Malsam's run to the front wrecked at Kansas‏

For immediate release, One Eighty Racing (17-10)



MALSAM’S RUN TO THE FRONT WRECKED; FINISHES 22ND AT KANSAS



KANSAS CITY, Kan. (May 2, 2010) Déjà vu all over again.



That’s what the fifth race of NASCAR’s Camping World Truck Series must have felt like to Pacific Northwest native Tayler Malsam, who brought his damaged Toyota Tundra home for a 22nd-place finish Sunday in the O’Reilly Auto Parts 250 at Kansas Speedway.



As has been the case in three of four series races this season, Malsam seemed poised for a strong finish. After starting 20th, he moved forward on the track and through pit strategy and had just moved into fourth place on lap 34. That’s when series veteran Rick Crawford got loose underneath Sauter and slid up the track, putting Malsam’s truck into the wall.



After several pits stops to patch and repair the damage to his truck, Malsam returned to action in 26th place, several laps down. He moved up a few more spots due to attrition in the race, which had seven cautions and a red-flag period when rain and hail caused a 1 hour, 30 minute delay.



Johnny Sauter won the race in what amounted to a 50-lap shootout after the delay, holding off defending series champion Ron Hornaday in exciting side-by-side racing that included both drivers recovering after sliding sideways through turn 3 with 16 laps to go. Hornaday was challenging Sauter for the lead when both trucks encountered lapped traffic; Hornaday got loose and slid up the track into Sauter, knocking both sideways in a cloud of tire smoke. The rear of Sauter’s truck touched the outside wall, but both drivers were able to straighten up and continue as the race stayed green.



With his right-rear tire ruined by the skid, Hornaday fell back but he was able to stay ahead of Todd Bodine, who finished third. Brian Ickler, Malsam’s teammate at Kyle Busch Motorsports, crossed the line fourth and Johnny Benson rounded out the top five. Busch, who turned 25 on Sunday, was in Richmond, Va., for NASCAR Nationwide and Cup series races.



A month ago in Nashville, Malsam fought an ill-handling truck to a 17th-place finish and the Sammamish, Wash., native lost a certain top-10 finish and crossed the line 14th after blowing a tire with two laps to go at Martinsville, Va. Malsam was out of the top 20 and a lap down early at Atlanta, but he moved steadily forward to a 13th-place finish after his KBM crew worked on the truck. In the season opener at Daytona, he started sixth but was collected