Despite a subpar qualifying effort on Friday afternoon at Dover (Del.) International Speedway, Tyler Young refused to give up and muscled his way to his first career NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) top-10 finish in the Lucas Oil 200.
After a respectable 17th-place finish at the “Monster Mile” in 2014, Young and his Young’s Motorsports team were focused on capitalizing on their on-track performance, which saw the Mooresville, North Carolina team a solid 13th in the championship standings entering the sixth race of the season.
During practice on Thursday at the one-mile concrete oval, Young struggled to find the balance he needed in his No. 02 Randco Industries / Young’s Building Systems Chevrolet Silverado. While the team made strides in the final practice session, Young found himself battling a loose truck during knockout qualifying on Friday afternoon in completely different weather conditions. Despite qualifying mid-pack, Young and his team refused to give up.
Their attitude paid off.
The Midland, Texas native made a steady climb when the green flag dropped in the Lucas Oil 200, quickly finding his rhythm despite an array of early race cautions. Timely adjustments and strategy calls by crew chief Bryan Berry proved to be a benefit as the No. 02 Chevrolet Silverado continued to move forward as the race progressed.
When a multi-truck incident on the backstretch erupted on Lap 33, Young emerged unscathed. With the front-runners electing to pit, the sophomore driver stayed out and found himself inside the top-10 for the first time all day.
Restarting fifth, Young was able to fend off his competition for a few laps, before newer tires persevered and Young slipped to 14th and the fifth caution of the day waved for an accident on the backstretch.
Young brought his No. 02 machine to the attention of his team where they bolted on four new tires, added fuel and made a chassis adjustment.
Restarting 14th, Young hovered inside the top-15, until Lap 105 when the seventh caution flew for an incident in Turn 2. With the leaders electing to pit, Young climbed the ladder once again and found himself sixth for the impending restart.
Slipping to 10th, several laps after returning to green flag conditions, Young reported he was a little loose, which Berry acknowledged and made another adjustment during their final pit stop on Lap 137.
Restarting 12th, Young was able to take advantage of two trucks misfortunes in the closing laps and muscle his way back inside the top-10. Despite losing a lap to the leaders inside the final five miles of the race, Young was able to maintain his pace and take the checkered flag in the 10th position, his career-best finish in 39 NCWTS starts.
With his performance Friday afternoon, the Texas native eclipsed his previous best finish of 11th at Chicagoland Speedway last September.
Quote:
“I wish we would have ended there on the lead lap, I was trying everything I could. Just got tight. This place is in a league of its own. We started off loose, but Bryan (Berry) made great adjustments to our truck and we were able to capitalize on it. To come here and run 10thshows that we’re heading in the right direction. Really excited. I’m also really proud of everyone on the Young’s Motorsports team. They never gave up this weekend and this is a finish we can certainly build on. Looking forward to Texas next week and maybe now we’ll start knocking them (top-10s) off.”
Thorsport PR
