Ben Stancill Blazed His Way to 12th in Talladega
Talladega, Ala. (October 6, 2008) – Several years of racing paid off for 19-year-old Ben Stancill who drove the No. 48 TRG Motorsports Chevrolet on Friday at Talladega Superspeedway. Stancill, who began racing at the age of six, showed patience and skill well beyond his years as he drove the No. 48 Chevrolet from 21st to 12th in the closing laps of the Talladega ARCA 250, to close out his first ARCA RE/MAX Series race at the 2.66-mile tri-oval.
“I felt like we were just going to ride at the back for most of the race and try to race with about 10 or 15 laps to go, but we had that big wreck in the opening laps that set us back,” explained Stancill, who qualified the No. 48 Chevrolet in 26th position for the 94-lap race. “We were checking up and someone just ran into the back of us. I guess they just didn’t slow down quick enough or their spotter didn’t inform them. It’s just kind of a mishap, but that’s all part of it.”
Stancill hit pit road and the TRG Motorsports crew went to work to repair the damage while changing all four tires and adding fuel to their Chevrolet. Stancill restarted the race from 24th position and slid to 31st, one lap down to the leader. When the caution fell on lap 31, Stancill hit pit road for a second time, allowing the crew to repair more of the body damage and fill the car full of fuel. When the race resumed, Stancill was battling for the “Lucky Dog” position, which he was granted on lap 54 when the caution flag was flew again. “Somehow we got a lap down in that deal, but we hung in there and came back and got our lap back,” said Stancill of falling one lap down.
After rejoining the field on the lead lap, Stancill made quick work of his competitors, using the draft to move into 12th position by lap 67. But that didn’t last long as Stancill was involved in another incident just two laps later. “We got in another mishap in the tri-oval and had to come in and fix the left side damage,” explained the rising star who is from Ayden, North Carolina. With all four tires flat spotted, Stancill limped his Chevrolet to pit road for four tires, fuel, and damage repair.
Stancill restarted in 24th position on lap 74 and avoided the next caution flag, but he became the event’s final caution on lap 86 after cutting down a tire. “With 10 or so to go, we cut a left rear tire down and spun out in turn three,” explained Stancill, who came in for four tires after the wild ride. “We were running like 21st with five laps to go and came back and finished 12th. We were definitely coming there at the end, we just ran out of time.”
Even though Stancill ran out of time to finish further up, he was thankful to the crew who put in time to get the No. 48 car ready to race. “Everybody worked hard,” said Stancill of his crew. “The guys worked from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., seven days a week to get this car ready. You can’t ask for anybody to do anything more than that. I think all the guys did a wonderful job and I appreciate it very much.”