Musgrave Not Satisfied with 17th in Ohio 250

Ted Musgrave drove the No. 59 Team ASE/Harris Trucking Toyota to 17th in the fifth running of the Ohio 250 at Mansfield Motorsports Park. Musgrave and crew chief Danny Rollins tried to use pit strategy early in the race to gain track position but a loose condition and worn out rear tires forced a second pit stop. Buried in 29th, Musgrave fought hard but could only recover a dozen spots in the final 100 laps.
 
“At least the weather was nice in Mansfield this time around,” Musgrave joked. “It was a tough race. It’s tough to pass so we tried to use pit strategy to get us track position. We ran up in the top ten for a good while but the truck was too loose. Eventually we burned the rear tires off it and we made the call to pit again. We didn’t have anything to lose at that point because we were going to lose a bunch of spots anyhow because we were a sitting duck.”
 
With new tires on, Musgrave faced the daunting challenge of working from the tail of the lead lap with less than 100 laps remaining. He not only was able to stay on the lead lap, but avoided the bulk of the trouble and gained spots – one of the few drivers to do so in the final stages of the race.
 
“We knew it would be tough to come from the back that late in the race,” Musgrave said. “We didn’t get up back where we wanted. I figured there would be a lot of guys getting into spins and crashes and we would be able to breeze right past all of them. There was some of that but not as much as we thought there might be. It’s so hard to pass there that we knew if we could stay out of the spins and wrecks we’d be able to pick up some positions the easy way and that’s how it worked out.”
 
Musgrave gained two positions in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship standings to 13th, just 58 points outside the top ten. Musgrave is 42 points behind Dennis Setzer for 12th.
 
Musgrave and the HT Motorsports No. 59 Team ASE/Harris Trucking Toyota return to action this Friday in the AAA Insurance 200 at Dover International Speedway. Round eight of the 2008 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is slated for a 5 P.M. Eastern start, and will be televised on a delayed basis on SPEED starting at 7:30 P.M. Eastern. MRN Radio will have live coverage on select radio affiliates nationwide starting at 4:30 P.M. Eastern.