around and see what I can learn for when we come back next year.”

Montgomery was able to climb three spots to 33rd position before the checkered flag was thrown. “I am shocked how the race turned out tonight,” Montgomery said. “I would never have dreamed we would only have one caution. I am more surprised we broke a carburetor. Mechanical failure is one thing we do not have at Bobby Hamilton Racing. It was a freak thing. The secondary linkage on the carburetor broke in two. It was a five dollar part. I hated we spent so much time behind the wall, but I am proud of my guys for never giving up. It would have been easy just to park it. We were able to salvage some seat time and I was able to learn more about the track. I wish we could have finished better for TracRac. We will head to Kansas and hope for a better run there.”

Dennis Setzer won the Toyota Tundra Milwaukee 200. Jack Sprague, Ted Musgrave, Ron Hornaday, Jr. and Brendan Gaughan followed in the top five.