Musgrave Victim of “Big One” at Daytona

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (February 18, 2008) –  High hopes of a Daytona win were extinguished early for Ted Musgrave and the No. 59 Team ASE Toyota Tundra team after being collected in a ten truck pile-up on the backstretch after just 20 laps of racing in the Chevy Silverado 250.  The HT Motorsports team was able to get Musgrave back on track to finish 50 laps down in 28th place. 

After promising pre-season test sessions, Musgrave and the HT Motorsports team came to Daytona confident in their equipment, and continued to run well in practices before qualifying 16th on Thursday night.  The HT Motorsports team knew they had a great truck heading in to the race, with crew chief Danny Rollins urging his team to “stay focused on the big picture:  Homestead.” 

When the green flag dropped Musgrave began to work his way through traffic, jumping nine positions to seventh place within the opening four laps.  The first round of pit stops occurred on lap 12.  Coming down pit road in 14th, the Team ASE over-the-wall crew opted for four fresh tires and fuel, sending Musgrave back out for the lap 14 restart in 18th place.

Shortly after the restart, the day would turn bad for Musgrave.  Battling for 11th place, Musgrave was left with no where to go when multiple trucks wrecked ahead of him, leaving a smoky path of destruction.  The smoke clouds cleared revealing heavy damage to the front of the No. 59 Team ASE Toyota Tundra.  Musgrave was taken to infield care where he was evaluated and released without injury.  Asked about the incident, Musgrave said there was a lot of “give and take” happening on the track. 

“There was a lot of giving and everybody was just taking advantage of everybody out there,” Musgrave said.  “I was just trying to ride it out.  I had my Toyota running decent and I was just trying to bide my time up there.  It was the wrong place at the wrong time.  All of the sudden everything gets smoky and there’s fire.  I had a few opportunities to make progress.  I was just trying to give everyone a break.  I never have seen so many trucks out of control, too.  Maybe the rules package or the tires need to be changed on the trucks.”

Missing 50 laps of the race, Musgrave returned to the field to gain as much ground as he could in the point’s race.  The No. 59 Team ASE team picked up four spots by returning to the race, taking the checkered flag in 28th place.

Coming up this Saturday, February 23, 2008, the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series heads cross country to do battle in the San Bernardino County 200 at California Speedway.   Musgrave, a three-time winner at California Speedway with an impressive average finish of 2.6 over seven truck series starts at the 2-mile track, hopes to bounce back from Daytona with a strong performance at one of his favorite tracks, and score a win for the No. 59 Team ASE Toyota Tundra team.  Live television coverage will be provided by FOX at 3:00 p.m. ET with radio coverage coming to you live from MRN Radio.