Setzer, 48 who drives a Dodge, ran a lap of 33.927 seconds at 132.638 miles per hour around the 1.25-mile oval. The sun is shining brightly for the 1:45 p.m. green flag.

The last Dodge driver to win a pole was Bobby Hamilton Jr. when he captured the top spot on March 1, 2006 at Martinsville.

Chrissy Wallace, making her first start at GIR and only the fourth of her career, will start 29th after a 35.002/128.584 lap. She is the daughter of NASCAR Nationwide Series star Mike Wallace, the niece of Rusty and Kenny Wallace and cousin of Rusty’s son, Stephen.

The green flag will fly at 1:45 p.m. for the 160-lap truck series race followed by the ASA Late Model series.

After 22 trucks, rookie Brian Scott is on the provisional pole after posting a 33.989-second lap at 132.396 miles per hour around the 1.25-mile Madison oval. If he hangs on, it will be the first pole of his career.

Defending race champion and current series points leader Johnny Benson is currently 11th at 34.337/131.054.

Today is a chamber of commerce day at Gateway with the sun shining brightly and a slight breeze. If you’re looking for something to do today and want to see an exciting race, head to Gateway where the green flag will fly at 1:45 p.m. The truck race will be followed by the ASA late model series race.

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Anyone heading out to Gateway International Raceway Saturday for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series or watching it on SPEED is in for a real treat. The Truck Series consistently showcases some of the best racing in the world with fierce battles and true side-by-side, door-to-door beating and banging. You certainly won’t catch anyone in the grandstands taking a snooze or staring off into space, because if you blink, you’ll miss something. The Truck Series never disappoints not only because of the intense competition and action level but also for its drama and close points battles.

The Truck Series points battle has been all over the place and filled with intrigue all year. Johnny Benson currently is threatening to dominate this portion of the season but it is wild how the Truck Series has somewhat mirrored the Cup Series. We witnessed Kyle Busch dominate when he ran the Trucks earlier in the season, then he passed the mantle to Ron Hornaday and now Johnny Benson. Will the real championship contender please stand up? We’re getting toward the end of the season and these guys keep flip-flopping.

It’s been an awesome year for the Trucks. We had three consecutive first-time winners with Matt Crafton, Donny Lia and Scott Speed; the NFL’s Randy Moss has become a Truck owner; Bobby Hamilton Racing won its first race since Bobby’s death; Jack Sprague joined forces with Ron Hornaday at Kevin Harvick Inc.; once again we’ve had some of the closest points battles within the top 10 in series history; Mike Skinner, a five-time winner in 2007, remains winless in 2008; and the list just goes on.

But with only nine races remaining until the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, those contending for the championship must focus first on being strong at Gateway. Gateway is very similar to Phoenix International Raceway, so I think this weekend will somewhat foreshadow who will win the championship. Right now, I’m placing my money on Johnny Benson because he won here last year.

The first big order of business for the Trucks will be setting the field in qualifying. The importance of qualifying and its potential effect on finishing order varies from track to track, but I don’t think it’s that vital at Gateway. Guys are able to pass here and we won’t see a single-file, follow-the-leader race.

When I ran Gateway in the Truck Series for Billy Ballew last year, I qualified 10th and finished 13th. I watched a lot of drivers qualify behind me and make their way to the front. However, I also watched Mike Skinner, Jack Sprague and David Green blow a right-front tire. So, it doesn’t really matter where everyone qualifies. What’s important is how they pamper their right-front tires because we lost several of them last year.

While there will be 160 laps in Saturday’s race at Gateway, I’ll walk you through just one circuit now.

Both corners on this 1.25-mile oval are very different. As you head down into turn one, you’re hauling the mail because it’s a very long straightaway. You have to apply a lot of brake going in there, so this track is murder on brakes. Once you get down in the corner, you turn left hard because it’s a tight corner. Then pick up the gas as soon as you can and it’s almost a drag race coming off turn two.

The wall sneaks up quickly, which causes a lot of wrecks. Once you get off turn two, the motor just chug-a-lugs, trying to get going, and you head off the back straightaway. The next corner, turns three and four, reminds me of three and four at Phoenix. So, as you go into turn three, you barrel down in there and put the left-front tire on the rumble strip, which prevents you from going into the grass. The corner is so long that you must give it only half or three-quarter throttle to get it across the middle of the corner. This is one of the widest and longest corners on a one-mile flat track on the circuit.

That’s just one lap. Whoever does that perfectly 160 times has a terrific shot at winning Saturday’s Truck Series race … and possibly the championship.

Sprague, who won at GIR in 2000 and was the pole sitter in 2004, ran a 33.621-second lap at 133.845 miles per hour around the 1.25-mile egg-shaped oval.

Dennis Setzer was second (33.808/133.105) and Mike Skinner was third (33.870/132.861). Defending race champion and series points leader Johnny Benson was 17th (34.179/131.660).

Chrissy Wallace, daughter of former St. Louisan and NASCAR star Mike Wallace, was 30th in her Germain Racing Toyota (34.747/129.508). She is also the niece of Rusty and Kenny Wallace and the cousin of Rusty’s son Stephen.

Qualifying for the 35-truck field takes place at 10 a.m. Saturday and the green flag will fly at 1:45 p.m.

SPEED^TM ALONG FOR THE RIDE AS TEAMS FACE RAIN DELAY, MENTAL PITFALLS SURROUNDING NASCAR CHASE FOR THE SPRINT CUP

SPORT PSYCHOLOGIST: FOCUS DURING RAIN DELAY, HEAD GAMES AND MENTAL TOUGHNESS PARAMOUNT TO MAKING AND SURVIVING 10-RACE PLAYOFF

McReynolds: ‘I was part of one of the most intense championship battles ever and it was one of the most grueling deals I’ve been through in racing’

This weekend’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event at Richmond International Raceway marks the first crescendo in the Chase for the Sprint Cup. But when that buildup is silenced by the persistent pitter-patter of rain, does it throw drivers off their game, especially the three teetering on the edge of making or missing the Chase?

“I think (a rain delay) really tests the drivers’ focusing skills and how it affects each driver depends on whether they understand the skill of focusing and refocusing,” said Dr. Mark Tobin, Charlotte, N.C.-based sport psychologist who has worked with various NASCAR teams and drivers. “Drivers and other athletes who have very well-developed psychological skills have a pre-game or pre-race routine and part of that is the refocusing plan. ‘What happens when a potential distraction comes up - how am I going to not leave my focus?’ For the ones who have a refocusing plan for dealing with distractions, (rain delay) could work in their advantage because it could cause their competitors to wonder what to do outside their scheduled routine. When your psychological skills are well developed, you look forward to potential distractions because competitors without well-developed skills could succumb.”

Rain or no rain, the top 12 in the Chase for the Sprint Cup will eventually be decided and the playoffs between these 12 rivals will begin.

Fierce rivalries and the proverbial “chaser” and “chasee” games comprise the fabric of everything from cartoons to professional sports. The 2008 Chase to the Sprint Cup stars Kyle Busch in the lead dog role and 11 other NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers hot on his trail. While Busch and the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing team, dominant all season, undisputedly will hold the mathematical and statistical advantage over the 12th-seeded driver, do they also own the psychological advantage in the 10-race “playoff” format?

For the most part, all of the teams prepare their race cars in similar fashion. However, the mentality and thought processes between the “chasee” (Busch) and “chasers,” especially the 12th-place competitor, aren’t so analogous.

“In general, it takes more mental toughness to be the leader than the follower, to be at the top of the heap, stay there consistently and withstand the challengers,” Dr. Tobin said. “When you are the underdog, you have a lot of people rooting for you. Different personalities are more or less comfortable being the person everyone is trying to knock off. Some teams are energized by that but some people are a bit uncomfortable in that position.”

Veteran championship crew chief Jeff Hammond concurs.

“I think Kyle Busch has the tougher job because he has been picked to win and has clearly had the car to beat on a weekly basis,” said Hammond, who serves as a SPEED NASCAR analyst. “He has been the man and the odds-makers in Las Vegas say it’s his year. The pressure is on Busch not to lose this championship.”

The constant pressure to run well and not falter in the spotlight can put any team and driver through the emotional wringer. Larry McReynolds, former crew chief and current NASCAR analyst for SPEED, led Davey Allison in a heated 1992 championship battle that went down to the wire between six teams with a mathematical shot at the title heading into the season finale at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

“I was part of one of the most intense championship battles ever and it was one of the most grueling deals I’ve been through in racing,” McReynolds recalled. “Even though we lost the championship because we got caught up in a wreck, I’d never been so glad to see a checkered flag in my life. It wasn’t the result I wanted but we were in position to win the championship and didn’t make any moves that hurt us. That was almost good enough for me that year.”

While drivers garner the lion’s share of the attention, crew chiefs sweat it out on the pit box and bear the burden that any miscalculation, miscue or oversight could cost their team the crown.

“As a crew chief, you feel like the weight of the world is on your shoulders,” McReynolds said. “You’re responsible for making sure the team and car are as prepared as possible and it’s on the crew chiefs’ shoulders to not make the wrong call that loses the championship.”

When NASCAR wipes the slate clean and Busch’s substantial points lead vanishes, teams without valued bonus points or premier seeding can approach the Chase as a new season and a second chance at the championship, each possessing a legitimate and realistic chance of laying claim to the head table at the Waldorf-Astoria.

“NASCAR and other sports are replete with teams who didn’t have the best regular seasons but ended up winning the championship,” Dr. Tobin stated. “Last year’s New England Patriots went in with a perfect record but the New York Giants got on a roll and wound up winning the championship. The Chase gives teams who haven’t been the most consistent a new psychological adrenaline to see everyone has a shot.”

The new race car implemented fulltime in the Cup Series this season can also serve as an equalizer that affords everyone an equitable opportunity in the title run.

“With the Car of Tomorrow going to so many racetracks we’ve never been to with it, I think a team can get hot and really be good,” said driver Jeff Burton. “The way you ran in May isn’t necessarily going to be indicative of how you run in November. So, I think it’s anybody’s ballgame. Whoever gets in the Chase will have an honest shot.”

Enduring these 10 races can be nerve-wracking and mental toughness is paramount during this time. The mental hardiness or vulnerabilities of teams and drivers can be revealed during the Chase, a time when they desire to portray themselves as nothing but steel-faced and resilient.

“The intensity during the playoffs in any sport is unlike most any regular season contest and NASCAR is no exception,” Tobin said. “Once the pressure heats up, you find out who has the mental toughness and psychological skills. The teams and individuals who have it actually thrive on the pressure and need it to perform their best. It reinvigorates the best teams and gets their performance to an even greater level.”

And if you can’t beat a guy on the race track, you can always try thrashing him from the inside out. The ultimate psychological tactic to ruin another driver or player’s rhythm is the fine art of “head games.” Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson purportedly employed this tactic with Kyle Busch when he endured a two-race “slump” of consecutive 15th-place finishes. However, Busch came back the following weekend at Watkins Glen and won the race.

“There are competitors who try to gain a psychological edge in various ways,” Dr. Tobin said. “As you become more of a veteran and know it’s going to happen, you handle it better.

“The quintessential example of this was a crucial free throw at the end of an NBA playoff game that Karl Malone, ‘the Mailman,’ of the Utah Jazz had to take,” Dr. Tobin continued. “Reportedly, Scottie Pippen of the Chicago Bulls walked by and under his breath said, ‘the mailman doesn’t deliver on Sundays.’ That’s the ultimate head game in the heat of competition.”

SPEED, now in nearly 78 million homes in North America, is the exclusive home of the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race, Gatorade Duel at Daytona, NASCAR Sprint Pit Crew Challenge and the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. The only network delivering live, at-track programming all season long, SPEED offers the definitive pre- and post-race NASCAR Sprint Cup Series programs - NASCAR RaceDay and NASCAR Victory Lane, as well as other popular NASCAR programs including Trackside Live, Tradin’ Paint, NASCAR Performance, NASCAR Live!, This Week in NASCAR, NCTS Setup and Go or Go Home.

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Sprague turned a 33.896-second lap at 132.759 miles per hour around the 1.25-mile egg-shaped oval at the Madison track. Rick Crawford was second at 33.930/132.636 and T.J Bell was third at 33.966/132.485.

Defending race champion and series points leader Johnny Benson was 12th with a lap of 34.207/131.552.

Chrissy Wallace, daughter of Nationwide Series driver Mike Wallace, niece of Rusty and Kenny Wallace and cousin of Stephen Wallace, was 26th on the chart with a best lap of 34.652/129.863.

She will make her first start at Gateway on Saturday for the Camping World 200 and had never driven on the track before today.

The last practice session _ Happy Hour _  will start at 6:15 p.m.

Jack Sprague is currently the fastest with a 132.758 mile-per-hour lap around the 1.25-mile Madison oval. Ron Hornaday Jr. is second (132.454) and Todd Bodine is third at 132.186. Defending race champion and series points leader Johnny Benson (131.475) is seventh.

 Chrissy Wallace, daughter of Nationwide Series driver Mike Wallace, niece of Rusty and Kenny Wallace and cousin of Stephen Wallace, is 27th on the chart with a best lap of 129.166.

She is making her first start at Gateway and had never driven on the track before today.

This practice session is scheduled to end at 4:15 p.m. and with happy hour scheduled for 6:15 p.m.

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If you hear the roar of engines Friday and Saturday, it’s because the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series has descended on Gateway International Raceway outside my hometown of St. Louis. 

I’m always thrilled to hear the words “NASCAR” and “St. Louis” in the same sentence. Thrilled but also a bit nervous this time around. My niece, Chrissy Wallace, is entered in the Truck Series race at Gateway, my family’s home track, which is something I never thought I’d see. The little kid who just yesterday was playing basketball and fast-pitch softball is now racing near my old stomping grounds.

This will be Chrissy’s fourth Truck Series start and while I’m usually unable to be with her in person due to my Border Patrol Chevy and SPEED responsibilities, I watch her on television every chance I get. So, when I’m sitting in Saturday’s out-of-control SPEED production meeting for NASCAR RaceDay at Richmond, I’ll have one eye on our producer and one eye on the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series event. I don’t know which is more crazy and entertaining.

I don’t know if this whole process of Chrissy competing in the Truck Series is harder on Chrissy or me. She certainly possesses a great deal of talent and ambition and is an aggressive driver who grew up watching her dad, Mike, and other great competitors. As a result, she’s quite familiar with the business and the mechanics of NASCAR. I think she is ready to prove she belongs with the big boys.

To say she is eager would be an understatement, so Mike and I are trying to rein her in just a smidge but also continue to train and mold her. Chrissy has gotten into trouble in past races by racing guys to the corner, so we’re focusing on making sure she’s side-by-side with them. She gets her right-front tire to their door or their left-rear tire, but doesn’t quite get side-by-side with them in time. This was a problem for her in the Truck race at Kentucky Speedway and the ARCA race at Pocono Raceway. Chrissy needs good entry into the corner right now because she is very aggressive. Trust me – the young lady needs no prodding in this department. She certainly wasn’t hiding in the closet when they handed out fearlessness.

I predict Chrissy will do well this weekend and will hopefully use it as another opportunity to add to her experience database. A successful outing for Chrissy would probably be a 20th-place at Gateway, which is a great day for a 20 year old in only her fourth Craftsman Truck Series start.

While I think she will be fine on the race track, I’m more worried about my family causing problems for her. I don’t mean this in the sense they will go berserk and embarrass her like those crazy parents you see at kids’ ball games, but the support group certainly will be out in full force rooting her on. I just hope my family gives her a lot of room to breathe and leaves her alone when she needs her space. She will feel a lot of pressure to perform well because St. Louis is a huge track for our family and she is fully aware of this. Mike, Rusty and I learned to deal with the intense dynamic of racing in front of family and the hometown crowd years ago, and Chrissy now is next in line for this Wallace lesson. We may be a strange and crazy family but we are also a supportive and loving one and we’ll be there for her every step of the way.

Here are some PR notes …

Chassis No. 021:

Chassis No. 021 was built by Joe Gibbs Racing for Hall of Fame Racing. J.J. Yeley tested the car March 3-4 at Phoenix International

Raceway before racing it in the Subway Fresh Fit 500k at the mile oval. After starting 22nd, Yeley was involved in an accident on lap 109 and finished 39th. The car was repaired and Yeley drove it in June in the LifeLock 400 at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, where he started 40th and finished 41st due to engine problems.

Notes of Interest:
· Schrader will attempt to make his 725th career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start, his 45th at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway, (RIR) and his third for Hall of Fame Racing in the Chevy Rock & Roll 400.
· Schrader started seventh and finished 21st in his first career start for Hall of Fame Racing Aug. 23 in the Sharpie 500 at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway. Schrader’s seventh-place qualifying effort was the best for Hall of Fame Racing since the team’s inception in 2006. Its previous best came via Tony Raines, who qualified eighth in November 2007 at Phoenix International Raceway.
· Schrader has 12 top-10 Sprint Cup finishes at Richmond and won the pole for the March 1993 event.
· In 724 Sprint Cup starts, Schrader has four victories, 184 top-10 finishes and 23 pole positions.
· Schrader has four NASCAR Nationwide Series starts at RIR, with a best finish of sixth in May 1999. In eight NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series starts at .75-mile oval, Schrader has finished outside the top-15 only twice.
· The No. 96 Hall of Fame Racing entry is 39th in the series’ owner standings with 1,622 points, 289 markers behind the 35th-place No. 7 team of Robby Gordon Motorsports.

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Wallace, Team Border Patrol Head To U.S. Border Patrol’s Home Race in Richmond

Monroe, N.C. (Thursday, September 4, 2008) - The site of this weekend’s Nationwide Series race at the Richmond Int’l Raceway is undoubtedly a favorite stop for most of NASCAR’s best. That’s no different for Kenny Wallace and Team U.S. Border Patrol. They’ll welcome taking to the track for Friday night’s race following an emotional weekend in California with the loss of team manager Kenneth Campbell.

“It’s a really tough week for us,” Wallace said. “But we’re going to do what Kenneth would want us to do, and that’s to go racing.”

And there’s no better track for Wallace and Team Border Patrol to be heading to than Richmond. Wallace’s history at the track is exemplary, with three Nationwide Series victories along with 17 top-10 finishes to his credit. Wallace also holds the record for most laps led in a Nationwide Series event at the track, leading 246 of 250 laps on his way to victory in the fall of 1996. It’s evident that the circuit is a favorite of Wallace’s.

“We’re going to my very best race track,” Wallace said. “It’s a really big week for us. It’s the home for the U.S. Border Patrol with their headquarters being in Washington, D.C. We’re really excited, and everything is there for us to run well this weekend.”

And for Wallace and Team Border Patrol, the action isn’t just limited to the track. The U.S. Border Patrol Recruitment Team will be present at the track on Friday and Saturday as they continue their recruitment program toward making 6,000 new hires in two years. It promises to be an exciting all-around weekend for Wallace and Team Border Patrol as they hit the track on Friday.

They’ll get their first on-track opportunity Friday, with one scheduled practice session for the Nationwide Series to kick off the day. Qualifying coverage is next on schedule, with ESPN2 coverage starting at 4 p.m. The ESPN2 network will also air Friday night’s Emerson Radio 250, with coverage of the 250-lap event beginning at 7:30 p.m.

U.S. Border Patrol/Jay Robinson Racing Team Notes:

On Friday and Saturday, the U.S. Border Patrol Recruitment Team will be present at the Richmond Int’l Raceway as they continue their recruiting push. Fans and job seekers are encouraged to visit their mobile recruitment booth to learn how to become a Border Patrol agent.

Richmond is arguably Wallace’s best track. He’s accrued three wins, nine top-5s, and 17 top-10 finishes at the track in 27 Nationwide Series starts. He also has a 12.4 average finishing record to his credit, and he’s previously set the record for most laps led in a Nationwide Series event at the track (he led 246 of 250 laps in a win in September 1996).

Friday’s race marks the second race at Richmond this season for the Nationwide circuit. In the season’s first race there, Wallace and Team Border Patrol had a strong top-20 run going before a small mechanical issue relegated the team to 37th.

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