Source: ck
Date: 03/27/2007

LAKELAND, Fla “Yahoo!” Those words could be heard from the Carter-2-Motorsports team following their impressive 15th place finish in Saturday’s Construct Corps-Palm Beach Grading (PBG) 250 from USA International Speedway.

Newcomer and rookie driver Nick Tucker survived a high attrition event to notch a career-best finish for Carter-2-Motorsports while also earning the respect of his fellow competitors in the second ARCA RE/MAX Series event of the season.

Tucker and his C2M (Carter-2-Motorsports) team overcame several hiccups including brake and transmission issues during both practice session leading up to ARCA pole qualifying. The changes gave the former NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series driver a boost of confidence heading into time trials.

In qualifying, Tucker turned heads. During his two laps, he posted a quick lap of 22.722 seconds at 118.828 MPH putting him 21st on the starting grid out qualifying ARCA veterans Frank Kimmel, Bobby Gerhart, Billy Venturini and Bill Baird.

“We have a racecar for tonight,” said the North Carolina native. “I’m really proud of my Carter-2-Motorsports team. We had some problems, but they never gave up and rallied back to put our car solidly into our first race of the season. Huge kudos to them.”

With a mid-pack starting position, early goals for Tucker included staying out of any trouble and keeping the fenders on his Dodge Charger. Throughout much of the event, the rookie propelled himself to look more like a veteran.

Brake issues tried to plague the driver, but he vowed never to give up. Despite losing a lap to leader Bobby Santos III on a long green-flag run, Tucker continue to fight towards the front and remained in the top-15 for a majority of the event.

The crew pulled off excellent pit stops enabling the rookie team to keep a solid position on the track. When the checkered flag was thrown, Nick Tucker carried the No. 48 FreeFeds.org to 15th posting a very respectable finish in the team’s debut.

“We completed our goals,” said Tucker. “The brake issues returned but I was playing it safe. I consider my first ARCA RE/MAX Series a success and am I not only happy for myself, but for my guys. They were awesome. They all did their jobs and well. This was a big race for all of us and I really think we made the best of it.”

He continued, “I know we gained some support and recognition about the FreeFeds.org foundation this weekend and that was another priority. A lot of the fans enjoyed the look of our racecar while asking questions about our intent and that’s what it’s all about. Hopefully the solid finish can roll over to the team next week when they head to Nashville.”

Roger Carter II, the primary driver of the No. 48 FreeFeds.org handed over the wheel to Tucker after suffering a personal injury last week.

“I’m really proud of Nick and the team,” explained Carter II, who is expected to return to driving duties at Nashville. “They went to Lakeland with goals in mind and they were able to accomplish those with ease. Everyone is pumped up and we’re all excited about Nashville.”

Next up for the ARS (ARCA RE/MAX Series) is the first of two trips to Nashville Superspeedway this season. The Nashville ARCA 150 is set for Saturday, April 7, serving the first of a double-header event with the NASCAR Busch Series at the Lebanon, Tennessee based track.

The next RE/MAX Series event for Tucker will be next month at Kansas Speedway when Carter-2-Motorsports will field the No. 67 Dodge Charger in addition to the No. 48 FreeFeds.org machine.

Carter-2-Motorsports (www.carter2motorsports.com) whose ARCA RE/MAX Series operation is based in Statesville, North Carolina will run Dodge Chargers in the ARCA RE/MAX Series and NASCAR Nextel Cup Series (NNC) in 2007. The team will run the No. 48 handed over from the legendary James Hylton who retired from ARCA competition following the 2006 season finale at the new Iowa Speedway. The organization plans to run the No. 54 in the premier series of NASCAR, the NNC series later this year.

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