News Director
Story By: KIM CASTONIGA / YOUNG’S MOTORSPORTS – KANSAS CITY, KS – In his second NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) race of the season, Tyler Young’s conservative approach in Friday night’s Toyota Tundra 250 rewarded the Young’s Motorsports team with a hard-fought 14th place finish.
During practice on Thursday, Young and crew chief Andrew Abbott worked through changing track conditions to post competitive and consistent laps in his No. 02 Young’s Building Systems / Randco Chevrolet Silverado with an optimistic approach to the fourth race of the season.
In qualifying on Friday, just hours before the start of the race, Young posted the 19th quickest lap informing his family-owned team that his truck was wide open and felt secure through the turns.
An array of cautions at the start of the Toyota Tundra 250 found it difficult for Young to fall into a routine, but as discussed prior to the race – staying out of trouble would be crucial towards a good finish.
By the end of Stage 1 at Kansas, Young had maneuvered his way to 16th, but informed his team that he needed help with truck upon exit of the corners.
During Stage 2, Young overcame a botched restart to climb from 18th to 15th, however, approaching Lap 60, Young radioed his team that he felt like he had right front. Electing to stay out on the race track, the conditions from inside the truck improved with Young staying out and hovering inside the top-16.
With a loose on entry condition and tight through the middle and on exit, Abbott elected to make a chassis adjustment at the end of Stage 2 setting Young up for the final stint in Stage 3.
Still wrestling a loose race truck, Young maintained a safe positon inside the top-16 until leader Kyle Busch put the Midland, Texas native a lap down with 46 laps remaining in the race.
In the midst of green flag pit stops, however, the caution waved a few laps later for Ross Chastain sliding into the wall. With Young the first truck one lap down, he received the free pass and found himself back on the lead lap.
35 laps from the finish, Young restarted 15th and climbed one more spot to claim his first top-15 finish of 2017 and a huge rebound from a Lap 2 crash at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway in February.
Tyler Young Quote:
“We are really happy with our performance Friday night at Kansas Speedway. We unloaded pretty good and made steady and stern adjustments through the weekend and it propelled us forward.
I had a couple of mistakes on some of the restarts and that cost us a little.
“That’s my mistake and I will get better for my guys. Overall though, this was a good night for the Young’s Motors
ports team and exactly what I needed to get some momentum on my side in preparation for my next race.
“Thanks to Andrew (Abbott) and the rest of the guys for working hard all weekend long. It’s nice to go back to North Carolina with a solid finish and the determination to get even better for the next one.”
Event Notes:
Tyler Young finished 14th in the Toyota Tundra 250, his fourth career NASCAR Camping World Truck Series start at the 1.5-mile oval. The effort was his second consecutive top-15 finish at Kansas after finishing a track-best 11th in 2016.
Kyle Busch won the 17th annual Toyota Tundra 250 followed by Johnny Sauter (second), John Hunter Nemecheck (third), Christopher Bell (fourth) and Chase Briscoe (fifth).
Next Race: N.C. Education Lottery 200 at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway on Fri., May 19.
