Mike Bliss and his Spectrum Controls Racing teammates, fresh off their thrilling victory at Charlotte, went to Memphis looking to maintain their momentum and notch another solid performance. Mission accomplished, as Bliss qualified fourth and then went on to finish fifth in the Sam's Town 250 on Saturday in a race that was slowed for a record number of caution flags at Memphis (13).

In the opening laps of the 250-lap event, Bliss staged a great battle with Paul Menard as they fought for the fourth position. Menard had the preferred inside line, and Bliss eventually had to let him go and fall back in line. "Don't worry about it," said crew chief Steve Addington. " Just run your line and you'll get him back."

On Lap 8, Bliss did just that and took over fourth. Martin Truex, Jr. held the lead, while Dave Blaney, Bill Elliott, Bliss and Kyle Busch rounded out the top five at Lap 15. As the leaders started to lap cars, two of them got together just in front of the leaders and the first caution flag of the day was displayed. As the leaders checked up to miss the spinning cars, Bliss inadvertently bumped Elliott from behind, and suffered minimal damage to the nose of his Chevrolet. "You've just got a little damage," said Addington. "It's definitely nothing to worry about. Just get back in your groove."

"The car feels really good going into the corners," explained Bliss. "It turns well, and it just gets a little loose when I hurry the throttle off the corner."

The race was slowed for two more cautions, and on the day's third caution-flag period on Lap 35, Truex, Jr. went to pit lane for tires and fuel. Then during the caution at Lap 50, everyone else except Blaney and Bliss pitted. Addington elected to roll the dice and protect their track position. "We can still go a long way on our fuel, Mike," said Addington. "Just do all you can to hold those guys off."

The race went back to green on Lap 55 with Blaney, Bliss, Truex, Jr., Jason Keller and Kenny Wallace in the top five. Truex, Jr. passed Bliss on Lap 60, and then Wallace followed Truex, Jr. by Bliss one lap later, dropping Bliss to fourth. A multi-car crash on Lap 62 brought out another caution with Bliss hanging on to fourth.

After the lengthy cleanup, the green flag waved on Lap 74. Keller passed Bliss on Lap 78 and then Busch and Clint Bowyer were able to get around Bliss on Lap 80. "It just takes a while for us to get going," explained Bliss.

Another caution flag on Lap 81 gave Addington the opportunity he needed to bring Bliss to the pits for four fresh tires, fuel and a wedge adjustment. "I hope you guys welded these tires on," said Bliss. "Because I plan on driving the wheels off this thing."

Bliss restarted his Rockwell Automation machine in 26th on Lap 86, and he picked off one competitor per lap until the next caution flag occurred at Lap 91 with Bliss in 20th . "We feel pretty tight right now," said Bliss.

"That's OK," said Addington. "You're still faster than anyone in front of you. Just keep hitting your marks and you'll pick them off one at a time."

The only thing slowing his forward progress was the constant caution flags. "I'm worn out," joked Bliss. "My arms hurt from the constant weaving back and forth during all of these cautions."

Whenever he had the chance, Bliss and his Rockwell Automation Chevrolet continued to march through the field, moving up to 13th by Lap 125. As the caution came out for the ninth time on Lap 129, Addington brought Bliss to the pits for tires and fuel, including an air pressure adjustment and another wedge adjustment. The team turned in a fantastic stop, moving Bliss up two positions to 11th , even though the top five cars did not pit

Bliss soldiered on, passing car after car until he was back in the top five at Lap 159 when he passed David Stremme and Ron Hornaday in the same corner. Greg Biffle pitted on Lap 160, and Bliss was up to fourth.

When the caution came out on Lap 194, Addington brought Bliss to pit lane for a final air pressure adjustment in four fresh tires and one can of fuel.

Bliss restarted on Lap 200 in 13th . Armed with fresh tires and a good handling car, Bliss steamed through the top 10 and moved up to sixth at Lap 247 when Michael Waltrip's incident brought out the race's final caution flag and setup a green-white-checkered flag scenario.