UNOH
225
Kentucky Speedway
UNOH 225
Date: June 28, 2012
Cale Gale finished in the 25th position at Kentucky Speedway on Thursday night after a late-race incident sent him spinning into the inside wall. With damage to the truck, Gale brought the No. 33 Rheem Chevrolet Silverado down pit road several times for repairs during the final 40 laps. Thanks to the hard work and dedication of the Rheem team, Gale was able to make it to the checkered flag.
Gale rolled off ninth for the UNOH 225 on Thursday evening at Kentucky Speedway. The track had loosened up since the hot afternoon practice sessions, and continued to loosen up as the race progressed. Gale ended practice a little bit on the tight side, but it didn’t prove to be quite enough as he was loose early in the race. The Rheem team utilized an early caution on lap 18 to pit for fuel and a chassis adjustment. As the run progressed, the change didn’t prove to be drastic enough and Gale asked the crew to tighten his truck once again.
Nearing the end of his fuel run, Gale came down pit road during the lap 63 caution. Crew chief Jerry Baxter made the call for a spring rubber change to tighten up the Rheem Chevrolet. The team refined on the setup even more with an air pressure adjustment during the lap 104 caution. Going into the final stretch of the race, Gale had four fresh tires and was very happy with how his truck handled on both ends of the track.
The driver of the Rheem Chevrolet spent the opening 100 laps inside the top 15 and looked to move into the top 10 during the final 50 laps. Going through turns one and two on lap 109, another competitor got loose inside of Gale and came up the track making contact with the Rheem Chevrolet. Gale’s truck turned sideways, flattening the left rear tire, which ultimately resulted in Gale spinning around again and catching the inside retaining wall. Gale immediately brought the Rheem Chevrolet down pit road to the attention of his crew who put new tires on the truck, fixed the fenders as best they could, and realigned the toe. Gale visited pit road two subsequent times under green for additional repairs and adjustments. By the end of the event, Gale was scored in the 25th position.
“We were off a little bit at the beginning of the race with the handling of our No. 33 Rheem Chevrolet, Jerry made some good adjustments throughout the race and we finally got it where we needed it. Unfortunately, we had a little contact and hit the inside wall pretty hard with the left side of our truck. The guys did a great job fixing our Rheem Chevrolet and getting me back out to finish the race. It definitely wasn’t the finish we were looking for, but we improved throughout the night and did the best we could given the situation. I’m really looking forward to getting back to a short track and racing at Iowa Speedway in a couple weeks. It should be a good race for the Rheem Chevrolet.”
Follow Me