By: Zach Catanzareti, Staff Writer
For the first time since his victory at Talladega in the spring, Spencer Gallagher left the track with a top-five finish.
With a fifth-place result in Saturday’s Bar Harbor 200 from Dover International Speedway, Gallagher contended near the front throughout the whole 200-lapper in his GMS Racing No. 23.
“That was all car,” Gallagher told Kickin’ The Tires. “The dumb-dumb holding the wheel needs some help. It was a great day for our Chevy. We had really good speed off the truck, good speed in qualifying and damn good speed in the race.”
His third top five of the year, Gallagher and team have been leaps and bounds above their 2017 performance, where they scored only one top 10 all year. And though Gallagher’s playoff berth was scrapped following a failed drug test in April, momentum is still a valuable thing.
“That’s a great showing for us, a great day for me,” he said. “I had a good deal of racing with those guys. That’s a great example of what this program is capable of.”
With the racing line slowly moving higher across the long green-flag runs on Saturday, Gallagher was seen flirting with the outside wall. “Searching higher” was the key to an easier day.
“I’ve found in life that sometimes, if you’re lacking a little grip, just put the right side against the wall and hold it wide open,” he said. “I’m a top-feeder, it’s just what I do. Me and Brendan Gaughan, it must be something in the water with us Vegas boys.
“The way I figure, it’s usually the least rubbered-up line, so there’s grip. And it’s usually the least populated line, fewer people get in your way. I’m always one of the first to shuffle the groove up, gets me some clean racetrack.”
Gallagher is also one of the first to finish on these concrete racetracks. Following a top-five run at the half-mile concrete short track of Bristol in the spring, Gallagher enjoys this type of track surface. And his team does, too.
“At least I’m a Bristol-and-Dover driver,” he said. “The concrete tracks have treated us well at GMS this year. It’s good to see the outing we had in the spring. I credit Chad Norris, the team at GMS. Those are the guys who make the cars fast, I just get to hold the gas down and turn it left.”
Gallagher will return to the Camping World Truck series next weekend at Talladega, running the No. 2 for GMS.
“Busting out the ‘ole No. 2 truck,” he said. “I think we’re going to have a real murderer’s row there.”