GRIT AND DETERMINATION FUEL DEBORAH RENSHAW AT MARTINSVILLE

Source: S.Vorse
Date: 10/24/2005

Martinsville, VA- –Fueled by grit and determination, Deborah Renshaw behind the wheel of the No. 8 Heritage Dodge had a strong run during the Kroger 200 at the Martinsville Speedway Saturday afternoon.

Renshaw quickly gained steam from her 27th place starting position and with heads-up driving, avoided the multiple collisions on the racetrack during the 200-lap event. Battling a tight race truck, she went a lap down but the “lucky dog” award put her back on the lead lap where she stayed the rest of the event.

“What an awesome day,” Renshaw said. “I had a lot of fun out there today. I felt that I was on my game except my truck was very, very tight. Shawn (Parker, crew chief) explained that I wasn’t the only one having the same trouble so I knew I just needed to hold on and get the best finish I could.”

Renshaw showed her stuff after the Parker-led pit crew gave her the adjustments she needed. She continued to work her way through the field gingerly maneuvering through both slower truck and lapped trucks which would eventually put her inside the top-15 late in the race. Renshaw times kept improving and by lap 150 her times were 2/10th faster than the leader while she was running 25th.

“My spotter, Fat Boy did an awesome job today,” Renshaw explained. “He was right on it when there was trouble on the track and I was able to clear the accidents. At one point they were telling me my times were faster then the leader and that was cool. I had an excellent truck and those BHR2 guys in the pits had some awesome stops.”

Strategy and patience helped to keep Renshaw away from the accidents and assisted her in breaking into the top-15. . Renshaw gained respect of veteran drivers in the field by racing clean as she battled with them for position on a track that is very difficult to make a pass. She had just passed Rick Crawford for the 15th position and was headed to take away 14th from Johnny Benson when contact with Brendan Gaughan sent her spinning and bringing out the caution. Renshaw restarted in the 27th position with less then 20 laps to go and managed to pick off another spot from Jimmy Spencer bringing home a 26th place position.

“I’m disappointed because I knew we had a top-15 truck,” Renshaw said. “I knew I passed (Rick) Crawford clean for the 15th spot and I was up on the wheel ready to take away the 14th spot away from Johnny Benson when Brendan (Gaughan) got into me. He immediately apologized. I was mad at the heat of the moment but you know its just short track racing at Martinsville. I had so much fun out there and really feel I gained some respect from my fellow competitors by racing clean. I was up on that wheel all day and the truck was just so fast. This BHR2 team has just gotten better and better this year and with four more races coming up I plan on some pretty impressive runs in those races.”

Renshaw and the rest of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series head into the final four races of the season starting next week at the Atlanta Motor Speedway for the running of the EasyCare Vehicle Service Contracts 200 Saturday, October 28th. Live coverage begins on the SPEED Channel at 3pm EST and at 3:15pm EST on MRN Radio Stations and their affiliates.

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