• Shelby grabbed a 22nd place finish in Nashville.
• Shelby will start the Nashville race in 22nd.
• Shelby was 29th in opening practice at Nashville and 26th in Happy Hour.
• Photos from ORP CTS race

Howard Enters Nashville on Strength of First Top-5 Finish

Shelby Howard enters Saturday’s Toyota Tundra 200 at Nashville Superspeedway on the strength of his first top-5 finish of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season.

Two weeks ago, Howard finished 5th at Indy in front of his hometown fans. “It meant a lot to me to do well in front of many friends and family who came out and supported me,” Howard said. “Their support has been tremendous. But I’m happiest for the guys on this No. 13 FarmPaint.com team, because they’ve been working their tails off for me. Our finish at ORP is confirmation that we’re making progress. We’re a young team, and we’ve come a long way since the season started. We continue to grow and get better, and I believe good things are in store for us around the corner.” Howard’s other top-10 finish this season was at Mansfield, where he finished 6th.

Howard knows strong results at Nashville would go a long way toward establishing the momentum he seeks. “It would be huge if we can come out of here with another top-10 run,” said Howard. “It’s a great place to race, but it can be difficult to pass here. We just have to try to put ourselves in the best position we can, and see if we can be right there at the end of the race. We’re excited to see what we can do on Saturday.”