Coulter Finishes 5th at the Monster Mile

5/28/2014 Coulter Finishes 5th at the Monster Mile

Joey Coulter and the No. 21 Allegiant Travel Chevrolet team collected their first top-five finish of the 2014 season on Friday in the Lucas Oil 200 at Dover International Speedway. It is the first top-five finish for GMS Racing in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS).

After rain reduced track time for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series on Thursday, NASCAR opted to cancel Friday's qualifying session at the Dover, Del., facility in favor of additional practice time to prepare for Friday evening's Lucas Oil 200. As a result, the starting grid for the race was set based on owner points.

When the 200-lap, 200-mile race began, Coulter and the No. 21 Allegiant Travel Chevrolet team lined up 17th for the initial green flag. The Florida native maintained a top-15 spot throughout the Lucas Oil 200 even while battling loose and tight-handling conditions. The Jeff Stankiewicz -led pit crew made chassis adjustments during three scheduled four-tire pit stops, on laps 76, 136 and 159. The Allegiant Travel team made an array of chassis adjustments of both air pressure and track bar, in an effort to neutralize handling of the Allegiant Travel Chevrolet. After that, the 23-year old quickly charged through towards the front of the field, and he settled into the top 10 by Lap 90. Coulter remained in the top 10 for the remaining 110 laps of the race as he continued the challenge of controlling a loose-handling black and blue Chevrolet. Even though the problem persisted for the duration of the event, Coulter worked his way into the top five during the final laps, and crossed the finish line fifth. With this finish, Coulter gained two positions, moving up to tenth in the Camping World Truck Series driver championship point standings.

JOEY COULTER QUOTE:
“It was a great day overall. I am really proud of the whole No. 21 Allegiant Travel and GMS Racing organization. We have worked really hard since the beginning of the season and will continue to build on this momentum.”