David Starr race report

Starr Caught in Wrong Place at Phoenix

Avondale, AZ - February 25, 2011. Some times it just takes a little bit of luck. But for the second week in a row the only luck David Starr could only find bad luck. Once again, the SS Green Light Racing team gave Starr a truck capable of a top finish in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Phoenix International Raceway but Starr would get caught up in a race ending accident on lap 112 of the 150-lap event.

David was very strong in practice posting the eighth best time in the morning session before qualifying the Zachry Toyota 15th with a lap of 27.93 seconds at 131.42 mph around the uniquely shaped one-mile track just west of Phoenix.

At the drop of the green flag the No. 81 Zachry Toyota showed the speed seen in the earlier practice session moving up two places by the races seventh lap when he moved under Brendan Gaughan. By lap twenty, David had grabbed two more positions and was knocking on the door of the top-ten when the first caution flew for debris on lap 42.

Starr restarted his Tundra from thirteenth on lap 47 and once again charged toward the front of the field reaching the top-ten on lap 60. David was one of the fastest trucks on the track as he dove past two trucks in one lap and was soon battling 2010 series champion Todd Bodine and Justin Johnson for the sixth position before another caution slowed the field again on lap 102.

The Jason Miller led SS Green Light crew gave David four fresh Goodyear's and packed his fuel cell with Sunoco racing gas for the run to the checkers. Several competitors only took two tires dropping the Zachry Toyota to tenth on the restart where David got caught on the outside and lost a couple positions before he could maneuver his Tundra to the preferred lower grove.

With less than fifty laps to the checkers David went back on the attack towards the front of the field when Austin Dillon got into the back of Bodine sending the No. 30 spinning in a cloud of smoke. With nowhere to go David plowed into Bodines truck and the outside wall simultaneously just as Dusty Davis hammered the No. 81 from behind. The damage was to great for the SS Green Light team to repair and for the second week in a row, a potential strong finish was lost to being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

David was credited with 34th in the final rundown behind winner Kyle Busch, dropping him from 9th to 21st in the NCWTS driver standings.

Starr and the rest of the NCWTS teams have next week off before the Too Tough to Tame 200 at Darlington Raceway on March 12th.

-source: ssglr