CHRISTIANSBURG, VA :: Derrick Lancaster had a strong run at Kingsport Speedway on Friday night and challenged for the win before being wrecked by a competitor.  Lancaster entered the race with a reserved mentality, exercising patience and taking care of the car.  He was running second when he was turned but rebounded for a top-ten finish.

“I want to thank Robert Pressley for inviting us to come down here,” said Lancaster.  “This is a jungle.  Everyone told us to save our stuff.  We weren’t fast in qualifying and the car wouldn’t hook up and spun real bad off the corner in qualifying.  Then we came back in the race and they told me to be easy for 30-40 laps so I just rode and picked them off as I could.  I got all the way to second.  I’ve always raced everyone with respect.”

Lancaster qualified 16th with a 15.757 second lap but he was saving his tires for the race.  He kept his nose clean and rode around for the first 40 laps before making his moves.  He survived the carnage going on around him in the nearly two hour marathon to work his way up to second before being taken out by another car.  He managed to return to the track and finish in 10th.

“I want to congratulate all my guys,” said Lancaster.  “This was a heck of a run and a heck of a show for the fans.  I’ve got to thank this crew.  We’ve turned over a new leaf over the winter.  We’re going to race different.  I’m going to race calm and stay calm.”

Lancaster plans on returning to Kingsport again while also racing at Motor Mile Speedway and Southern National Motorsports Park where he’s racing in the Dirty Dozen championship series.

“Kingsport is a bullring,” said Lancaster.  “It’s a fun place to run.  I had a ball.  I wish we had more of these racetracks.  I love Motor Mile but the finesse and everything is gone from there.  It’s not like it used to be.  I want to come back here.  We’ll probably be back here next week before I go to Kenly on Saturday.  We’ve got to do what we got to do first.  We want to win one of these races.”

Lancaster will compete at Kingsport Speedway on Friday night, April 5th and then race at Southern National Motorsports Park on Saturday night, April 6th.