John Wes Townley piloted the No. 09 Family Farmers Toyota Tundra to a 14th-place finish in Saturday night’s American Ethanol 225 at Chicagoland Speedway, marking his career-best finish in NASCAR competition.
After two successful practice sessions on Friday, posting speeds fast enough for the 11th and 24th positions, respectively, Townley drove his Toyota Tundra to a 16th-place starting position in Saturday morning’s qualifying session.
From the drop of the green flag Townley wasted no time advancing position, running as high as 13th by Lap 10. Throughout the 150-lap event, he expertly navigated a series of single-truck incidents. As the sun began to set over the 1.5-mile speedway, crew chief Chris Rice called for adjustments that kept the Family Farmers Tundra in tune with the changing track conditions, and consistent stops on pit road by the RAB Racing pit crew helped Townley keep his track position over the course of the race. He took the checkered flag in the 14th position, posting his career-best finish.
Townley garnered his sixth top-20 finish of the 2012 season, helping him advance one position in the driver point standings, to 19th.
“We had a great weekend overall,” said Townley. “We were pretty fast in Friday’s practice sessions. We focused on race runs and I think it really paid off. Then we got a solid 16th place qualifying position. I have to thank Family Farmers and Toyota for providing me with this opportunity. I’m feeling good about my career-best finish and can’t wait to further improve at Pocono Raceway.”
The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series has a week off before heading to Pocono Raceway August 4th, 2012 for race 11 of the 22-race schedule.
RAB Racing PR
