Brooklyn: Bobby Dotter Friday notes

Dotter to roll from 15Tth in Michigan 200.

Brooklyn, MI: Bobby Dotter will start the Michigan 200 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series event from the 15th position after time trials at the 2-mile speedway were washed away by rain Friday afternoon. Dotter's People Against Drugs Chevrolet is currently 15th in series owners' points, which are used to determine the starting grid in case qualifying is canceled.

While the NCTS drivers and teams did not make it on the track for qualifying, they did participate in two practice sessions during the afternoon. Dotter and the PAD Motorsports team were not happy with the truck's performance in either session.

In the first practice after the rains fell, Dotter timed in 32nd quick with a fast lap of 44.733 seconds/160.955 mph. Dotter gained nearly three-quarters of a second in the second session, timing in at 44.000 seconds/163.636 seconds, however that only moved him to 31st on the speed chart.

"Obviously we need to pick up some speed," Dotter said. "We made some gains from that first practice to the second. But usually if you are that far off, you can make a big change and find a big jump in speed. Well, we did that. Now, we need to make another equally big jump and that is awfully hard to do. We have some ideas and we will think about it some more overnight.

"We have a good starting spot based on point standings. I think the draft is going to play a huge role in the race. I think our truck should do very well in the draft and if we can stay hooked up with the lead pack, we should have no problem running with them all day."

Dotter and the People Against Drugs Chevrolet will take to the sweeping high-banks of the Michigan International Speedway tomorrow at 1 pm ET. The Michigan 200 will be broadcast live on ESPN and can be heard live on XM Satellite Radio and MRN Radio affiliates nationwide.

-glr-