Joey Coulter Earns Career-First NASCAR Win at Pocono Raceway
8/5/2012
Charging the No. 22 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet to the front of the field on the final restart of the Pocono Mountains 125, Joey Coulter earned his first career NASCAR Camping World Truck Series win at Pocono Raceway. Coulter started the black and red machine from the fourth position on Saturday afternoon. When the green flag dropped on the 50-lap affair, trucks in front of the No. 22 machine brushed the wall going into turn one which caused the Miami Springs, Fla. native to fall out of line to avoid contact, dropping to seventh in the running order. Crew chief Harold Holly called Coulter to pit road under green-flag conditions on lap 21 for two tires, fuel and a chassis adjustment to combat a tight-handling condition, the 22-year-old reported during the early run. The No. 22 Chevrolet team was confident they had a fast Silverado and when the field was slowed for the first caution of the afternoon on lap 30, the momentum of the race changed. Shortly after the restart, the yellow flag was displayed again. Coulter lined up in the sixth position and on the ensuing lap-38 restart, drove three-wide, moving into the third position. The caution was brought out again for a multi-car incident in turn two the following lap. When the green flag was displayed for the final time in the 125-mile event, Coulter immediately jumped out and drove to the front on the restart, leading for the final seven laps, Coulter took the checkered flag for his first career Camping World Truck Series win.
Start - 4 Finish - 1 Laps Led - 7 Points - 7
JOEY COULTER QUOTES:
How does it feel to win at this level in NASCAR?
"This feels so amazing. There's no way to describe it. I just can't thank everyone at RCR enough for the opportunity and Harold (Holly, crew chief) for coming to work for my family's ARCA (Racing Series presented by Menards) team and teaching me how to drive. When we hired him, I was a little bit lost. I just can't thank him enough for standing behind me, keeping me ahead of the learning curve and giving me such great equipment every week. It's unbelievable."
Talk about that final restart.
"I've struggled on restarts for a long time and we've put a lot of effort toward making them better and better. As soon as my spotter said 'green' I put my foot to the floor and let the ECR Chevrolet horse power do the rest. It's what we needed to do. We needed to make moves quick because track position was really important. This new pavement picked the speeds up but it sure did make it hard to pass. I knew we had to get it done right there, or we weren't going to have a second chance at it."
Can you put into words what it means to finally get this first win?
"I probably can't put it into words, but I'll try. It's a dream come true. Again, I can't say enough about the equipment, the opportunity to drive for RCR and to Camping World for putting together such a great series. It's an unbelievable feeling. Call me in three days when it finally hits me and I might be able to give you a better answer."
HAROLD HOLLY QUOTES:
"I'm just thrilled to death for Joey Coulter. He is such a great kid and has worked so hard to get here. This is as big as any of them, win-wise. We have such a strong support group and this team is just great."
Congratulations on the win, Harold. When was the last time you visited Victory Lane? I think it was with Bobby Hamilton, Jr.
"I think you're right. I was just telling Richard (Childress) that it had been a long time since I last had a win. Joey and I won some ARCA races together, but I believe the last NASCAR win was with Bobby (Hamilton) Jr. in 2004."
RICHARD CHILDRESS QUOTES:
"Joey has had a really, really fast truck the past two seasons but has had some misfortune that has kept him out of the winner's circle,"
"I'm really happy for his family. They are at every race pulling for him. And for Harold Holly, just to see him back in the winner's circle with a smile on his face was worth it all."