Race 32 of 33: Desert Diamond Casino West Valley 200 at ISM Raceway
Track Details: 1.0-mile oval / 200 laps
No. 08: Gray Gaulding Result: 12th
Team 08 JTM Chevrolet Camaro:
Gray Gaulding scored his seventeenth top-15 finish of the season for Bobby Dotter and SS Green Light Racing after finishing in the 12th position at ISM Raceway Saturday afternoon.
Gaulding fired off Friday afternoon for two practice sessions at ISM Raceway. The 08 ran a combined total of 23 laps in practice with a fastest time of 28.283 seconds, which put him 18th quickest on the board. Gaulding laid down a lap of 27.731 seconds Saturday morning, which earned him a 15th place starting position for the 200 lap race out west.
It didn’t take long for the first caution of the day to wave after the 18 car made contact with the wall on lap 14. The remainder of the first stage went without incident and Gaulding was in the 16th position on lap 45.
Crew Chief Patrick Donahue brought Gaulding to pits for service and sent him back out for the start of the second stage. As the race resumed, Gaulding continued to run where he was in the previous stage. The entire length of stage two went caution free and on lap 90 Gaulding remained in the 16th position.
Donahue called his driver to the pits for four tires, fuel, and slight adjustments to tighten up the No. 08 Chevy. On lap 117 the fourth and final caution of the day waved after Christopher Bell spun around. Knowing they were within their fuel window, Donahue elected to bring Gaulding down for service. After nearly an 80 lap run to the finish, Gaulding was able to advance 4 spots to finish in the 12th position. The result marked Gaulding’s seventeenth top-15 finish of the season.
Gray Gaulding:
“We had a great run today at ISM Raceway, one of my favorite race tracks. I’m very proud of what we did this weekend. Thanks to Bobby Dotter and all my guys for their hard work. This was one of the best race cars we brought to the track. To finish in the top 12 as a little race team, it’s really a big deal. Thank you to JT Marine and all their guests for being here. It was a successful day and we’ll get ready for the last one of the year in Miami.”
Bobby Dotter Thoughts on the 08 Team:
“Gray and the 08 guys had another successful weekend at the track. It was great to see them unload with so much speed on practice day and I don’t think they really had to make too many changes to the car, which is always a good thing. We’ll go home and get ready for one more to close out the season.”