Mark started 10th, drove to second and looked
poised to make a run at his third Craftsman Truck Series victory of the
season, before contact with the lapped truck of Bobby Hamilton Jr. brought
a premature end to Mark’s bid at victory in his first career start in the
truck series at Charlotte. Mark restarted in fourth place after the race’s
fourth caution on lap 99, but just one lap later Hamilton Jr. came down on
Mark, cutting his left rear tire and forcing the night’s fifth caution. Mark
came into the pits for new tires and for the crew to repair extensive damage
to the rear panel of the truck. He returned in 19th position, but was able
to drive back to 13th position in the race’s final laps.
“We had a really good truck and were able to run up front most of the
night,” said Mark. “Mike (Beam) and the guys did another great job and I’m
not sure if we could have won there, but we would have liked to have been
able to take a shot at it.”
Mark qualified 10th earlier in the day and moved to sixth by lap 40 of the
race. He came into the pits for the first time of the evening on lap 48, to
take on four tires, fuel and make a track-bar adjustment. Excellent work by
the No. 6 Scotts crew resulted in Mark gaining four positions on pit road,
returning in second when green flag racing resumed on lap 51. Mark would not
run outside the top-four again, until the incident with Hamilton Jr. on
lap 100.
Mark will return to action in the truck series in two weeks at Dover, where
Mark boasts four victories in the Cup series, including one in 2004.
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