TireMonkey Racing

Pirate Radio interview Michael Waltrip about TireMonkey.com sponsorship

2010-09-03T06:55:00.001-04:00

Pirate Radio 1250 AM of Greenville, North Carolina, recently welcomed NASCAR great Michael Waltrip on the Live @ 5 program with DJs Troy D and Ellerbe to discuss the company's sponsorship of the Michael Waltrip Racing Team and Martin Truex Jr., driver of the No. 56 Sprint Cup Series car.

"I just love the way TireMonkey.com goes about business," Waltrip said.

To hear the interview, click here.

Top-10 finish for Truex at Michigan

2010-08-18T21:08:00.001-04:00

Martin Truex Jr. and the NAPA/TireMonkey.com racing team finished Sunday’s Carfax 400 race in eighth place and claimed the sixth top-10 finish for Michael Waltrip Racing.

“Overall, it was a good day for the NAPA Toyota,” Truex said. “Pat (Tryson, crew chief) did a really good job calling the race.”

Truex started the Michigan International Speedway race in ninth place and stuck within the top-12 for much of the race. When a caution came with about 45 laps to go, Tryson kept Truex on the track while most of the front runners pitted. Because of Tryson’s decision, the NAPA Toyota restarted second and quickly took to the front of the field for five laps. Truex pitted during the following caution and battled his way to eighth place when the checkered flag waved. He remains 20th in the point standings.

“We were a lot better than we were here last time,” Truex said. “The guys are working good and making the cars better and we feel good about that."

By taking a gamble and staying out on old tires, Kevin Harvick was able to catch Denny Hamlin with only 10 laps to go and ultimately pull ahead. In third place was Carl Edwards.

The Sprint Cup series returns to action Saturday night for the Irwin Tools Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway in Tennessee.

Race information courtesy of Michael Waltrip Racing.

Another accident claims Monkey truck

2010-08-18T20:48:00.001-04:00

For the second week in a row, an accident took the TireMonkey.com No. 12 Chevrolet Silverado out of the running.

Driver Mario Gosselin’s truck became loose during lap 96 of the Too Tough To Tame 200 race on Saturday and struck the wall of the Darlington Raceway before clipping Ricky Carmichael’s No. 4 truck. Both trucks were unable to complete the race, and Gosselin finished in 23rd place.

Gosselin started the race in 23rd place after posting a time of 30.352 seconds at 162.019 mph on the South Carolina 1.366-mile oval. He climbed to 17th place by lap 20 before falling behind.

Also for the second week in a row, Todd Bodine took home the checkered-flag finish. Trailing were Timothy Peters of the No. 17 truck, Ron Hornaday of the No. 33 truck, Johnny Sauter of the No. 13 truck and Austin Dillon in the No. 3 truck.

The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series’ next stop is Bristol Motor Speedway for the O’Reilly 200 race on Wednesday.

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"Heluva" spin creates trouble for Truex at the Glen

2010-08-09T19:36:00.003-04:00

NAPA Auto Parts / TireMonkey.com driver Martin Truex Jr. overcame a mid-race spin to post a 15th-place finish Sunday in the Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips race. The Watkins Glen International race marked the second and final road course race of the 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup season.

“The car wasn't where we needed it, but we battled and got a decent finish with it,” Truex said.

Truex started the race in 25th place and worked his way into the top 15 by lap 23 of the 90-lap race. He raced mid-pack through the race’s middle stages but spun on lap 48 and dropped to 33rd place.

“We fought our way up there once and spun out because the brakes went away,” Truex said. “I was inside the 77 (Sam Hornish), trying to pass him, and instead of spinning him out, I just spun myself out because I didn't want to take him out.”

But Truex charged from the back and moved into the top-20 during lap 69. He kept advancing the scoring chart and ended the race with a top-15 finish—his tenth of the season.

Juan Montoya of the No. 42 car won the race with Kurt Busch and Marcos Ambrose falling into second and third place respectively.

The Michael Waltrip Racing team returns to action at 1 p.m. on Sunday during the Carfax 400 race at Michigan International Speedway.

Race information courtesy of Michael Waltrip Racing

Crash sidelines Gosselin at Nashville

2010-08-09T19:13:00.005-04:00

A little more than a third of the race completed, a wicked crash sidelined TireMonkey.com driver Mario Gosselin and caused him to finish Saturday’s Nashville 200 race in 26th place.

Gosselin was running in fifth place when, at about lap 64, Joe Aramendia’s No. 1 truck struck the No. 12 truck. The collision sent Gosselin into the outside wall and smashed in the front of the TireMonkey.com truck.

“He needs to learn how to drive,” Gosselin said later.

NASCAR officials were said to investigate the incident. It occurred when no other traffic was present and Aramendia was five laps down. Aramendia ultimately completed 142 of the race’s 150 laps and finished in 21st place.

Todd Bodine of the No. 30 truck won the race. Behind him were Austin Dillon of the No. 3 truck in second place, Aric Almirola of the No. 51 truck in third place, Timothy Peters of the No. 17 truck in fourth place and Johnny Sauter of the No. 13 truck in fifth place.

Next up for the NASCAR Camping World Series is Saturday's Too Tough To Tame 200 race at Darlington Raceway in South Carolina on. All the action begins at 7 p.m. E.T.

Truex moves advances from 28th-place start to 9th-place finish at Pocono

2010-08-02T20:46:00.004-04:00

That final pit stop made all the difference for Martin Truex Jr. Sunday during the Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500. That’s when crew chief Pat Tryson opted to take two tires for the No. 56 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota. The decision allowed Truex to restart seventh with 23 laps remaining in the race. Because most of the other teams elected to take four tires, Truex was able to hold off most of the field to cross the Pocono Raceway finish line in ninth place.

“A little bit of strategy played into it,” said Truex, a two-time Nationwide Series champion. “We were sitting about 12th before we took the two tires, so we gained a few spots. We were about a 12th or 15th-place car, and we finished ninth. That’s the kind of day we like to have and the kind of days we’ve needed to have the last two months – we’ve just been caught in wrecks.”

Greg Biffle of the No. 16 car won the race. Next came Tony Stewart of the No. 14 car, Carl Edwards in the No. 99 car and Kevin Harvick in the No. 29 car.

Truex started the race in 28th place after posting a time of 53.587 seconds at 167.951 mph. Truex’s No. 56 car came to life at about the 50-lap mark when it edged up from 22nd place to 17th place. By lap 123, he broke into the top 15. Truex’s car made contact with Edwards’ car during lap 132, but no damage was reported.

The race marks Truex’s fifth top-10 finish of the season, and he remains 20th in the Sprint Cup driver standings.

“I’m just glad we got a decent finish out of the NAPA Toyota, and I’m proud of all the guys on the team,” Truex said.

In fact, Truex’s team won the Mobil 1 Command Performance of the Race award.

Next up for the Sprint Cup Series is the Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips at the Glen on Sunday, Aug. 8 in New York.

Race information courtesy of Michael Waltrip Racing

Gosselin finishes inaugural Pocono Mountains 125 in 15th

2010-08-01T15:02:00.002-04:00

Pocono Raceway’s unique 2.5-mile tri-oval has challenged NASCAR Cup Series since 1974, but the Truck Series took to the track for the first time Saturday during the inaugural Pocono Mountains 125.

TireMonkey.com driver Mario Gosselin started the race in 19th place and ultimately advanced the No. 12 Chevrolet Silverado to finish in 15th, putting him in 13th place in the driver standings. Elliott Sadler of the No. 2 truck won the race, his first in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. Next were Kasey Kahne of the No. 18 truck, Matt Crafton of the No. 88 truck, Aric Almirola of the No. 51 truck and Justin Lofton of the No. 7 truck.

The race featured six lead changes among four drivers and six cautions for 18 laps.

The next NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race, the Nashville 200 at Nashville Superspeedway, takes place on August 7.

No. 56's damage hinders Truex's performance at Indianapolis

2010-07-27T22:27:00.003-04:00

Michael Waltrip Racing / TireMonkey.com driver Martin Truex Jr. saw a sure top-10 finish at Indianapolis spoiled in the final quarter of Sunday’s Brickyard 400 race when his No. 56 Toyota suffered front end damage during a restart. The accident took Truex out of contention for the victory.

“It's a shame,” Truex said. “We had a top-five Toyota and got back in traffic after a jack problem on our pit stop with about 40 to go. The restart bit us again when the cars started getting bunched up. We got damage to the nose and right side.”

Truex started the race in 12th place, but a late race pit stop for a loose wheel dropped him off the lead lap. Until then, the No. 56 looked to be the strongest Toyota and one of the strongest of all cars in the race, never venturing outside the top 10 except during pit stop cycles.

“The NAPA Know How crew did all they could,” Truex said. “It just didn't handle competitively after that, and then we had to pit late in the race for a vibration (loose right front wheel). I just hate it that our good runs are being taken away like this. I'm so disappointed.”

Truex’s 26th-place finish keeps him 20th in driver points. The NASCAR Sprint Cup series returns to action Sunday, Aug. 1, for the Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500 race at Pocono International Raceway.

Not even toxic fumes can keep Gosselin down

2010-07-27T22:05:00.004-04:00

TireMonkey.com driver Mario Gosselin overcame a wall collision and toxic fumes in his cockpit to finish 24th in the AAA Insurance 200 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race in Indianapolis on Friday.

By posting a time of 23.026 seconds at 107.253 seconds at O’Reilly Raceway Park during qualifying, Gosselin started the race in 17th position. He had maneuvered into 14th place by lap 96, but that’s when his No. 12 truck became wedged between Aric Almirola’s No. 51 truck, Donny Lia’s No. 7 truck and Narain Karthikeyan’s No. 60 truck. Sparks flying, the TireMonkey.com truck careened into the back stretch wall. The accident knocked out the panel separating the driver from the engine compartment, and the cockpit filled with poisonous fumes.

Gosselin and the DGM Racing crew kept the TireMonkey.com truck on the lead lap until suspension and handling issues forced them to lose laps in the pits while correcting the issues and fixing the damage. After 104 laps of inhaling the fumes in his cockpit, Gosselin was nauseous and cramping up afterward, but he felt better after a night of rest.

Gosselin’s next race is the Pocono Mountains 125 in Pennsylvania on Saturday, July 31.

Gosselin finishes 14th at Gateway

2010-07-17T19:09:00.002-04:00

The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series fans were treated to the sight of two TireMonkey.com trucks on the Gateway International Speedway track during the CampingWorld.com 200 race on Saturday.

While Mario Gosselin drove the No. 12 Chevrolet Silverado, Johnny Chapman borrowed another TireMonkey.com truck for the race. Gosselin started the race in 19th place and finished 14th, but unfortunately, Chapman suffered engine trouble and could not complete the race.

Gosselin’s finish bumped him one spot to 12th in the Camping World Truck Series driver standings.

Kevin Harvick of the No. 2 truck won the pole and ended up winning the race, his third win in four Camping World Truck Series races this season. He beat out Brad Keselowski of the No. 129 truck by more than five seconds. Next were Johnny Sauter, Todd Bodine and Matt Crafton.

Although the race was slated to take place Friday night, power failure postponed the competition until Saturday afternoon.

Gosselin next competes in the AAA Insurance 200 race on Friday at O’Reilly Raceway Park in Indianapolis.

Truex captures 11th place at Chicagoland

2010-07-12T19:16:00.004-04:00

For Michael Waltrip Racing / TireMonkey.com driver Martin Truex Jr., it was all about finding the right air pressure combination during Saturday’s 400-mile NASCAR Sprint Cup event at Chicagoland Speedway.

Truex started the LifeLock.com 400 race in eighth place and finished in 11th.

The early stages of the race saw the 30-year-old from Mayetta, N.J., run as high as second. Approaching the halfway mark, Truex remained comfortably in the top-10, but needed a few tweaks to climb back into winning contention. Unfortunately, a problem with an air gun socket during the team's stop on lap 183 dropped the NAPA Toyota from ninth to 13th position. Truex was able to climb back to 11th place before his teammate David Reutimann scored the victory.

"I am so happy for David. We should have been up there with him,” Truex said. “Our car just got really loose. We could have been better than that but we may have missed it a little on air pressure. Regardless, we got a decent finish and our teammate got the win.

This coming weekend, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series is off, but the series will return the following week to the hallowed grounds of Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 25.

Strong Iowa finish bumps Gosselin in standings

2010-07-12T18:52:00.003-04:00

TireMonkey.com driver Mario Gosselin finished strong in Sunday’s Lucas Oil 200 race, coming in 12th place on the Iowa Speedway. His performance bumped him one place to 13th in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver standings.

Rookie Austin Dillon, 20, won the race, his first Camping World Truck Series victory.

Gosselin started the race in 22nd place after posting a qualifying time of 24.187 seconds at 130.235 mph.

Gosselin's next race will be the CampingWorld.com 200 on Friday, July 16, at Gateway International Raceway in Madison, Ill.

Multi-car wreck claims NAPA Toyota at Daytona

2010-07-05T21:46:00.006-04:00

It was the case of being at the wrong place at the wrong time for No. 56 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota driver Martin Truex Jr. on Saturday night at Daytona International Speedway.

The Michael Waltrip Racing Camry started in 18th place and climbed into the top five early in the Coke Zero 400 race, but Truex’s luck ran out when a piece of metal from Kyle Busch’s wrecked car damaged Truex’s splitter on lap 103.

Truex returned to the track in the back of the pack, but he couldn’t avoid a multi-car accident at about lap 116 that severely damaged the NAPA Toyota. David Ragan’s No. 6 Ford triggered the accident by turning sideways in turn three and slamming into Jamie McMurray, Truex and Kasey Kahne.

“I'm not quite sure what happened,” Truex said. “They all spun in front of me. I saw (Ragan) up in front of me, sideways. He was coming down the track. You just can't slow down. We had a good car. The NAPA Toyota was running really well. When Kyle wrecked, we hit some of his debris and pitted twice because we were afraid the splitter would drag.”

Truex returned to the track on lap 144 and managed to finish the race in 35th place.

“We have good cars, but we just can't catch any breaks,” Truex said. “It's a shame because the NAPA Know How crew is working hard. The NAPA Toyota was really good and we were running up in the top 10 most of the race.”

Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 29 Shell/Pennzoil Chevrolet, started the race in first place and ultimately won by holding off Kahne, Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Truex’s finish puts him in 20th place in Sprint Cup Series driver points. He next travels to Chicagoland for Saturday’s LifeLock.com 400 race.

Photos courtesy of SPEED.

Temperamental Toyota troubles Truex in Tools 301

2010-06-28T21:12:00.002-04:00

Michael Waltrip Racing/TireMonkey.com driver Martin Truex Jr. brought the No. 56 Toyota across the New Hampshire finish line in 22nd place on Sunday, bumping himself up to 18th place in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver standings.

Jimmie Johnson of the No. 48 Chevrolet won the Lenox Industrial Tools 301 race, his fifth win of the 2010 season. Tony Stewart of the No. 14 Chevrolet came in second place and Kurt Busch of the No. 2 Dodge grabbed third place.

A qualifying time of 29.167 seconds at 130.586 mph on the New Hampshire Motor Speedway put Truex in the 26th starting position for the race, but he soon struggled with his car’s handling. At first, the Chevrolet was too loose, but then the handling became too tight.

"We definitely need to be better when we come back here in the fall,” Truex said after the race. “Qualifying definitely hurt us because it was so hard to pass. It seemed as if nothing really worked out in our favor.”

At one point, Truex had crawled his way to 16th place, but he fell off the lead lap during lap 217 and then fell a second lap during lap 236. During lap 291, he had to pull into pit road for four tires and to have his crew make some adjustments to the car’s handling.

Truex’s next race is the Coke Zero 400 on July 3 at Daytona International Speedway.

Caution helps Truex salvage 17th-place finish at Michigan

2010-06-14T21:15:00.004-04:00

Martin Truex Jr. and the No. 56 NAPA Auto Parts team overcame a number of obstacles before catching a timely caution in the closing laps Sunday to salvage a 17th-place finish at Michigan International Speedway. The Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips 400 finish put the TireMonkey.com driver in 16th place for Sprint Cup Series driver points.

Denny Hamlin of the No. 11 car won the race, and Kasey Kahne, Kurt Busch, Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart rounded out the top-five finishers.

Truex started the race in 13th place but struggled to find grip early and fell to 25th place by the 20th lap.

With less than 25 laps remaining, Truex Jr. was a lap down due to poor handling and an extra pit stop to adjust a loose lug nut. A caution came with 19 laps remaining when NASCAR officials spotted debris on the backstretch, and it allowed the No. 56 car to come to pit road for adjustments before returning to the lead lap in 18th place.

“We just need to keep getting better because the opportunity is there for us,” Truex said. “I think we got ourselves some points, and I am real proud of all my guys for hanging in there and rallying together for a respectable finish."

Truex and the Michael Waltrip Racing team next travel to Infineon Raceway in California for Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 race.

Photo Credit: Rusty Jarrett of Getty Images for NASCAR

Gosselin finishes VFW 200 in 23rd place

2010-06-12T17:21:00.005-04:00

TireMonkey.com driver Mario Gosselin completed the VFW 200 race at Michigan International Speedway in 23rd place on Saturday, a finish that placed him in 14th place in the Camping World Truck Series driver standings.

Gosselin started the race in 17th place after posting a time of 41.583 seconds at 173.148 mph during qualifying. By lap 30, he had clawed ahead to 15th place, but he fell back to 20th place by lap 40.

By the end of the race, Gosselin's No. 12 TireMonkey.com Chevrolet Silverado had run out of gas, and he could could only complete 98 of the race's 100 laps. Aric Almirola of the No. 10 truck won.

Next up for Gosselin and Team TireMonkey.com is the July 11 Lucas Oil 200 race at Iowa Speedway.

Photo Credit: Geoff Burke/Getty Images for NASCAR

Gosselin to qualify 8th for VFW 200 race

2010-06-11T19:10:00.002-04:00

Team TireMonkey.com returns to the track Saturday with qualifying for the VFW 200 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Michigan International Speedway.

Qualifying begins at 9:30 a.m. EDT, and Mario Gosselin of the No. 12Chevrolet Silverado will be the eighth driver to run two laps on the D-shaped oval track.

Rain cancelled Friday’s final practice, but Gosselin came in 20th during the first practice, posting a time of 41.690 seconds at 172.703 miles per hour.

The VFW 200 race begins Saturday at 1:30 p.m. EDT and can be viewed on the SPEED Channel.

Last Texas lap claims NAPA car

2010-06-07T12:50:00.003-04:00

By Michael Waltrip Racing

TireMonkey.com driver Martin Truex limped across the Gillette Fusion ProGlide 500 finish line in 25th place Sunday after a last-lap accident caused major damage to his No. 56 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota.

“There’s not a whole lot I can say about today,” Truex said. “It’s a shame to race your way up into a top-10 position and have the race unfold the way it did. We got back up to 14th and then we got involved in the last lap crash. To have a good run taken away like that is tough. I don’t like races like this.”

Truex started the Pocono race in 27th place, but he was quick to report a loose-handling car. The first caution flew on lap 15, and Truex hit pit road for service. He restarted 26th and began slowly working his way through the field.

By the race halfway point, Truex was in the top 15. He managed to pull into the top 10 with just under 50 laps remaining in the 500-mile event, but a massive incident on the final lap crippled his car.

“We had a good NAPA Auto Parts Toyota, and the guys did a great job,” Truex said post-race. “We didn’t deserve a 25th-place finish today.”

Next up for Truex is June 13 Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips 400 in Michigan.

Busted motors plague Gosselin at Texas

2010-06-04T19:14:00.006-04:00

By Misty McCrary

Texas proved tough on Mario Gosselin and his TireMonkey.com team. Engine trouble meant Gosselin could only complete 92 of the WinStar World Casino 400 race’s 169 laps, and he finished in 22nd place.

“Rough weekend!” Gosselin posted on Twitter following Friday’s Fort Worth race.

Todd Bodine won the race. He was followed by Johnny Sauter, Austin Dillon and Mike Skinner.

Gosselin’s troubles started Thursday when he had to grapple with a series of truck bar adjustments and a smoking motor. He completed only six practice laps on the Texas Motor Speedway before his motor broke a piston and caused him to miss the rest of practice.

During Gosselin’s first two practice laps, he had noticed that the No. 12 Chevrolet Silverado was hitting the track pretty hard on the left side. To keep the truck off the track, the TireMonkey.com crew made an adjustment, and Gosselin made his second run. Afterward came a second bar adjustment.

But as Gosselin made his way onto the track for his third run of the day, he radioed in to report that the monkey truck was filling with smoke. Back in the garage, the crew discovered they had a busted piston that would require a motor change. But because the spare motor was unavailable, Gosselin and the crew were forced to use the motor from the back-up truck. To top it off, the majority of the TireMonkey.com crew wasn’t scheduled to fly into Fort Worth until Friday, and Gosselin was short-handed. With only three crew members available to complete the motor switch, Gosselin’s wife, Michelle Gosselin, and sister-in-law, Misty McCrary, sprang into action and helped remove and replace the motors. The crew sealed up the race truck just as NASCAR officials threw the red flag at the end of final practice at about 2 p.m.

Although he didn’t have the benefit of a “shakedown” lap to test the new motor before qualifying, Gosselin managed to post a time of 30.851 seconds at 175.035 mph and qualify 18th.

"The truck felt great in qualifying,” he said afterward. “I was able to hold it wide open all the way around the track. The monkey better hang on."

Unfortunately, Gosselin experienced his second blown motor of the weekend during Friday night’s race, and he was forced to park the No. 12 truck.

Next up for Team TireMonkey.com is the June 12 VFW 200 race in Michigan.

Truex wins Showdown, finishes second in All-Star race

2010-05-23T11:33:00.005-04:00

TireMonkey.com’s newest driver, Martin Truex Jr., saved the best for last Saturday night and walked out of Charlotte Motor Speedway with a second-place finish in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series All-Star race. Not a bad night for the No. 56 NAPA Toyota driver who won the Sprint Showdown earlier in the day.

“I could smell (the money),” Truex said after the race. “A couple more laps, and I would have been right there. What a great night. We had a lot of fun. Second isn’t what we came here for, but we just came up one spot short.”

Kurt Busch of the No. 2 car beat Truex by 0.358 seconds to win the All-Star race and the $1 million pot.

Truex enjoyed a relatively calm All-Star race until the final 10-lap segment when he came alive and charged to the front of the field. He started the final green-white-checkered finish in fourth and moved to second before running out of laps to catch Busch.

Earlier in the day, Truex won the second Sprint Showdown of his career, enabling him to transfer to the All-Star race. The Showdown featured 29 drivers racing for two All-Star race spots, with a third eligible to gain entry by fan voting. Because Friday’s rainy weather cancelled qualifying for the Showdown, Truex had to start the race in the back, making his win all the more impressive.

“It’s really, really tough,” he said. “In the beginning, we got back in traffic, made a few adjustments, then got some track position when we took two tires. They had a bit of a skirmish down there with (David Gilliand) and that helped us…Once we got up and in clean air our car was really good.”

Truex’s second-place All-Star finish is his best at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

“So proud of everyone here at Michael Waltrip Racing,” Truex said. “We have a lot of work to do for next weekend but this was a great night for the NAPA team.”

Next up is the Coca-Cola 600 Sunday evening at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

-Information courtesy of NASCAR and Drew Brown, Michael Waltrip Racing

Gosselin grabs 20th place at Charlotte

2010-05-22T12:44:00.005-04:00

Rainy weather that cancelled qualifying for both the All-Star and Showdown races ultimately delayed the start of Friday’s North Carolina Education Lottery 200 by about three hours. By the time the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race ended at 12:50 a.m., TireMonkey.com driver Mario Gosselin had fought through a number of obstacles to finish in 20th place.

Polesitter Kyle Busch held off Todd Bodine to win the 201-mile race by a mere .228 seconds. Ron Hornaday, James Buescher and Elliott Sadler followed Bodine.

A qualifying time of 31.413 seconds at 171.903 mph put Gosselin’s No. 12 TireMonkey.com truck in the 26th starting spot. But Gosselin was only two laps into the race when he collided with T.J. Bell of the No. 50 truck. Bell was trying to avoid a collision when he struck the apron of the track and then shot backwards into Gosselin. The accident cut down Gosselin’s front left tire, and he had to duck into the pits only five minutes into the race.

It wasn't long before Gosselin found himself involved in another collision. During lap 24, Nelson Piquet Jr.’s No. 15 truck tapped Wes Burton’s No. 16 truck and slid sideways across the track right beside Gosselin’s truck, which was riding low.

By lap 30, Gosselin was running in 23rd place, and he managed to gain even more ground by lap 40, when he was in 21st place.

Gosselin next competes in the WinStar World Casino 400k in Fort Worth, Texas, on June 4.

Gosselin arrives in Charlotte ready for action

2010-05-20T20:18:00.006-04:00

The TireMonkey.com NASCAR Camping World Truck Series team drove through the night to arrive Thursday in Charlotte, N.C., “NASCAR’s Hometown.” The North Carolina Education Lottery 200 at Charlotte Motor Speedway provides Gosselin his next arena for securing top-10 glory. The race, 134 laps and 201 miles around the 1.5-mile, quad-oval track, begins Friday evening.

Charlotte will mark the debut of “Dorothy,” a new Chevrolet Silverado in Gosselin’s fleet. Dorothy was intended for the O’Reilly Auto Parts 250 in Kansas, but she wasn’t ready in time. The No. 12 truck did, however, successfully pass through technical inspection Thursday and is ready for Friday morning’s practice sessions. Later, during qualifying, 42 drivers will vie for 36 starting positions, but Gosselin’s 14th-place driver standing means he is guaranteed a starting spot.

“Mario won in his first-ever ARCA start after setting on the pole here at Charlotte, so we’re all confident in his abilities here,” said Misty McCrary, Gosselin’s team manager and sister-in-law.

Here’s Friday’s schedule, Eastern Daylight Time:

First Practice: 9 a.m. – 10 a.m.

Final Practice: 10:20 a.m. – 11:50 a.m.

Qualifying: 3:30 p.m.

SPEED broadcast begins: 7:30 p.m.

Race: 8 p.m.

Truex finishes Autism Speaks 400 in 12th place

2010-05-16T17:49:00.005-04:00

TireMonkeys rode the first Sprint Cup Series car to enter the Monster Mile on Sunday, helping pole winner Martin Truex Jr. lead the field to green and ultimately capture 12th place in the Autism Speaks 400 race. He moves up to 12th place in the Sprint Cup Series driver standings.

The race marked TireMonkey.com’s first as Truex’s associate sponsor.

Kyle Busch won the race, his second victory of the weekend on the Dover, Del., track. Following Busch were: Jeff Burton of the No. 31 car in second; Matt Kenseth of the No. 17 car in third; Denny Hamlin of the No. 11 car in fourth; and David Reutimann, Truex’s Michael Waltrip Racing team member, of the No. 00 car in fifth.

Although he ran at the front of the field for much of the race, Truex struggled with keeping his No. 56 NAPA Auto Parts car loose enough on the mile-long track. Kasey Kahne passed Truex during the first lap, and by lap 50, Truex had fallen to fifth place.

A speedy pit stop courtesy of the NAPA “Know How Pit Crew” during lap 54 helped Truex breeze ahead to fourth place. The crew managed to adjust the car’s air pressure, change four tires and re-fuel -- all within 12.52 seconds. During lap 226, the crew improved the NAPA car’s performance by making a track bar adjustment.

“Best we’ve been all day!” Truex said, running in 7th place during lap 238 at the time.

Truex continued to fight and took the lead during lap 365. He ran in 12th place by lap 372 and remained there until the checkered flag fell.

“We should have had a top-10,” Truex said after the race. “That one run where we made up a lot of spots was like we had a really good set of tires or something. Our last two runs, we were generally loose. The front end locked up, bounced in center and then took off going straight. It's something we can work with.”

Truex and TireMonkey.com will next tackle the Sprint All-Star race in Charlotte on Saturday.

Breakdown of Truex’s Autism Speaks 400 statistics:

Practice 1: 157.729 mph / 22.824 seconds (4th place)
Second Practice: 154.136 mph / 23.356 seconds (8th place)
Final Practice: 153.003 mph / 23.529 seconds (11th place)
Qualifying: 157.315 mph / 22.884 seconds (1st place)

News of TM / MWR partnership creates a stir

2010-05-15T13:50:00.004-04:00

Camera shutters were clicking like crazy Friday as TireMonkey.com CEO Tully Ryan announced his company’s new partnership with Michael Waltrip Racing and Sprint Cup Series driver Martin Truex Jr.

“We’re very, very excited about this,” Ryan said during the press conference at Dover International Speedway in Delaware. “We feel this is the next step in the evolution of TireMonkey.com.”

As an associate sponsor, TireMonkey.com is represented on Truex’s No. 56 NAPA Auto Parts car by a playful monkey grasping at the rear wheels.

“It’s hanging on for dear life, I can see that,” Truex said. “To have a new sponsors coming on board, great companies like TireMonkey.com, we’re just so excited. I’m thrilled, and it’s great to be a part of it all.”

There’s been some speculation among the online racing community that the new partnership could mean the end of TireMonkey.com’s sponsorship of DGM Racing’s Mario Gosselin, driver of the No. 12 NASCAR Camping World Truck. But that’s certainly not the case, as both Ryan and Michael Waltrip assured.

“I want to say thank you to Mario Gosselin as well,” Waltrip said. “That truck you brought to Talladega and the way your family embraced the sponsor, I just wanted to hug ya’ll and thank you for getting it and taking such good care of your sponsor. I think you make quite a statement with not only the way you look but the way you’ve performed and ran. Certainly, you being a part of the TireMonkey family is important to me and our team, and we’re proud to put the monkey on our car as well.”

Ryan agreed.

“We’re hoping to improve our relationship with DGM Racing…We’re in a hyper-growth period right now, and we believe this is the right step, so we can step-up all of our racing programs,” Ryan said. “And absolutely: We’re going to be with Mario for many years to come just like Michael Waltrip. So this is a very well-thought-out step for us strategically, and we think it’s going to be great for the business and our company.”

Announcement of the sponsorship came two days before the Autism Speaks 400 race at Dover, and Truex left the press conference only to win the pole hours later during qualifying. He completed the Monster Mile in 22.884 seconds at 157.315 mph.

“Being prepared early, having a good plan and stopping after a half an hour in race trim and going to qualifying [setup] -- it just worked for us,” Truex told Sporting News Wire Service.

FOX will start broadcasting Autism Speaks 400 footage at noon ET on Sunday. The race begins at 1 p.m.

Gosselin battles the Monster Mile, secures 18th place

2010-05-14T19:27:00.007-04:00

The Monster Mile twice tried to claim theTireMonkey.com No. 12 truck during Friday’s Dover 200 race, but driver Mario Gosselin continued to fight and ultimately finished 18th.

“Warning: The Monster bites!” Gosselin posted to Twitter after the race.

Aric Almirola of the No. 51 truck won the race, his first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series victory. Next were: James Buescher of the No. 31 truck; Justin Lofton of the No. 7 truck; and Ricky Carmichael of the No. 4 truck.

A strong qualifying time of 23.616 seconds at 152.439 mph allowed Gosselin to start the Dover 200 in 17th place. His first collision of the day occurred around lap 29 when the truck in front of him slammed on the brakes. The crash caused damage to the No. 12 truck’s right front fender.

Gosselin won one of his three Aaron’s Lucky Dog awards of the race during lap 87, and by lap 122, he was running in 14th place. But then the tricky Monster Mile struck again.

After Gosselin barreled out of turn No. 4, the TireMonkey.com truck became loose, caught some air beside Carmichael’s No. 4 truck and spun around to strike the outside wall midway down the frontstretch. An official SPEED camera mounted to Gosselin’s dash showed his view as the truck flipped around to face oncoming traffic. He managed to safely turn the truck around and join the race, but the impact had bashed in the truck’s left rear corner.

“That’s not a view you want at Dover, looking back down the front straightaway,” SPEED announcer Michael Waltrip said. “But to spin out on the frontstretch at Dover and not suffer any more damage than that – Mario should consider himself lucky.”

In fact, lap 172 brought Gosselin another Lucky Dog award. The second crash, however, had made refueling impossible, and he eventually ran out of gas. He completed 200 of the race’s 204 laps, his 18th place finish bumping him up two places in the driver standings to 14th.

Next for Gosselin is the North Carolina Education Lottery 200 race in Charlotte, N.C., on May 21.