Fitzpatrick Qualifies Sixth but Falls Victim to First Lap Crash in Phoenix

Avondale, Az. (November 10, 2008)  – J.R. Fitzpatrick made his second-career NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series start on Friday night at Phoenix International Raceway and the Canadian stock car champion proved to have what it takes to race against the Truck Series stars after qualifying the No. 71 Mammoet Chevrolet in sixth position for the 150-lap Lucas Oil 150.  But Fitzpatrick’s top-10 run ended early after the leaders spun in front of the field on the very first lap, collecting the Mammoet Chevrolet and sending Fitzpatrick to the garage for repairs.  After sixty laps behind the wall, Fitzpatrick returned to the track making 45 more circuits around the speedway before calling it a night and being credited with a 30th place finish.

“On Friday, we laid down an awesome qualifying lap, and I believe we could have got a solid top-10 if we didn't get tangled up on the first lap wreck,” explained Fitzpatrick.  “We just had nowhere to go once the smoke cleared.”  Fitzpatrick was happy even though they didn’t get the finish they deserved.  “The No. 71 team did an awesome job getting the truck to work great after we struggled a bit in the practice sessions,” he explained.  “I believe it had more to do with me getting seat time at a track because that was the biggest I have ever been on.”

With Fitzpatrick making his first start on a one-mile oval, he sought advice from fellow Chevrolet driver, Kevin Harvick, which paid off.  “After getting some strong advice from Kevin Harvick, I picked up on a lot of errors I was making,” said Fitzpatrick.  “Also the team thought of a lot of changes to make the truck better for the race.”  It was the team’s first return to the track after skipping Atlanta and Texas. 

“Missing Atlanta and Texas seemed like we had been put in detention,” said Crew Chief, Jon Wolfe.  “The sad part was that we traveled 2500 miles to only run ¾ of a lap in the race, but that is the way it works sometimes.  The team put together an awesome truck for J.R. and we went out and qualified 6th.  All was good until a bonehead move by the leaders on the first lap ended our night.  J.R. just had nowhere to go and heavily damaged our truck.  After some major repairs, we returned to the track 60 laps later, just so J.R. could get some seat time.” 

Fitzpatrick will take the No. 71 Mammoet Chevrolet to Homestead-Miami Speedway for the Ford 200 on Friday, November 14th.  Live television coverage will begin on the SPEED Channel at 7:30 p.m. ET with radio coverage coming to you live courtesy of MRN Radio.