Mooresville, NC

John Andretti would probably rather forget his most recent trip back home to Indianapolis.  Andretti made his third start in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series at Indianapolis Raceway Park (IRP) in the Billy Ballew Motorsports-entry Friday night.  Contact with the turn three wall on lap 23 ended the night for Andretti and the No. 15 Stoops Freightliner/Pedigo Chevrolet/Associated Builders and Contractors team which resulted in a 36th place finish.

After rain showers fell throughout the morning and into the afternoon, teams were able to practice for one hour prior to the evening’s race.  Qualifications were rained out and the starting line up was determined by the current NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series owners points standings, positioning the No. 15 in fourth place for the start of the Power Stroke Diesel 200.

During the brief practice session, the Billy Ballew Motorsports team was left scratching their heads for the right setup on the No. 15 Stoops Freightliner/Pedigo Chevrolet/Associated Builders and Contractors Chevrolet.  Within a lap on the .686-mile oval, Andretti complained the truck was pushing so badly that it was chattering the front tires.  By the end of the hour-long session, the team decided to start all over and change almost everything, including shocks, springs, A-arms, ball joints and trackbar.

At the start of the race, crew chief Ritchie Wauters radioed to Andretti, “Have a good night.  Tell us what the truck is doing, and we’ll try to make the best adjustments we can for you.”  When the first caution waved on lap three, Andretti complained of still being tight off the corner and still having the front end chattering, although he had been able to move the No. 15 Stoops Freightliner/Pedigo Chevrolet/Associated Builders and Contractors Chevrolet to the third position.  Wauters acknowledged the problem and came up with a trackbar adjustment for the first pit stop.

Unfortunately, that first pit stop never came.  On lap 18, Andretti got forced up high into the wall between turns one and two by another competitor.  Contact from the wall caused the front fender to cut down the right front tire and on lap 23, Andretti was sent into the turn three wall, destroying the front end of the truck and ending the night for the Billy Ballew Motorsports team.  This was the team’s first incident since the second race of the season at California Speedway.

“I’m pretty disgusted about this,” said Andretti, following the incident.  “There was no reason for a guy to do something like that, especially that early in the race.  But I guess that’s truck racing, so I’m learning.  I’m pretty disappointed for the team and our local sponsors we acquired for this race.  Stoops Freightliner, Pedigo Chevrolet and Associated Builders and Contractors came on board for this race and I was hoping to have a good run for those guys.  We had a truck we felt we could adjust on, if given the opportunities, but we didn’t get the chance.”

The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series heads to Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway for this Saturday’s running of the Toyota Tundra 200.