NOTEBOOK: Albarracin Ready For NASCAR
Columbian Teenager To Run For Fadden Racing At Lime Rock
Loudon, NH — Longtime NASCAR K&N Pro Series East team Fadden Racing announced Thursday afternoon that development driver Julian Camilo Albarracin will make his series debut next weekend on the road course at Lime Rock Park in Lakeville, Conn.
Team owner Mike Olsen, who is fielding a car for Jonathan Smith in Saturday’s New England 125, said he’s looking forward to working with the 16-year-old driver from Colombia. Fadden Racing will enter Albarracin in Late Model events in New England as well as test extensively with the K&N Series cars.
“Obviously, he’s very young — which is good, because we can work with him,” said Olsen, a two-time series champion as a driver.
Albarracin, whose driving experience is largely in the road course-dedicated Skip Barber Series, said it was countryman Juan Pablo Montoya’s move to NASCAR that sparked his interest in stock car racing.
“Before this, I wanted to race Formula 1,” Albarracin said. “Watching (Montoya), I thought I wanted to do a (NASCAR) test. When I did a test, I thought this was most fun for me.”
It may be fun, but it will come with challenges.
“The biggest difference is they race side-by-side. There’s contact,” Albarracin said of oval track racing.
The Lime Rock Park race is part of a doubleheader day on July 3 with the Whelen Modified Tour, which will make its debut at the facility. Albarracin is then expected to enter the K&N Pro Series East race at Lee (N.H.) USA Speedway at the end of July.
POWERING UP: NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour driver Jimmy Blewett is debuting his new Roush/Yates Racing engine this weekend in the No. 14 Ling Trucking/Atlantic Sprinkler Ford. He’ll start 10th in Saturday’s New England 100.
“It felt pretty strong the little bit I used it,” Blewett said during a rain delay in Thursday’s afternoon practice. “We’re hoping there’s a big difference (in power) from what we had before.”
After qualifying, the Howell, N.J., driver was confident that the new power plant had provided a much-needed boost where it matters most at the largest track on the circuit: the straightaways.
“It’s good,” Blewett said. “I was able to go out there and push Ronnie Silk around (in the draft in practice), and he won here last time.
“We were able to tune on it pretty good. It’s a new car, a new chassis and new engine — so we’re working on it.”
MAKING THEIR PITCH: K&N Pro Series East rookie Joey Polewarczyk Jr. joined a group of drivers from both that series and the Whelen Modified Tour on Wednesday night at a minor-league baseball game. The nearby Lowell Spinners — Class A short-season affiliate of the Boston Red Sox — held a promotion involving NASCAR and the visiting drivers, who signed autographs on the concourse and raced go-karts around LeLacheur Park’s warning track between innings.
“It was a lot of fun,” said Polewarczyk, of Hudson, N.H., whose No. 1 Pole’s Automotive Chevrolet starts 20th in Friday’s New England 125. “But we could only race two guys at a time, and by the time we got to go — well, there wasn’t much left of the karts.”
NASCAR K&N Pro Series East driver Ryan Gifford threw out the first pitch.
KEEPING BUSY: Two-time NASCAR Canadian Tire Series champion Andrew Ranger doesn’t have many weekends off these days.
Ranger, who starts 28th in Friday’s New England 125 in the No. 35 Waste Management Recycling Chevrolet, is in the middle of a grueling stretch of races. The New Hampshire visit is part of a string in which Ranger plans to compete in seven races at seven different tracks in seven different states or provinces in a span of six weekends.
Ranger kicked off the run with his K&N Pro Series East debut at Iowa Speedway on May 23, before heading to Martinsville (Va.) Speedway, where he finished fifth on June 6. From there, he headed to a Canadian Tire Series event at Mosport International Raceway in Ontario, where he was second on June 13, won the K&N Pro Series West race at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif., on June 19, and showed up in Loudon for this weekend’s race.
Next week, Ranger plans to run both the K&N East race at Lime Rock Park on Saturday afternoon before making the trip that night to St. Eustache, Quebec, for the scheduled Canadian Tire Series race.
WORTH NOTING: New Hampshire resident DJ Shaw, who start second in the New England 125, said NHMS is still a big deal for local racers. “This track is a good showcase for (us), because the Cup Series is here. Hopefully, I’ll impress some people.”… Mike Christopher’s ride blew an engine in practice and was forced to withdraw from the New Hampshire 100. Christopher is the twin brother of the tracks’ all-time winningest driver, Ted Christopher — who has 10 career New Hampshire victories (five Whelen Modified Tour and five K&N Pro Series East) … Former Kevin Harvick Inc., NASCAR Nationwide Series driver Cale Gale is the crew chief this weekend for the No. 3 of Ty Dillon in the K&N Pro Series East.
Sources: Travis Barrett/NASCARHomeTracks.com