On a picture perfect weekend at Texas Motor Speedway, Bill Elliott took the No. 21 Delimex Ford to a 36th place finish in the Dickies 500 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Event. Elliott garnered the 30th starting spot during Friday evening’s qualifying session.
As the race got underway, Elliott reported that the car was pretty loose in the corners. Luckily for the team, they would get an early break to work on the car after the No. 15 car brought out the first caution flag of the day. The team used their pit stop to make an air pressure adjustment and to remove a spring rubber from the right rear—hoping that this would tighten up the chassis for smoother steering and handling. As soon as the team completed their stop, NASCAR flagged the 21 team for violating the commitment cone line at the end of pit road. Crew chief Gene Nead protested because another car had knocked the cone down entering the pits and many competitors stacked up in front of Elliott. In the end, Elliott had to restart in 37th on lap 20 and at the tail end of the longest line.
Over the next 100 laps, Elliott had the car swing from one range to the other, as the chassis tightened up just as it previously had during the Saturday practice sessions. Crew chief Gene Nead continued to hammer away with changes during the pit stops. By lap 110, Elliott was reporting that the car’s handling was starting to come around a little bit. Previously, he had radioed that the car felt like it was lacking enough front down force to pin in to the bottom of the race track in the turns. On a lap 120 pit stop, Nead called for an air pressure adjustment to the right side tires and a half a round down on the right side track bar in an attempt to find some balance for the chassis to go the distance.
Unfortunately at the end of the pit stop, a tire got loose from the pit box and the No. 21 car was sent to the tail end of the longest line of cars for the second time in the race as a penalty. Elliott was shown in 33rd place on the lap 122 restart. Just as the cars completed a 10-lap run, a multi-car wreck—triggered by David Stremme’s blown tire swept the No. 21 car into the accident at the exit of turn four. The Delimex Ford suffered severe damage to the right front, left front and right rear of the car. Both the radiator and oil pump were badly damaged as well. Elliott took a trip to the infield care center—where he was subsequently released and the crew went to work on the damaged machine behind the wall in their garage stall.
In a remarkable example of team spirit and attitude, the crew members of the 21 team under the direction of Crew Chief Gene Nead made all of the necessary repairs in just 81 green flag laps. The crew members placed an entirely new front clip on the car and fixed assorted other damages on the car prior to Bill Elliott returning to competition on lap 212 of the 334-lap event. Within the first lap of returning on track, the team picked up two positions to 40th on the leader board. The event restarted following a caution on lap 217, but the competitors had scarcely completed a lap before a six-car accident unfolded off of turn two—which Elliott missed.
Elliott moved up to the 39th spot once the race got going again on lap 224. After another caution flag for a single car accident on lap 232, Elliott gained another spot to 39th. And after passing the No. 84 car, Elliott was running in 38th place on a lap by himself as the event drew to a close. By finishing out the event and not taking the DNF, Elliott inherited two more positions to 36th on the track by the time the checkered flag flew.
WHAT THE TEAM HAS TO SAY:
Bill Elliott, Driver of the No. 21 Delimex Ford:
“Well, it sure felt like we were a little star-crossed out there today. We had to endure a couple of penalties, but that’s part of it. Then we got collected in that deal and tore the car up pretty good. I will say, however, that these guys did a great job getting the car fixed right the first time and getting me back out there. The guys on this crew showed a lot of heart today. ”
Gene Nead, Crew Chief of the No. 21 Delimex Ford:
“We’re getting a chance to experience everything that a race has to throw at us this weekend. But, I’m real proud of the guys and how hard they worked to get us fixed back up again. We’re not getting the finishing results, but I’m impressed with how this team continues to work together when the chips are down. We certainly appreciate Bill’s effort today with everything we put up with. ”
FAST & FUN FACTS:
-Bill Elliott drove the No. 21 Delimex Ford to a 36th place finish in the Dickies 500 event at Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday.
-Jimmie Johnson won the event, followed to the line by Matt Kenseth, Martin Truex, Kyle Busch and Ryan Newman rounded out the top-five finishers on the day.
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