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NASCAR Winston Cup CMT 300 Report: Ted Musgrave

16 September 1997

 #16 Ted Musgrave, Family Channel/Primestar Ford Thunderbird
 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
 CMT 300 Race Report
 New Hampshire International Speedway
 September 14, 1997
 
              TED MUSGRAVE RACE RECAP: CMT 300
 
LOUDON, NH - As the 1997 Winston Cup season slowly dwindles to its
conclusion, all teams are trying to sift through the finalization of
"Silly Season" details and their rippling effects to make the most out
of the remaining few races. Roush Racing is certainly no different, as
we announced both a third Truck team as well as a fifth, count 'em,
five, Winston Cup team with driver Johnny Benson, Jr. Musgrave and
Co., are, however, unfazed, and are looking forward to more quality,
front-running performances this year.  Yesterday's race at Loudon was
almost flawless; as the race wore on, Musgrave just kept getting
better and better, finally finding himself in second place half way
through the race. However, the car's battery had already started to
fade by lap 170, due to alternator failure, and by the last third of
the race, Musgrave was forced to pit under green for new juice as it
finally faded altogether. He went, therefore, from second to 36th in a
matter of five laps, and finished 30th after late-race wrecks took
more cars out of contention. He remains ninth in the overall point
standings.

"It's no use crying over things like this," said Musgrave. "I really
feel like pulling out the rest of my hair, though. We had a great race
car, a great race strategy and basically a great race, but just like
the rest of this year has been, we just don't have any luck. We keep
looking ahead to the 3 (Dale Earnhardt) car and the 18 (Bobby Labonte)
(sitting fifth and sixth in the overall points), and we keep running
better than they do, but we just keep getting caught up in all sorts
of things. We did find a good set up for New Hampshire, though, which
is better than I can say for us in the July race. So on to Dover."


By Roush Racing Public Relations