Starting the Winstar World Casino 350K from the ninth position at Texas Motor Speedway, Ricky Carmichael and the No. 4 Monster Energy Chevrolet Silverado ran as high as sixth before crossing the finish line in the 12th position. The finish marked Carmichael’s sixth top-15 finish of the season.

“We just lost the handling there a little bit,” said Carmichael following the race. “It was a good run. I’m happy. It’s nice to finally finish a race with nothing wrecked. I had a blast this year with these guys. I’ve got to thank KHI and obviously Monster Energy. I’m happy to bring this thing home in one piece and get a solid run.”

Making the final start of his 16-race schedule with KHI this season, Carmichael slipped from the ninth starting position to 16th before the first caution of the night waved. The team decided to make no changes to the handling of the truck and brought Carmichael down pit road first for four tires followed by a second stop for fuel.

Restarting the race from the 21st position, Carmichael told the team the truck was awesome and began to make his move toward the front. By lap 50 Carmichael was able to move into the top 15. Several laps later on lap 54, the caution was again displayed for debris. Fighting a loose-handling truck, Carmichael came down pit road for right-side tires and a second time for fuel. With help from crew chief John Monsam, Carmichael opted to turn his fans off to help tighten the truck rather than make adjustments to the truck. The race restarted on lap 59 with the No. 4 Monster Energy Silverado in the 12th position.

Continuing to run fast laps, Carmichael moved into the top 10 on lap 65. On lap 88 under the final caution of the race, running in the ninth position, Carmichael radioed the team that the truck was a little loose. The team pitted for four fresh tires with an air-pressure adjustment and a second time for fuel. With a fast stop, Carmichael restarted the race on lap 93 in the ninth spot.

Maintaining his position in the top 10, Carmichael was running eighth when he radioed the team on lap 114 to say the truck was really loose. Several laps later he again said the truck was bad loose, falling to 12th on lap 118. Making adjustments to the handling of the truck by adjusting the fans, Carmichael remained in the 12th position when he crossed the start-finish line on lap 147. The 12th-place finish marked Carmichael’s sixth top-15 finish in 16 Truck Series starts this season.

Kyle Busch scored the win followed by Matt Crafton, KHI teammate Ron Hornaday, Todd Bodine and Colin Braun.

STATS RECAP

November 6, 2009
Texas Motor Speedway
Winstar World Casino 350K
Race: 23 of 25
Driver: Ricky Carmichael
Started: 9th
Finished: 12th
Race length: 147 Laps/ 220.5 Miles
Banking/Turns: 24-degrees turns; 5-degree straight-a-ways
Track layout: 1.5-mile
Shape: Quad-oval
Number of Race Cautions: 3 for 14 Laps

Next on the Truck Series Schedule:

Date: November 13, 2009
Track: Phoenix International Raceway
Event Name: Lucas Oil 150
Driver: Kevin Harvick
Broadcast Time: SPEED 7:30pm EST

Corey Floyd has been chasing the WORCS Pro2 Championship for quite awhile now and has had to deal with his share of adversity along the way. From untimely injuries to freak mechanical break downs this kid's seen it all. This year he finally achieved his goal by wrapping up the title by just 2 points over JP Davis at the final round in Mesquite, NV. Doing so, even though he missed a round mid-season due to an broken wrist. Corey is one of the nicest kids in the pits so we figured we'd catch up with him to see how he felt about his first major championship.

Well Corey, it's been a couple days since you wrapped up the WORCS Pro2 Championship, has it set in yet?
I was way too tired to be happy at first, but I think it really hit me when they called my name at the awards banquet afterwards.

Walk us through the last round, the pressure was on since you had missed a round due to a broken wrist, was the added pressure hard to deal with or did you just treat it like any other race?
I went into the race feeling really confident but when I finally geared up and went to the line, my heart was jumping out of my chest.

Well, you ended up pulling off the championship by 2 points so whatever you did must have worked!
Yeah, not quite sure how I pulled it off, but somehow it all came together.

I know this is something that you've been working towards for a long time and it hasn't been an easy road, you've had to battle quite a few injuries amongst other things, do you think this could be the breakthrough that you needed?
I would think so. Now that I got this championship under my belt and felt how good it was to win, maybe this will be the extra push I need to get to the next level.

Tell us a little bit about how you got started in racing and what led you to WORCS.
It all started up in Washington where I did a local off-road series. The top guys from that series tried some WORCS races a few years back. That's really how I heard about them. Plus WORCS is really the top off-road series in the nation in my opinion. So if you want to go big, you have to race where the big names are.

A lot of racers that are at your level work with trainers and coaches, do you have anyone that is helping you out with your program?
I haven't hired anybody but somehow I stumbled across of group of friends that are extremely helpful. They seriously will do anything for me. I do my own thing training wise, but when it comes to the race, I have a ridiculous amount of help. I think they see how much I want this, so they give any helping hand they can to make things a little easier for me.

This was an interesting year for you, I know the first round didn't go as well as you would have liked and then you had to deal with a broken wrist mid season, did you have to make any changes throughout the year to help you stay on top?
I think I made changes every race to be honest. Towards the end of the season I got a lot more serious. Like as far as suspension testing and just time on the bike. I also started training with Lance Smail in Washington, which helped huge. Just riding with him was a lesson in itself.

This was your first year riding for the Monster Energy/Kawasaki team which is the first real support ride you've had, how big of a help was that for you?
They are a life saver. I look back on last year when I did most things on my own and I wonder how I pulled it off. It almost just seems unfair how much easier things are for me this year in terms of bike preparation. Plus, just knowing that somebody believes in you enough to have you represent their company is an honor in itself.

What are the plans for next year?
Well with the way the economy is right now, I would just be happy to be able to ride again for another year. But I got another ride with Monster Energy/Kawasaki for one more year in the Pro2 class, so i'm really happy. Hopefully I can win the title again and get some better overall finishes.

You recently moved down to California from Washington so that you could concentrate on racing, what do you do for fun when you're not training or riding?
Well I recently got a new house with two of my best friends, so we have fun all day long. We all pretty much do the same stuff too. Our latest thing is going to rock climbing gyms. Our new house has a pool too so we have been swimming even when it's cold.

You keep a pretty tight knit group of friends around you who are also pretty good riders themselves; do you think this helps you out?
Yeah, like I said, any of them would do anything for anybody. I try to help them out as much as I can, but they are life savers to me.

Who would you like to thank?
Well let's see... Monster Energy Kawasaki, Moose, TBT, Shoei, Dunlop, Smith, Maxima, Fastway, GPR, Renthal and all my sponsors. Then of course my mom, my step dad Corey and my dad, Jason Smigel from Kawsaki, Dylan and all my friends that help me during race weekends, and you for wanting to interview me! Thank you!