4th in happy hour!













On Saturday, October 31, 2009 Ryan Hackett and the Hackett Racing Team made their debut at the famed 2.66 mile, high banked, Talladega Superspeedway.
Although Ryan turned many heads early in the weekend he certainly did not get the finish that he and the team had hoped for.
The team unloaded their brand new paint scheme on the #76 JandRSupply.com Ford F-Series and was one of the few teams in the garage that did not have to do extensive body work on the truck after inspection.
On Friday one, two hour practice was held. Ryan made three qualifying runs by himself and after those runs the team was confident that he should not have any problem making Saturday’s race.
Ryan then went out at the end of practice and for the first time in his career got into a drafting pack as is customary at a restrictor plate Superspeedway race. Ryan was immediately able to catch on to the concept and he put up the 4th fastest practice time on the day.
The time was also fastest of any Ford in the filed and was also the fastest by a Rookie in the filed.
Later in the day Ryan qualified for the race in 26th position.
On Saturday after the green flag dropped Ryan took his time in learning the art of driving in “the draft” and held his position in the lead pack.
By lap 10 he would move up to 21st place. On lap 14 Ryan made a nice save as he jetted down pit road in order to avoid a truck in front of him that suddenly lost its engine.
On the restart Ryan would fall in behind some of the regulars of the series and continue to learn how to pass people in the draft.
He would move up and spend the next 20 laps up in the top 15. The caution flag waived again on Lap 40 and Ryan found himself in 13th place.
When he brought the truck down pit road for a two-tire change and fuel the rear tire changer noticed fluid leaking from the rear axle.
The team was forced to bring the truck behind the wall and upon closer inspection the problem was one that could not be easily fixed, causing an early end to the day.
Stay tuned on for announcement regarding Ryan’s next race.

Joe Laracuente: "Great 2009 looking forward to 2010!"