CHARLOTTE, N.C. (May 26, 2008) — In his first Nationwide Series start at Lowe’s (N.C.) Motor Speedway, Cale Gale and the No. 77 Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI)Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW)/Salute the Troops Chevrolet started the CARQUEST Auto Parts 300 from the 16th position before settling for a 30th-place finish after a puncture to the oil tank ended the team’s bid for a solid finish.

“It was an unfortunate ending for the No. 77 VFW Chevrolet,” said Gale. “The more the track cooled down, the better this car got. We had a good car toward the end of the race, but an oil leak caused our night to end early. We’ll take it and go to Nashville in a few weeks and try to get a strong finish for these guys.”

Not guaranteed a starting spot for Saturday night’s race, Gale had to make his way in during qualifying and secured the 16th starting position.

With the race under way, Gale fell to 21st on lap five when the first caution of the night waved. Gale informed crew chief Jason Meeks the car was “too tight.” The team opted to stay out under the caution and see if the car improved with more laps. Shortly after the restart, Gale radioed the water temperature was too high and tape needed to be removed from the front grill when the team pitted. During the second caution on lap 25, the team changed four tires and removed tape to help with the handling of the car.

Following the lap 30 restart, Gale settled into the 23rd position. Falling as far back as 26th on lap 88, due to an ill-handling car.

Working his way back toward the front, Gale moved in to the18th position on lap 127. With the car improving as the race went on, Gale got as high as 15th and looked poised for a solid finish until NASCAR summoned him to pit road on lap 177 to check on a possible oil leak. After examining the car on pit road, Meeks called for the car to be brought to the garage for further inspection. Once in the garage, Meeks found the oil tank had been punctured. With only 17 scheduled laps remaining, there was not enough time to change the oil tank.

Gale was scored in the 30th position at the end of the night, earning his third top Raybestos Rookie of the Race nod this season.

POST-RACE LINKS:
•   Race Results
•   Driver Standings
•   Race Photos