As the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) hit the halfway point of the 2013 season, teams unloaded at Pocono Raceway for each driver to learn and master the three unique turns of the ‘Tricky Triangle.’ Brennan Newberry and the Qore-24 team entered the weekend with two shots at visiting Victory Lane and looking for strong finishes in the second half of the 2013 season.
Arriving in Pocono for a full day of Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) practice on Thursday, Newberry and the Qore-24 team were greeted by Mother Nature with a day full of rain. ARCA canceled the practice sessions and turned Friday’s qualifying session into a lone practice for the teams, and set the starting line up by owner’s points, as designated in the rulebook.
Excited to see clear skies of Friday, Newberry prepared for a day of double duty, starting the day in his No. 24 Qore-24 Chevrolet Silverado and ending the day in his No. 92 Qore-24 Chevrolet Impala.
Unfortunately, poor track conditions coupled with jet dryer fuel on the pavement forced multiple trucks, including the No. 24 Qore-24 Silverado to back up trucks for the Pocono Mountains 125. The worked hard and were very successful preparing the backup truck. Taking to the unique track, Newberry was able to secure the 22nd spot in practice.
Switching gears Friday afternoon, Newberry competed in the ARCA ModSpace 125 learning the tricks and turns of Pocono Raceway. Starting in the 31st spot, Newberry passed the most cars of any driver and finished an impressive fourth.
After a wet start on Saturday morning that forced NASCAR to cancel NCWTS qualifying, the truck field would be set by the practice times. The sun made an appearance in time for the NCWTS teams to race for 50 laps in the Pocono Mountains 125. With confidence on their side following their fourth-place finish in the ModSpace 125, Newberry and the No. 24 Qore-24 team started the Pocono Mountains 125 in the 22nd position.
With the race underway, spotter Rick Carelli told Newberry to “keep the momentum going” as he started to make his move toward the front of the field. On lap 13, as Newberry moved into the 20th spot, he reported to the team that his Silverado was “a little snug off all three turns, but felt overall good.”
As the race continued under a long green-flag run, the field began making scheduled stops at lap 21. Newberry made his way down pit road on lap 26 to the hands of the Qore-24 team for a routine stop. After the field cycled through green-flag stops, Newberry was running in 20th place.
Taking over 16th on lap 39, Newberry continued to focus on making his way to the front. The caution waved on lap 41 for debris and Newberry told the team “the truck handles great!” Told to save fuel and stay out under the caution, the race restarted on lap 43 with the Qore-24 team running 12th.
Following several late cautions where Newberry had to stay on his toes to miss being involved in accidents in front of him, the race was extended with two green-white-checker attempts. Running as high as ninth in the closing laps, Newberry battled his way to a strong 10th-place finish in the Pocono Mountains 125, his first career NCWTS top-10 finish.
Newberry Knowledge:
“Pocono Raceway is the most unique track I have visited during my rookie season in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. To cap off my first race weekend at the Tricky Triangle with a top-five in the ARCA Racing Series and my first top-10 finish in the NCWTS was amazing. My Qore-24 team worked through adversity having to bring out the back up truck early in practice and I had to overcome starting positions deep in the field of both events because the ever changing weather cancelled qualifying.”
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