Montgomery Fairs Better Second Time Around at Kansas

 KANSAS CITY, KANSAS (June 1, 2002) - Although it wasn't the exact finish he was hoping, ARCA RE/MAX Series driver Chase Montgomery's sophomore visit to the 1.5-mile oval turned out better than his first go-round. In 2001, Montgomery had stated sixth, but had engine problems and failed to finish the race.

After the motor gave out on the #27 Montgomery Motorsports Chevrolet Monte Carlo during last Friday's practice session, the team quickly made a change and Montgomery qualified 13th for Saturday's BPU 200. 

As the leaders all came in for their first pit stops under a yellow flag, the #27 team elected to stay out.  This resulted in the 18-year-old Montgomery leading the field for eight laps.

"We didn't get the finish that we'd hoped for, but we were able to lead a few laps of the race," Montgomery said.

The pit strategy that seemed to be working perfectly to plan turned out to be detrimental to the team's hope of winning. Due to the amount of green laps until the next caution, Montgomery was forced to pit under green, causing him to go two laps down from the leaders. 

"Unfortunately our pit strategy didn't work to our advantage," Montgomery said. We shot ourselves in the foot."

Montgomery will try again to capture his first ARCA RE/MAX Series victory with his first visit to Pocono Raceway.