Round 11 - Indianapolis Raceway Park

Round 11 of the series took place at O'Reilly Raceway Park in Indianapolis. The trucks do not race at the more famous motor speedway.

After somewhat disappointing finish at Milwaukee I wasn't expecting good things from this race, however  the race weekend started brightly enough when I set the fastest time in practise (22.576).

The 2 lap qualifying period went well to as I improved my best time by 1/10 of a second to grab pole position (22.426).

The race went to plan as I ran in the top 2 for the entire 70 laps. I did get one warning for rough contact.

I led for 64 laps which gave me 10 bonus points. My fastest race lap was 22.095 which was quicker than I qualified.

I was up to 5th in the standings.

Round 10 - Milwaukee Mile

The famous Milwaukee Mile played host to round 10 of the series.

I was fastest after the 10 lap practise session with a time of 30.667
.

Could I go one better in qualifying and grab the pole? The answer was yes, a time of 30.285 was good enough!

In the race I led the first 12 laps before being spun out. In my desire to get back to the front I got a black flag on lap 18! For the remaining 52 laps I climbed back through the field eventually finishing 3rd.

My fastest lap of the race was a 30.367 which was quicker than my qualifying time!

I was now 5th in the standings

Round 9 - Michigan International Speedway

Michigan Super Speedway was home to round 9 of the series.

This high banked oval which boasts speeds of 153mph in the corners is one of Nascar's fastest tracks.

The race weekend started off with the mandatory 10 lap practise session. I was just inside the top 5, placing 5th with a time of 41.633.

Qualifying next and the question was could I get further up the grid? The answer was yes as I managed 3rd  with a time of 41.544.

The race turned out to be something special for me - no black flags. On the first lap I passed one car to go 2nd and that is where I stayed until 2 laps from the end where there was a yellow flag period. On the restart I was passed by 4 cars to finish a credible 6th.

My best time of the race was 41.594 which was my fastest of the race weekend!

I was up to 5th in the standings.

Round 8 - Texas Motor Speedway

Round 8 took place at one of the fastest tracks on the championship circuit, Texas Motorspeedway.

The race weekend started well as I was fastest straight out of the box in practise with a time of 34.122 after the mandatory 10 laps.

I was a tad faster in qualifying and managed to claim pole position with a time of 33.930.

The 61 lap race was a success for me. Previous recent races at Texas I'd been leading the race but had run out of fuel very close to the end with my opposition making it to the end. With the 5% increase in race length I was sure eeryone would hae to pit.

With this in mind I led fo the first 29 laps until I caused a caution period. I decided to take adantage of the yellow and pitted for fresh tyres and fuel. A handful of others followed. I restarted dead last but quickly made my way through the pack only to receieve a black flag. After serving the penalty I rejoined the race a lap down. My strategy played out during the last 10 laps or so when most of the other cars pitted for fuel. I was able to pass them and finish a satisfactory 5th.

My best lap of the race was a 33.862 which was my fastest of the race weekend.

I was 6th in the standings - still 12 places better off than the previous season..

Round 7 - Dover, Delaware

The Monster Mile that is Dover played host to round 7 of the series.

As with recent rounds in practise I was fastest with a best time of 27.233.

Qualifying went well as I posted the fastest time and secured another pole position (27.129).

The raced turned out to be yet another disaster. I was in the lead for the first 30 odd laps then  I spun having misjudged the shadows going into turn 1 which caused a yellow flag period. That earned me a black flag. I got another black flag whilst attempting to drive back through the field. I did finally finish in 21st place.
I did pick up the 5 bonus points for leading a lap however.

My best lap of the race was 27.013.

I led 30 of the 73 laps.

I was now 7th in the chanpionship standings.

Round 6 - Lowes Motor Speedway, Charlotte NC

The sixth round of series saw the trucks roll in to Lowes motorspeedway (formerly Charlotte) in North Carolina.

Another solid practise session where again I was fastest with a time of  32.572 after the 10 laps.

Qualifying almost followed the pattern of practise as I was fastest with a time of 32.616.

I led for most of this race and as the race went on I began to confidently think of victory.

In the first half of the race there were two yellow flag periods.

Four laps after halfway I was notified that I was halfway on fuel. I calculated that it would be marginal on fuel to go the distance.

As luck would have it there was a third yellow flag period in the latter stages which enabled me to get to the end and chalk up another win. I did get the 'extremely low on fuel' message on the penultimate lap so was very close to empty when I crossed the line.

I was up to 6th in the standings, 130 points behind.

I led 35 of the 47 laps and set a fastest time of 32.477.

Round 5 - Kansas

Round 5 took place at the very fast Kansas Motor Speedway.

As usual it seems I had a very good practise session, topping the timing sheets with a time of 33.852.
Qualifying did not go so well as I could only manage a 33.742 which saw me on the 3rd row in 6th place.

It didn't take long fo me to move up the order in the race. I managed to hold the lead for the majority of the race until disaster struck 3 laps from the end.

I was in the lead when I ran low on fuel and had to pit,

I was clasified in 35th place which dopped me to 8th in the standings 170 points behind.

My fastest lap of the race was a 33.672.