Fort Worth, Texas Less than a week away from the penultimate race before the chase at Texas, the people at STR were in talks with a late season deal. Associate sponsor American Ethanol signed an end of the year speedway only contract. On the remaining 1.5 mile tracks to close out the season, the #82 Dodge would sport the black and green American Ethanol colors. The car was wrapped just before the hauler left for Texas.
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American Ethanol Jumps Onboard-82 Team Out On Top!
After the wrap just settling on the brand new American Ethanol Dodge, The STR team unloaded off the truck quick in race trim. After the first practice session, Shawn was satisfied with the race set. "The setup was really good in the long run, which I had a feeling we would have." In the last few minutes of final practice, the team made a few changes for Qualifying, and the single car operation held on for P1!
To a very pleasant surprise, the race in played out in Taylor's favor; long green flag runs. With the #93 of Josh Chin having tire issues after loosing a transmission in Qualifying, The Honda of Brandon Lambert appeared to be the main contender.
Green Flag stops again worked in the favor of Taylor, clearing the group he was with by about two seconds. Brett Lawrence got the whole shot however, having a two second lead on Taylor when the stops cycled through. The 82 Dodge motored down and slowly got up to and eventually passing the #68 Honda.
As the race stayed under green, many people were getting close on fuel, and the 82 was no acceptation. The race stayed under green and the 82 slowly preserved fuel. Coming out of the forth turn to the checkered, the #82 spluttered and finally ran out of fuel, with enough to make it across the line in front of the #41 of Matt Emerson.
"I'm really glad we did what we had to do. I don't know if we have enough to make the chase, but if we can do the same next week in Richmond we'll be damn close. This team won't go down without a fight."
The American Ethanol did it's job, having just enough fuel to get the #82 across the line to take the win.
(Photo whore i know, I might take more later of EVERYONE
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