Monday, June 7, 2010

Moses Battles For a Fourth


Although the threat of rain loomed dangerously on race day; the mood in the number 16 hauler was sunny. Although the team had suffered from a troubled start to the 2010 NASCAR K&N Pro Series season, they were optimistic that their streak of bad luck had concluded.

After two productive practice sessions, Moses qualified the #16 Hasa Pool Products on the preferred inside lane on the third row. Unfortunately, at the drop of the green flag, the inside line was held up and Moses was force to drop down to sixth place on the first lap.

"We wanted to qualify better, but knew we had a stronger race car than a qualifier. At least we were able to start on the inside." Moses stated.

The #16 Hasa Pool Product Toyota Camry demonstrated its strength and Moses remained in sixth position even though he had to restart several times from the outside lane.

Then on lap 96 of the 150-lap race, the car ahead of Moses spun. While Moses was able to avoid contact with the spinning race car, the car behind him ran into the # 16 Hasa Pool Products Toyota Camry; forcing Smith to spin into the infield.

The rainstorms that pummeled Southern Oregon mid-week had turned the infield into a bog. “I almost hit the inside guard rail. After avoiding that, I really had to dig to get back out on the track before the leader put me a lap down.” Moses recalled.

On the restart NASCAR put Moses to the end of the field, even though he was not the cause of the yellow, but was merely avoiding another competitor's mess. Fortunately it only took Moses a few laps to move through the field.

With two thirds of the race completed, Moses focused on returning to the front in a hurry. Four caution flags assisted Moses’ advance forward. He restarted the race on lap 135 from the fifth position.

With fifteen laps to go Moses concentrated on passing his teammate in the 12 car. The battle for fourth place continued until the white flag lap, when Smith managed to slipped by his teammate, for fourth, Moses’ first top-five of the 2010 season.

“It was a great finish for the #16 Team, and a well needed one. We really needed to break our ‘not so good’ streak… The team really kicked butt this weekend. We are all looking forward to getting to the road course at Infineon in a couple of weeks.” Moses reported.

The Toyota/NAPA Auto Parts Bonus Challenge 150 will air on SPEED on Thursday, June 17 at 6 p.m. ET.

The NASCAR K&N Pro Series West returns to action on Saturday, June 19 in the Thunder Valley Casino Resort 200 at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, California.

NASCAR K&N PRO SERIES WEST-TOYOTA/NAPA Auto Parts BONUS CHALLENGE
Quick Facts
Douglas County Speedway
Roseburg, OR

Lap length: 0.375 miles
Time of Race: 59 minutes 48 seconds
Caution Flags: 6 for 45 laps

Unofficial Standings: 1. D. Mayhew, 685; 2. E. Holmes, 643; 3. G. Pursley, 582; 4. J. Gomez, 563; 5. J. Combs, 545; 6. M. Smith, 538; 7. B. Koch, 537; 8. P. Harraka, 530; 9. T. Souza, 519; 10. L. Martinez,Jr., 511.

photo by Steve Dykes
Getty for NASCAR

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