Mike Bliss
No. 25 HT Motorsports Toyota Tundra
Lucas Oil 150
Phoenix International Raceway

AVONDALE, AZ., (Nov. 13, 2009) – Mike Bliss sure didn’t let any superstitions get in his way of racing up front on Friday the 13th.  Matter of fact, the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Champion finished lucky number seventh in the Lucas Oil 150 at Phoenix International Raceway.  Bliss ran in the top 10 almost every lap of the 151-lap race before settling into the seventh spot to finish his first race with HT Motorsports in the No. 25 Toyota Tundra. 

The No. 25 HT Motorsports Toyota Tundra Race Recap

  • Bliss qualified his No. 25 HT Motorsports Toyota Tundra in the sixth position with a lap time of 27.673 seconds at a speed of 130.091 mph.
  • By the first caution on lap seven, Bliss radioed in to Crew Chief Danny Rollins, “The truck is really good.”
  • The race resumed on lap 12 and Bliss ran comfortably in the fifth spot.  By the second caution on lap 34 Bliss said, “It is a little tight getting back in the gas.”
  • The team used the caution time to help loosen up Bliss’s No. 25 Tundra by making a track bar adjustment while giving him four fresh tires and filling the Tundra up with Sunoco fuel.   Bliss restarted in the ninth spot on lap 38 because some teams in front of him chose not to use the same pit strategy.
  • While racing on lap 43 Bliss said, “That made me looser.”  Then on lap88 while running in the sixth position he said, “It’s running good now, but the first 15 laps or so it was loose in.”  Rollins acknowledged his driver and the team waited on another pit stop.
  • Then the third caution came out on lap 90.  Bliss was ready to pit and the team agreed to take right side tires only for some track position.  He came in running sixth and returned to racing on lap 95 in the fourth spot. 
  • Bliss raced comfortably in the top five for the ensuing laps.  He said, “It’s a little free off but we fixed the problem we had in practice.”
  • Then on lap 128 Bliss radioed in saying, “It won’t turn right now.”  He lost one spot to sixth.
  • On lap 141 he fell to the seventh spot where he held on through a green-white-checkered flag finish. 
  • This marked the team’s ninth top-10 finish this year.

Kevin Harvick won the Lucas Oil 150.  Kyle Busch, Aric Almirola, Ron Hornaday and Johnny Sauter followed in the top five.   The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series will race its last race for the 2009 season next Friday Nov. 20th in Homestead, Florida.