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Team ASE/CARQUEST Dodge Looks for Dover
Double
Houston Hopes To Claim Second Straight Win For The Deuce At The
Monster Mile
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Emmett Byrd
704.792.2091 (office)
704.425.3262 (cell)
emmettbyrd@aol.com
MOORESVILLE, NC- (May 31, 2004) - Andy Houston knows he has his work
cut out for him this weekend on Dover International Speedway's famed
Monster Mile but it is a challenge he willingly accepts. Last year Jason
Leffler took the No. 2 Team ASE/CARQUEST Dodge to victory lane, claiming
his first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series win. Houston rides into Dover
looking for his fourth career NCTS win and a chance to grab some momentum
for his Ultra Motorsports team.
"I really like Dover," Houston stated. "I ran the inaugural race there in
2000. We qualified third but I ended up starting on the pole because Kurt
Busch crashed his primary truck and we moved up. I led a good part of the
race. Rick Crawford and I got together on pit road and it tore up the
right front corner of our truck. We came back to finish fourth in the race
but I really learned to like the racetrack. Plenty of room to race and it
is pretty fast."
Dover's fast one-mile configuration thrusts a variety of demands on NASCAR
Craftsman Truck Series competitors and their teams. Houston knows that it
will take a total team effort and a well handling truck to make a return
visit to victory lane.
"Dover is a place where you really don't want to be too loose with the
chassis," Houston claimed. "It is not a place where you want to have to
chase the truck. You need to be a little on the tight side but not so
tight that you can't stay on the bottom of the racetrack. The trickiest
part of the track is coming off of turn four. The track flattens out a
little right there and that wall can sneak up on you."
Houston knows that the Monster Mile rewards aggressive driving. Keeping
your momentum up while constantly weaving through lap traffic is a crucial
element of success at Dover.
"Running side by side at Dover really, really slows you down," Houston
says. "You have to carefully calculate when to pass and where other trucks
are in relationship to your truck and where the leaders are. If you get
caught up racing someone else side by side, then the leaders will run off
and hide."
The MBNA America 200 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Dover
International Speedway is set for Friday June 4th. The event will be
broadcast live on the Speed Channel, MRN Radio and XM Satellite Radio at
4:00pm ET.
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