Goess Takes Ninth at Music City
Overcomes Obstacles to Post His Best CW East Finish So Far
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Craig Goess, Jr. headed to Nashville, Tenn. this past weekend searching for the spotlight. Goess wasn't performing at the Grand Ole Opry, but instead took to the stage at the Music City Motorplex. While Goess might not have gotten into the spotlight, his finish was certainly a highlight. Goess and his No. 2 Greenville Toyota/Team ESR Development Toyota came home with a career-best ninth place finish in the NASCAR Camping World East Series' Strutmasters.com 150 on Saturday evening.
“What a great race,” commented Goess. “The car was best in practice but was pretty good in the race. It was a lot better on the long runs but we just couldn't get those longer runs that we needed to make progress.”
Goess had never competed at MCM previously and was banking on crew chief Johnny Allen's experience at the facility. Although the team struggled a bit in the first practice session, Allen's experience proved to be beneficial, as the Eddie Sharp Racing team made a lot of adjustments during the first and second practice sessions and jumped Goess into the second fastest car during the second practice.
Hopes were high heading into qualifying. Goess timed around the .596-mile oval in 19.692 seconds., placing the No. 2 Greenville Toyota/Team ESR Development Toyota in the 10th position for the start of the 150 lap main event. Team owner Eddie Sharp spotted for Goess, while Patrick Donahue, crew chief for ESR's ARCA Series team, was in the pits coaching Goess by keeping him abreast of his lap times.
“We improved from practice by being faster in qualifying so I knew we would be good in the race,” said Goess. However, the track had changed from practice to race time. The track changed more than the car so we had to compensate just a little bit.”
Goess was complaining of no rear grip, so under the fourth caution, Goess brought his No. 2 Greenville Toyota/Team ESR Development Toyota down pit road to the attention of his Johnny Allen-led crew. They put in some wedge while refueling the car and sent Goess on his way. Goess restarted in the 10th position on lap 99.
Goess held onto the 10th spot until being collected in an incident with the No. 59 car. The other vehicle spun in front of the No. 2 Greenville Toyota/Team ESR Development Toyota and Goess had no way to steer clear. Goess brought his machine down pit road for the crew to evaluate the damage. Luckily, the damage wasn't severe and Goess maintained his lead lap status.
Goess returned to the track with 32 laps remaining. There were three more caution periods impeding Goess' march back to the front. However, Goess' soldiered on to finish the race in the ninth position, a career-best.
“I had all the ingredients aligned,” said Goess. “It was our best race so far, but having Eddie (Sharp) there, along with Patrick (Donahue) and Johnny's experience, definitely was key to our success. The communication between Johnny and I is still improving, but we're working well together. I got behind the No. 59 and he spun right in front of us and I had nowhere to go. I had to make two stops but the guys did a great job in the pits and we never went a lap down. We were moving forward but we were definitely better on the longer runs and we never really got those. Overall, a great night though and I'm excited to carry this momentum on to Adirondack next weekend.”
With Goess' career-best finish, he and the team were able to move up two spots in the CWES points standings and currently sit 18th. The No. 2 Greenville Toyota/Team ESR Development Toyota team heads to Adirondack International Speedway in Beaver Falls, N.Y. this weekend for the Edge Hotel 150 presented by Casella Waste Systems.
The Greenville Toyota #2
