Brad Leighton Rallies To Seventh Place Finish At NHIS
Loudon, NH — Brad Leighton made a late-race rally to finish the Aubuchon Hardware 125 at New Hampshire International Speedway in the seventh position. Leighton’s No. 55 Irving Oil Chevrolet was overheating in the final laps of the event, but it didn’t stop the master of the ‘Magic Mile’ from posting a top-10 finish.
“We were tight all day long,” said Leighton. “We pitted for tires and made an adjustment and we gave it all we had. We were running 280 degrees the last 12 laps so that isn’t good. I didn’t want to push it too hard because I didn’t want to destroy the motor for seventh place. We had a top-10 car today, but we really had to work for it.”
In practice, Leighton was posting speeds fast enough to earn him a spot among the ten quickest cars. However, later in the day, Leighton found himself 14th on the starting grid after a qualifying effort of 30.649 seconds – only 3/10th’s of a second off the pace of the pole-sitter.
“It’s a tight field. The top-six cars are less than a tenth of a second off each other. Clearly, we would have liked a starting spot a little closer to the front, but we’re alright. It’s an impound race and you have to think of the long run. Our car is set up for the race, and that’s what really matters.”
Leighton proved right from the get-go he was going to be a force to reckon with. He pressured Mike Olsen for position, but was getting nowhere. On the following circuit, Leighton went under need Olsen and Eddie MacDonald to go three-wide and took over the 12th spot.
As the field went under a long green flag run, Leighton realized his car was too tight to make any progress through the field. It was no question they were going to pit when the caution came out at lap 33. They came down pit road and made adjustments before returning to the track, and re-pitted the following circuit for a fresh set of tires.
After his two pits stops, Leighton lined up 13th for the restart at lap 40. Not much racing went on before the yellow flew again and lined the field up for another restart at lap 45. When racing resumed, it appeared as if Leighton didn’t get going as fast as some of the others car, but in reality, Leighton was just unaware of a new rule.
“I was just keeping my position until I came across the start/finish line when in fact I really didn’t need to do that. I definitely lost two or three spots not passing on the left today,” said Leighton. “It used to be you couldn’t pass on the left until you went across the start/finish line, but I guess they’ve changed that and you can now pass on the left at the point of firing for the restart. I wasn’t aware they had changed the rule.”
Leighton and his Irving Oil race team kept plugging, but decided they would need to pit for adjustments one last time at lap 71. The pit stop relegated Leighton to 20th in the field for the restart at lap 75. The team kept plugging, and in a 50-lap span, made up enough ground to finish the race in seventh.
“I have to hand it to the guys on this team,” said Leighton. “They give everything 110 percent, and the effort paid off for us today with a top-10 finish.”
Sources: Penny Aicardi/NASCAR BES PR
Late Race Tangle Relegates Olsen To
Loudon, NH — Mike Olsen, who was coming back from a handling issue, tangled with the 4 car of Jesus Hernandez five laps before the conclusion of the
“The 4 car and I got together going into three. I was on the bottom of it. I think he held me down a little bit, and I got down where it was flat and got loose a little bit. I got him sideways and I went to the bottom to miss it and we came together nose to nose. When we hit, I actually straightened him up.”
Olsen started the race from 13th and had to maintain that spot through the early running. The “Little Trees” Chevrolet was tight and an adjustment was needed. A caution came out following a long green flag run at lap 33 allowing the team to pit.
“We came in and Harry Norcross, my crew chief, freed it up,” said Olsen. “After that I was free, and I thought it would come to us by tightening up a little bit, but it never did. I was actually a little quicker when I was tight.”
Olsen reported to the crew during the race that he just couldn’t use the throttle. Nevertheless, Olsen was sitting just outside the top-10 for a restart at lap 119. He was confident he could pick up another spot and survive the day with a decent finish. That was, until turn three when the contact with Hernandez occurred.
“I wasn’t sure if I had a right front go flat so I didn’t want to drive it too hard. I just wanted to try and finish the race.”
But it was tire rub that Olsen was feeling. Everytime the “Little Trees” Chevrolet drove into a corner, the tire would rub against the fender. Too much pressure and the tire could have blown. Olsen’s assessment to take it easy was right on target.
“You can’t be off much in this field. The competition is just so close. Unfortunately, we were a little bit off today. It’s frustrating for everyone on this team. We’re competitors and we want to win. It’s as simple as that.”
Olsen will get one final chance next week when the series embarks on Dover International Speedway for the season finale. The race will also mark Olsen’s last regular season race with Car-Freshner Corporation and “Little Trees”.
“It’ll definitely be bitter-sweet when we go to
James Pritchard Jr. 24th at NHIS in Mannings USA Dodge
Loudon, NH — When the Mannings USA car was loaded up after its last race, it was a pretty banged up Chevrolet Monte Carlo. Three weeks later, it was unloaded at New Hampshire International Speedway as a smooth and shiny Dodge Charger. With the new body, NASCAR Grand National Division, Busch East Series rookie James Pritchard Jr. brought home a 24th-place finish in the Aubuchon Hardware 125 at the Magic Mile.
Several long days in the shop produced the new Dodge, which looked to have a promising debut as Pritchard posted the twentieth fastest lap of 41 cars entered in Thursday afternoon’s practice. But qualifying wasn’t as good as the James Pritchard Motorsports team had hoped, timing in 33rd with a fast lap of 31.628 seconds (120.425 MPH).
“We had some brake issues that we had to sort out in the beginning of practice,” he said. “After that, the car was good and I was happy with it. We did some mock qualifying runs and we were real optimistic. We made a couple changes for qualifying and I don’t know what went wrong. They were minor changes, real little stuff. We can’t do anything about it now, and it’s going to be good for the race since it’s nice and free. As long as we don’t burn up the tires we’ll be in good shape.”
The handling problems continued into Friday’s 125-lap race. Pritchard pitted twice under the race’s second caution for gas and adjustments, and again under the next caution for more chassis changes. He had gone two laps down, but got one of those back just under halfway, and maintained that position to the finish, where he was scored 24th.
“The car was way too loose in the beginning, so we came in and adjusted on it,” he said after the race. “It felt good for the first five or ten laps after that, but then it just went away on me. We had the left front control arm bushing go on us, then we picked up a vibration in the right front late, and the brakes were pretty much gone, so I just rode it out to the end.”
While NHIS didn’t return the result that Pritchard was looking for, he only has a week before finding redemption as the Busch East Series wraps up its 2007 season at the high banks of Dover International Speedway. Practice and qualifying will be held on Thursday with the race starting at 4:30 p.m. live on HDNet television.
“The car’s in one piece, which is a good thing, because we can go to Dover next week,” he said. “We have a lot of changes to make, but we’ll get them done and get ready to go fast.”
For more information, visit http://www.jpm41.com.
Sources: Alan Claffie//NASCAR BES PR
First Lap Accident Ruins Jeff Anton’s NHIS Race
Loudon, NH — Jeff Anton entered Friday’s NASCAR Grand National Division, Busch East Series race at New Hampshire International Speedway more confident than he had been in his previous six visits to the one-mile oval. Qualifying didn’t go according to plan, but he was prepared to make up ground. An innocent victim of a first turn, first lap accident quickly put a stop to those thoughts, leaving Anton to try and get as good a finish as he could with a damaged car, and finished 29th.
Anton, who finished fourteenth at NHIS in June, reworked some of his Baran Institute of Technology/Engineered Floors Inc. Chevrolet’s chassis to run better, but practice showed that those changes didn’t help. He was 30th-fastest in practice but improved to 25th in qualifying.
“We knew what we needed to get the car working better here, and we made a bunch of changes in the shop,” he said. “It turns out that they didn’t help. We came here with a good setup for the June race when it’s a little warmer than now. We missed it a little bit this weekend. We were struggling in practice and the car wasn’t really responding to any changes. We made some truck arm adjustments before qualifying, and that freed up the car quite a bit, going from too tight in practice to really free in qualifying. That surprised me on my run. The car’s on the free side, but that’ll make it a good car for the race. We aren’t really sure where it’s going to go, but it’ll be good to start.”
While Anton’s car may have been good to start the race, the start of the race was not good to Anton’s car. Trouble actually started behind him, but it quickly caught up to him. One car that started two rows behind Anton jumped the start and entered the first turn alongside Anton. The two banged doors, Anton went up the hill and then collided with a third car.
“The 16 car jumped the initial start like an idiot, thinking he was going to win the race on the first lap,” Anton said. “He made us three-wide going into the first turn and that was it.”
The damage was severe to Anton’s No. 30 car. The toe was knocked off and the left front fender was heavily damaged. He pitted for repairs and while the car was still driveable, it was hurt.
“After we pitted a couple times, we weren’t that bad,” Anton explained. “We put a new left front tire and got off pit road just before the leaders took the restart, and it took them thirty laps to catch me. But every time I got on the brakes the car would jump all over me so it was still messed up. But on the watch we were only three-tenths off the pace, so the car really was a pretty good car.
“We just didn’t need that first lap to happen,” Anton continued. “It’s a shame. I thought we were going to have a real good race. I know this kind of racing and we can bump and bang with the best of them, but on the first lap that shouldn’t be happening. It’s completely unnecessary. I’m upset because I had a lot of optimism going into this race and right off the bat I had a junk car.”
Anton will fix the car during the week and return to salvage a good finish to the Busch East Series season at its final regular season race, the Sunoco 150 at Dover (Del.) International Speedway. Friday’s race will start at 4:30 p.m. with a live broadcast on HDNet.
Sources: Alan Claffie//NASCAR BES PR
Late Race Accident Robs Kobyluck Of Championship Aspirations
Loudon,
“It’s unfortunate to end our championship run this way. We could have gone into
Kobyluck was among the top cars in practice and qualified second fastest in time trials to start the race on the outside front row. At the drop of the green, Kobyluck made a run on polesitter Rogelio Lopez off of two to take the lead. Caution, however, waved on that first circuit and the field was lined back up in the original starting order.
Again, Kobyluck drove out front with Sean Caisse in tow. Heading into turn one on lap five, Caisse went inside of the Mohegan Sun Casino Chevrolet and took over the point. Over the next several laps, Kobyluck went backwards through the field.
“We thought we just missed (the set-up). As it turned out we had a nail in the outside edge of the right rear and it caused a slow leak. The car just kept getting worse and worse and worse. We didn’t know that at first. I just knew the car was bad and I could barely keep her out of the fence.”
The caution finally flew at lap 33 saving Kobyluck from going a lap down. The team came in and lowered the track bar to try and improve the handling on the car. They were going to try and gain some track position by not pitting for tires, but when everyone else stayed out they decided they would come in a second time and put fresh rubber on.
“We might have missed the problem with the tire trying to gain some track position,” admitted Kobyluck. “We were going to stay out if everyone else came in for a second pit stop for tires. When no one else did, we figured we had nothing to lose by coming in and getting tires and that’s when we discovered the bad tire.”
Kobyluck returned to the track in the 29th position and moved all the way back up to sixth by lap 114 when the contact with
“They told me the 47 was coming on the inside so I gave him all the real estate he needed. I was up there in the fourth groove giving him all the room I could. He drove in way over his head and drove right up into the side of me and wrecked me,” Kobyluck explained. “He is only running two races this year so I would have thought that Kelly (
The damage to the Mohegan Sun Casino Chevrolet was too much. The team took the car behind the wall and retired from the event in the 33rd position.
“It just wasn’t to be I guess,” Kobyluck concluded.
The NASCAR Busch East Series and Matt Kobyluck return to action for the series finale on Friday, September 21st at Dover International Speedway.
Sources: Penny Aicardi/NASCAR BES PR
Dumarey Spun Out Of Top-15 Finish At NHIS
Loudon, NH — Fresh off a win at the 24 hours of Zolder in Belgium, Max Dumarey was prepared to continue an upward trend in his NASCAR Busch East Series progression at New Hampshire International Speedway. But on lap 106, Dumarey was spun out of contention and ultimately out of the Aubuchon Hardware 125. The driver of the #16 BODYCOACH.NET Chevrolet finished the event with a 36th place finish.
“The 37 just hit me,” Dumarey said. “We wouldn’t have been in the top-five or anything, but we were headed for a top-15 finish. To just take someone out for one position is ridiculous.”
Dumarey started the race from the 29th position with a caution slowing the field after the first circuit. On the restart, Dumarey, trying to avoid the mayhem of over-anxious drivers, veered outside of his lane to avoid any collisions. NASCAR blackflagged him.
“I just checked out of my line because there would have been a crash if I had stayed there,” Dumarey said. “I didn’t pass anyone so I can’t understand why they threw the black flag.”
After serving a ride-through penalty, Dumarey went back to racing action. He pitted with a majority of the field at lap 35 and re-entered the race in 16th for the restart at lap 40. Several short runs made it hard to gain any real track position over the next several laps, but Dumarey was able to maintain his position in the top-20.
“The car was a bit tight and I had a car blocking me all the way through. He just wouldn’t pick a lane, so we were behind him for quite a while,” said Dumarey.
The team was poised for a top-15 finish before the lap 106 incident that saw Dumarey spin into the wall and off into the grass. The BODYCOACH.NET Chevrolet had to be towed back to the pits where they retired from the race 19 laps early.
The NASCAR Busch East Series heads to Dover International Speedway this week for the season finale.
Sources: Penny Aicardi/NASCAR BES PR
Joey Logano Scores New Hampshire Victory and Edges Closer to BES Title
Mooresville, NC — The NASCAR Busch East Series is one of the most prestigious short track series in the country. It’s been a stepping stone for many elite drivers in the NASCAR world and it has seen its fair share of big names in the sport competing, and winning, trophies and championships.
“I just kind of rode around there, and then the 81 (Mark McFarland) got by me,” said Logano. I didn’t think we had anything for him because on the long runs I got real tight.”
But a series of late-race caution flags were the perfect opportunity for Logano to re-claim the lead on a restart with 10 laps to go. The young racer was able to hold on for one final restart to claim the victory.
“Then on the last restart, on the inside, I didn’t think I was going to get him there. The couple laps and the short runs is just what we needed.”
Now, all Logano needs to do is start the Dover International Speedway event on September 21st in order to become the youngest NASCAR Champion ever. His closest championship competitor going into
Sources: Jeremy Trojano/NASCAR BES PR
Impressive Runs at NHIS Finish Provide Positive Results for Andy Santerre Motorsports
Concord, NC — New Hampshire International Speedway has always been the kind of place that Andy Santerre, a three-time winner at the “Magic Mile” himself as a driver, really enjoys coming to. It’s a place that both Sean Caisse and Jeffrey Earnhardt enjoy, as well. The eagerness to succeed at the biggest track that the NASCAR Busch East Series visits shows in another positive run for both Andy Santerre Motorsports-prepared rides on Friday, September 14th at New Hampshire International Speedway.
Sources: Matt Kentfield/NASCAR BES PR