Shane Sieg with a 18th place finish in the O’Reilly Auto Parts 250 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at the Kansas Speedway sends Billy Ballew Motorsports home with a solid second place position in the 2008 championship points race. ….complete recap to follow……

Shane Sieg with an 18th place finish in the O’Reilly Auto Parts 250 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at the Kansas Speedway sends Billy Ballew Motorsports home with a solid second place position in the 2008 championship point’s race.

Sieg substituting for NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Kyle “Rowdy” Busch started in the 16th place position for the 167 lap Craftsman Truck Series event in Kansas City, Kansas. Soon after the start Sieg reported to the crew that the No. 51 Miccosukee Resorts Toyota Tundra was tight in the corners coming down pit road under caution on lap 26 for four tires, fuel and two rounds down in the right rear.

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A solid, top-ten run came to an abrupt end for Marc Mitchell in the O’Reilly Auto Parts 250 at Kansas Speedway.  The rookie from Tallahassee, Fla. was involved in a crash on lap 73 which terminated the Ergon race team’s best showing of the season.  Mitchell was running in fifth place at the time of the incident.

Mitchell qualified the Ergon Toyota in fifth place.  His lap of 31.915 seconds around the 1.5 mile oval scored him his best starting position of the season.

When the race got underway, Mitchell hung strong with the top-10.  He was racing in sixth place when the first caution waved, lap 25.  His truck was a tick too tight, so crew chief Doug George called him down pit lane for service.  The crew changed four tires, topped off the fuel cell and raised the track bar to loosen up Mitchell’s Toyota.  He returned to the track in 11th place. (more…)

The O’Reilly Auto Parts 250 is the fifth race of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Season. It will be Marc Mitchell’s first race since the #15 team switched manufacturers from Chevrolet to Toyota.

Mitchell’s last NCTS race was at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Denny Hamlin drove the No. 15 Billy Ballew Motorsports entry at Martinsville Speedway. He is currently 28th in points, but third best of drivers with three or less starts. He has one prior start in the Kansas Speedway in ARCA competition where his day ended after mechanical failure.

The #15 Ergon Hyprene Chevrolet will compete in 21 races in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series in 2008. He is competing for Rookie of The Year Honors. Mitchell spent the April 12 off-weekend competing in the Late Model race at South Georgia Motorsports Park. He earned the pole and finished in fourth-place. (more…)