|| *Comments on the 1998 Ram Tough 200 Presented by Pepsi:* View the most recent comment <#7> | Post a comment <#post> Tweet 1. RaceFanX posted: 12.11.2007 - 9:00 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Great run for the "High Plains Drifter" as Rick Carelli scores his 2nd victory 2. RaceFanX posted: 10.14.2011 - 2:39 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) This was Carelli's only victory of the 1998 season and his first since Bristol in 1996. 3. Z posted: 04.22.2020 - 5:01 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) More To Come... In a tight points battle Hornaday ultimately won over Sprague by x3 points, any race could be pointed to as a what-if; In this one, Sprague would finish a strong 4th but was two-upped by Hornaday's runner-up finish. This theme would fill the last 4th of the season w/ suspense, Hornaday compiling a 7 1 6 6 (5.4) & Sprague a 7 1 2 6 (6.8) - Hornaday nearly lost w/ a 23rd @ Sonoma but had JUST enough of a cushion after a strong 2nd during the finale (won by Sprague) to pull the feat. Boris Said's basically season-long funk continued in this one, his last T10 coming @ Fontana x10 races ago; Said would win @ Sonoma & nab a 7th in Phoenix but otherwise ended his last full-time campaign uneventfully. Tony Raines' streak of bad luck continues; following his 3rd (& penultimate) win of '98, Raines would finish 28th, 25th, & 32nd the ensuing x3 races - Raines would ultimately only run x8 more races in Trucks, x5 w/ Kurt Roehrig Dennis Setzer returns to Trucks (& Ron Keselowski) following a x7 race absence, the reunion would pay dividends w/ a win x3 races later @ Mesa Marin Greg Biffle wins his 2nd of x3 consec poles & 3rd to this point, but would go 0/4 in the double sweep. Lance Norick establishes a trend of finishing around 10th/15th @ Gateway, never topping 9th or further down than 14th. Tom Hubert's 2nd & last T5, Trucks Butch Miller's only start @ Gateway for x10 years -25th of x31 starts, Scot Walters (LT10)- OR: Tony Raines (@ Gateway) Lonnie Rush Jr (@ Gateway) 2R: Danny Bagwell LR: Chris Horn ('98) -3rd Of x29 starts, 1st of x2 @ Gateway- Randy Renfrow (w/ Dominic Dobson) Matt Hutter (Trucks & w/ Phil Bonifield) Randy MacDonald ('98, w/ Mike Mittler) x3 Drivers would nearly run all x13 races @ Gateway during its original 98/10 running, those being Terry Cook (X10), Dennis Setzer (X09), & Rick Crawford (X10) 4. Z posted: 04.22.2020 - 5:58 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) Pt. II (Of IV)??: TNN Broadcast Greg Biffle (key to winning): "Be calm, pit strategy, be around @ the end" Following '97 Busch running where T2 paving came undone, it was given a fresh coat for this one Joy: "How do you deal w/ two very different ends of a track like this" Chuck Bown: "It's a trick & none of the teams really know all of this stuff for sure, there's a lot of unknowings, I think [Race Name] will live up to its name, oughta be exciting... who knows what it's gonna take to win today" Practice scheduled for Thursday rained out Tim Bender, Zone Manager of Chrysler Corp, gave command to fire 'em up TNN Autozone Race Analysis: Posted Awards: $443,105 Trucks: 32 160 Laps (200 Miles) Pit Window: 60/70 Laps Kevin Harvick fastest of 2nd round qualifiers On-Board: Tony Roper, Ron Hornaday Jr, Mike Bliss, Dennis Setzer, Butch Miller, Boris Said Jackie Joyner Kearsey waved the opening green flag, husband noted as NASCAR fan Biffle started inside; Ruttman L2 high, near wall, lost ~10 spots Bown: "Biffle's jumping out like a rabbit, he's been fast all weekend" Each team x4 sets of tires for the weekend (x3 after practice/qualifying) Biffle +2.5 sec, L6; Roper left side damage (Rick Crawford - "A Texas Hello") Jimmy Hensley's truck described by/to Bown as "driving well but not quite as fast as wanted" L16, Hornaday 2nd/Sprague 3rd; L19: Biffle, Hornaday, Sprague, Carelli, Ruttman, Sauter*, Barfield, Crawford, Bliss, Raines (*really loose T3/4, fine T1/2); Matt Hutter RF Flat, cause of debris caution L23: Biffle*, Butch Miller, Bliss, Barfield, Setzer, Compton, Tolsma pit (*Rights & Gas, adjustment to loosen; Only T10 driver to come to pits) Segment about Bliss running a Randy LaJoie designed seat following wreck @ Texas that broke his Shoulder Blade Hornaday vibration when running high gear, didn't shift afterwards (L26) Slow Restart, #28 getting into line late just before S/F, probably could've run another lap 5. Z posted: 04.22.2020 - 7:12 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) L29: Hornaday, Sprague, Carelli, Ruttman, Sauter, Raines, Crawford, Roper, Hensley, Rush L30: Hornaday +.180 sec L35: (1-9), Biffle, Rush, Reffner, Cook, Wallace, Houston, Cywinski, Norick, Hubert, Barfield, Setzer, Bliss, Tolsma, Compton, Miller, Harvick, Said, Walters, MacDonald, Horn, Bagwell, Hutter, Renfrow Biffle mentioned as crediting Benny Parsons for his Roush opportunity; Parsons saw a young Biffle In the NW series & put a word in to Roush L38: Cook high T1, avoided wall, pits - Rights & Gas, +2 laps b/c long stop (Cut RF) L40: (1-3), Sauter, Raines, Ruttman, Crawford, Biffle, Roper, Hensley C2: Hornaday Rights - "can smell transmission fluid"; Biffle trackbar, Lefts; Sprague Rights Stayed Out: Barfield, Compton, Harvick Houston Chassis damage, contact snapped brake rotors Biffle pits a 2nd time, Raines " (engine issue, speculated Valve Spring) Goodyear: same tire from prev x3 truck races, thicker tread than Busch race 1TG: Bagwell, Reffner, others @ back top-off L53: Barfield, Harvick, Compton, Sprague, Hornaday (behind Renfrow, -3 laps), Sauter, Carelli, Ruttman, Wallace, Cywinski, Hubert, Bliss, Hensley, Tolsma, Crawford, Miller, Said, Biffle, Walters, Roper, Rush, Norick, Reffner, Setzer, MacDonald, Bagwell, Cook* (front of field, -1 lap), Hutter, Renfrow, Raines, Horn, Houston *Shown passing flag, unwarranted really L57: Harvick attempts a dive under Sprague, near wreck @ front but bottles it & saves it L62: Sprague, Harvick, Carelli, Barfield, Hornaday, Ruttman, Sauter, Bliss, Compton, Hubert 2nd Biffle Stop explained: Thought wheel rubbing on Brake Caliper Compton dropped cylinder, Mike Bliss off-pace (RF flat, pits; L71) L72:Carelli, Sprague, Ruttman, Hornaday, Sauter, Harvick, Barfield, Biffle, Hubert, Wallace, Hensley, Cywinski, Tolsma, Crawford, Miller, Roper, Walters, Reffner, Setzer, Rush, Norick, Said, Compton, Bliss, MacDonald, Cook, Hutter, Renfrow, Horn, Bagwell, Raines, Houston L72: Lonnie Rush pits; L73: Ruttman pits, RF flat, had to run 1/2 lap to make pit road (+2); L75: Biffle RF flat, trackbar adjustment - told to just hang around, run "real smooth" TNN Race Digest: Leaders 6, Lead Changes 5 Caution/Laps 2/12 Avg Speed 101.896 mph Trucks Out 2 In a bit of foreshadowing, somebody on Carelli's crew was mentioned as growing a beard that would go unshaven until Carelli broke into victory lane for the year Sprague: L17: 3rd, L34: 2nd, L51: 4th, L68: 1st, L85: 2nd (Brief smoke alarm, speculated b/c of rubber getting b/w engine & rotor; self-dislodged) L87: Carelli, Sprague, Hornaday, Sauter, Hubert, Barfield, Hensley, Cywinski, Tolsma, Setzer, L92: (1-5), Hensley, Cywinski, Setzer, Tolsma, Wallace, Miller, Crawford, Roper, Walters, Reffner, Norick, Barfield, Harvick, Compton, Biffle, Bliss, Ruttman, Cook, MacDonald, Said, Hutter, Rush, Reffner, Horn, Bagwell, Raines, Houston L94: Mike Joy describes Randy Tolsma as "a girl nobody asked to prom b/c she had a boyfriend, but then the boyfriend enlists in the army & suddenly the phone's ringing" (referring to David Fuge announcing his move to CC Derrick Cope) Tolsma: L18: 22nd, L36: 22nd, L54: 14th, L72: 13th, L94: 8th L90s Span: Compton green flag pits w/ hood up, Terry Cook RF shredded; Kevin Cywinski RF blown, L96 - Caution 6. Z posted: 04.22.2020 - 9:34 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) C3, Carelli: no adjustments, rights & gas; Hornaday: chassis/air pressure adjustment (right rear), lefts; Sprague: lefts; Setzer: lefts; Wallace: lefts; Sauter: rights Hensley's camp broke from the pack & didn't run Jericho Transmissions (typically run @ road courses & Pocono); Attempt to care RF tire was high line Jimmy Hensley: L20: 12th, L40: 10th, L60: 12th, L80: 8th, L101: 6th Hornaday noted as *Real Close* on making distance w/ fuel Lonnie Rush's sponsor, Ohio State, was actually playing Missouri as this race went on (the St. Louis Air Balloon race also started before & ran during - postrace a fallen balloon that didn't make it was shown outside the track) Restart: Bliss -> Sprague, +1L; Biffle & Carelli give Hornaday a front-row seat to a near wreck, Carelli pinched inside & rubbed uptrack into Biffle's left side body panel - Hornaday Cracker Barrel in-car cam (it's one thing when you're hungry during live TV & an ad comes up, but come on - this was an adless broadcast shot x22 years ago...) L105: Hornaday in marbles L106: Sprague, Carelli, Sauter, Hornaday, Hensley, Hubert, Setzer, Tolsma, Wallace, Roper, Walters, Crawford, Reffner, Harvick, Norick, Miller, Barfield, Bliss, Biffle, Ruttman, Said, MacDonald, Rush, Compton, Cyniwski, Cook, Hutter, Renfrow, Horn, Bagwell, Raines, Houston L106: Butch Miller -> Garage L107: Carelli -.966 sec Jimmy Hensley: L21: 12th, L42: 10th, L63: 12th, L84: 7th, L108: 6th L110: Ruttman pits (you guessed, RF tire; -3 laps); caution, Biffle aero loose, Hornaday behind sucked air Joy: "Biffle tried to Mark McGuire the wall, &, as they say, He got a piece of it" Biffle, asked "talk to me", rather annoyedly said for lefts Everyone who pitted took opposite of what they took last caution (Sprague right, Setzer right, etc.) Carelli & Sauter didn't pit (they ultimately ran the whole race on one set of lefts), joined out by Bliss (+1 lap before caution), Tolsma, Roper Carelli CC*: "A little tight, but we'll have to see how that works later" *The entire race they made mention to this being Rodney Haygood's first race atop the box, though every graphic was directed towards George Church; I believe the former, Rodney Haygood, which would line up with Haygood finishing '98 & staying for '99 (the 2nd part being listed as stands) Barfield long stop, hood up - Crawford also, car jacked; L121R: Carelli, Sauter, Tolsma, Roper, Bliss (restarted to ride-along), Sprague (-2.138 sec, L122), Hornaday Sauter: L24: 5th, L48: 7th, L72: 5th, L96: 4th, L123: 2nd Carelli 8th or better all race; Carelli & Sauter neck & neck, Ruttman (19th, -2) right on Sauter's tail; L132: Carelli +.165 sec; ~L135, Scot Walters mentioned, finish rightly summed as: running quiet, stayed out of trouble, solid race Mike Wallace: L27: 15th, L54: 9th, L81: 11th, L108: 9th, L136: 11th Setzer best: 6th, worst: 27th Reffner best: 9th, worst: 23rd Biffle ~L137, pits (RF tire) Joy: "As the race winds down, every 25 laps the Roush guys gotta change the donuts" L137: Carelli, Sauter, Sprague, Tolsma, Hornaday, Bliss, Hubert, Roper, Hensley, Walters L140: Sprague 128.696, leader: 127.957 L142: caution, Mike Bliss RF flat L145: Said pits (19th, -2), Carelli & Sauter stay out (Restart) Hornaday 4th, Tolsma 5th, Hubert 6th; Mike Wallace 10th - hometown tour segment; Mike threw 1st pitch @ a STL Cardinals game, Kenny described as the ball fan growing up - apparently does a Jack Buck impression Kathy Carelli: Scorer & Publicist George Sullinger: Spotter Rodney Haygood: Crew Chief Carelli inside, Rush out, Sauter behind Rush; Rush intentionally stalls lapped lane, Hornaday great start, Tolsma not; Sauter too close behind Carelli immediately following pass, gets loose in turn - Sprague has to lift running high, Hornaday low to 2nd Carelli, running in Denver, CO as the only non-south full-time NASCAR team (sound familiar?) breaks a x66 race winless streak, bathed in Gatorade on pit road while still in car by Ron Hornaday Tom Hubert ran this race as a one-off for Dale Phelon, his 5th earning x2 more spins in the entry; Carelli & Sauter's success can be attributed to the two teams sharing information in the leadup to this one & Carelli quoted as saying that Rights loosened the handling, lefts tightened, hence the rights only strategy 7. Jimnsimforever posted: 04.26.2020 - 10:55 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Winning crew chief- Rodney Haygood on the #6 Rodney Haygood took over as crew chief for Rick Carelli in this race and the combo started off with a bang. Right front tires were shredding apart like crazy in this race. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *Post a comment:* Your comment may not appear immediately - all comments must be approved by the moderator. Name: Comment: