Despite Bad Luck, MB Motorsports
Grabs 17th at Martinsville
April 9, 2001
Craftsman Truck Series Rookie Larry Gunselman made his first trip to Martinsville
Speedway over the weekend for the Advance Auto Parts 250 and despite bad luck,
the team grabbed their best finish of the year.
Larry and the team were happy with the #63 Waterloo Tool Storage MB Motorsports
truck as soon as it was pulled off the hauler. “We weren’t at the top
of the speed charts in practice,“ Gunselman said, “but I knew we had a truck
that could be competitive. I was looking for a much better qualifying
run, but drove a little hard into the corners on the second lap and lost a couple
tenths of a second”.
Larry took the green flag to start the race in 28th and fought a
loose truck early on. Then on lap 92, two drivers ahead of the Waterloo
Tool Storage Ford missed a shift and quickly slowed. Larry attempted to
avoid the trucks, but was rammed from behind.
The team brought the truck in for repairs and lost nearly 40 laps. Unfortunately,
it wasn’t until repairs were almost completed that the crew determined that
front wheel damage was the only real problem.
"In an ideal situation we would have been able to just fix the wheel and get
back out there after a few laps," stated General Manager Bill Politsch. "But
it was still a good race for us and we look forward to the next race at our
home track."
Larry Gunselman moved up one spot in the standings to 22nd and the
team moved up one as well, to 24th in the owners’ standings.
The Craftsman Truck Series’ next race is the Ram Tough 200 from Gateway International
Raceway at 2:00 p.m. ET on Sunday, May 6. ESPN & MRN will provide
live coverage of the event. Located about 50 miles west of the race shop,
Gateway Raceway is the home track for MB Motorsports.
Follow MB Motorsports and Larry Gunselman all year at http://www.mbracing.net
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