Joey Coulter Hoping to change his “luck” in the Windy City

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In: NASCAR Truck Series News

Friday the 13th has foreboding reputations dating back from ancient times. There are two such occurrences in 2013 and Friday night’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) EnjoyIllinois.com 225 at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill. is one of them. The second infamous “Friday the 13th” is in December and the two such occurrences happen to be 13 weeks apart. Why is Friday the 13th considered one of the unluckiest days on the calendar? Well, the superstition does have deep, compelling roots in Western Culture, but stems from two separate fears – the fear of the number 13 and the fear of Friday’s.  

Racing superstitions are nearly as old as the sport itself and although they are not as prevalent today, there are still certain fixtures drivers and crew members shy away from. Peanuts, $50 bills and even the color green are primarily superstitions that many drivers have steered clear of over the years. Although Joey Coulter, driver of the No. 18 Darrell Gwynn Foundation Toyota Tundra for Kyle Busch Motorsports, doesn’t have any superstitions he does believe that he could use all the “luck” he can get in the final seven races of the year starting with this weekend’s NCWTS EnjoyIllinois.com 225 at Chicagoland Speedway.

 

Coulter’s “bad luck” stems from a four-week span of misfortune dating back to Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn (August). After wrecking his primary Toyota Tundra in practice – a truck he says was capable of winning the race and the best truck he has had all year – the Miami Springs, Fla. native had to pull out his back-up and finished 14th at the 2-mile oval – ending a two-week streak of top-five finishes. At Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway just four days later, Coulter made contact with the Turn 2 wall in qualifying relegating the No. 18 team to a 34th-place starting position – his worst start of the season. The following week in Canada at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, Coulter was unable to control his “bucking” Monster Energy Tundra and found himself in the tire barrier early in the inaugural event forcing him to take the checkered flag from the 26th position. Finally, in last weekend’s Truck Series event at Iowa Speedway in Newton, Coulter was forced into the Turn 2 wall when the No. 62 machine of Brendan Gaughan had a break issue on a green-white-checkered restart relegating Coulter to a 25th-place finish and his first DNF of the season.

 

Coulter would like nothing more than to turn his luck around this weekend in Chicago by turning the fifth day of the week and the number 13 into a lucky No. 18 after 150-laps on the 1.5-mile oval in the “Windy City.”

 

KBM PR

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