Mopar Speed newsletter 2004-02-16

Mopar Speed
Monday, February 16, 2004

NASCAR Craftsman Truck

Musgrave poised to move forward after getting caught up in Daytona wreck

Ted Musgrave had the No. 1 Mopar Dodge Ram set for a typical late-race charge in the Florida Dodge Dealers 250 Friday evening at the Daytona International Speedway until he got caught up in a major accident that damaged 15 trucks.

"It was just a big letdown to get taken out," Musgrave said. "We'd had a good pit stop, and we were just staying in line when the accident took us out. I really think we had a truck that could've taken the win, and we definitely would have had a top-10 finish."

Musgrave started the race 16th and quickly charged to the front to earn the five bonus points for leading. "I wanted to lead a lap, and then we were going to hold on until it was time to show our hand," Musgrave said.

However, Musgrave was unable to mount his planned late race charge because his Mopar Dodge was swept up in the big wreck on Lap 51 of 100, which he attributed to the unlucky date.

"I guess Friday the 13th brought out all the idiots," Musgrave said. "I've never seen anybody drive like this before. I'm not sure what started it all, but I did see a lot of wrecks that were unnecessary."

Undaunted, Musgrave's Ultra Motorsports crew quickly went to work on the damaged Dodge, cutting off part of the front end so that Musgrave could get back on the track and earn some more points for the overall championship battle. Musgrave picked up 17 laps after the fabrication and finished 26th.

The finish was disappointing for the team, which is made up of many new crew members, along with talented crew chief Shawn Parker.

"We had an awesome start, and we had a really good truck," Parker said. "We just got tied up in that deal. There's not much you can do in that type of a situation. We were just in the wrong place at the wrong time."

The team is already looking forward to redemption at the second NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series event of the season, March 13, when the series will make its premier at the Atlanta Motor Speedway.

"We head for Atlanta in a few weeks, and we'll get a good streak going. We started out the same way last season, and I'm confident that this won't affect our performance for the rest of the season."
    -- Ted Musgrave

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