(Truck Tour Race 12) Texas

Lester and Gray take championship leader Baker out, potentially have cost him the championship; Lester apologetic but not taking blame

"I had a sinking feeling something like that would happen... don't ask why."

Those were the first words out of the distraught 27-year-old's mouth to the media after walking out of the infield care center following a scary crash out of Turn 2 which took out himself, Angel Gray, John Burr and, most importantly, points leader Jeremy Baker. Casey Lester and Angel Gray made contact while battling for position because of Lester sticking his nose under the left rear quarter panel of Gray's truck in turns 1 and 2, sending the 888 into the inside wall and back up into Lester and Baker, who had nowhere to go. The field piled into the accident with very little time to react and many people were likely not pleased with the result. Once he met a small group of the media who assembled outside of the infield care center, Lester did not wish to accept questions and simply made the following statement.

"I told myself coming in to just stay calm, try not to get near anyone and stay clear of the 36 and 56. Jeremy [Baker] worked too goddamn hard this year to have something like that happen to him and I offer the deepest of my apologies about the accident, but I don't think it was my fault, to be honest. I had the triple 8's inside through 1 and 2, but she would not give me appropriate space to make that work. I didn't back off since Baker was behind me and I wanted to wait until I could get to the outside to let him by. Angel [Gray] just kept pinching me and we got together. I hate it for these guys and especially the 36 team, who probably just lost the title depending on what Howard does..."

Lester's 2015 LTT situation is reportedtly that he will be splitting the #86 truck with Geo Arias for a part-time schedule, but that may change depending on Peak Williamson Race Tech's situation in the FARC Elite Series as the team has had difficulties being approved by FARC officials to run the 2015 season.

Night of Struggles @ Texas Motor Speedway Concludes 2014 Season for Focus Autosports

The FARC Lone Star Championships' race on Friday night for the FARC LoBo Truck Tour looked promising for Focus Autosports, with Vincenzo Fochesato qualifying on the front row for the first time all season and Luc Pellerin starting in row 2 from third. Unfortunately for the team, the outcome of the race could be safely assumed to have been far from what they were hoping for.

Fochesato experienced mechanical issues early on in the going, meaning that his truck has now suffered from mechanical problems in half of the 12 races this year. He would return to the track 5 laps down in 27th-place. However, he would manage to survive both the accidents that would occur throughout the remainder of the race and a second set of problems from under the hood that would force him to lose a sixth lap in the pits, even after striking the upside-down #86 truck of Geo Arias on lap 63. He would eventually complete the 101-lap race scored 7 laps down and the as last truck to finish, but with a mediocre 14th-place result.

Pellerin's truck also experienced issues early on in the form of a tire failure. However, a timely caution flag would put him in the lead on a restart on lap 14. He would go on to pace the field for the next quarter of the race until heartbreak struck him yet again, as the engine on the #4 Lycoia suffered a terminal failure; the fifth total engine failure of the FLTT season for Focus Autosports, but the first for Pellerin. He ends the year with three second-place finishes, one third-place, and two other races in which a mechanical issue struck his truck while leading, but no victories to his name.

After hesitating to speak for a few moments, Fochesato would say in his interview; "First of all, I've got a lot of people to thank. I'm going to have to go and thank every person in our garage and at our race shop whenever I can for working so well together. I, um, I guess this is my last race here for a while, and I have some pretty mixed feelings right now. I certainly was hoping to depart on a better note than I did. I'm so disappointed that we had all of those problems with the motor; I really felt more confident than I have all year, and it really got me excited to start on the front row, but you just can't control things like these. I suppose I have no right to be upset, though. Luc [Pellerin] lost an engine and I was lucky not to have a truck land on top of me. But I'm still ready to go racing again; I've got a Rookie of the Year to race for tomorrow, and I'll be ready to race for it when the green flag waves!"

Fochesato and Pellerin together led 138 laps in 2014, with all but four of them being led by the Acadian. Despite missing three races and not scoring any victories, Pellerin led more laps than any other driver all season and finished 12th in the final points standings. Fochesato, meanwhile, still managed to finish the year 3rd in the final standings, a four-position improvement from his rookie season.

"I'm really going to miss being in the FARC LoBo Truck Tour. These last two years have been two of the best that I've ever had. Right now, though, it's time for me to begin a new adventure."

And with that, he walked away to his team hauler, but only after turning from the camera to leave and tripping over a tool chest.

Focus Autosports and both of its trucks will return to the FARC Truck Series next year with Pellerin returning to the #4 and FARC Elite Series spotter Eddie Vero replacing Fochesato in the soon-to-be-renumbered truck #⑨, as Fochesato will be departing for the Dash Cup Super Touring Series.

Johannson: I knew we could get this!

With an abysmal season filled with disappointment and struggle put behind him, Patrick Johannson kept optimism in his brain throughout the FARC weekend in Texas. With the idea of being out of the sport for the following season due to a lack of team funding and resources, there wasn't much that he really could get his hopes up about other than going out with a bang in what likely would be Red Wing Racing's final event. He qualified in the 9th spot for the race, seemingly turning the frowns and worries of the RWR crew upside down and generating a newfound confidence within them.

"Comin' outta qualifying, the only thing we were unsure of was how well the chassis was gonna hold up. We used it about 4 times already this year in a few other events, but the guys did a fantastic job keepin' it up to par."

A select few teams and engineers (who were undisclosed regarding their support) reportedly chipped in to give Red Wing Racing an engine for the race since they did not have a single motor remaining in their inventory fit for the finale. The engine seemed to hold up, to the surprise of many, and the #17 caught quite a few drivers by surprise as Johannson ran near the front all day and stayed out of trouble, leading 13 laps and bringing the truck home in 4th place. The Bostonian recorded the team's 2nd Top 5 finish and the 5th Top 10 on the season with the 13 laps led currently being the only of Johannson's uncertain FARC career.

"I felt like a gorilla had just been lifted off the team's shoulders when we took the checkers and they guys were all goin' crazy over the radio. It was like we won the damn thing. I kept sayin' "I knew we could get this! I knew we had it in us! I knew all this engine trouble was gonna pay off!" and it was just an undescribable feeling in the garage. I'm just so happy that I could put this team up front with the bigger teams off this series in our curtain call."

As stated before, where Johannson and Red Wing Racing team owner Alex Middleton will be heading in 2015 is not yet known, but at least they can hold their heads high in the sky knowing that they ended their tenure as somewhat of an unsing hero.

"What isn't an undescribable feeling is havin' a bucket o' Gatorade poured down your back; that s**t is so cold I thought I got hypothermia." Johannson said, sharing a laugh before departing into his RWR hauler for the final time.