Heat creates a Slick Kansas Speedway and a 23rd Place Finish for Goess

It was slick in Kansas for Craig Goess

Unbearable heat and a slick racetrack led to a long day for most NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) teams Saturday afternoon for the O’Reilly Auto Parts 250 at Kansas Speedway. Greenville, North Carolina native Craig Goess started on the inside of row 13 for the historic 400th NCWTS race on Saturday afternoon in the Eddie Sharp Racing (ESR) No. 46 Great Wolf Lodge/Greenville Toyota of North Carolina Tundra. Goess survived the blistering conditions for 167 laps, ran a clean race and took checkered flag in the 23rd position.

After struggling to find the right setup for chassis number 008 at Charlotte two weeks ago and during the first practice session at Kansas, owner Eddie Sharp and his crew turned to Kyle Busch, driver in all three major NASCAR divisions and owner of Kyle Busch Motorsports (KBM), for some advice on the ESR machine that was purchased from KBM last season. Busch climbed behind the wheel of the No. 46 Tundra for two consecutive runs during the final practice session on Friday afternoon, giving veteran NCWTS crew chief Trip Bruce and his team a different perspective on the handling. Collaborating with both Busch and Goess, the crew created a similar setup that Bruce had under the truck at the beginning of the weekend after the final practice session was complete.

Goess danced within the top 25 in the first portion of the event, reporting to his veteran crew chief the truck continued to push in the turns of the 1.5-mile asphalt oval. The team’s first chance to remedy the Tundra’s handling issues came on lap 17 under the first caution period of the afternoon. After four fresh tires and a few adjustments, Craig restarted 28th on lap 21. As the race progressed into a longer green flag run, the Greenville Toyota Tundra changed from tight on fresh tires, to loose when the tires were worn.

Just seconds before falling one lap down to the leader on lap 61, the yellow flag flew for the second caution period of the afternoon. Several trucks had pitted just a few laps earlier, placing Goess in the 10th position when he came to the attention of his ESR pit crew for another round of adjustments, four tires and fuel under the yellow flag stop. The adjustments helped the tightness of the truck a little, but it would soon fade back into the same conditions Craig had been fighting all weekend.

Bruce chose to put sticker tires on the No. 46 during the next yellow flag pit stop on lap 99, saving the final set of sticker Goodyear tires for the final pit stop, which would come with 36 laps to go. While most of the other trucks in the field didn’t have a fresh set for the final run, Goess was able to get a little extra grip and gain back a few positions he had lost during the previous green flag run. Remaining patient under the guidance of Bruce and spotter David Green in the closing stages of the event, Goess concluded the day two positions ahead of where he began.

“It was difficult to explain to Trip what changes needed to be made to the truck because the handling changed so much from the beginning of the run to the end,” Goess said following the race. “I really had to change my line and work the throttle at the beginning because we were so tight, and then change my line on the track again when the tires got slick because it was loose. We did make some gains from practice though and I think we learned a lot this weekend.”

Thankful for the help he and his team received on Friday, crew chief Trip Bruce also commended his driver for staying focused in a hot race truck on a challenging day.

“Track conditions were really tough today because it was so hot and slick. We made some gains after the final practice and feedback from Kyle Busch helped Craig drive the truck was loose,” Bruce explained. “We ran a clean race, Craig kept his head in the game and we have a clean truck to take to Texas next weekend. We’re learning every week and we’re working as hard as we can to improve on what we have each week.”

Next Event: Texas Motor Speedway will play host to the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) next weekend. The Eddie Sharp Racing crew swapped engines and made a few minor changes to their No. 46 Tundra before departing Kansas Speedway on Saturday evening and will make the trip straight to Texas. Both NCWTS practice sessions and qualifying will take place Thursday, June 9th, with the green flag for the WinStar World Casino 400k scheduled at 9 pm EST.

For more information on Eddie Sharp Racing, Craig Goess and the No. 46 Greenville Toyota of NC Tundra, visit TeamESR.com and CraigGoess.com. Follow us on Twitter (@TeamESR) and find Eddie Sharp Racing on Facebook.