n his first-career NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) start at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway (BMS), Spencer Gallagher, driver of the No. 23 Allegiant Travel Chevrolet, endured the rough and physical style of racing that only “Thunder Valley” produces. Gallagher started from the 13th position, but a typical racing incident on the tight confines of BMS relegated him to a 23rd-place finish at the checkered flag.
From the outset of his first BMS start, Gallagher fought a tight handling condition, one that had plagued his Allegiant Travel Chevrolet throughout the practice sessions. He ran firmly inside the top-15 in the race’s first 32-lap stint, and cracked the top-10 by lap 42. The Las Vegas native relayed that the balance improved on long runs, especially running the top line on both ends of the racetrack. Crew chief Jeff Stankiewicz brought Gallagher to pit road under a lap 81 caution for four tires, fuel, and air pressure adjustments, which alleviated some of the handling issues.
Gallagher ran as high as ninth, and maintained position inside the top-15 as the Allegiant Travel Chevrolet continued to improve over the next 70 circuits. As the laps wound down, close quarters racing resulted in a flat left-rear tire on lap 160, causing Gallagher to spin in Turn 4 and sustain damage to the left front fender. The Allegiant Travel team made repairs to the No. 23 Chevrolet during an extended caution flag due to rain, which allowed Gallagher to battle to a 23rd-place finish behind race winner Ryan Blaney. After the 14th of 23 races, Gallagher maintained his ninth-place position in NCWTS driver championship point standings.
SPENCER GALLAGHER QUOTE:
”It’s certainly not the result we were looking for. Overall, we had good speed again and were racing up there inside the top 10 for a good portion of the night. My guys made great improvements to our Allegiant Travel Chevrolet all day, and made gains the first pit stop tonight. We were running some consistent lap times to race inside the top 10. We just got tangled up over there in turns three and four racing for position. I hate that it happened, because we were looking at a good finish, but that’s a product of Bristol and short track racing. This is a heck of a place to race, and I wish we could have gotten a solid finish. We’ll look forward to coming back here next time and we’ll get ready to go road course racing next week in Canada (Canadian Tire Motorsports Park).”
GMS Racing PR
