Baker Survives Yellow-Flag Fever in Sam’s Town 250

Pilots Viva / BCRF Ford to 34th-place finish

Millington, TN (October 27, 2007) … The Sam’s Town 250 was almost a record-setting race. However, the record almost set was for the number of cautions in a NASCAR Busch Series race. Saturday’s Sam’s Town 250 had 25 cautions for 117 total laps, one short of the record 26 at Hickory Speedway in 1992. The event was the final Busch Series “stand-alone” event for 2007, and will be a race remembered for duration as well as cautions.

Brad Baker made his debut in the #27 Viva / Breast Cancer Research Foundation Ford Fusion for Brewco Motorsports in Memphis, a track where he had previous experience in the Busch Series. The Sam’s Town 250 was the third and final race with the special pink paint scheme on the #27 Ford to assist with awareness of breast cancer during the October Breast Cancer Awareness Month promotion by Viva and the BCRF.

After two practice sessions on a cloudy, overcast, and rainy Friday, Baker was the 37th of 48 drivers to make his qualifying run on Saturday morning. The Franklin, Tennessee driver toured the .75-mile tri-oval track in 23.529 seconds / 114.752 mph to earn the 35th starting position in the 250-lap event.

With the Sam’s Town 250 being the final short track and stand-alone Busch race of the season, action was certain to be fast and furious. Little did anyone know just how exciting these 250 laps would be. After the second caution of the race on lap 17, Baker made his first pit stop of the afternoon for fuel only and to pull tape off the front end of the Viva / BCRF Ford. Baker reported to Crew Chief Newt Moore after the restart that his Ford was “a little tight in the center of the corner and loose off, but overall, not too bad”. A great pit stop by the Viva / BCRF crew on lap 40 during caution gained Baker eight positions on the track. The crew changed four tires, added fuel, and made air pressure and track bar adjustments during this stop. Baker would restart 30th on lap 44.

After gaining several more positions in the next ten laps, Baker got caught behind a spinning car off turn four on lap 59 and lost five spots in the running order. On lap 64 after yet another caution, several cars spun off turn two down the backstretch and Baker did a great job of weaving his way through the debris to avoid the accident. Baker would make his next pit stop for tires and fuel on lap 75 during the seventh caution period of the race. At the 100-lap mark, Baker was running 27th on the lead lap.

When the 26 and 5 cars got together and spun in turn one on lap 109, Baker made another evasive move to avoid being collected in the wreckage and moved up to the 20th position. However, eight laps later, the race would take a dramatic turn for the #27 Viva / BCRF Team. As Baker raced in a tight pack of cars off turn four, the #21 car of Tim McCreadie made contact with the left rear quarter panel of the Viva / BCRF Ford. Baker spun and was hit hard on the front by several other cars trying to avoid the accident. With heavy damage to his Ford, Baker drove behind pit wall to the attention of the Viva / BCRF crew. Under the direction of Crew Chief Newt Moore, the crew began assessing the damage and removing the front fenders and hood. After a thorough check of the suspension and damages, the crew prepared the car to return to the race.

On lap 133, Baker drove his beaten and battered car back in the race. He was running in the 38th position, fifteen laps down to the leader. Asked about the handling of his much-altered Ford Fusion, Baker said “it’s a little bouncy getting in the turns and tight off, but not too bad”. With constant encouragement from Crew Chief Newt Moore and spotter Todd Wilkerson, Baker continued to turn laps and gain positions as other competitors had problems.

As if things could get any worse, Baker radioed to Moore that he could not get the car out of fourth gear during a caution on lap 177. Unfortunately, it was a problem that could not be resolved, and Baker would drive the remaining quarter of the race with only fourth gear. However, his determination did pay off as he gained an additional four positions to post a 34th-place finish.  

“I certainly wish that we could have had a better weekend for the Viva / Breast Cancer Research Foundation Team,” Baker commented after the race. “I had high hopes coming to Memphis, and I felt like the more laps I had, the better we would be. I was disappointed in the qualifying run, but had moved up to 20th when I got tapped and spun. The afternoon was pretty much shot after that, but the crew did a great job just getting me back on track. It was really a wild race today, and we were just a victim of the madness. Overall, I’m disappointed in the weekend, but I know this is a strong race team that will bounce back next week at Texas.”

Brad and the #27 Brewco Motorsports team will travel to Texas Motor Speedway for the O’Reilly Challenge 200 next Saturday, November 3rd. Qualifying is set for Friday, November 2nd at 5:35 p.m. CT, and the 200-lap, 300-mile race will take the green flag at 2:30 p.m. CT next Saturday. ESPN2 will provide live television coverage, with PRN and Sirius NASCAR Radio Channel 128 handling the radio broadcast.”