Scott Riggs

Fontana, Calif. (Feb. 22, 2009) – Scott Riggs was clearly disappointed with the undesired results in only his second race behind the wheel of the No. 36 Red Bank Outfitters Toyota in Sunday’s Auto Club 500 at Auto Club Speedway.

Despite losing nine laps early in the race as a result of a fuel pump failure, Riggs and the Tommy Baldwin-led team kept a can-do attitude and logged a hard-earned 36th-place finish.

In Friday afternoon’s time trails, the Bahama, N.C., native navigated the 2-mile speedway in 40.062 seconds (179.721 mph), posting the 36th-fastest qualifying time overall and fifth of the “go-or-go-home-teams.”

The 43-car field took the green flag just after 5 p.m. EST, before an estimated crowd of 78,000. Riggs worked his way up to 32nd before rain slowed the field on lap seven. Two right-side tires and fuel were in order and Riggs restarted 27th on lap 22.

Riggs continued to race in and around the top 30 before reporting that he was losing fuel pressure on lap 67 of the 250 lap event.

The 38-year-old driver was forced behind the wall while the No. 36 crew diagnosed and fixed the problem. The Red Bank Outfitters Toyota spent nine laps in the garage and was listed 41st when he got back on the racing surface.

Baldwin and the No. 36 Red Bank Outfitters team never gave up and continued to improve the handling on the blue and white machine. Perseverance paid off and Riggs was able to grab five positions and cross the finish line 36th.

Matt Kenseth held off Jeff Gordon to earn his second points-paying NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory of the season. Kyle Busch, Greg Biffle and Kurt Busch rounded out the top-five finishers.

Next weekend, the NASCAR Sprint Series travels to Sin City for its third stop on the 36-race tour.

The Shelby 427 from Las Vegas Motor Speedway will be televised live on FOX Sun., March 1 beginning at 3:30 p.m. EST and broadcast live on the Performance Racing Network and Sirius/XM Satellite Radio. Qualifying will be televised live on Speed Fri., Feb. 27 at 6:30 p.m. EST.

SCOTT RIGGS QUOTE:
“This was a disappointing day for the No. 36 Red Bank Outfitters Toyota. We had a top 25 car and something happened to the fuel pump. It’s a little frustrating that we had something small like that keep us from a good finish. I am hoping for better luck next weekend in Vegas.”