NCWTS Rookie Battles Back After Mid-Race Spin in Debut Appearanceat the Short Track
BRISTOL, Tenn. (August 20, 2015) – It was a learning experience for NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) driver Ray Black Jr. at Bristol Motor Speedway, as the rookie driver continued his NASCAR education this week. The driver of the No. 07 ScubaLife.com Chevrolet kept improving throughout the weekend and secured a 21st place finish in his debut race at the short track. With the finish, Black maintains 11th in the championship standings.
In the two practices leading up to the race, Black focused on learning what were the best lines to run on the track in order to get the most speed. His crew made adjustments in order to get the handling right and he was consistently faster on each lap.
“Bristol is a tough track. Figuring out when to use your brakes and when to get into the throttle is a little tricky because it’s so fast,” said Black. “The team worked hard to make changes and help the handling of the truck during practices, but it was still a handful!”
Black continued to get faster throughout the race, running his fastest lap of the race in the closing laps of the event. Unfortunately, Black had spun out midway through the race, running on old tires.
“I don’t think I’ve ever worked harder in a truck than I did at Bristol. I learned a lot during that race,” said Black. “It’s disappointing that we spun, but the team did a great job of patching the truck up and getting me back out on the track to finish the race. We’ll move on to Canada next weekend and continue to grow and learn this season.”
Black and Team Scuba Racing will be turning both left and right next weekend, as the NCWTS heads north of the border to the Canadian Tire Motorsports Park for the series’ only road course race of the season.
