Short Night for Long in Nashville

15 Truck Spun from Behind After Promising Start

LEBANON, Tenn. (August 7, 2010) – After an impressive debut in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) two weeks ago, Johanna Long eagerly awaited her return in Saturday night’s Nashville 200 at the 1.33-mile Nashville Superspeedway. Long showed promise throughout practice and qualifying, and appeared poised to eclipse her previous finish of 17^th-place.  Unfortunately, Long didn’t have a chance to show her true potential. The Pensacola, Fla., native was spun from behind in the early goings of the race. Her No. 15 Billy Ballew Motorsports-fielded Tundra was forced to retire from the race and she finished in 35^th-place.

Long had high hopes for her first visit to Nashville Superspeedway.  Though she had never raced on a concrete surface, Long quickly adapted to the speedway and posted the 17^th-fastest lap time in final practice. Long backed up her time with a 16^th-place qualifying run and looked on her way to another solid NCWTS outing.  Long hoped to achieve her first top-15 in NCWTS competition, however her race was cut short.  On Lap Four, Long was hit from behind by the No. 60 truck between Turns 3 and 4 and made hard contact with the outside retaining wall. Long’s truck suffered severe damage and was unable to return to competition.   The team finished in 34^th-place.

“This was very disappointing,” Long said. “We had a really good truck and I was excited about tonight. I was looking forward to driving in another truck race and gaining experience.  Unfortunately our night ended way too soon.  I was just running my line, I don’t know what happened.  He (No. 60) got under me.  I don’t think I came down on him. I think he just turned me.

“I am especially disappointed for my team. They all worked so hard to get this truck ready for me and I wanted to give them a good run.  It’s too bad that it ended the way it did.”