Pepsi 300

March 22, 2008
Nashville, TN

Derrike will be driving the #52 Chevrolet for Jimmy Means in Nashville. Derrike said, "We will be going to Nashville this weekend. We will again be running a limited number of laps to save the car and engine. We are continuing to look for some sponsorship in hopes of getting the chance to race."

The team got sponsor Hilton Garden Inn for the race.

In the first practice, Derrike was 41st fastest with a time of 32.172 and speed of 149.161. In the second practice, he was 37th fastest with a time of 31.560 and speed of 152.053.

After Friday's practices, Derrike said, "We ran a limited number of laps today in both practice sessions. We ran two in the first session and seven in Happy Hour. We were 37th overall with only running nine laps total. We will have to qualify and race on this same set. We qualify on Saturday at 10:05am. I am sure we will run very few laps in the race because it does not pay well, so it does not make good sense to by a lot of tires with no sponsorship. I continue to work on the coil-bind setups which is interesting and is starting to make more sense and I am making more productive changes. We will just continue to work hard and keep looking for more funding."

In Qualifying, Derrike was 40th fastest with a time of 31.629 and speed of 151.721.

Derrike started the race in 40th position and finished in 40th.

After the race Derrike said, "Qualifying did not go very well for us. It was really driver error. We qualified on used tires as we only had one set. When I went out to qualify we had put a lot more air pressure in the tires, mostly the right sides which made the car turn better. The first lap the car just slid around and did not really have much grip to the track, but I was on a better second lap and with the change in air pressure the car turned way better than it had in practice. I misjudged the corner and hit the apron which got the car sideways.

"We started the race 40th because of that. We were not going to run long anyways, but we developed a vibration that got worst as we went. I think it was the transmission because it came out of gear by itself leaving pit road. It was fun while it lasted. The car was too tight, but with a few adjustments I believe we could have been a bit more competitive.

"We have a week off and then it is off to Texas and Phoenix."