Smith Soldiers To Hard-Fought 12th-Place Finish At Martinsville

by April 3, 2017 0 comments

CERRO GORDO, N.C. – After battling an ill-handling BTS Tire and Wheel Distributors/Goodyear Commercial Tire & Service Network/Advance Auto Parts/Valvoline Ford F-150 in the early going of the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) Alpha Energy Solutions 250, Regan Smith battled back over the race’s second half to capture a 12th place finish.

“At the end of the first practice on Friday,” Smith said, “we had gotten our F-150 to a place where it had some speed and would handle well on a relatively green track. Then it rained, the Cup cars ran a full practice and we had qualifying. By the time we hit the track for the race, the track was rubbered-up and the handling was completely different.”

After starting 20th, Smith stayed around that spot in the running order throughout the first 70-lap segment. The team brought him in at the first break to loosen up the truck, but in the second segment, the No. 92 lost a lap under a long green-flag run. A couple cautions later and more adjustments last, Smith found himself in the free-pass spot with a truck that was racing much better. At lap 166, the team was running in the top 10 and stayed there until getting shuffled back a few spots on a late restart.

“I can’t say enough about what (crew chief) Mike (Hester) and the pit crew did,” Smith said. “MIke made a good call to gain some track position and the crew adjusted and adjusted to put us in a position to get a top 10.”

Smith and the Ricky Benton Racing Enterprises team return to NCWTS action when the series makes it next stop May 12 at the Kansas Speedway. The team plans to bring the same truck Smith ran 12th with at Atlanta back in March.

About BTS Tire and Wheel Distributors:

BTS Tire & Wheel Distributors offers wholesale distribution services to tire and automotive dealers across the Southeast, operating out of locations in North and South Carolina. For more information, visit bts.tireweb.com. There are 43 Black’s Tire and Auto Service retail locations throughout North and South Carolina. To learn more about Black’s Tire or to find a location, visit www.blackstire.com.

About Goodyear Commercial Tire and Service Network: 

Goodyear Commercial Tire & Service Network is a business solutions provider for commercial trucking fleets and service tire dealers all across North America. Goodyear Commercial Tire & Service Network provides 24-hour support, and helps fleets reduce operating cost while making it easier to do business. For more information, visit www.goodyeartrucktires.com.

About Advance Auto Parts: 

Advance Auto Parts, Inc., a leading automotive aftermarket parts provider in North America, serves both professional installer and do-it-yourself customers. As of October 8, 2016, Advance operated 5,058 stores and 127 Worldpac branches and served approximately 1,250 independently owned Carquest branded stores in the United States, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Canada. Advance employs approximately 74,000 Team Members. Additional information about the Company, employment opportunities, customer services, and on-line shopping for parts, accessories and other offerings can be found on the Company’s website at www.advanceautoparts.com.

About Valvoline: 

Valvoline was founded in 1866 by Dr. John Ellis when he discovered the lubricating properties of distilled crude oil, thus the world’s first petroleum based lubricant. Over the past 150 years Valvoline has reach many milestones such as, its first car race in 1895, the first all-purpose gear oil in 1939, used in Allied vehicles in World War II, introduced Valvoline Racing Motor Oil to the world in the mid-60’s, led innovation with Durablend, the first synthetic-blend motor oil in 1996, and in the early 2000’s Valvoline launched Maxlife High Mileage Motor Oil. Today it remains the best-selling racing oil of all time. Valvoline is very proud of its association with NASCAR. Valvoline is owned by Ashland Oil Inc. of Kentucky. The Valvoline product line is blended and packaged in 60 plants worldwide. As Valvoline celebrates 150 years of success they are busy planning for the next 150 years that will keep the world moving.

Source: RBR Enterprises

Photo Credit: Tyler Goodson/TheFourthTurn.com

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