Jimmy Weller and the No. 08 Geneva-Liberty Steel Chevrolet Silverado team finished 26th last night at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. After recording his career-best NASCAR Camping World Truck Series qualifying effort, Weller suffered a flat tire early in the event that sent him into the outside retaining wall and caused severe right side damage to his Geneva-Liberty Steel Chevrolet Silverado.
Racing to support Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, Weller decided to compete in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series event at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The rookie contender fought the balance of his truck throughout practice. However, several adjustments from his SS Green Light Racing crew left his truck handling the best it had all day leading in to Saturday afternoon’s qualifying session. After placing 18th in the opening round of qualifying, Weller was one of 11 trucks to record a speed during the second qualifying round, which secured him a place in the final qualifying session of the afternoon. By the time knock-out qualifying was complete, Weller has secured the 11th starting position to mark the best qualifying effort of his career.
When the green flag waved on Saturday night, Weller was pleased with the overall handling of his truck despite falling a few positions through the field. Weller spent the majority of the opening 25 laps in a side-by-side battle for position while maintaining his position inside the top 20. While working his 26th lap of the night, Weller was driving through turn two when a flat tire sent him hard into the outside retaining wall. With damage to the right side of the Geneva-Liberty Steel Chevrolet, Weller was forced down pit road just as the caution flag was displayed for a lap 30 competition caution. Upon further examination by his SS Green Light Racing team, they found extensive damage to the suspension that would prevent Weller from being able to continue in the race. Forced to retire from the event after completing just 28 laps, Weller and the Geneva-Liberty Steel Chevrolet Silverado team were scored with a 26th-place finish.
“Our No. 08 Geneva-Liberty Steel Chevrolet Silverado was a good truck tonight,” commented Weller. “We worked really hard during practice to get the balance where we needed it, and we were in a really good position for the race. Our SS Green Light Racing team had a good strategy for qualifying, and it was pretty exciting to get my career-best qualifying position. By the time the race started, our truck started to get a little bit tighter, but our lap times were picking up. I thought we’d be in a good position for the night, but the truck just took off toward the wall and the damage from that impact was too bad to keep racing. I’m looking forward to getting back in the Nationwide Series car at Charlotte Motor Speedway in a few weeks, and then making one last run for the season in the No. 08 Geneva-Liberty Steel Silverado at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.”
Jimmy Weller PR
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