August 16, 2010
Malsam Brings Home a Hard-Fought Top-15 Finish
The NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) 'new car' made its sophomore start this weekend at the Brooklyn, Mich.-based Michigan International Speedway. As the NNS teams got set to use what they learned from the car's debut at Daytona, the No. 10 Iron Horse Jeans team unloaded a car that they knew would be fast on the race track. The car proved the team right as rookie driver, Tayler Malsam, drove the brand new chassis to an impressive 14th-place finish in the 125-lap event. This marked the team's second consecutive top-15 finish.
The race weekend began for the Iron Horse Jeans team on Thursday with two extended practice sessions. In an effort to get the team used to the 'new car,' crew chief, Stewart Cooper, asked Landon Cassill, who has experience in the Cup Series COT, to make some laps in the No. 10. After Thursday's six hour test session, the teams had another one-hour final practice session on Friday, with qualifying and the race on Saturday. A lap of 41.352- seconds was good for the 19th starting position, and as soon as the green flag waved over the 43-car field Malsam began quickly working his way inside the top-15. By lap five in the CARFAX 250, Malsam had already taken the 15th position with the help of Cassill, who was serving as spotter for the No. 10 team. As Malsam made his way around the two-mile oval, Cassill made sure to tell him his strong points on the track, and where the best place to pass the cars in front of him were.
On lap 13, Malsam, reported to Cooper on his car's handling. "It feels so loose when someone is right in front of us, which is making it hard to pass. I feel like I'm going to lose it when I'm too close to someone for too long," he reported.
On lap 26, Cooper asked his driver for another report on the car's handling.
"We aren't bad," Malsam reported. "Our entry is a little free, and we're slightly tight off".
When the field starting making green-flag pit stops, Cooper called the No. 10 to pit road on lap 38 for four tires and fuel with only an air pressure adjustment. As green-flag stops cycled through, Malsam was in the 16th position, but was worried about his car's handling.
"We are way loose in, we're loose all around. I really feel like I am about to lose it all around!"
Cooper answered his driver's concerns with only one statement.
"But you're fast, dude. I mean really fast. You're running the same lap times as the leader, just hold onto it all you can".
Malsam continued to run in the 15th position, and when the caution came out on lap 63 he reported to his crew that the No. 10 was still loose all around but was starting to come to him at the end of the long green-flag run. The Iron Horse Jeans Toyota came to pit road under caution for four tires, fuel, air pressure and track bar adjustments, and returned to the race track in the 15th position. Immediately upon the restart on lap 67, Malsam reported the changes to the car had made it way to tight. As Malsam fought the tight condition he did not say much on the radio, but on lap 79 Cooper reported to his driver he was in the 15th position and his lap times were improving.
The Iron Horse Jeans Camry continued to loosen up for the driver, and Malsam was fighting hard for positions. By lap 88 the No. 10 took over the 12th spot. Cooper called the No. 10 to pit road under green-flag conditions on lap 102 for the night's third pit stop, directing the Iron Horse Jeans crew to change four tires and pack the Camry full of fuel. The Iron Horse Jeans Toyota returned to the track in the 17th position. When the night's second and final caution flag waved on lap 113 Malsam was in the 15th position, and reported to his crew that he needed a little more rear grip.
Cooper called his driver to pit road when it opened to change four tires and go half a round down on the track bar with no fuel added to keep nose weight in the No. 10 Camry. For the restart on lap 116 the No. 10 was in the 15th position with nine laps remaining in the race. When the leader took the checkered flag on lap 125, Malsam was in the 14th position just ahead of teammate Brian Scott. This is Malsam's second top-15 finish in a row and his fourth in nine starts with Braun Racing.
"I was really happy with our Iron Horse Jeans Toyota today! We are definitely still working on the handling of these 'new cars', but they are really fun to race," said Malsam following the CARFAX 250. "We had a solid finish today, but our car was faster than our finishing position showed. It was great to work with Landon [Cassill] as my spotter because he knows how the cars handle which really helped when he was coaching me along. I want to thank everyone at Braun Racing for bringing such a great brand new car to the track, and I'm excited for the next time we are in the 'new car' on the race track."
Next Stop: The NASCAR Nationwide Series next heads to Bristol Motor Speedway for the Food City 250. The Friday night race is scheduled to begin at 7 pm EST and will be broadcast LIVE on ESPN and on PRN Radio affiliates. The green flag is scheduled to drop at 8 pm.
CARFAX 250 Official Results
1. Brad Keselowski
2. Carl Edwards
3. Kyle Busch
4. Justin Allgaier
5. Paul Menard
8. Reed Sorenson (No. 32 Dollar General/Braun Racing)
14. Tayler Malsam (No. 10 Iron Horse Jeans/Braun Racing)
15. Brian Scott (No. 11 AccuDoc/Braun Racing)
34. Jason Leffler (No. 38 Great Clips/Braun Racing)
To learn more about Tayler Malsam got to www.taylermalsam.com
July 19, 2010
Malsam Battles for Fourth NASCAR Top-20 Finish
Tayler Malsam and the No. 10 Iron Horse Jeans team fought hard to bring home their fourth top-20 finish in six starts in the NASCAR Nationwide Series this weekend at Gateway International Raceway. Malsam battled back from a tight race car and radio complications to finish 18th in Saturday night's Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers 250.
Gateway marked the first in a trio of Midwestern stand-alone events for the NASCAR Nationwide Series teams. Malsam knew this weekend was an opportunity to shine with minimal competition from Sprint Cup Series regulars. The one-day show began early Saturday morning with two practice sessions, and continued with afternoon qualifying following the postponed NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race. In the St. Louis afternoon heat Malsam laid down a lap of 34.259 seconds to qualify his No. 10 Iron Horse Jeans Toyota in the 20th position to start the race.
As the drivers got set to go racing under the lights of Gateway International Raceway, Malsam was confident he could start working his way through the field in the No. 10 Camry. When the green flag dropped and Malsam took to the track, he immediately felt his Iron Horse Jeans Camry was too tight. "This thing is really, really tight. It's tight all around especially in the corners," said Malsam of his Toyota.
As he continued to ride around the 1.25-mile oval, Malsam's Camry did not get any better, and on lap 30 he radioed to his crew that the Iron Horse Jeans Toyota was still too tight. "We really need to loosen this thing up. I mean I can't even get it to turn. It doesn't want to turn," reported Malsam.
By lap 42, Malsam had gone a lap down to the leaders, but luckily on lap 44 the caution flag waved. Fortunately, Malsam was in position to capture the "Lucky Dog" award and get his lap back. On lap 47, Malsam was finally able to come to pit road to loosen up his Camry. Crew Chief, Stewart Cooper, called for the Iron Horse Jeans crew to put on four fresh Goodyear tires, pack the No.10 full of fuel and make air pressure, track bar, and wedge adjustments. As the lucky dog, Malsam, returned to the track in the 23rd position at the tail end of the longest line. By lap 68, the No. 10 was listed in the 22nd position and Malsam reported the changes Cooper made to the car had helped the handling.
On lap 93, bad luck struck the No. 10 when the driver reported he could not hear anyone over his radio. Malsam continued to wheel his Toyota around the track with little help over the radio as he tried to adjust the connections in the race car. Fortunately the adjustments slightly helped, and on lap 113 he heard the call to pit road by Cooper. The Iron Horse crew changed four tires and filled the No. 10 with Sunoco fuel, while Malsam was instructed to switch to his back up radio.
Radio problems persisted for Malsam, and when the caution was once again waved on lap 142, Cooper instructed crew member, RJ Beshore, to go over the wall and change the driver's radio. When the Iron Horse Jeans Camry made it into the pit stall the crew changed four tires and filled the car with fuel, while Malsam dropped his window net so that Beshore could change the radio.
The caution flag waved for a third time on lap 151, and a fourth time on lap 178. The No. 10 was called to pit road, and after changing four tires and filling the car with fuel Malsam returned to the track in the 20th position. On lap 196 the No. 12 reported a left rear tire going flat. As he dropped back he made contact with the No. 10 and both cars spun. The Iron Horse Jeans Toyota sustained damage to the left front, and came to pit road under caution so the No. 10 crew could repair damage. After the crew hammered out as much fender damage as possible, Malsam returned to the track under caution still listed in the 20th position.
When the white flag waved signaling one to go, the leaders got together on the frontstretch sending the No. 22 spinning and catching much of the field, including the No. 10, up in its wake. Still, the Iron Horse Jeans Toyota ended the long and hot night in the 18th position for Malsam's fourth top-20 finish in six starts with Braun Racing and Iron Horse Jeans.
"We had a tough night in the No. 10 Iron Horse Jeans Toyota tonight," said Malsam. "With all the radio issues we were having it was hard to give Stewart [Cooper] the feedback he needed to fix the car, but he was able to make changes that helped us anyway. I am really proud of all the guys for battling hard tonight! We'll come back in the Iron Horse Jeans Camry in Iowa, and hopefully post another good finish in the No. 10."
Next Stop: The NASCAR Nationwide Series next heads to O'Reilly Raceway Park for the KROGER 200 benefitting Riley Hospital for Children. The Saturday night race is scheduled to begin at 7:30 pm EST and will be broadcast LIVE on ESPN and on MRN Radio affiliates. The green flag is scheduled to drop at 8 pm.
Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers 250 Official Results
1. Carl Edwards
2. Reed Sorenson (No. 32 Dollar General/Braun Racing)
3. Trevor Bayne
4. Paul Menard
5. Steve Wallace
6. Brian Scott (No. 11 AccuDoc/Braun Racing)
18. Tayler Malsam (No. 10 Iron Horse Jeans/Braun Racing)
23. Jason Leffler (No. 38 Great Clips/Braun Racing)
To learn more about Tayler Malsam got to www.taylermalsam.com
July 7, 2010
Malsam Takes Another Top-20 at Daytona
On a steamy summer night in Daytona Beach, Florida Tayler Malsam fought an extremely loose condition to bring home his third top-20 finish in five NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) starts in the No. 10 Iron Horse Jeans Toyota. The second visit to Daytona International Speedway in 2010 for the NNS teams served as the debut of the series 'new car', and gave a preview of the racing that is to come when the car is implemented full-time in 2011. The Iron Horse Jeans team started the week optimistic, as the No. 10 had speed as soon as it hit the track. After Wednesday's open test session and practice on Thursday the team knew they had a great 'new car' to race under the lights.
In his first ever qualifying effort at Daytona in a Nationwide Series car, Malsam laid down a lap of 50.081 seconds, good for the 25th starting position. As the sun set over the 2.5-mile tri-oval, the green flag waved and Malsam got to work wheeling his No. 10 Camry around the historic superspeedway. On lap three, as the crowd raised three fingers in the air to pay tribute to the late Dale Earnhardt, Malsam was battling to stay inside the top-25 but said little on the radio. When the night's first caution flag waved on lap 6, Malsam reported to veteran crew chief, Stewart Cooper, his Camry was stable. "The car is a little free, but I'm just hanging out. I don't want to push it yet," Malsam said.
Under caution, Cooper called his driver to pit road for four tires and fuel. The No. 10 Iron Horse Jeans Toyota returned to the track in the 28th position. When the second caution flag of the night was displayed on lap 33, Malsam, had fought his way back into the top 25, listed in the 23rd position. When asked about his car Malsam reported the No. 10 was extremely loose, and he felt as though he was about to lose it. Malsam was again called to pit road, and to counteract the loose condition the Iron Horse Jeans crew changed four tires, filled the Camry with fuel, made a slight air pressure adjustment, went two rounds up on the track bar and took wedge out of the right rear. After the pit stop, lengthened by the large amount of changes, the No. 10 restarted the race in the 29th position.
As the race went on Malsam reported the car's handling was getting much worse. "I can't stay on the bottom of the track. I don't know why, but I can't keep the rear end under the car," Malsam reported.
Cooper suggested to his driver that the changes on the previous pit stop had hurt the car's handling, and promised they would reverse them under the next caution. By lap 60 Malsam, listed in the 25th position, was reporting continued deterioration of the car's handling.
"I'm not sure what to do. I can't get close enough to the car in front to draft because I feel like I am going to wreck them. We are so loose," said Malsam.
Cooper encouraged his rookie driver to keep digging. Nine laps later the caution flag once again waved and the No.10 was finally called to pit road to make more adjustments. The lap 70 pit stop gave a chance for the Iron Horse Jeans crew to change four tires, pack the Camry with fuel, go five rounds down of the track bar and remove wedge from the car. On the lap 74 restart, the Iron Horse Jeans Toyota was listed in the 28th position.
The changes helped the handling of the car and by lap 79 Malsam had made his way into the 24th position. The No. 10 stayed inside the top 25 and when the caution flag waved for the last time on lap 95 Malsam praised the changes the Iron Horse crew made on the previous stop. Malsam was called to pit road for the last time on lap 97. The No. 10 crew changed four tires, filled the car with fuel, and made a slight air pressure adjustment. When the race restarted for the green-white-checkered finish Malsam only had one thing to say, "I have a feeling things are about to get crazy."
Malsam took the checkered flag of the Subway Jalapeno 250 in the 18th position claiming his third top-20 finish in five Nationwide Series starts.
"I'm happy we could bring home another top-20 this weekend. We fought a loose condition all night, and that hurt the way I was able to draft. Stewart worked hard to make the changes to help to No. 10's handling, and I'm really proud of how hard the Iron Horse Jeans crew worked," said Malsam. "I'm glad I got the first race in the new car under my belt, and I can't wait to get the new cars back on track again at Michigan!"
Next Stop: The NASCAR Nationwide Series next heads to Chicagoland Speedway for the Dollar General 300 powered by Coca-Cola. The Friday night race is scheduled to begin at 7:30 pm EST and will be broadcast LIVE on ESPN and on MRN Radio affiliates. The green flag is scheduled to drop at 8 pm.
Subway Jalapeno 250 Powered by Coca-Cola Official Results
1. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
2. Joey Logano
3. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
4. Brad Keselowski
5. Kevin Harvick
14. Jason Leffler (No. 38 Great Clips/Braun Racing)
18. Tayler Malsam (No. 10 Iron Horse Jeans/ Braun Racing)
22. Reed Sorenson (No. 32 Dollar General/Braun Racing)
30. Brian Scott (No. 11 Great Clips/ Braun Racing)
To learn more about Tayler Malsam got to www.taylermalsam.com
June 30, 2010
Iron Horse Jeans to Race in Daytona 2010
Iron Horse Jeans™ announced today that Tayler Malsam and the Iron Horse Jeans No.10 car will be racing in Daytona at the Subway Jalapeño 250 on July 2nd, 2010.
The Subway Jalapeño 250 Powered by Coca-Cola is when the NASCAR Nationwide Series stars will do battle for 250 miles and 100 laps under the lights at Daytona. Nationwide Series veterans such as Steve Wallace, Jason Leffler and Kenny Wallace will face off against Sprint Cup Series stars such as Carl Edwards, Clint Bowyer, Kevin Harvick and Dale Earnhardt Jr. for a coveted Daytona victory. This year Iron Horse Jeans will be there with Braun Racing and Tayler Malsam driving the No.10 to make their mark in Daytona’s NASCAR history.
“We are looking forward to a great race in Daytona this weekend with the debut of NASCAR’s new car and of course our new jeans,” commented Mark Wentura, President and co-founder of Iron Horse Jeans. Race fans will get to see the Iron Horse Jeans Show car and meet Tayler at our retail partner Skips Western Wear on Thursday and Friday. Skips is right across from the track at 1320 W. International Speedway Blvd. in Daytona Beach.
“The entire crew is excited about having Iron Horse Jeans being part of our new nationwide team as we move into the summer races. The jeans look great, feel great and really fit! We plan on giving Wrangler a real run for their money,” commented Tayler.
In addition to being excited for his first ever Nationwide Series start at the historic Daytona International Speedway, Tayler Malsam can’t wait to hit the surf. The 21-year-old rookie, who has been surfing since he was 13, plans to spend his time away from the track catching some waves at the famed Daytona Beach with some friends.
Iron Horse Jeans is a new denim alternative - an exclusive jeans brand that offers designer jeans styles at affordable prices with superior features. Jean wearers of all ages have come to know and love Iron Horse Jeans vintage washes, denim finishes, 11 and 12 ounce fabrics, and customized details such as half inch double needle stitching and copper tin hardware trim.
Since the launch of Iron Horse Jeans in September of 2009, the company has been sponsoring numerous rodeo events, Arabian horse shows, trade shows and will now be a force in NASCAR. Iron Horse Jeans is now available in many retail locations across the United States and Canada.
The Iron Horse Jean Company was formed to fill an obvious gap in fashion jean apparel. That’s why they have geared up to deliver the hottest fabrications in jeans, knitwear and belt accessories, reflecting what today’s consumer wants and needs. Our fabrics, designs and details are based on years of experience working with the demanding mainstream market.
To learn more about Tayler Malsam got to www.taylermalsam.com
June 13, 2010
Iron Horse Jeans' NASCAR Debut Kicks Off with a Bang at the Kentucky Meijer 300
Iron Horse Jeans made their debut in the NASCAR Nationwide series this past weekend with Tayler Malsam in their #10 car owned by Braun Racing at Kentucky Speedway. This was Malsam's second career Nationwide Series start. Tayler finished in the 11th spot in the previous race at Nashville.
Malsam was having a good run until lap 111, when the No.10 got together with No. 88 and hit the wall hard in turn two. Malsam immediately radioed to his crew that he was okay, but with the amount of damage on the car he knew the night was over. The Iron Horse Jeans Toyota Camry finished the night in the 35th position, 89-laps down to the leaders. "Our first race was incredible and we are just thankful that Tayler is okay and proud that he is ready to get back next week" said Mark Wentura, President and co-founder of Iron Horse Jeans.
"The car got really tight getting into the corner and I made a mistake. I took myself out and almost took out the No. 88. I am upset for these guys. They worked really hard tonight and our No. 10 Iron Horse Jeans Toyota was really good. I'm looking forward to getting back in the car next weekend at Road America," said Malsam.
Malsam will return to the seat of the No. 10 next Saturday for the Bucyrus 200 presented by Menards at Road America.
"The entire crew is excited about having Iron Horse Jeans being part of our new Nationwide team as we move into to summer races, they look great, feel great and really fit!" commented Tayler, "we plan on giving Wrangler a real run for their money!"
Iron Horse Jeans is a new denim alternative - an exclusive jeans brand that offers designer jeans styles at affordable prices with superior features. Jean wearers of all ages have come to know and love Iron Horse Jeans vintage washes, denim finishes, 11 and 12 ounce fabrics, and customized details like half inch double needle stitching and copper tin hardware trim.
Since the launch of Iron Horse Jeans in September of 2009 the company has been sponsoring numerous rodeo events, Arabian horse shows, trade shows and will now be a force in NASCAR. Iron Horse Jeans is now available in many retail locations across the United States and Canada.
