Tolmsa wins at Nashville

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (August 13, 2000) - Randy Tolsma and the No. 25 CITGO-SUPERGARD Motor Oil Dodge team took their place in victory lane when they won the Federated Auto Parts 250 at the last NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at the Nashville Speedway. Tolsma dominated the second half of the race, and held on to take the checkered flag for both a historical and an emotional finish.

Tolsma was rock solid all weekend and turned in a 7th place qualifying effort. The truck was phenomenal in final practice reinforcing the confidence of the team they would be a contender during the race.

Shortly after the race began, Tolsma radioed crew chief Gary Showalter and said the brakes were locking up. The problem went away and Tolsma soon was knocking on the door of the top five trucks. The crew knocked out incredible pit stops gaining track position each time they serviced the CITGO-SUPERGARD Motor Oil Dodge.

For the first half of the 250 lap event, Tolsma followed Jack Sprague, as the two trucks lapped the field. Sprague encountered mechanical problems and fell out of the race. When Tolsma took the lead on lap 149, he never looked back. He pulled away from the field demonstrating the strength of the CITGO-SUPERGARD Motor Oil Dodge.

"I felt bad for Jack (Sprague) because he was pretty good. We had the bad luck at the beginning of the season, and Jack is having it now. We definitely had something for him though so it didn't matter if he raced until the end or not- we'd still be the team in victory lane," said Tolsma.

"This is such an emotional win for us, I feel like I could cry. I'm doing my best to keep my composure right now. I’d like to thank CITGO and Dodge for sticking by us this year. We were running out of time to pull this thing off- and it's finally a reality. It's also pretty awesome to go down in the history books as the last winner of a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Nashville Speedway, and we're looking forward to racing at the new facility next year. I really, really, like the Gibson guitar trophy. I always wanted to win here to take home that guitar so this is a very special night in my career. Man, my team is just awesome and they deserve every second of this accomplishment."

As Tolsma snapped a 73 race winless streak marking his second NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series victory, dry eyes were few and far between. His first win came in 1997 at Mesa Marin Raceway in Bakersfield, California in only his 13th truck series start. He's moved into the sixth place in the point standings, and is setting his sights on fifth.

Tolsma is in for a busy week as he is going to visit his home in Meridian, Idaho during his weekend off. Tolsma will visit with family and spend some time at Meridian Speedway, where his racing career began. "I never dreamed I’d be where I am today when I was nine years old racing go karts. I’m proud to represent Idaho and am looking forward to the visit."

Tolsma is now sixth in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series point standings and is the highest ranking Dodge.