GAMBLE ON EARLY PIT STOP PAYS OFF WITH WIN FOR ANDREW MYERS AT IRWINDALE

Source: NASCAR Public Relations
Date: 05/28/2006

IRWINDALE, California -- A gamble on an early pit stop paid off for Andrew Myers as he was able to hold off a hard-charging Eric Holmes by inches to win the King Taco 200 at Irwindale Speedway on Saturday, May 27.

The victory gives Myers wins in two of the three events he has entered while running a limited schedule this year in the NASCAR Grand National Division, AutoZone West Series.

It turned out that his team’s decision to pit early was actually dictated more from circumstances than pre-race strategy, Myers later explained. “Our strategy was really based on the car’s performance and where we ended up,” he said. “We started 12th and got some laps under us. Basically, the car wasn’t handling to my liking. It was very loose. It didn’t have a lot of forward bite. So by about lap 50, I was burning up the right rear tire.”

Myers informed his crew of the situation and the decision was made to pit early. “I talked to Jamie (Aube) on the radio and told him we needed to make a change,” Myers said. “They wanted to bring the car in as soon as we could. Around lap 50, when we got that first yellow, we decided to come in and take two right side tires and gas it up and make the chassis adjustments.”

With teams limited to two new tires during the 200-lap race, Myers admitted he was concerned about making the change too early. “That was the gamble that we took,” he said. “I thought we took tires a little early, but we needed to get the car good. We got the car really tightened up and it ran great.”

While Myers was preparing for the stretch run, many of his competitors were making an early charge to get out front. Holmes, who won his first career series Budweiser Pole Award with a qualifying run of 97.736 mph, led initially in his Sunoco Race Fuels/Paul Oil Chevrolet. He was shuffled back early, however, with series rookies Peyton Sellers and Brian Ickler each charging out front. Mike David, who led the championship standings entering the event, also ran out front – one of seven drivers that swapped the lead 10 times.

After making his early pit stop, Myers said he was content to remain in fifth through the mid-stages of the event – knowing the leaders would eventually stop for fuel and fresh tires. “I wasn’t battling too hard,” he said. “I was kind of hanging back, because I knew that they had to pit. We just kind of hung out.”

Tim Woods III, who also pitted early in the event, initially inherited the lead when the other leaders made their pit stops on lap 131. Myers guided his Toyota of Escondido Chevrolet into the lead shortly after the restart, however, and held Woods off in restarts following several subsequent cautions.

Those cautions aided Myers in his run to victory. “The car would run good for about 20 or 30 laps and then started to get a little free again,” he said. “With the cautions, I could really cool the tires off and charge hard again. It kind of worked to my advantage.”

After the final restart with eight laps remaining, Holmes mounted a charge for the lead. He was able to get by Woods and charged alongside Myers. “I was better through one and two and he was better through three and four,” Myers recalled of the battle. “The last couple of laps to go, he would sneak up on me coming off of turn four and I would pull away again in one and two. That last turn, he came down low and I stayed up high. That was my plan. I didn’t want to pinch him off and get into a wreck. I wanted to keep my momentum. I stayed up high and he kept his momentum going and we just barely got it.”

It made for the closest series finish at Irwindale Speedway, as Myers won with a winning margin of .016 of a second. The Huntington Beach, Calif., driver – who competed as a rookie in the series last season – netted $7,063 for the victory.

The second-place finish by Holmes of Escalon, Calif., matched his career-best series finish he turned in at the season opener at Phoenix. Series veteran Scott Gaylord of Lakewood, Colo., finished a close third in the Oliver Gravity Separators/Denver Seminary Chevrolet. Woods of Chino Hills, Calif., was fourth in the Chino Hills Ford Ford – followed by defending series champion Mike Duncan of Bakersfield, Calif., in the Lucas Oil/Ron’s Rear Ends Chevrolet. Completing the top 10 were Mike David, Steve Portenga, Brian Ickler, Daniel DiGiacomo and Brett Thompson.

David retained his lead in the championship standings. He tops the standings with 636 points, followed by Portenga with 617, Holmes with 608, Duncan with 565, Jim Inglebright with 557, Sellers with 547, Thompson with 546, Ickler with 518, Gaylord with 516 and Johnny Borneman with 494.

The challenge for this year’s Sunoco Rookie of the Year Award appears to be a wide open battle. Seller, with 30 points, has a slight edge over Ickler with 29 and Justin Loftin with 27. They are followed by Eric Hardin with 20, Eric Humphries and Brian Pannone each with 16, Nick Lynch and Daniel DiGiacomo each with 15, James Bruncati and Spencer Clark each with 14, Justin Fisher with eight, Bruce Betts with four and Ed Watson with two.

The next event on the NASCAR Grand National Division, AutoZone West Series schedule is the Blue Lizard Suncream 200 at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif., on June 24. The event is to be televised live in high definition on HDNet. In addition, an enhanced replay will air on SPEED.

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