October 1, 2006

East Carries Momentum into Talladega

Bobby East started on the front row for a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race for the first time in his career before finishing 22nd in the Smith’s Las Vegas 350 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.  While the finish wasn’t what he and the No. 21 State Fair Corn Dogs/Edy’s Dibs Ford team were looking for, the experience gained running at the front much of the night gives East a boost of momentum heading into the series first-ever race at Talladega Superspeedway.

East started up front and ran up front for much of the early stages of the race.  When pit strategy came into play late in the race, East and his crew chief John Monsam decided not to gamble on fuel when many others stayed out trying to stretch their mileage.  Additional caution laps on the last fuel run not only limited the number of laps East would have to race his way back to the front, it also allowed those taking that gamble to conserve enough fuel to make it to the end.

"We've had such a run of bad luck lately, finishing on the lead lap is a big relief,” East said.  “We had a great truck, but we couldn't get track position. The problem with re-configuring Las Vegas and re-paving it means there aren't a lot of racing grooves there. The only way around is along the bottom, so once you're in line, you're pretty much stuck there. Our primary goal was to come in, push our State Fair Corn Dogs/Edy's Dibs Ford hard and bring it home in one piece. We did that. And we managed to finish on the lead lap in the process."

  The lessons learned at Las Vegas give the entire team added confidence heading into the John Deere 250 at Talladega Superspeedway.  East has previous experience at Talladega , coming in last year’s ARCA RE/MAX Series race.  But for the second consecutive week, the NCTS will be dealing with a freshly paved racetrack, meaning much of the character of the track East learned last year – such as bumps in the racing groove – has been replaced by a fresh coat of asphalt.

  "No matter how much you learn in this sport, there's always a new lesson waiting for you,” East said.  “This is a continuous effort at Wood Brothers/JTG Racing. We've come a long way this year as a first-year team and we seem to double what we know every week. As long as we keep doing that, we're headed in the right direction."

  The John Deere 250 at Talladega Superspeedway is scheduled for 3:15 P.M. Eastern on Saturday October 7.  The race will be televised live on Speed Channel and broadcast live on select affiliated of the Motor Racing Network.