Hackenbracht’s truck series debut cut short at Texas

Chad Hackenbracht had big boots to fill coming into Friday night’s WinStar World Casino 400 at Texas Motor Speedway (TMS). Making his debut in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series behind the wheel of the No. 51 Tastee Apple/Ingersoll Rand Toyota Tundra for Kyle Busch Motorsports, the rookie was looking for a solid night – complete all the laps and gain as much experience as he could.

 

Following a solid practice session on Thursday afternoon, Hackenbracht wasn’t going to let his 21st-place starting position get him down – he knew he had the equipment to get him to the front. The 21-year-old New Philadelphia, OH native settled into race pace in the opening laps of the 167-lap event, just getting comfortable behind the wheel. Unfortunately, as Hackenbracht was making his way around traffic at lap 41, the No. 51 Toyota Tundra was forced to go three-wide with the race leader, Ty Dillon, out of Turn 2. The combination was a perfect storm for the rookie driver, ultimately causing the Tastee Apple/Ingersoll Rand Tundra to get loose and heavy contact with the inside backstretch wall resulted in excessive damage. Hackenbracht would be sidelined for the remainder of the 167-lap event, relegating the No. 51 team to a 26th-place finish, 127 laps down to eventual race winner, Jeb Burton.

 

“My Tundra was pretty decent tonight, a little tight off the corners, but I was just logging laps and gaining experience,” Hackenbracht said. “Unfortunately, I was coming up on lapped traffic there and moved up to go around the 10 truck and thought the leader was going to give me enough room on the outside to go three wide, but that wasn’t the case. The air was taken off my right side and I got loose and hit the inside wall on the backstretch. I can’t thank everyone enough at Kyle Busch Motorsports and all the guys who worked hard on this Tundra. I was hoping to come out of here with a really good run and keep the truck up there in the owner’s points. I’m looking forward to going to Pocono and seeing where we go from there.”

 

Jeb Burton, Ty Dillion, German Quiroga, Matt Crafton and Brendan Gaughan were the top-five finishers in the 17th Annual WinStar World Casino 400 at Texas Motor Speedway.

 

The field was slowed three times for 16 laps and the lead was exchanged 12 times by eight different drivers.

 

Due to the unlikely results in Friday night’s NCWTS event, the No. 51 fell two positions to fourth in the 2013 NCWTS owner point standings; 41 points behind the series-leading No. 88 team.

 

The NCWTS will take two weeks off before heading to Kentucky Speedway in Sparta for the UNOH 225 on Thursday night, June 27. Owner-driver, Kyle Busch will be back behind the wheel of the No. 51 ToyotaCare Tundra. Hackenbracht will return to the seat at Pocono Raceway in August.

 

KBM PR