Dover, DE (September 27, 2009): Alan Tardiff struggled with a flu bug at Dover International Speedway over the last couple of days, but was able to overcome it long enough to post a fifth place finish in the Sunoco 150 on Friday evening. Tardiff drove the No. 38 Bestway Disposal/Renton Coil Springs Chevrolet to the top-five from a 16th place starting position.
“I don’t know if I have a flu bug or something,” said Tardiff. “I got up today and I still had a headache, but I had to put everything together and just work it out. We had a fast racecar today. We raced in second place for a long while, but the 44 car was stellar and no one was touching him. We came in took fuel and tires, and the car got really loose. Our goal was to come here and get a top-five and we accomplished that so I’m really happy.”
The Sunoco 150 marked Tardiff’s track debut at Dover so patience was the name of the game until the first caution came out. Tardiff was running 14th for the restart at lap 16 and made it up to 10th before caution slowed his pace once again. He remained in the top-10 until lap 48 when a majority of the leaders headed for pit road. Tardiff elected to stay out and gain track position.
“We wanted to put ourselves off sequence,” explained Tardiff. “To be off sequence later in the run would give us fresher tires and more fuel in the car later in the run. It turned out to be beneficial for us. My guys did a really, really good job this weekend just as they have been all year.”
Tardiff restarted the race on the outside second row and moved up to third at the drop of the green. On lap 60, Tardiff went to the bottom of early leader Matt DiBenedetto and passed him for second. Moffit, however, had already stretched out a 2.2 second lead over the Bestway Disposal/Renton Coil Springs Chevrolet. Tardiff worked on closing up the distance when caution appeared at lap 80.
The yellow flag conditions gave Tardiff the opportunity he needed to come down pit road for fuel and tires. He returned to the track in eighth for the restart at lap 86. Tardiff gained two spots on the initial drop, but experienced a loose condition in the Bestway Disposal Chevrolet that hadn’t existed before.
Caution tightened the field up once again at lap 97 with Tardiff maintaining his position over the next 15 laps. He was able to move up to fifth by passing Ryan Truex on lap 116.
The race went green for the remainder of the distance and Tardiff was able to close out the 2009 NASCAR Camping World Series East with a fifth place finish. It was his third top-five and eighth top-10 of the season. Tardiff earned a seventh place position in the final point standings.
“I didn’t have high expectations coming to this racetrack since I had never been here before. A top-five is a win. I was running second and I was smiling ear to ear,” Tardiff said.