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.”

Long Ready for Return to NCWTS Competition

Pensacola, Florida Native Anxious to Tackle New Track, Step Outside Comfort Zone

MOORESVILLE, N.C. (August 3, 2010) – The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) will make its second trip to Nashville Superspeedway for the running of the Nashville 200. The event will mark Johanna Long’s second race in NCWTS competition.

Long drove the No. 15 Billy Ballew Motorsports-fielded Tundra at O’Reilly Raceway Park (ORP) last July, starting 15^th and finishing the day in 17^th-place.  Returning with the same team, Long hopes that her experience at ORP will propel her to a stronger finish in Saturday’s Nashville 200.

Long has already collected an impressive list of racing accomplishments.  At only 18 years old, she touts Late Model championships in the Blizzard Series and Gulf Coast Series from the 2009 season. Long won five of the 36 events she ran en route to her championships and captured the pole for the esteemed Snowball Derby at Five Flags Speedway in 2009. Long also competed in two ARCA events last season.

Long will be carrying two special sponsors on her Tundra this week.  Adorning her truck bed will be the decals of country music singer Sunny Sweeney.  Like Long, Sweeney is an up-and-comer in her profession. Sunny’s next project for the Republic Nashville label, produced by fellow Texan Brett Beavers, contains the new Top 40 single “From A Table Away.” Sweeny will be performing the post-race concert following the race at Nashville Superspeedway on Saturday.

Long wants to thank everyone from her hometown, Pensacola, Florida. The Long family appreciates the city’s support throughout Johanna’s racing career and is showing their gratitude by donating the space on the 15 truck’s hood to the city of Pensacola. They hope everyone has a chance to visit the city that has been so loyal and important in Johanna’s development.

Long Comments on Nashville Superspeedway:

“I can’t wait to get back in a truck. I had so much fun last time.  It took about half of the race at ORP before I felt like I was getting the hang of it.  I was starting to find my groove and understand the handling characteristics of a truck just as the race was ending.  That has me really excited about going to Nashville.  I know I still have a lot to learn, but I feel like we’re heading in the right direction and it has me anxious to hit the track.

“I’ve never raced at a track like Nashville (Superspeedway). I’m excited about the challenge. I’ve been racing on mostly flat tracks with Late Models for a while now. It will be fun to step outside of my comfort zone and attempt something new.

“I finished 17^th in my last race (ORP). I’m aiming for a top-15 this week.  It will be a new track for me, but hopefully my learning curve won’t be quite as steep as my first race.  Now that I have an event under my belt, I’m hoping we can do a little better than last time. My team is a great bunch of guys and they’re all very talented.  I know we can get the job done.”

Almirola takes New Direction at Nashville

51 Team Aims to Continue Narrowing Gap with Points Leader Todd Bodine

MOORESVILLE, N.C. (August 2, 2010) – Aric Almirola and the No. 51 Zyclara by Graceway Pharmaceuticals Toyota team fielded by Billy Ballew Motorsports are ready to try something new at Nashville Superspeedway. Their previous setup at the 1.33-mile, concrete-surfaced track netted an eighth-place result, a strong finish, but not close enough to compete for the win.  Almirola and crew chief Richie Wauters are applying a new philosophy to the No. 51 Tundra for this week’s race. The tandem hopes the new direction will take them straight to victory lane in Saturday’s Nashville 200 and closer to the top of the Camping World Truck Series championship chase.

Last week at Pocono Raceway, Almirola piloted the Zyclara by Graceway Tundra to a fourth-place finish in the Pocono Mountains 125.  His performance narrowed the gap between himself and Bodine to 149 points.  It was the team’s 10^th top-10 finish and fourth top-five finish of the season.

Prior to Saturday night’s race, Almirola will be a special guest of the Bowling Green (Ky.) Hot Rods, a Class A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays. Almirola, a native of Tampa, Florida will throw out the first pitch for their home game Thursday night against the South Bend Silver Hawks.  The game is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m.  Almirola will sign autographs from 5:30-6:00 p.m. prior. 

Almirola Comments on Nashville Superspeedway:

“Nashville hasn’t been great to us.  We’ve run ‘OK’ there in the past, but it hasn’t been great. We’re going to go back there this time with a completely different setup in our Graceway Zyclara Tundra. It’s going to be a little bit experimental. We are just looking to make our program better.

“In our previous races, we’ve tried applying different setups, and things we’ve learned from other tracks to Nashville, but it just hasn’t worked.  The concrete surface is just so much different than the tracks we’ve been going to.  So, we’re going there and we’re going for broke.  We’ll have a setup that’s new and completely different than anything we’ve done before.  Hopefully that will pay off for us.

“Nashville is a quick track. The concrete surface doesn’t change much during the race, even as the sun sets and the temperature drops.  It’s pretty consistent. It will take on more rubber, though.  It usually makes the track tighter as the race goes on. That’s something to take into account when you’re making adjustments.”

“Since I’ve been racing, I’ve hoped to win a guitar at Nashville. It’s really unique, definitely one of the coolest trophies that you can take home. It’s decked out with a Sam Bass design. Of course our team wants to win every race we go to, but getting that guitar in victory lane is just another special incentive.”

Long Pond, Penn. (July 31, 2010) – Aric Almirola and the No. 51 Zyclara by Graceway Pharmaceuticals Toyota team made a successful run during the inaugural running of the Pocono Mountain 125 at the 2.5-mile, triangular-shaped Pocono Raceway Saturday afternoon.  Although Almirola fell just short of his third win of the season, he finished fourth to pick up his fourth top-five finish of the season.  The result, along with Todd Bodine’s 12^th-place finish, helped the No. 51 team cut into the point lead held by Bodine.

It came down to a game of track position during Saturday’s 50-lap race.  One of the shortest races all season, drivers didn’t have much time to get to the front. Fortunately for Almirola, the front is where he spent most of his afternoon.  After qualifying fifth in the morning, he took the No 51 to the third spot after Lap One, but the caution waved for a wreck.  Almirola settled back into fifth after the race went back to green.

The team raced in the fifth spot until Lap 25 when the second caution waved for an accident.  During the long run Almirola communicated that his truck was “tight” in traffic.  Crew Chief Richie Wauters made adjustments to help the handling as the crew put on four new tires and fuel.  It proved to be the team’s only pit stop of the day.

Almirola came off pit road fifth, and when the race went back to green, was stuck on the inside line on the restart.  The bottom line didn’t advance and Almirola found himself in seventh before trucks strung out to single-file.  A Lap 33 caution for debris once again bunched the field, but allowed the team to start on the outside as Almirola had moved backed to sixth just moments before the caution. 

The following green run, Almirola was once again snake bitten by track position.  This time the outside line hung up on the restart and forced the Zyclara by Graceway truck back to eighth.  But, the short race was still a long way from done.  A series of late-race cautions began on Lap 41 when Bodine was spun by another truck in front of Almirola.  The team capitalized and moved into the third position as the race set up to finish under the green-white-checkered procedures.

On the restart, restarting on the inside of the second row, Almirola attempted a pass for the potential win.  He took the Billy Ballew Motorsports truck down low and drag raced the leaders Kasey Kahne and Elliott Sadler into Turn One.  A great move, but Almirola didn’t have the momentum to complete the sweeping pass.  Another caution waved soon waved giving the team another opportunity on the restart, but this time Almirola was in the fifth spot. He made a pass to fourth on the second attempt of the green-white-checkered and that was where he finished. 

“It was really about track position and clean air,” Almirola said.  “We had that one chance to go for the win.  We went for it, but I didn’t have the momentum I thought I did.  It didn’t work, but coming home fourth and having a good points day is what we needed after the last two races.

“We were just too tight in traffic.  If I could have got out front I think we had something for those guys. We got in position to do that late in the race, but it was going to be tough to complete that pass.  Kasey (Kahne) and Elliott (Sadler) had strong trucks too.  It was a good day and we’ll move onto Nashville.”

Almirola and the No. 51 team now turn their attention to the Nashville Superspeedway for Saturday night’s Nashville 200.  The race will air live on SPEED and is scheduled to start at 8:30 p.m. ET.