NASCAR Truck

Bristol: David Starr race notes

Starr Overcomes Miscues To Finish Fifth In Bristol "Driver And Team's Relentless Efforts Pay Off" BRISTOL, TENNESSEE (AUGUST 24, 2006) - What had the potential to be a night of misfortune for David Starr and the Red Horse Racing team at the ...

Edited: Dec 11, 2006, 4:12 AM

Copy link

Share on Viber

Add as a preferred source

Starr Overcomes Miscues To Finish Fifth In Bristol
"Driver And Team's Relentless Efforts Pay Off"

BRISTOL, TENNESSEE (AUGUST 24, 2006) - What had the potential to be a night of misfortune for David Starr and the Red Horse Racing team at the high-banked Bristol Motor Speedway resulted in just the opposite as Starr and his No. 11 Toyota team brought home another top-five finish at a short track this season.

"We had a great truck tonight," Starr said after the race. "I don't know if it would have been good enough to beat Mark Martin, but if the driver wouldn't have made some mistakes who knows what would have happened.

"Jamie Jones and the guys really know what to do to make this Red Horse Racing Toyota perform at its top level on the short tracks this season, and our program once again proved how good it was tonight. I'm really excited about what we accomplished."

Starr's difficulties began in qualifying for the O'Reilly 200 on Wednesday night. Starr brushed the wall on his qualifying lap, damaging the body of the truck. Although he was scheduled to start 23rd, the No. 11 Toyota had to fall to the rear of the field for the start of the race because of repairs the team made to the truck.

The night didn't get any better when the green flag fell for the typical action-packed race. Starr passed to the left on the start before NASCAR rules allow it, so the No. 11 was black flagged.

Starr had to come down pit road for jumping the restart, and he returned to the track in 36th place -- one lap down.

Although Starr's night looked to be doomed as he was in the back of the pack on the half-mile oval, his luck changed when the first caution flag of the night waved on Lap 3 -- right after his penalty. Starr was awarded the "lucky dog" by NASCAR, got his lap back and moved into the 33rd position on the track.

From that point on, it was a new race for Starr and the No. 11 Red Horse Racing Team. Although difficult to pass on the fast, short track, Starr began gaining positions lap by lap. When the caution flag was displayed at Lap 28, Starr had moved into the 30th position.

He reported to his team that he was losing forward bite in the truck. The Red Horse Racing team pitted at Lap 30 for an air pressure adjustment, four fresh tires and fuel. Starr returned to the track in 29th place.

The pit stop gave Starr the adjustments that he needed, and he began to move through the field once again. By Lap 40, Starr had moved into 24th place on the track, and he was still gaining on the trucks in front of him.

The third caution of the night waved at Lap 64, and Starr was in 21st position. While many of the leaders pitted, Starr and the Red Horse Racing team elected to stay on the race track in hopes of gaining valuable track position. At the restart at lap 69, Starr's No. 11 Toyota was in ninth-place.

Although Starr complained of losing grip in the front end of his truck in turns three and four, he continued to turn quick laps and pick up positions on the race track. By lap 88, Starr had moved into the sixth spot, where he would remain over the course of the next nearly 100 laps.

As the laps ticked off the board, Starr reported that his truck was getting better. The No. 11 Toyota turned well through the center, but he was tight off behind other trucks on the track, which was keeping him from gaining more spots.

Starr moved into fifth place at Lap 183 when the caution waved for a wreck -- the truck directly in front of Starr cut a right front tire and hit the wall.

Although Starr worried that he had cut down a tire at Lap 191, the team told him that everything was fine. Starr finished the race in fifth-place.

It was the team's fourth top-five finish at short tracks this season, and their fourth top-five of the season. With the finish, Starr and the Red Horse Racing team picked up two spots in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series points standings and moved into sixth-place. With eight races remaining in the 2006 season, Starr is 329 points behind leader Todd Bodine and 28 points out of fifth place.

"We have a great racing program at Red Horse Racing, and I am so proud to be part of this team," Starr said. "I overdrove the truck in qualifying and hit the wall a little. The guys had some damage to fix before the race, and we had to go to the back. "Then, I messed up again at the start of the race and passed too soon. It looked like it might be a bad night, but the truck was so awesome, we were able to move through the field and score a top-five finish. In the end, it was a good night for us and our associate sponsor TOYOTAFORKLIFT.NET."

-credit: red horse racing

We want your opinion!

What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?

Take our 5 minute survey.

- The Motorsport.com Team

Read and post comments

Share Or Save This Story

Copy link

Share on Viber

Previous article Bristol: Marcos Ambrose race notes

Next article Bristol: Jack Sprague race notes

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

View More & Comment

Latest news

Barcelona set to host IndyCar race in 2027 under multi-year deal

IndyCar

Indy IndyCar 7 h

Barcelona set to host IndyCar race in 2027 under multi-year deal

Winners and losers from a Chase-altering NASCAR Cup race at Phoenix

NASCAR Cup

NAS NASCAR Cup

Phoenix II

9 h

Winners and losers from a Chase-altering NASCAR Cup race at Phoenix

Heart of Racing rules Valkyrie GTP step next year ‘too soon’ for IMSA standout Barrichello

IMSA

IMSA IMSA 9 h

Heart of Racing rules Valkyrie GTP step next year ‘too soon’ for IMSA standout Barrichello

Sergio Perez: Debut Cadillac season "without a doubt one of my best years"

Formula 1

F1 Formula 1

United States GP

9 h

Sergio Perez: Debut Cadillac season "without a doubt one of my best years"

Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.

From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.

You have 2 options:

Become a subscriber.
Disable your adblocker.

Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here

Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page

Manage Alerts