Krisiloff’s First Experience at Dover Results in 27th Place Finish
Dover, DE | 06-05-2006

Krisiloff’s First Experience at Dover Results in 27th Place FinishKyle Krisiloff was looking forward to his first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series start at Dover International Speedway this past Friday. A 27th place finish wasn’t what he had in mind for the No. 15 ditech.com/Krud Kutter Chevrolet, but Krisiloff struggled with the handling a bit and with very little attrition, was all he could muster at the conclusion of the AAA Insurance 200.

Krisiloff qualified the No. 15 Billy Ballew Motorsports-entry in 32nd position, but lined up 31st on the starting grid, due to NASCAR’s new qualifying procedures. The first caution waved on lap 20 for an incident involving the No. 04. At this point, Krisiloff had moved the No. 15 Silverado into 27th place, but was complaining the truck was really loose from the center of the corner off. Acting crew chief Buddy Barnes chose to stay out and not pit since it was fairly early in the 200-lap event. Due to some other competitors pitting, Krisiloff restarted the race in the 20th position.

Krisiloff managed to hang in there, only dropping two spots when the second caution flag waved on lap 65. Krisiloff had just gone one lap down to the leader, his teammate Kyle Busch, and received the “lucky dog” award. However, upon pitting for fresh tires, Krisiloff had the right front outside the pit box and was given a one lap penalty, canceling his free pass. Krisiloff restarted in 32nd position, one lap down, on lap 68.

Krisiloff was doing all he could with the No. 15 ditech.com/Krud Kutter Chevrolet, picking up five spots before the third caution came out on lap 100. Krisiloff, like his teammate Busch, still complained of being severely loose. Krisiloff brought the Silverado down pit road to the attention of his crew, which made a four tire change, as well as a trackbar adjustment. The crew managed to pick up one spot in the pits, lining Krisiloff up in the 26th position for the restart.

Krisiloff made one more pit stop on lap 160. With none of the previous changes working to affect the handling, the crew swapped the left and right side tires on the next stop, while filling the truck up with fuel. With 40 laps remaining, Krisiloff continued to drive as hard as could and managed to finish in 27th position.

“We were just loose the entire race,” said Krisiloff. “Nothing we did to adjust the handling seemed to work. We made tire pressure adjustments, trackbar adjustments, and even swapped the tires, but nothing helped. I was having to ease the No. 15 ditech.com/Krud Kutter Chevrolet into the corners and try different lines. The truck worked really well in practice but just didn’t want to handle during qualifying and the race.”

Krisiloff moved to the 21st position in the drivers points standings and remains third in the Raybestos Rookie of the Year points.

The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series moves to Texas Motor Speedway this week for the Sam’s Town 400 on Friday night.