Roulette Recap follows a randomly selected driver throughout a race to break down their efforts. There is no telling ahead of time how the race will go. The driver could face calamity on the opening lap or start from the rear and win the race. With that, may the odds be ever in the driver’s favor.
Fresh Start for Massey at Young’s
Mason Massey began 2024 with an announcement that he would be running full-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. More specifically, fans would be able to find him behind the wheel of the No. 02 Young’s Motorsports truck. In his three starts to the season, he has amassed an average finish of 22 – bettering his average starting position of 30.3.
Weather Guard Truck Race
Massey headed to Bristol Motor Speedway with a season best finish of P20 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. In the pre-race release from YMS, he noted, “Bristol is a place that I’ve circled for a few weeks. Qualifying is going to be super important, and that’s something I’ve been focusing on over the off-weekend.
“We’ve done a good job so far getting the best finishes and finding a good balance on the truck throughout the race. I think we can keep that going on Saturday night with our No. 02 Young’s Building Systems | Randco Industries Chevrolet Silverado RST!”
In the mid-afternoon practice session, Massey sat 13th in his group and 31st overall. He qualified in the same position, and prepared to get to work later in the evening for his first-ever Truck race at Bristol.
For the 250 lap short track race, Trip Bruce sat atop the pit box and served as Massey’s crew chief while Frankie Kimmel was on the spotter’s stand.
Kimmel encouraged his driver to “go battle hard” and have eyes forward for the “accordian” on the start.
Stage 1
On Lap 3, Bruce radioed in, “Are we good?” and Kimmel noted Massey had “a big moment.” Additionally, he noted the truck was “on the splitter hard with solid sparks.”
Before any ground could be made, the caution was out. Matt Mills slammed the wall hard on Lap 6. Bruce was immediately working a plan for when the pits opened. Massey also noted his water temp was running really high.
After his stop, Massey returned to the track in P35 for the restart on Lap 13. Afer a lap, Kimmel noted the sparking was “better” but felt “it’s more than splitter. It’s something metal.” Meanwhile, Massey was making ground and had gained three spots in five laps.
Lap 25 saw the leader, Christian Eckes, with a 1.73 second lead and beginning to lap the end of the field.
As Massey took Lap 30, Eckes lapped him, but the driver of the No. 02 was working hard on getting around Spencer Boyd. He was finally able to do so on Lap 41 and was told, “Go make lap time with these guys.”
Second Caution Moves Massey Up
Two laps later, the No. 22 of Keith McGee went for a spin and brought out the second caution of the night. Initially, Bruce wanted to pit, however, he opted to stay out and race for the Lucky Dog. This time, Massey took the green in P24 with 13 to go in the opening stage.
A shaky restart took drivers three wide and sideways, but they managed to keep the race green. Massey fell to P29.
As Massey took six to go, he radioed in thinking he had an issue with the motor. As the stage came to a close, his team was attempting to diagnose the problem.
After finishing P30, he gave an update on the motor, stating, “Ever since that restart, it has no power off the corner.”
Stage 2
Bruce brought Massey in for fuel, tires, and adjustments under a two-stop plan. Surprisingly, none of the leaders came to pit road. Massey restarted P31 on Lap 77 with encouragement from Kimmel that he’d be “so much better” following those adjustments.
Drivers were door-to-door and bumper-to-bumper in the opening laps of the second stage. Despite complaining of “no motor,” Massey gained a spot in the early laps.
On Lap 102, Massey was middle of three, squashed between Matt Crafton and Mason Maggio. He broke free and settled in at P31. As the No. 21 became a pinball ahead of his truck, Massey had to do some heads-up driving. Kimmel said, “The 21 is a weapon!” as Kyle Busch lapped the No. 02, putting him three laps down.
Massey maintained his lap times and his position, finishing the stage P31. He radioed in with an update, stating, “No motor off the corner.”
Bruce said, “You’ve got nerves of steel to drive like that with what you’ve got.”
Massey responded, “10-4. We’ll just try to survive and make the best of it.”
The two worked out a plan and opted to come in for fresh tires in order to set Massey up for the final stage.
Stage 3
Facing the final 107 laps, Massey lined up P32. As he came to the green, Kimmel encouraged him, “They’ll probably start tearing trucks up now.”
Sure enough, within two laps, Ty Majeski went for a spin taking Ben Rhodes with him. The next restart came with 97 to go with Massey in P31 and numerous battles throughout the field.
Massey was hanging on, and with 83 to go he laid down his best lap of the night. Kimmel helped his driver navigate lapped traffic. On Lap 175 (75 to go) Chase Purdy took to the pits with an issue which allowed Massey to move up to P29.
With 32 to go, Massey snuck through a wreck as Stewart Friesen got into Nick Sanchez. Still sitting P29, Massey noted he was “turning really good. Just trying to bring it home.”
Bruce called Massey to pit road for fresh tires. The racing picked back up with 24 to go and Massey in P29, and only 17 trucks on the lead lap.
The field took 10 to go as Eckes put more than a second between his truck and Busch in second. Massey made up one more spot in the closing laps to finish out the wild night in P28.
Bruce stated, “Not the day we wanted, but thanks for the effort, guys.” Tyler Young jumped on and thanked everyone. And once again, Bruce commended Massey on the job he did with ‘what he had.’
Sponsor Shoutout + Driver & Team Socials
NASCAR fans know sponsors make the sport go ’round. We want to give a shoutout to Young’s Building Systems | Randco Industries who played a huge part of the weekend for Mason Massey and the No. 02 team.
Be sure to give Mason Massey (Facebook, Instagram, X) and Young’s Motorsports (Facebook, Instagram, X) a follow to keep up with the latest news from the driver and team.
