Mason Massey from Douglasville, Georgia – No. 20 Mongoose Power Solutions Chevrolet Silverado RST – McAnally–Hilgemann Racing Photo
Mason Massey, driver of the No. 20 Mongoose Power Solutions Chevrolet
Silverado RST relegated to a 25th-place finish in his opening NASCAR
CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race (NCTS) with McAnally-Hilgemann Racing (MHR)
after a gaggle of issues was thrown their way over the course of the
weekend. During the NCTS practice and qualifying session, Massey noticed
a big chatter in the front of race truck and was super tight firing off
which led them to a tough qualifying lap to start the 250-lap event 33rd
in line. Due to inclement weather, the race was postponed to Saturday
afternoon and it was time to get to work.
Massey pushed up three spots on the opening lap and continued his battle
to the front and get out of the chaos unfolding in the back of the pack.
With 30 laps to go in the stage, the young driver was up to 26th and
running top five lap times. With track conditions making it difficult to
pass near the tail end of the field, Massey settled for a 26th-place
Stage One finish. The driver of the No. 20 reported to crew chief Dewey
Townsend that he had absolutely no drive off and it just kept getting
worse the longer he ran along with building tight through the center.
Townsend (Dewey, crew chief) called Massey down pit road under the stage
break for four tires, fuel, air pressure and chassis adjustments and
sent him on his way to restart Stage Two.
An unfortunate penalty was handed to the No. 20 team for a crew member
going over the wall too early on that stage break pit stop which sent
Massey to the rear. The young driver got back in gear and starting
ticking off positions left and right to end Stage Two in the 28th
position. The chatter from practice and qualifying the day prior had
returned to the No. 20 in the right front and Massey reported to his
team that the truck was not getting any better and he was handling the
best he could with the conditions he was up against. A pit stop under
the stage break brought the young driver a gaggle of adjustments along
with four fresh Goodyear tires and Sunoco race fuel.
Restarting the final stage 26th, Massey held on to avoid going more laps
down and get to their green-flag pit stop with 41 laps remaining in the
Black’s Tire 250. A quick stop for four tires and fuel turned somber
after a caution came out for an on-track incident as the No. 20 was
leaving pit road. The unfortunate timing sent Massey even further back
but he fought the hard fight to come home with a 25th-place finish at
Richmond.
Mason Massey Quote:
“Man, everything that could go wrong, went wrong for us today. This is
not how I wanted to end my opening race with MHR for Bill and our
partners but proud of this No. 20 team for staying in the fight today
and not giving up on me. Huge thanks to Mongoose Power Solutions and
everyone on this No. 20 team for making this happen for us this weekend.
We have two more on the schedule and I am more than confident that we
can turn our luck around next weekend at New Hampshire.”