Miguel Paludo made his first laps around Lucas Oil Raceway Friday, taking to the speedway immediately. Working his way through traffic late in the race Paludo had just enough fuel to make it to the end matching his career-best Truck Series finish with a fourth-place run.
“What a great night,” said Paludo after the race. “Our Stemco/Duroline truck was great. Rick (Gay) made great calls all night and we had just enough fuel to make it to the end. My guys did such a great job. It feels so wonderful to get a top-five finish. We have been making gains each and every week. I’m so proud of my team. Our first win is just around the corner. I want to congratulate my teammate Timothy Peters on the win tonight. It was a great night for Red Horse Racing.”
Action at the 0.686-mile speedway started early as the caution waved for the first time on lap one. Paludo narrowly missed the incident which involved two of his competitors. When the race restarted Paludo radioed to the team that he liked the overall balance of his truck but he was sliding up in the corner. Paludo was unable to make any forward progress from the start continuing to be scored in the 17th position when the second caution of the night waved on lap 40.
The team brought Paludo to pit road for fuel only and a chassis adjustment. The team gained some track position, but not all of the leaders came to pit road under the yellow. Paludo restarted from the 14th position on lap 57. Paludo struggled to make progress without fresh tires. He managed to hold on to the lead lap when the third caution waved on lap 79 with Paludo scored in the 20th position. The team brought the No.7 truck down pit road for four tires, fuel and another chassis adjustment.
After the stop Paludo began to work his way up through the field. By the half-way point Paludo had broken into the top-15. The No. 7 truck continued to pick off trucks one-by-one with only 20 laps remaining Paludo entered into the top-10. With the leaders on different pit strategies Paludo continued to move up through the running order conserving fuel with each lap. With only six laps remaining Paludo was scored in the fifth position and was able to gain one more position before the checkered flag waved ending the 200-lap event in the fourth position.
The run matched Paludo’s career-best Truck Series finish of fourth scored earlier this season at Daytona (Fla.) International Raceway. The run allowed Paludo to move up four positions in the point standings to 15th. Paludo’s Red Horse Racing teammate won the event marking the first time in Red Horse Racing history that both trucks scored a top-five finish in the same event.
Red Horse Racing PR
