Everett, Wash. Published: Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Malsam's NASCAR debut ends early
Finishes 36th after blowing a tire in truck race at Bristol
By Scott Whitmore Herald Writer
BRISTOL, Tenn. — There wasn’t a storybook ending for Tayler Malsam’s NASCAR debut.
Instead, Malsam blew a right-front tire and hit the wall hard enough to end a promising early run on lap 54 of the Craftsman Truck Series O’Reilly 200 on Wednesday night at Bristol Motor Speedway.
“The right-front brake ducts were rubbing on the inside of the tire,” Malsam said by phone after the race. “Two laps before the tire blew we got really tight and really slow.”
Malsam started 33rd but had worked his way up to 26th when the truck got tight — meaning it didn’t want to turn left. The Mill Creek, Wash., resident also had truck series veteran Matt Crafton behind him, applying pressure.
Crafton nosed into the back of Malsam’s No. 41 Dodge when the tire blew, sending it up the high-banked track and into the wall, bringing out the third of a record 12 cautions in the race.
“I know I had help on the straightaway,” Malsam said, referring to Crafton bumping him while trying to pass. “Once I got into the corner and (the tire) blew I thought I could save it but I got help there, too.”
Although the contact with the wall wasn’t severe, Malsam’s truck suffered enough structural damage that he was unable to continue. He finished 36th.
“It was a fun race, I wish we could have finished it,” Malsam said. “We had a pretty fast car. Everyone was running the bottom so we jumped up top and started passing cars.”
Kyle Busch went on to win his third truck series race and 17th overall in NASCAR’s top three series. Todd Bodine finished second and Scott Speed was third.
Johnny Benson, who was going for a record fourth straight victory in the series, finished fourth.
Two-time defending Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson made his truck series debut and led quite a bit of the race in the early-going by staying out when others pitted. But that strategy backfired when Johnson had to pit later, putting him back in the pack. He spun and wrecked just after the halfway mark.
"It definitely was a lot of fun, racing with these guys,” Malsam said of his NASCAR debut. “I wish we could have finished it, everyone on the CHS Motorsports team did a real good job.”
Malsam has been racing nationally in the ARCA RE/MAX stock car series for Cunningham Motorsports — parent company of CHS — and locally in sprint cars owned by Rudeen Racing of Monroe, Wash.
Asked how his first NASCAR race compared to his previous racing experiences, Malsam said: “It was a lot more organized … you go from driver introductions to the anthem and you’ve got five minutes to get in the car. Everything happens when it’s supposed to.”
“And there are a lot more fans than at an ARCA race,” he added.
