Indy Racing League (IRL) Champion and Indy 500 Winner Buddy Lazier learned valuable lessons when he made his debut in a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Race Saturday, September 22nd.  The highly credentialed open wheel driver piloted the No. 15 Flanders Beef Patties Billy Ballew Motorsports Chevrolet Silverado in running of the Sam’s Town 350 at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Seat time was precious for Lazier who had tested for Ballew in 2005 but hadn’t been back behind the wheel of a Craftsman Truck since then.  The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series schedule had to be revised after morning rain wet the track cutting out the additional half hour that Rookie drivers normally receive.  Although Lazier has four previous starts in the IRL on the 1.5-mile tri-oval, he has not raced on the track since its recent resurfacing.

The team used the time they had on the track to get Lazier comfortable with the 3400-lb stock car and headed to qualifying optimistic.  Lazier took his first qualifying run posting a time of 31.283 seconds at a speed of 171.521 mph but the Chevy Silverado got loose coming out of the turn-four corner on his second lap spinning Lazier sending him into the exterior wall.  Lazier’s first lap locked the Billy Ballew Motorsports team in the 21st place position on the grid, but the team would have to drop to the back of the pack for the race. Repairs had to be made to the rear of the Flanders Beef Patties race truck after the trucks were impounded to fix the damage from contact with the wall.

Ballew’s team rolled the dice when the green flag waved hoping the damage was contained but Lazier radioed in just after the start that the truck was loose.  Las Vegas Motor Speedway, unlike most race tracks, gets looser as the evening progresses when the temperature declines and the rookie driver needed adjustments to tighten the truck up.

Despite the effort on the part of the driver, team and spotter, the contact with the wall in qualifying affected the rear part of the truck causing extremely loose conditions.

Lazier persevered crossing the finish line in the 24th place position gaining valuable experience that testing and practice may not always provide.

“We had a fast run going on our second lap in qualifying,” Lazier said.  “It just snapped loose and I spun collecting the wall.  Not having that rookie practice hurt us today.  Without testing, we had counted on that time to prepare for the race.  I can’t say enough about everyone on the Billy Ballew Motorsports team.  I had a lot of fun with them and hope to have an opportunity to come back and run again.  I have to thank Flanders Beef Patties for sponsoring us this weekend.  I just wish I could have given them a better finish.  I’ve gotten a little taste tonight of the trucks and it made me hungry to come back and race again.”

The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series has an off week and will head to the Talladega Superspeedway, Saturday October 6, 2007 for race 19 of the 25 race 2007 season schedule.

# # # #