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Wednesday, July 25
Setzer is experienced at NHIS
By Dennis Setzer
Special to ESPN.com
| |  | | | Setzer |
The New Hampshire International Speedway in Loudon is nestled in some of the most beautiful countryside in the United States. Traveling to the track, you drive through lush trees and by small homes. The track sits in the confines of rolling hills and creates thunderous noises once a year as the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series rolls through town.
I have spent many of my summers racing at the track they call the "The Magic Mile," a flat and fast one-mile oval. I won the track's only Late Model race in the early-1990s, started five Busch races capturing two top-10 finishes and started one Winston Cup race in 1998 for Bill Elliott and Dan Marino. All of that experience has helped me to excel when I have returned to the track in the Craftsman Truck Series.
In 1999, while driving for Bob and Kay Keselowski of K Automotive I led 47 laps enroute to the victory. I worked hard to win that race, as I was spun on lap 94 by Greg Biffle and had to fight my way through the field to take the checkered flag. Working your way through the field at New Hampshire is often a difficult thing to do, because the track does not offer much in the form of a two-groove racing.
In 2000, I headed to New Hampshire as the defending winner. We qualified fourth and I felt like we had another truck capable of winning. On the second lap I lost control and crashed hard, breaking my shoulder blade. It was one of those accidents that just happen before you know what is going on or have time to correct. The very next weekend I headed to Nazareth, Pa., and won the race with the broken shoulder.
You have to respect the track you're racing, I learned this last year. I have had some success at Loudon in the past, but success comes and goes in the flash of an eye. Racing is a sport where so many different circumstances come in to play. There are so many things going on around you, the other trucks, the weather, the track itself. You have to be focused and spend 110 percent of your concentration on the task at hand, other wise you will suffer a bout with disappointment like I experienced last year.
This year found me coming to the New England track with my new team Morgan/Dollar Motorsports. In the last few weeks the team has been very consistent and we have produced some pretty amazing results. We have amassed three consecutive top-five finishes and four in the last five races. Crew chief Danny Gill joined the team in Gateway and since that time we have a win, a pole, four top-fives and seven top-10s. The chemistry level between Danny and I is getting stronger each week and that can be seen with our performance on the track.
Our biggest problem this year has been finding a comfortable setup on the circuits flat tracks. At Miami we finished in 17th, while Milwaukee saw us go home 11th. When we unloaded Friday at the flat New Hampshire oval and started practice it seemed like we were in line to continue our flat track disappointments. We qualified in the 15th position and spent the half hour of final practice trying to find something that would work for the race. Danny came up with a setup that was comfortable and I felt we were the best we had been all weekend.
Once the race got underway I quickly moved from 15th into the top-10. The truck was tight in the middle of the first run and Danny made an air pressure adjustment on lap 50 when we pitted for right side tires. The adjustment loosened up the truck and by the halfway point I was battling for fifth.
On lap 177 Danny made a call I feel let us finish where we did. Green flag pit stops were circulating and some of the front-runners were pitting for tires while others were taking fuel only. We were in the lead at the time of our final stop and Danny made the decision to pit for gas only. When I exited the pits I had only lost two positions as Ricky Hendrick was attempting to catch us. The guys did an excellent good job of getting the Acxiom/Computer Associates Chevrolet back on the track allowing me to take the checkered flag in third place.
The weekend we had in New Hampshire showed if you take your disappointments and keep working hard you will achieve a level of success. In the season's first four races the Morgan/Dollar Motorsports team struggled to put together a finish better than 17th. Since then we have visited Victory Lane and haven't finished worse than 14th in the last 10 events. We struggled Friday to find a fast setup for the truck, but the guys kept working and were able to overcome the problems and grab another top-five finish.
Disappointment can destroy a team if you let it, but it's also the disappointment that sometimes makes the team work harder. With the level of dedication at Morgan/Dollar Motorsports I think more success is just around the corner.
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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