Nashville: Bobby Dotter qualifying notes

Dotter to start 15th in Federated 200 at Nashville.

Lebanon, TN Bobby Dotter will start his People Against Drugs/Puma Tools Chevrolet from the 15th position in the Federated Auto Parts 200 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series event at the Nashville Superspeedway on Saturday. His fast lap was 31.563, which translates to 152.039 miles per hour on the 1.33-mile concrete tri-oval. Mike Bliss won the pole with a 30.503 second/157.322 mph lap.

Dotter also qualified 15th for the Michigan 200 two weeks ago, which is one spot shy of his best qualifying position all year. He qualified 14th for the season opener at Daytona.

"We have the truck very comfortable," Dotter said. "We have had a slight problem getting off the corners. The engine just seemed a little sluggish. We kept tuning on it to see if we couldn't solve whatever problem it was. It looks like we have found something, hopefully that was it."

Dotter credits his team's participation in the Chevrolet test at Nashville Superspeedway in April for the setup under the truck.

"We came here in April and put a lot of laps on the track. We came back here now, and even with conditions a little different from what they were, we backed up what we ran back then. A couple of other guys are running a little off of what they ran. All in all, we're pretty happy with the way the truck is running."

Dotter is running the truck that he ran at Loudon, which is also the truck that was crashed in practice at Kansas.

"It has a new rear clip on it, and it seems to take chassis changes pretty well. It ran as well as it did here in the test, so it looks like they have it back together as good or better as it was before Kansas."

The Federated Auto Parts 200 will get the green flag shortly after 9 pm ET, and will be televised live on ESPN. It can be heard on XM Satellite Radio and MRN Radio affiliates nationwide.

-glr-