From Ross Cado, FFE Owner and Driver
The mangled #12 truck limped home to a 27th place position on Sunday night. I was fortunate and grateful to show strength early on by running up near the front. However, after making my first pit stop, the pack caught up with me and the trucks I pitted with. The #11 truck (later ruled to have been a netcode incident) made contact with my right-rear and caused a large crash.
Broadcast link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8MrJBnmHys
I spun in the grass on turn 3 after making contact with the spinning #10 truck. Initially, I didn’t think that contact was too severe, but I was proven wrong when I got to my pit stall. I was assessed over two and a half minutes of damage repair. Due to the quick nature of the yellow flag, the field was taking the green flag before I could fix all of the damage. Because of that damage, I could really only attain about 160mph on my own without any draft.
I could stay in the slipstream of some trucks if they lacked speed due to damage as well.
There would be no more yellow flags for the remainder of the race, unfortunately. As such, I could would not gain another opportunity to repair the rest of my damage. It was miserable slugging around as the lead pack blasted by to put me another lap down.
To add insult to injury, the #63 truck broke from his line and made hard contact with me as I attempted to let other trucks by.
In the end, I wound up five laps down in 27th place.
I’m upset by the poor showing, but I realize that it was just a common diminishing return of restrictor plate racing. Running in the top five for the first several laps was exhilarating. Tried as I might, however, I just could not seem to eek out even one lap led. The 15% tape on the grill drastically affecting the aerodynamics and finding a highly effective pusher were just a few of the challenges.
I am grateful for the level of talent on showcase in this league. While I had the misfortune of being in the wrong place at the wrong time (twice), an overwhelming majority of drivers seemed to know what they were doing. Jeff Hollingsworth and Adam Matz are just two fellows from this lot that I feel comfortable racing alongside.
I will try again at New Hampshire on Sunday evening.
Ross Cado #12 Race Stats
Started: 4th
Finished 27th
Laps Led: 0
Average Lap Time: 55.984
Fastest Lap Time: 48.889 (Lap 13)
Incidents: 8