Garrett Liberty used his first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series start as an important learning experience Saturday afternoon at New Hampshire International Speedway. Liberty overcame early race brake problems to post a 31st place finish in the Sylvania 200.

“We had a little problem with the brakes and had to go behind the wall,” Liberty said in the garage area after the event. “When we went back out it was fine. I ran behind Mike Skinner for a long time and really got taken to school. That helped me learn how to pass people, when to pass, what line to run and how far to drive these things into the corner. You can really drive them into the corner farther than you might think. I learned so much out there today. My lap times really picked up as the day went a long. It was a great learning experience.”    

No. 4 Bailey’s Dodge Sylvania 200 Recap

Liberty was involved in an on track incident during Friday afternoon’s second practice session when Steve Park’s Dodge and David Reutimann’s Toyota collided directly in front of Liberty. All three BHR teams pitched in and stayed late on Friday evening to fully repair Liberty’s heavily damaged Dodge Ram.

Liberty started the race in the 35th position after missing Saturday morning’s qualifying session due to the damage on his truck.

On lap 19 Liberty radioed his crew and informed them that “the brakes don’t feel so good.”

On lap 21 Liberty pulled behind pit wall for repairs to the brake system on his Dodge. The requisite repairs were made and he returned to the fray on lap 41.

Liberty pitted on lap 57 for four fresh Goodyear tires and Sunoco Fuel.

On lap 78 Liberty did a masterful job of avoiding the spinning Chevrolet of Jose Luis Ramirez.

Throughout the event Liberty’s lap times significantly improved. Crew Chief Randy Seals kept informing him that a specific lap was “your best lap time of the weekend. Keep logging laps and keep learning.”

Liberty pitted on lap 109 for four tires and fuel and again on lap 131 for fuel only.

On lap 170 Liberty pitted for four tires and fuel.

 “All three BHR teams were great to pitch in and help fix this truck after the practice session crash,” Liberty said. “There was no hesitation at all, everybody just jumped right in and stayed late to get the job done. They put it back like it was and you couldn’t even tell that there had been anything wrong with it. They did a great job, better than anybody I have ever seen. It was really a team effort. Today was a good experience for me and I really was happy to get as much seat time as I did.”

Rick Crawford won the Sylvania 200, the first win for Ford in over one year.  Dennis Setzer, Ted Musgrave, Clay Rogers and Ron Hornaday followed in the top five.