Story By: HALMAR FRIESEN RACING – STATESVILLE, NC – After the way Stewart Friesen’s truck was handling in the first two stages of Friday night’s NASCAR Truck Series Strat 200 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, to come away with a ninth place finish was is a true testament to the Halmar Friesen Racing (HFR) teams ability to ‘stick with it.’
“We knew this wasn’t going to be easy,” Friesen said. “However, the team worked really, really well. There were a ton of changes made tonight…probably more in four pit stops tonight than I’ve had in my entire life. We were definitely rewarded with a top ten and built some momentum.”
The crew worked at it all night long, making the necessary adjustments Friesen needed to be able to finish this race in the best position possible.
The two-time Truck Series winner battled a very loose truck in the early stages of the race. His #52 team made big adjustments on the first pit stop at the conclusion of stage one.
While the changes were an improvement, a penalty issued from an infraction on the first pit stop resulted in Stewart having to fight his way back into the top 20 throughout stage two.
“A couple of times I didn’t think that we were going to bring back a straight race car,” he said. “We have something to work on and learn from.”
Stage three was the highlight of the night as the Sprakers, NY driver moved into the top 20 and then the the top 15. He ultimately drove his way into the top 10, finishing the race in ninth.
“It is going to take time and we knew that coming into this season,” he said. “However, Rome wasn’t built in a day . We have a lot of strong people on this team and I know our race fans will just bear with us. We are going to get good here but it is going to take some time.”
Friday night was Friesen’s 38th career NASCAR Truck Series top ten finish in his 73rd career start.
LAS VEGAS RECAP : STRAT 200
START : 17
FINISH : 9th
POINTS : 11th
