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