Gray Gaulding and the No.20 Krispy Kreme Chevrolet team keep the fight alive but a right front tire failure put them two laps down and out of contention for the Casey’s General Store 150.
Gray Gaulding and the Krispy Kreme Racing team turned 40 laps in Saturday’s opening 80-minute practice session. Gaulding reported early in his first initial laps on track that his car was tight in the center and he couldn’t get the drive off that he needed.
Crew Chief Doug Howe made adjustments to both the front and rear to help get all four tires working together. When the session ended, Gaulding posted the 20th fastest time of a 24.588 knowing that he need to find a little more speed.
In final practice, Gaulding posted the 12th fastest time of 24.309 after turning only 37 laps. “Final practice was a lot better,”said Gaulding “We found some of the speed we need, we just have to fine tune it for the race.”
Gaulding was the 30th car to take time for the Casey’s General Store 150 and with a time of 24.083 would line up on the outside of row 8.
When the green flag dropped, Gaulding starting on the outside made the top work. When the first caution flag flew at lap 38, Gaulding had moved into 13th and was knocking on the door of cracking the top-10. When the green flag flew for the second time at lap 45, Gaulding noticed he had a tire going down as the field entered turn one.
Gaulding was able to keep control of his Krispy Kreme Chevrolet and bring it to the attention of his crew on pit road. After replacing the right front tire and blending back on track in 31st, two laps down.
Gray Gaulding was able to pick up six positions, but never able to pick up the lucky dog.
Next time out for Gray Gaulding and the No. 20 Krispy Kreme Chevrolet team will be the NASCAR Hall of Fame 150 at the Bowman Gray Stadium on May 31st, 2014.
Gray Gaulding’s Post-Race Thoughts:
“Definitely not the finish we wanted, or what my team deserved. These guys worked hard all weekend and I hoped for a better finish. We will get back to the shop and look over what happened and improve on what we learned.”
Doug Howe’s Post-Race Thoughts:
“Gray and the entire Krispy Kreme team worked hard all weekend and got better as the day went on. I hate it for everyone to not get the finish they deserved. We will get back, look at our notes and move forward.
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