Mooresville, N.C. (July 11, 2005) Blake Feese arrived at Kentucky Speedway, with goals of completing the 225-mile NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race and recording a top-15 finish for Billy Ballew Motorsports. Feese achieved both of his goals by running every lap and finishing in the 15th position in the No. 15 ditech.com Chevrolet Silverado.

After consulting with his Hendrick Motorsports teammate, Kyle Busch, for some helpful information, Feese took to the 1.5-mile track for practice. Feese initially worked on getting comfortable to the different type of vehicle he has been accustomed to this 2005 season. Feese, a Hendrick Motorsports development driver, has been sharing driving duties in Hendrick's Busch Series effort. After a few laps, Feese worked on what changes he felt would help the No. 15 ditech.com Chevy. After several shock, spring, and trackbar changes, the team felt they had the truck setup for qualifying and the race, since following qualifying the trucks would be impounded.

Feese qualified the No. 15 ditech.com Chevy Silverado in the 30th position, complaining the truck was still a bit too loose. When the green flag waved, Feese set his sights on the front. With the air pressures up on his four tires and the sun setting for the evening changing the track conditions, Feese and the No. 15 were now comfortable and making passes on his competitors. By lap 10, Feese was up to 26th place and when the first caution came on lap 45, he was up to the 19th position.

"The truck is good," said Feese. "It's a little free in, but this thing's pretty sporty." Feese brought the No. 15 ditech.com Chevy to the attention of his crew during the first caution and took on four tires and fuel. The only change they made was a slight air pressure adjustment to the right front tire. The crew gained two spots during the stop and sent Feese on his way for the restart. Following the restart on lap 50, the lapped vehicle of Boris Said, slid into the path of the No. 15 and Feese hit him in the rear, causing Said to spin around. Thanks to fast instincts, Feese was able to go high on the outside and avoid receiving any more contact and damage.

"He moved up two lanes," explains Feese. "He slid up right in front of me. I couldn't get on the brakes without taking myself out." Feese brought his machine to pit road to have crew chief Ritchie Wauters and the crew assess the damage to the nose. Several members of the team jumped on the front end to get the nose pushed down. They were able to repair the damage and felt the truck hadn't gained any significant loss to restrict their progress.

Feese went back on the track and restarted in 19th position on lap 57. A caution immediately followed on lap 58, while Feese had already made up three positions and was in 16th place. After another caution on lap 65, Feese had moved the No. 15 ditech.com Chevy to the 14th spot. The caution flag waved once again on lap 78 and Feese radioed in that the truck was not turning well enough from the entry to the center of the corners. Wauters called for the trackbar to be raised three times, which would help getting in and not shove the nose, and some gas. During the next caution on lap 105, Feese said the trackbar adjustment didn't work and he was still too loose. He pitted once again for the trackbar back down, four sticker tires, and gas. The truck was back at the settings they had started the race. With 40 laps remaining in the event, Feese radioed, "I'll give you all I got."

Feese pushed himself to the end and was able to pull up to the 15th position by the time the checkered flag waved. "Thanks guys for everything," said Feese following the race. "Thank you for your hard work and the opportunity. Had I known a little more about these trucks, I could've helped you out more with feedback. I'll do better for next time. We just never had the front turning. I had a good feel for what the No. 15 ditech.com Chevy wanted, and Ritchie made the changes from what I had told him. I had a good time, finished in the top-15 and achieved my goal. I just have to thank Billy Ballew Motorsports and this whole team and for the support of ditech.com allowing me to compete. I hope to be able to do it again."

Billy Ballew Motorsports dropped to fifth position in the owners points standings, but by only one point from fourth place. The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series takes a week off after six weeks in a row then heads to Memphis Motorsports Park on July 23.