Pete Shepherd fastest in Friday's Truck Series 'Happy Hour' at Memphis

O’Reilly 200, Practice Quotes, Page 1 June 29, 2007
Memphis Motorsports Park // From Ford

In his second race this season, Peter Shepherd, driver of the No. 50 Northern Tool + Equipment Ford F-150, sets the fastest time in Friday’s Happy Hour practice. Shepherd made his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series debut at Memphis Motorsports Park last year.

PETER SHEPHERD – No. 50 Northern Tool + Equipment Ford F-150 – “Everything went pretty well, I think. When we first went out in the first practice session, the truck wasn’t that good. We tried to improve step-by-step throughout the day and we did. I can’t thank Northern Tool + Equipment enough for their sponsorship at this race. I don’t know if you pick-up a bit by having a sponsor, but confidence wise, it’s good having a name on the side of the Ford F-150. We worked on it all day; it wasn’t easy. I can’t thank the crew enough for working so hard in putting together a great truck. My crew chief, Matt Puccia, and the whole crew did a great job. I’m probably not the easiest guy to work with right now since I having very little experience. I can’t thank them enough for getting it right for me.”

THIS IS YOUR SECOND RACE THIS SEASON SINCE LAST YEAR, MILWAUKEE WAS A SHORT AND FLAT TRACK AND MEMPHIS IS A LITTLE BIT LONGER WITH BANKING. “This track is a little different than most short tracks. It’s a big short track, but it runs like a short track. It is kind of what I grew-up on so it’s too out of the ordinary for me.”

MATT PUCCIA – No. 50 - CREW CHIEF – ON TODAY’S PRACTICE “I think we had a pretty good day today considering last week we were a bit unfortunate and had some problems with the truck. This week started off in the first practice and it wasn’t quite right, but we talked about it and worked on it to get it right. In the second practice, the truck stared off pretty good, we made a few adjustments and got it running pretty good. We put a set of stickers there in the end for a mock qualifying run. So hopefully, we’ll get a good qualifying run tomorrow. We hope to get a good starting position tomorrow and keep the Northern Tool + Equipment Ford F-150 running up front and away from trouble.”

WILL TEMPERATURE BE A FACTOR HERE? “Temperature is always an issue, especially here in Memphis. We’ve learned that our trucks turn better when the sun goes down. Hopefully, the conditions will be similar to where we are tonight and we’ll keep the truck where it is right now, because I think we’ve got it set-up to where it can compete.”