NASCAR Truck

Fort Worth: Jason Small qualifying notes

Fort Worth, TX: The last time Jason Small raced in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, he felt like a punching bag used in training for the upcoming Tyson/Lewis heavyweight championship bout. A hard crash in practice at Dover left the driver of the ...

Published: Jun 8, 2002, 4:27 PM

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Fort Worth, TX: The last time Jason Small raced in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, he felt like a punching bag used in training for the upcoming Tyson/Lewis heavyweight championship bout. A hard crash in practice at Dover left the driver of the Sunbelt Rentals Chevrolet battered and bruised. Small is still feeling the lingering effects of last week's accident, but has not let it slow him down in preparations for the O'Reilly Auto Parts 400 at Texas Motor Speedway.

Small's lap of 31.026/174.048 mph earned the Sunbelt Rentals Chevy the 21st starting position for Friday night's 400-kilometer event.

"We have a downforce truck here, and we knew we might struggle a little to find speed in practice and qualifying," Small said. "It's not like we are that far off, but then again it doesn't take that much to be off the pace at a place like Texas."

Small says he is confident in his truck, his team, and himself.

"This is a truck we bought from Hendrick Motorsports," he said. "It was one of Jack's (Sprague, 2001 NCTS Champion) favorites. He ran it a lot and it was pretty successful. It is a good truck and we know it.

"After last week, and the effort my guys gave to get our backup prepared and getting me as comfortable as possible, I have a ton of confidence in them. They showed a never-say-die attitude, and it's the least I can do to show them the same thing on the racetrack."

Small says the track conditions will lead to fast speeds, but could also lead to some potential trouble.

"The track is smooth, there are absolutely no bumps out there at all," he said. "It ought to be real fast when we start and once the sun goes down. But the groove hasn't really moved that far off the bottom. If someone gets too far out of it, he is going to be in big trouble. We look to have a good solid day, stay out of the trouble in front of us, and take the Sunbelt Chevy to the top-10."

-glr-

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