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Press Releases by Deborah Renshaw
June 6, 2005
Renshaw has Career Day at the 'Monster Mile'
DOVER, DE – The Dover International Speedway
is known as the “Monster Mile” due to its difficulty
on drivers and their machines. The first trip to the track
is often intimidating for drivers as the track usually lives
up to its appropriate nickname. Deborah Renshaw brushed the
legend of the track away and quickly claimed the one-mile
concrete oval as her new favorite track as she piloted her
No. 8 EasyCare DODGE to a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career
best 12th-place finish in the running of the rain-delayed
MBNA RacePoints 200 on Saturday.
“My team gave me an awesome truck this week,” said
Renshaw. “We came here and tested a few weeks ago and
that paid tremendous dividends for me. I had always heard
about how tough this track was - so to be able to test was
a big benefit for me. We had a great test and I was comfortable
when we unloaded our No. 8 DODGE this week.”
Deborah turned a few heads when she jumped to the top of
the speed charts with her first laps on the track during the
first practice session on Thursday. She would end the session
sixth fastest and set her sights on a possible career best
qualifying effort later in the day. Unfortunately, Renshaw
would post the 30th quickest time in the qualifying session.
“I am not sure what happened with my qualifying run,”
stated Deborah. “I guess I just need to figure out this
qualifying deal so that we can get some better starting positions
for these races. I think it is just a mindset that I need
to acquire and I am sure I will in due time – but hopefully
sooner than later.”
Renshaw and her BHR2 team would have to wait an extra day
for the running of the 200-lap event as rain moved into the
Dover area on Friday and forced postponement of the race until
Saturday after the running of the NASCAR Busch Series event.
The wait turned out to be well worth it for the Bowling Green,
Kentucky native and her Tennessee-based team. The green flag
on late Saturday afternoon saw the No. 8 EasyCare DODGE aggressively
improve its position on the track and was running in the top
20 by lap 50. As Deborah did a good job of avoiding various
troubles on the track; the handling on her truck was continually
improved with a few sequences of pit stops with minor adjustments.
“Our truck was just a little tight off the corners but
otherwise it was handling great,” stated Renshaw. “My
guys gave me fantastic pit stops and made the right calls
in the pits to make our truck better with each stop. After
a few of those adjustments we had a rocket-ship out there
and it was awesome.”
A long green flag run in the middle portion of the event
did see the No. 8 DODGE lose a lap to the leaders but Renshaw
impressed many with a strong determination to get in position
for the precious “lucky dog” honor and her lap back.
Her persistence would pay off when a caution on lap 167 gave
the No. 8 truck that lap back and put Deborah back onto the
lead lap.
The last 30 laps of the 200-lap event would see Renshaw scratch
and claw her way around the “Monster Mile” and fight
for every precious final spot in the field. In the end, she
would come home with the 12th-place finish and the second
best finish ever for a female in the history of the NASCAR
Craftsman Truck Series.
“This is a huge confidence boost for me,” said
Deborah. “I stated at the beginning of the season that
this was the best opportunity of my career but we have not
had the results to back that up yet. I still have a tremendous
amount to learn in this series and today may have been the
best learning experience to date. I ran side by side with
the best drivers in this series and held my own all day –
it was nice to have some of them come up to me after the race
and congratulate me on a strong run. Not only did I gain that
confidence boost for myself but hopefully I gained some respect
from the other competitors. As much as I want to dwell on
this great run, I need to focus on taking this momentum into
what is the busiest stretch of the season for us and back
up this run in Texas. I know my team will provide me with
another strong truck and maybe we can improve on that career
best finish.”
Deborah and her BHR2 team set their sights on the running
of the Chex 400K on Friday evening at the Texas Motor Speedway.
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