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Tuesday, June 26
Finding the final pieces
By Dennis Setzer
Special to ESPN.com
This is my first entry into the diary series here at RPM.ESPN.com, so let me start off by introducing myself. I am Dennis Setzer, driver of the No. 46 Acxiom/Computer Associates Chevrolet in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. I drive for the Morgan/Dollar Motorsports team based in Hennessey, Okla. I have been in the truck series since 1998 and have six wins; I have also driven in the Busch Series and some Winston Cup events.
I get to start my first diary entry here at ESPN.com explaining Morgan/Dollar Motorsports' first win of the 2001 season this past weekend at the Memphis Motorsports Park. Not only was it our first victory of the season, but also the first ever win for the team in 66 starts.
|  | | Setzer is 38 points behind ninth-place Randy Tolsma in the CTS standings. |
Morgan/Dollar Motorsports has been involved in the truck series for about four years now. David Dollar and Rob Morgan have put together an impressive operation that has grown each of the four years. Rob Morgan drove for the team in 1999 and 2000 before exiting the seat in 2001.
It was an unselfish move for Morgan to leave his driving duties behind to let me drive. They wanted to bring someone in that was a veteran in the series and could help them achieve their goals. I was glad I could provide that and we achieved the first of those goals last weekend in Memphis by winning.
This year marked not only a driver change for this team, but also a change in manufacturers for both the team and myself. Last season Morgan/Dollar Motorsports was driving Ford equipment, while I was driving for Dodge. So this season we have all put our efforts into the new Chevrolet Silverado program and it has taken us up to now to figure out what these trucks require to be successful.
The last piece of the puzzle has been crew chief Danny Gill. Danny joined the team in Madison, Ill., this season and we recorded our first top-10 of the season that weekend. Since Danny came aboard, we have a win, four top-10s, a top-5 and have no finishes outside of the top-14 in the last six races. We have also jumped from 22nd in the points to our current location of 10th.
I was pretty excited about heading to Memphis. I arrived Wednesday for a media event and felt we could have a good weekend there. The last two years I have raced there I ended up with fitfh- and third-place finishes, so I have had a fair amount of success at the ¾-mile Memphis track.
We were prepared for the race in Memphis. We had spent a couple of days in Altus, Okla., testing at Sooner International in preparation for this event. The test offered us a great base to setup the Memphis truck and gave Danny and I an opportunity to try some different things. Danny recommended some things I had never tried before and they really worked well on the truck.
When we arrived in Memphis for the race I had a good feeling after the morning's practice session. We were among the top three or four trucks all morning and slipped to seventh once practice was over. I felt we could qualify in the top-5 and my predictions held true as we put the Acxiom/Computer Associates Chevrolet in fourth.
As soon as the green flag dropped on the Memphis 200 on Saturday, I knew we had something we could win with. We moved up into second very quickly and started chasing down Jack Sprague. During the day we got behind a few times during our pit stops but never fell outside of the top-5. On restarts we would get behind some lapped traffic and Jack would get a good lead, but I was always able to get back into second really quickly and begin running after him again.
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On the white flag lap I started to get pretty excited for the team ... This would be the first win for them and I knew that they would get pretty wound up as I came down for the checkered flag. I was right. As I drove by and got the flag I could see them jumping up and down, hugging. ” |
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— Setzer |
We got around Jack on one of the restarts and quickly moved up to fighting Greg Biffle for the lead. On lap 123, we took the lead for the first time and kept it until the final pit stops on lap 140. I came out of the pits in fifth, but by lap 166 was driving underneath Scott Riggs, taking the lead for the final time. I was pulling away quickly and had broke out to about a two-second lead when with 18 laps to go a caution flag came out.
When you're pulling away and you look up and the second-place truck is getting smaller behind you, it feels good. Then that yellow flag comes out and the entire field gets bunched up again and everyone has a shot at taking the lead. Thankfully, I got a great jump on Scott and pulled out to another sizable lead.
On the white flag lap, I started to get pretty excited for the team. They had been standing on the wall afternoon and I could see them clapping and cheering as the laps started to wind down. This would be the first win for them and I knew they would get pretty wound up as I came down for the checkered flag.
I was right. As I drove by and got the flag I could see them jumping up and down, hugging.
I came around on the cool down lap and at Memphis the Victory Lane is out on the front straightaway, but I wasn't ready to get straight there. I came down the frontstretch and I kicked the back end of the truck around and lit the back tires up doing a burnout down the front stretch. It was pretty exciting to see the guys rushing out to meet me.
It was a great weekend for us in Memphis. The win was the first win of the year, the sixth of my career, the first ever for Morgan/Dollar and the second of 2001 for Chevrolet. I am glad we could get a win for Chevrolet; they have stood behind us since the beginning of the year and a part of this win belongs to them.
I look forward to adding entries each week to this diary and working with RPM.ESPN.com. It was a great weekend and I hope we can talk about our wins on a more regular basis. If anything, this diary will give you the opportunity to see what life in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is all about.
Dennis Setzer, driver of the No. 46 Acxiom/Computer Associates Chevrolet for Morgan/Dollar Motorsports in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, will provide a diary to ESPN.com throughout the 2001 season. Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories
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