BUSCH: Richmond: Stacy Compton race notes

Compton gets monkey off his back in Richmond

Richmond, VA (May 2, 2003) -- Stacy Compton and his Kingsford/Johnsonville Team have spent the last four weeks running in the top five without a good finish to show for their efforts. Accidents, overheating, untimely cautions and other misfortunes beyond the team's control have been the culprit. At Richmond Compton again qualified in the top 5 (starting third), and took the lead on lap two. He ran in the top three for the entire first segment of the race before he noticed his water temperature gauge. The engine was running extremely hot and Compton was forced to relinquish his track position to address the situation. At the time, restarting a short track race in the back made it look like another disappointing finish was imminent.

"I couldn't believe it when Stacy called in to tell us that the water temperature was pegged," commented crew chief Steve Plattenberger. "We had a fast car and knew we could work our way back to the front with some luck, but we definitely had our work cut out for us the rest of the night."

Stacy Compton did work hard the rest of the night. In a race marred by 14 caution flags, Compton raced hard, stayed safe and posted an impressive 7th place finish. Stated Compton after the race, "That was a wild race. Everyone was beating and banging on each other. We had a great car on the long runs and I think we could have finished in the top 5 if the race had run without a caution for awhile at the end. We led some laps tonight and got a good finish. Now we just need to keep the good luck rolling."

Compton moved up another two spots in the driver's point standings to 16th, a mere 71 points out of tenth. The series heads to St. Louis next Saturday for their annual event near the home of Series Sponsor Busch Beer.

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