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Wednesday, September 12
Dennis Setzer
Setzer started from pole
By Dennis Setzer
Special to ESPN.com

RICHMOND, Va. -- The fact that stands out about the sport of auto racing is the ability to make changes and better the performance of the vehicles we race. Air pressure adjustments, tires, shock and spring changes, sway bars and even an overall motor change can make the difference between the pole and last place.

For Morgan/Dollar Motorsports a simple change was all it took last Thursday at Richmond International Raceway. Richmond is a very fast and literally flat three-quarter-mile oval that has a D-shape allowing a tremendous amount of speed to be obtained down the front stretch.

Dennis Setzer
Setzer is currently eighth in the points standings.

Richmond is a track where teams unload, practice, qualify and race all in the same afternoon. Your day is often decided on how practice proceeds and in the morning session we struggled, finishing 19th on the sheet. The truck was tight in the center of the turn and I could not get the line I needed to generate speed coming out of the corner.

As we scratched our heads between practice and qualifying, crew chief Danny Gill and I sat down to discuss what we needed to do. Danny made the call for a spring change and that change proved to be the call of the afternoon.

We went from 19th fastest to the pole. The entire field slowed down from the morning practice. The track heated up by the afternoon and when I took to the track for our run I knew we had a great truck. We secured the pole with a time of 22.248 seconds at a speed of 121.259 mph. The pole was our second of the season, taking the first at the Kansas Speedway in July.

As changes go, that one turned our entire afternoon around, however, once "Happy Hour" started, we went from the pole to struggling. We once again faced a tight condition and were left shaking our heads at what to do for the race.

As the sun set and the green flag dropped the truck was responding well to the evening air, it wasn't strong enough to hold the lead, and Sprague got by me on the second lap. We quickly fell into third position and rode in the top-5 for much of the evening.

On Lap 155, when a late race caution flew, Danny made the decision of the night, choosing to pit for left side tires. We were in sixth at the time and there were only eight trucks remaining on the lead lap. The tires allowed us to charge to the front and put the No. 46 ACXIOM/Computer Associates Chevrolet into contention for the win.

I was in third when the checkered flag flew and was right behind Kevin Harvick and Jack Sprague, who were battling for the lead. It got pretty hairy there at the end, we all were running close with only a few laps remaining and everyone in the top-5 was challenging for the lead. I felt I was in the best spot, with those two beating each other's doors off in front of me.

It was a great night for Morgan/Dollar Motorsports. We went from the bottom, to the top, to the bottom to the top, all in one day's time. That's the beauty of racing, you can keep working on your truck until you get it right. This team did that and we had a truck capable of winning in the end.

Now if we can only go to Texas and do it again!

Dennis Setzer, driver of the No. 46 Acxiom/Computer Associates Chevrolet for Morgan/Dollar Motorsports in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, provides a diary to ESPN.com throughout the 2001 season.

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