RICHMOND, Va. (Sept. 10 2010) — After getting hit from behind twice on the track, Pacific Northwest native Tayler Malsam was only able to salvage a 33rd-place finish after falling behind early in Friday’s NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Richmond International Raceway.
Kevin Harvick won the pole and led 170 of 250 laps en route to winning the Virginia College Savings 250. It was Harvick’s fifth career series win at Richmond, but to do it he had to hold off a late charge by point leader Brad Keselowski over the final 40 laps. Keselowski’s runner-up finish increased his championship lead to 373 points over Carl Edwards, who was 10th. Rookies Trevor Bayne and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. were third and fourth, respectively, and Malsam’s Braun Racing teammate Reed Sorenson rounded out the top five.
As for Malsam’s night at Richmond, perhaps Dale Jarrett, the 1999 NASCAR Cup series champion and current race analyst for ESPN, said it best during the broadcast of the Virginia 529 College Savings 250: “One slight mistake puts you behind the eight-ball for the rest of the race.”
Malsam’s No. 10 Iron Horse Jeans Toyota spun out twice after contact from behind, but it was the first incident on lap 35 that put him behind Jarrett’s eight-ball. The contact resulted in a blown right rear tire and the 21-year-old from Sammamish, Wash., headed immediately to pit road but a miscommunication with his crew resulted in Malsam returning to the track without getting serviced. After getting new tires, fuel and an chassis adjustment, Malsam was one lap down and in the rear of the field.
After the restart Malsam quickly moved into position as the first car a lap down, putting him in line to get the Lucky Dog free pass and back on the lead lap with the next caution. He turned some fast laps and passed several cars during an extended green-flag run, but Harvick set a blistering pace around Richmond’s small .75-mile oval and before too long several cars ahead of Malsam were also a lap down.
Although he climbed as high as 15th when the leaders pitted under green, and twice got a lap back using the wave-around after cautions, Malsam was never able to get back on the lead lap. He fell further behind after again being spun out from behind and hitting the outside wall on lap 165. Despite doggedly working to improve his position and the car’s handling, Malsam was three laps behind the leader when the checkered flag came out.
“Sorry about your race,” said crew chief Stewart Cooper to Malsam over the radio. “It was a tough night.”
Friday’s race marked the third of four appearances this season by the Nationwide Series new Car of Tomorrow (CoT), which will become the standard series vehicle next season. Designed to be safer and easier for NASCAR to inspect, much like the Cup series CoT that debuted three years ago, Malsam drove the No. 10 CoT for Braun Racing in all three appearances to date including its debut at Daytona on July 2 and at Michigan on Aug. 14. He is slated for the CoT’s next appearance at Charlotte on Oct. 15.
Nationwide Series teams have learned more about the new CoT with each outing, and Friday was no exception. At Richmond, many drivers complained that the Nationwide CoT was underpowered, lacking forward bite coming out of the corners. Nationwide Series vehicles, including the CoT, have less horsepower than those in the Cup series, but with similar body styles and chassis, the new Nationwide vehicle suffered in comparison.
Malsam’s next race in the No. 10 Iron Horse Jeans Toyota for Braun Racing is the Kansas Lottery 300 on Oct. 2 at Kansas Speedway. Braun has a prior driver commitment for the next Nationwide Series race, the Dover 200 on Saturday, Sept. 25 at Dover (Del.) International Speedway.
On the Web
www.taylermalsam.com
www.oneeightyracing.com
www.braunracing.com
www.ironhorsejeans.com
About One Eighty
One Eighty is a privately-held company located in downtown Seattle, Washington. Chairman and CEO, Dan Madsen has developed a combination of people, platform and pipeline focused on changing the way business is done. His drive is to make One Eighty not only a great company to work with, but also a great company to work for. Since 1988, his business philosophy has been simple – Always put people first and positively impact the lives of employees, customers and business associates everyday. This philosophy has been applied to One Eighty’s senior housing brands (Leisure Care, Leisure Care Premiere, Dolcetto and Signature 180.) They operate over 40 communities and nearly 7,000 units in the Western United States and Canada. One Eighty also owns hospitality brands Twist Travel™, PrimeFit™ and Edibility™ and is involved in One Eighty Racing, a NASCAR race team. For more information visit www.oneeightytwist.com.
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