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Tuesday, August 28
Setzer experiences highs and lows
By Dennis Setzer
Special to ESPN.com
With the good comes the bad and that statement held true for the Morgan/Dollar Motorsports team this past weekend at Nazareth Speedway. We had been riding a six-race streak of top-10 finishes and have become a threat to win week in and week out, so when a problem reared its head in Nazareth we naturally were disappointed, but also realized that it's part of the game.
|  | | Dennis Setzer had a six-race streak of top-10 finishes snapped at Nazareth, Pa. |
Racing is one of the few sports where you are completely placing your performance into the hands of machinery. Yes, the driver and team have input, but overall you're faced with four wheels, a motor, tires and countless pieces of steel that must stay intact to be successful.
At Nazareth, one of those pieces did not perform for the No. 46 Acxiom/Computer Associates team. We had put together a good handling truck that had the ability to drive hard through the corners and allow me to get on the gas earlier than most. When driving under the bridge on the seventh lap, I developed a strong vibration. It wasn't long until leader Greg Biffle passed sending us a lap down. Crew chief Danny Gill immediately made the decision to evaluate the problem, pitting under a green-flag.
The problem ended up being a cracked right front wheel. The crack was quite significant upon evaluation, right along one of the lugnut holes. We're still not exactly sure what caused the problem, but it was enough to put us three laps down.
After being in the sport for nearly 20-years, you learn to accept the bad, but I wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't get disappointed when problems strike. I felt like we had a top-5 truck, and thought we proved it in the way we were running once the problem was resolved. By the end of the race I was able to chase down and pass the third-place truck and stay within a couple of tenths of the leaders times.
The day ended up with us in 15th, which in all honesty was a good finish after struggling the way we did. If a few of the caution flags would of fell our way we might have been able to manage a top-10, but there are a lot of could of and should of's in that statement.
This sport provides the opportunity for so many things to go wrong. You have to be prepared mentally to work through the difficult times and stay focused on the overall goal of winning races. This is what I tried to do, it's hard when you know your running in the 15th or 16th position, but with as many things going on around you, you never know when something might fall your way. You have to think that anyone of the guys in front of you could have a problem and keep working towards the front.
The Morgan/Dollar Motorsports team worked this weekend through the problems and made sure we secured the best possible spot we could. The guys proved that they could find the positives out of the negatives; they didn't give up and worked through everything that was presented to them. This is a determining factor of a championship team.
We may be out of the point's race this season, but were taking notes for next year and I have a feeling we'll be right in the championship hunt.
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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