Kyle Krisiloff fell victim to an incident on lap 61 to finish 33rd in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series event at Gateway International Raceway on Saturday evening. The No. 15 Memphis Convention and Visitors Bureau/Juice Plus +/Weber Chevrolet/ditech.com Chevrolet ran as high as 12th before getting swept up in the accident. Before getting involved, the Billy Ballew Motorsports team was positive a good finish was in the books.

“We had just run our fastest lap of the race the lap before the accident,” Krisiloff said. “The No. 15 Memphis Convention and Visitors Bureau/Juice Plus +/Weber Chevrolet/ditech.com Chevrolet was great. Everything we did to it seemed to help and I believe we could have finished anywhere from seventh to 12th place.”

Rain throughout the day limited the amount of time the teams got on the 1.25-mile oval. The skies finally cleared enough to get an hour of practice in before taking the green flag for the Dodge Ram Tough 200. NASCAR officials called off qualifying because of the weather, lining the No. 15 Billy Ballew Motorsports-entry in 20th position.

Once the green flag waved, Krisiloff began working his way up to the front. By lap 25, the No. 15 Chevy was up to 17th position. A number of competitors came in the pits on the third caution, moving Krisiloff up five spots to take over 12th place. NASCAR threw a competition caution on lap 46 and Krisiloff brought the No. 15 Memphis Convention and Visitors Bureau/Juice Plus +/Weber Chevrolet/ditech.com Chevrolet to the attention of his crew. The Billy Ballew Motorsports crew put on four tires and filled up the tank with fuel. Krisiloff would restart in 24th position, due to the other competitors not electing to pit.

Krisiloff began to head to the front and was just underneath the No. 20 of Marcos Ambrose when the No. 5 of Mike Skinner blew a tire. Skinner and Ambrose tangled and collected the No. 15 Chevrolet. Krisiloff was sent spinning into the inside wall making contact with both ends of the truck. The damage was too severe to repair and cost the team a good finish, after having just made their fastest lap of the day the lap before the incident.

“We probably should have pitted a different time,” Krisiloff explained. “When the first caution came out, it was too early. If we had waited until Lap 80 to make our first stop, it might have been different. We also had a 25-second stop and that put us back in the middle of the pack where a lot of things happen.”

“We were just a victim of circumstance,” said team owner Billy Ballew. “I felt like we had a top-10 finish the way we were running. We had run the fastest lap the lap before and competitive-wise, I think we were the best we’d been all year. It’s a shame, but we’re looking forward to returning at Lowe’s, where the team picked up our first win of 2005.”

With the finish, Krisiloff dropped one position to 19th in the drivers points standings, while Billy Ballew Motorsports moved to 23rd place in the owners points standings.

The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series takes another two weeks off before tackling the Lowe’s Motor Speedway, where the No. 15 Chevrolet visited Victory Lane in 2005.