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Blount, Team ASE/CARQUEST Dodge Caught Up in Wild and Wooly Texas TangoFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Emmett Byrd
704.792.2091 (office)
704.425.3262 (cell)
emmettbyrd@aol.com
FORT WORTH, TX (October 17, 2004) -Chad Blount's NASCAR Craftsman
Truck Series debut did not go as he had planned. The driver of the Team
ASE/CARQUEST Dodge entered into the weekend with high hopes but was
caught up in several extracurricular excursions in the Silverado 350 at
Texas Motor Speedway on Saturday afternoon. The end result for the 25
year-old Walkerton, IN native was a 25th place finish in a wild and
wooly race that saw more than its share of unfortunate victims.
Blount's weekend started with a strong showing in the first practice
session and he quickly backed that up with a promising 9th place run in
Friday's qualifying session. When the green flag fell to start
Saturday's race the team's fate swiftly changed.
"It was just one of those days where everything that could go wrong did
go wrong," Blount said following the event. "The guys did a great job
all weekend long to give me a competitive truck. Crew Chief Trip Bruce
and I had great communication, he was able to give me what I wanted
chassis wise and I was able provide him with the information he needed
to help make the truck faster. Unfortunately, bad luck struck us right
at the beginning of the race. My window net fell down at the start and
it got hung up for a second in the steering wheel. That sort of set the
tone for the race."
Blount recovered from his window net problems and started making his way
up through the field. On lap 68, he was caught up in a three-wide
scenario with his Ultra Motorsports teammate Ted Musgrave and David
Reutimann, forcing him into the infield grass where he was collected by
Denny Hamlin.
"I got a good run coming off of turn four and we got squeezed down low,"
Blount said. "The last thing I wanted to do was take out my teammate
when he is in the championship hunt so I went as low as I possibly could
to avoid hitting Ted. That sent us into the spin cycle and we got some
damage from another truck."
Blount and the Team ASE/CARQUEST Dodge crew did an outstanding job to
rehabilitate his damaged Dodge and remain on the lead lap and in the
hunt. Once again misfortune raised its ugly head just 17 laps from the
end when Blount's Dodge Ram spun on the exit of turn two and slid head
first into the retaining wall on the backstretch. This time the damage
was too extensive to continue and Blount's day was done.
"We were really fast," Blount said. "That last set of tires was a lot
looser than our other sets. I just got inside of the 03 and it took the
air off my spoiler. We were running as fast as the leaders. I feel like
this team and I are capable of running up front and winning races. I am
just disappointed that we didn't get it done this weekend."
The next race on the 2004 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series schedule is the
Kroger 200 at Martinsville Speedway in Martinsville, VA. The event will
be broadcast live on The Speed Channel, MRN Radio and XM Satellite Radio
at 1pm ET.
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