Jimmy Weller and the No. 08 Geneva-Liberty Steel / Integrated Metal Products Chevrolet Silverado team finished 17th on Friday night at Texas Motor Speedway. With track conditions changing drastically throughout the race weekend, Weller’s team worked through some challenges with the balance of their race truck to come home with Weller’s third top-20 finish in just five NASCAR Camping World Truck Series races.
Competing for the first time at Texas Motor Speedway, Weller expected a bit of a learning curve at the fast, high-banked oval in Fort Worth, Texas. The team worked diligently throughout Thursday’s practice sessions to both get Weller comfortable navigating the corners and get the truck handling as they would need for Friday’s qualifying session and race. After struggling to secure the exact balance Weller had hoped for, the team recruited Truck Series veteran and former SS Green Light Racing driver David Starr to turn a few laps. With Starr providing the same feedback as Weller, the Geneva-Liberty Steel / Integrated Metal Products team made a series of adjustments leading into Friday’s on-track activities.
After qualifying in the 23rd position, Weller was happy with the handling of his truck by the time the green flag waved on Friday night. Initially a little loose entering the corners, the team made minor adjustments to the Geneva-Liberty Steel / Integrated Metal Products Chevrolet leaving Weller very happy with the handling of his truck by the midway point of the 167-lap event.
With few cautions during the closing laps, teams found themselves not only concerned about the changing track conditions but also focused on their fuel mileage. Weller’s truck was fighting a tight condition from the center through the exit of the corner. Without a caution to adjust their truck and initially scheduled four laps short on gas, Weller was able to conserve enough fuel to make it to the checkered flag where he was scored with a 17th-position finish.
“We had a challenging weekend with our Geneva-Liberty Steel / Integrated Metal Products Chevrolet,” commented Weller. “This is a challenging track and it took a lot of hard work to get our truck handling how it needed and get me accustomed to the track. Despite the challenges, at least we can say that we learned a lot. I think we gained a lot of knowledge that will help us in future weeks, and will allow us to unload better at our upcoming races. My SS Green Light Racing team did an awesome job all weekend; these guys just work so hard and they don’t give up. I really appreciate their efforts and I’m looking forward to being back in their truck at Kentucky Speedway later this month.”
Jimmy Weller PR
