Dennis Setzer 
No. 18 Fastenal Dodge Ram Race Recap
EasyCare Vehicle Service Contracts 200
Atlanta Motor Speedway 

Dennis Setzer and the No. 18 Fastenal Racing Team came up a little short of scoring their fourth consecutive top-10 finish in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race this past weekend when Setzer finished 13th at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Due to aggressive tire wear in the spring race at AMS Goodyear made the decision to bring a harder compounded tire that should have worn better than the previous ones. Unfortunately, the track and the tire did not get off to a good start. Just ten laps into the first practice on Friday the tires were already showing cords. NASCAR gave the teams an extra set of tires to practice on later that day, but the problems still showed.

After starting 18th Setzer moved to the low lane on the track and began to pick up positions. By lap five he was running 15th when he radioed in to Crew Chief Jeff White, “The truck is pretty neutral right now,” said Setzer. Three laps later the outlook was totally different. “The grip is completely gone in the tires,” Setzer said while falling back to 20th position.

NASCAR threw a mandatory caution on lap 32 to allow teams to come in and look at the tire wear. White made the call to bring the No. 18 Fastenal Dodge down pit road. The Fastenal Racing Team went right to work changing all four tires, adding fuel and going down four rounds on the track bar. He restarted in the 20th position. Just 10 laps later another caution waved for debris. Once again Setzer came down pit road for service. The Fastenal Racing team changed right side tires and added fuel.

“It’s starting to come around,” said Setzer following the restart. He was running 14th when another caution came out on lap 81 for debris. Realizing tires would be valuable during a possible long green flag run White elected to bring Setzer down pit road for service. The Fastenal Racing team cranked out a fast pit stop changing all four tires, making an air pressure adjustment and adding fuel. He restarted in the 17th position.

Setzer worked all the way up to the 13th position before he once again lost grip in the tires. “I’m loosing the grip really fast right now,” said Setzer on lap 103. Four laps later the caution waved for an accident on the back stretch. “I have a set of right side tires with only four laps on them,” said White as soon as the caution came out. “I’m coming in,” said Setzer moments later. Once again the Fastenal Racing team changed right side tires, but did not put any fuel into the No. 18 Dodge in an effort to keep the truck’s body as light as possible. Setzer restated in the eighth position.

The tire issue still plagued the team in the final 20 laps of the event. Setzer came home 13th barely missing his fourth straight top-10 finish with Bobby Hamilton Racing.

Kyle Busch won The EasyCare 200 before an estimated crowd of 45,000. Ron Hornaday Jr., Johnny Benson, Mark Martin and Mike Skinner rounded out the top five finishers. The next event for the NCTS will be at Texas Motor Speedway next Friday.