Salas Finishes First NCTS Oval Start at Gateway - Speedway Digest

Vicente Salas wrapped up his first oval start in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series (NCTS) with a 25th-place result at World Wide Technology Raceway on Saturday afternoon. The driver of the No. 91 SERVPRO, Pape Material Handling Chevrolet Silverado RST was running at the checkered flag in his second-career start as the team now sits 11th in the owners’ point standings after 12 events.

Salas quickly got up to speed in practice on Friday evening and posted the 17th-fastest time in the session. He started 20th on the grid and settled in running consistent times in the opening laps. The full-time eNASCAR iRacing Coca Cola Series racer advanced up to 18th on lap 16 before he began to combat an issue with the transmission. Past halfway in Stage 1, Salas reported that the transmission was popping out of gear and set him back to 27th position at the end of the opening segment on lap 35.

Interim crew chief Darren Fraley brought Salas in for fresh tires during the stage caution and returned him to the track in 27th spot. Salas made steady progress in the second stage and advanced to 23rd by the end of Stage 2 on lap 70 despite being forced to run in fourth gear for the duration of the segment. During the stage caution, Salas took two tires and gained six positions to restart 17th on lap 78.

After getting bounced back to 30th, Salas delivered a solid fuel stint by advancing to 24th by the time green flag pit stops began on lap 118. Fraley kept Salas on track in hopes of making a fuel-only stop to gain track position at the end of the cycle. Unfortunately, Salas spun off Turn 2 on lap 129 and made slight contact with the inside wall. He ran the balance of the event to take the checkered flag in 25th position.

Vicente Salas Quote:

“I can’t thank everyone at MHR enough for their effort this weekend. This is a great race team and I learned a ton being in the seat this weekend. Thanks to SERVPRO, Pape Material Handling, Bill McAnally and the whole No. 91 team for everything they did this weekend. I had some fun today, felt a lot more comfortable the longer the day went.”

MHR PR