Carmichael Rallies To 10th Place Finish At Stafford

Stafford Springs, Conn. (October 13, 2008):Ricky Carmichael rallied from a 16th place starting position to finish 10th in Sunday afternoon’s Carquest Fall Final 150, the season finale for the NASCAR Camping World Series East. Carmichael fought a tight condition throughout the race, but was still able to wrestle his way into the top-10 for the checkers. The finish moved Carmichael up one position to sixth in the final point standings.

“We really had to work for that finish today,” said Carmichael . “But it’s a good note to end the season on.”

For the third straight race, Carmichael had to start from the 16th starting position when he turned a lap of 19.931 seconds in qualifying. The driver of the #4 Monster Energy Drink Chevrolet moved up to 12th at the drop of the green and had high expectations after a strong start.

At lap 21, Carmichael ’s day took a turn when he got in a battle with Austin Dillon for the 11th spot. The two were side-by-side with Carmichael running the outside groove. Dillon was able to get by the Monster Energy Drink Chevrolet while Carmichael got hung up on the upper groove and dropped back to 14th. It was then that the tight condition developed. Carmichael maintained his 14th place position as he worked through the handling problems.

“I hate to say it, but that was the worst car I’ve had all year. That’s the first time I’ve felt like I was a sitting duck. It was good at the beginning and the rest was history. It’s the car I wrecked at South Boston and ever since then it hasn’t been right,” Carmichael said.

The Ken Schrader Racing driver worked back up to 12th on a long green flag run, but opted to pit once the caution flew. The team made an adjustment and sent him back out to restart the race in the 17th position.

Carmichael worked his way up to 15th for a restart at lap 137 but made a late-race charge in the closing laps to break into the top-10.

“I can’t believe we ended up where we did because we were horrible. I hate to defend myself, but it is what it is,” said Carmichael .

For more information, contact:
Penny Aicardi
(508) 234-8684
PennyBNS@aol.com