Tyler Young’s bid for his second top-10 finish of the 2016 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season fell short as handling woes hindered the series veteran in Friday night’s Rattlesnake 400k at Texas Motor Speedway.
Despite his best effort to combat the challenges of the handling, Young toughened through the hardship to net a 21st place finish in his seventh start at his hometown track.
The weekend started off extremely optimistic for the Mooresville, North Carolina-based team as during the two practices at the 1.5-mile speedway, the No. 02 Young’s Building Systems / Randco Chevrolet Silverado produced solid lap times despite the driver mentioning that his truck was tight and he was struggling for grip.
Adjustments made in-between practices fired off the Midland, Texas native in a mock qualifying run to start final practice, where he quickly rose to seventh on the board. Back in race pace, Young reported that he still needed more security in the rear, while also getting light over the bumps. Crew chief Andrew Abbott continued to adjust the handling through the final minutes of happy hour, which saw Young land 16th fastest overall.
In qualifying Friday afternoon, Young wrestled his truck to the 19th quickest lap during single-truck qualifying runs setting up the race lineup for a few hours later.
When the green flag waved, a loose condition quickly set in on the No. 02 Young’s Building Systems / Randco Chevrolet Silverado causing Young to drop a few positions in the running order before the caution waved on Lap 11. Under the yellow, Abbott elected to bring his driver to pit road for fuel and an adjustment in an attempt to combat the condition.
Restarting the race on Lap 15, Young remained quiet on the radio, but offered the same feedback from the cockpit on Lap 38 that he was still loose.
The caution waved on Lap 51 providing another opportunity for fuel, adjustments and four new tires. When racing resumed, Young restarted 16th, but as the race pressed on, the handling woes continued to be a nuisance.
With 48 laps to go, Young made his final trip to pit road for tires, fuel and another round of chassis adjustments hoping the changing track conditions would play into their favor and allow Young to make a charge inside the top-20.
Unfortunately, the handling remained much of the same for the 24-year-old driver, but in the final 25 laps of the event, Young was able to rise from 23rd to 21st when the checkered flag waved over the 20th annual event.
The finish was just Young’s second race outside the top-20 in 2016.
Tyler Young Quote:
“After practice on Thursday, we were pretty optimistic for the race on Friday night, but the track conditions changed dramatically and while we were making adjustments on the truck, we could never get caught up back to put ourselves in position for a better finish.
“It’s disappointing, because when you come to your hometown track – you always want to do your best, but we just missed it with setup. It’s nobody’s fault, just racing and how it goes. I’m proud of the Young’s Motorsports team for their hard work this weekend. There were still some positives from the weekend. We made gains and I think we know what we’re looking for handling-wise when we come back in November.
“We’ll take this finish in stride and move onto Iowa Speedway next weekend.”
Young Motorsports PR
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