A solid, top-ten run came to an abrupt end for Marc Mitchell in the O'Reilly Auto Parts 250 at Kansas Speedway.  The rookie from Tallahassee, Fla. was involved in a crash on lap 73 which terminated the Ergon race team's best showing of the season.  Mitchell was running in fifth place at the time of the incident.

Mitchell qualified the Ergon Toyota in fifth place.  His lap of 31.915 seconds around the 1.5 mile oval scored him his best starting position of the season.

When the race got underway, Mitchell hung strong with the top-10.  He was racing in sixth place when the first caution waved, lap 25.  His truck was a tick too tight, so crew chief Doug George called him down pit lane for service.  The crew changed four tires, topped off the fuel cell and raised the track bar to loosen up Mitchell's Toyota.  He returned to the track in 11th place.

The race returned to green on lap 29.  Mitchell worked his way up to eighth place before the team's next pit stop, lap 51.  His truck was still too tight for his liking, so George called for a wedge adjustment, along with fresh right-side tires on the No. 15 machine.  Following his service, Mitchell rejoined the field in 10th place. 

Green flag action resumed on lap 56. The caution flag halted the race on lap 65, with Mitchell holding down the eighth position.  Since he pitted only twelve laps earlier, George opted to leave his driver on the track.  By not pitting, Mitchell moved up to third place for the restart.

On lap 72, the race went green again.  Mitchell quickly became involved in a four-wide battle for fifth place.  The No. 11 truck was above Mitchell and attempted to pass in front of him.  Before he cleared the No. 15 truck, the No. 11 truck tapped Mitchell’s front bumper and sent him spinning into the wall.  The Ergon Toyota sustained severe front-end damage and was forced to retire from the race.  Mitchell finished the day in a disappointing 31st place.

"We had a great truck today," said Mitchell.  "The guys did an awesome job preparing the Ergon Toyota.  It was a little bit tight driving off the corners, but we were hanging strong in the top-10.  It was only getting better as the race went on, and I know we would have been battling for a top-five finish before it was over.  Unfortunately, someone made a bad decision and wrecked us.  It's a shame, but I'm still really proud of my team. We'll be back at Charlotte and do our best to turn this around."