BHR Driver Chase Montgomery had one goal heading into the O’Reilly 200 Wednesday night at Bristol Motor Speedway; survive. He accomplished his goal, but not without several detours. Montgomery was running in 25th position when three trucks tangled in front of him. He immediately drove to the inside of the spinning trucks, but was unable to escape without damage. He sustained substantial left front fender damage that plagued his handling the remainder of the night. He was able to salvage a 22nd place finish. It is Montgomery’s 11th top 25 finish of the season.

“You can’t have a strategy at a place like Bristol,” Montgomery said. “I wanted to leave here with a truck with all four fenders on it. We came close. They had a huge pile up on the back stretch as I was coming out of turn two. Everything happens so fast here your spotter can’t even warn you what is up ahead. I saw the wreck happening and I dove to the inside to miss it. Another truck hit me and turned me into the wreck and that is where the damage came from. I came down pit road and my guys where ready for me. They had a game plan and were able to repair the damage without going a lap down. Thankfully we only had damage on the left front and not the entire front end. It saved us from having a terrible night.”

• Montgomery qualified 22nd for the one day show. It was his seventh top 25 starting position of the season.

• On lap 9 the first caution waved for a spin on the front stretch. Montgomery radioed he was battling a loose condition, but was confident it would come to him.

• Montgomery involved in multi-truck wreck on the back stretch on lap 19. The second caution is displayed and he comes down pit road to the attention of his team. The No. 18 Bobby Hamilton Racing Team jumped into action repairing the damage sustained to the left front. The team repaired the sheet metal damage with the help of duct tape and a crow bar. 

• While running in the 31st spot on lap 39 Montgomery went one lap down to the leader. He radioed the truck had developed a tight condition.

• The fourth caution came out on lap 70 for a spin in turn two. Montgomery came down pit road to aid his tight condition. The No. 18 Team changed four tires, added fuel and went up two rounds on the track bar. He restarted in 30th spot.

• By lap 100 the tight condition had disappeared and Montgomery was able to gain track position.

• In the final 20 laps of the event he was able to pick up five positions. He finished in the 22nd position.

• It was the 11th top 25 finish of the season for Montgomery and his 18 team.

 “We were lucky to finish in the top 25 tonight,” Montgomery said. “We had a great truck. The guys did an awesome job setting up the truck. The damage from the wreck hurt us in the long run. We just lost track position and it took me a while to gain it back. In the closing laps the truck really took off. I hate it ended when it did because I think we could have picked up more positions. I am thankful we are able to bring home a truck with three fenders. It helps out back at the shop. I know they were nervous heading into this race. It was a solid race for us and we were able to log in another top 25 place finish.”
 
Mike Skinner won the O’Reilly 200 Todd Bodine, Jack Sprague, Johnny Benson and Kyle Busch followed in the top five.