KANSAS CITY, Kansas — Brian Ickler made his first start in the No. 51 Miccosukee Resort/Samsung Instinct Toyota Tundra NASCAR Camping World Truck Saturday, April 25, 2009 at Kansas Speedway.
The 23 year old, Ickler placed the Billy Ballew Motorsports entry in the ninth-place position for the 250 mile, 167 lap race with a qualifying time of 32.549 seconds at a speed of 165.904 miles per hour.
From the drop of the green flag Ickler began his training in the No. 51 Miccosukee Resort/Samsung Instinct Toyota Tundra, losing a few spots until he settled in 14th-place position at the first caution on lap 6. Ickler continued to stay in the top-15 until Doug George called him down pit road on lap 39 for fuel and returning the next lap to take only two right side tires. This call put Ickler out for the restart in the second place position on lap 42.
Ickler continued to maintain the position when tornados near Kansas Speedway suspended the race until Monday, April 27th.
When the race resumed Monday, Ickler sat in the second place position on the lap 61 restart. He reported being free in the corners and came in under caution on lap 74 for four tires and adjustments filing out in the 10th-place position. Ickler managed to adjust his line on the race track picking up positions on the race track and came in for fuel only on lap 90.
“This track is very line sensitive,” Ickler explained during the caution on lap 100. “If I arc into turn I’m not as loose as I am when I am not backing up my corner.” Ickler returned to the track battling the Camping World Trucks ahead of him picking up the fifth place position when rain returned to the speedway ending the event on lap 132.
Kyle Busch who piloted the No. 51 Billy Ballew Motorsports Truck in the first four events lost his driver points lead but sits in the sixth-place position 119 points behind the new leader Mike Skinner. Billy Ballew maintained his 2009 Owners Point lead after Ickler posted the top-five finish. Ickler posted some impressive NASCAR Loop Statistics in his first start with an average running position of seventh place. He stayed in the top-15 for 117 laps of the 132 laps completed posting a lowest running position in the race of 19th-place.
“I’m so happy with a fifth place finish in Kansas after everything we have had to overcome,” Ickler said. “This Miccosukee Resort team has done such a great job on pit road keeping me up front. Right there at the end, if free is fast; we just got dead-sideways. It was a good learning experience. I am still trying to learn these radial tires, these trucks and the plates you run on them -- there is so much learning. I have great mentors, though. I felt I was able to give Doug (George, crew chief) some good feedback, but sometimes you know what you want, but sometimes you need to come up and say, ‘I have got no idea” and that is where he knew what I needed. We exceeded our goal of a top-10 finish with fifth. We’ll take that and see what we can do in Texas in June. I again want to thank Billy Ballew for the opportunity to drive in his equipment. It was a lot of fun driving these trucks.”
The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series returns to racing action Friday, May 15, 2009 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Concord, NC, where Kyle “Rowdy” Busch is slated to return to the No. 51 Miccosukee Resort Tundra. Ickler will return to the No. 51 Billy Ballew Motorsports Camping World Truck at Texas Motor Speedway June 5, 2009.
For more information please visit www.billyballewmotorsports.com
