NOTEBOOK: Pressley Makes The Switch
This weekend, after competing in the first seven races of the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East season, Pressley has stepped out of the No. 14 American Mountain Rentals Toyota to serve as the crew chief for driver Dylan Presnell.
“It’s obviously not my No. 1 goal of what I wanted to do, but I really enjoy just being at the race track,” said Pressley, who was fifth in the standings heading into the weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. “I’m a racer, and racers want to be at the race track. That’s the biggest thing.
“If it turns me into a better driver, then that’s a plus.”
Pressley has two poles, three top fives and four top 10s this season behind the wheel. As the crew chief on the car he used to drive, he led Presnell to the 18th starting spot out of 36 cars for the New England 125.
“I’ve always worked on my own Late Model, and it’s always been just me and my dad, so I’ve had to learn to make some calls on that,” Pressley said. “One thing, I know how to work on stuff, which is good. But it’s all just about getting my confidence up at the race track. I got a lot more confidence the last half-hour of practice there, making calls and it showed because we were faster (in qualifying).
“We were tight all day in practice. And in the qualifying run, (Presnell) said the car was turning a little too good – so hopefully, that’s going to be a good sign for tomorrow.”
When X Team Racing started this past offseason, the goal was to have Matt DiBenedetto run a full schedule in the No. 15, with Pressley and Alex Bowman running as long as finances would allow. Neither Pressley nor Bowman had any assurances beyond the season opener at Greenville (S.C.) Pickens Speedway back in March.
DiBenedetto is second in the K&N Pro Series East standings, just 17 points out of the lead, and Bowman is seventh.
“I was only supposed to run the first race at Greenville, so I’ve been pretty lucky to have run as many as races as I have,” said Pressley, the 2010 UARA Late Model champion. “I’m hoping to run at Columbus (Ohio) next week, and I’d really like to get back to Greenville (in September). I feel like I have some redemption for (Brett) Moffitt at Greenville.
“I’d love to run a lot, but if I’m not, I’ll be here crew chiefing. I’ll just try to learn all I can, and I’ll try and help Dylan out because he’s a really good kid.”
NEW AND USED: Justin Bonsignore has only two career starts at New Hampshire, and a third one was up in the air early Thursday.
Despite posting the second-fastest time in practice for the Whelen Modified Tour’s F.W. Webb 100, Bonsignore discovered an engine problem that threatened to send him home from the event early.
“We were just getting ready to go back out for another run, and I noticed the oil pressure was gone in the oil pressure gauge,” said Bonsignore, of Holtsville, N.Y. “Turns out we had a cam bearing slide forward. It’s unfortunate. It’s a brand new piece, a brand new car.”
The 2010 Sunoco Rookie of the Year said he wasn’t sure if he would use a different motor or head back to New York to compete Saturday night at Riverhead Raceway, where he is the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series points leader.
Just 15th in points after five races, Bonsignore’s been plagued by bad luck, the worst of it coming in the season-opener when he finished third but was hit with a 50-point penalty after failing post-race technical inspection.
He surmised that Thursday’s practice troubles were just part and parcel of his season to date.
“Everything was starting to sort itself out,” Bonsignore said. “We were pretty fast, but we were looking to get a little better. Now we’ve got to make a decision on what we’re going to do – if we’re going to go home and get another motor, or we have another motor here. We’re in a toss-up right now.”
With a provisional, Bonsignore is slated to start last in the 34-car field Saturday.
MORE TROUBLES: Bonsignore wasn’t the only driver at New Hampshire to encounter engine trouble that kept his car from qualifying.
Massachusetts native Eddie MacDonald, a three-time New Hampshire winner in the K&N Pro Series East, blew an engine in practice and spent the remainder of the day swapping engines in the No. 71.
“Just halfway down the backstretch, it decided to blow up,” said MacDonald, who swept the series races at the track in 2009. “I don’t know – a rod came through the side of the block. It just made a mess. Halfway down the backstretch, it lost all power and I could feel parts coming up through the floor.
“We had just put new tires on it. It was decent, I think. I really wanted to see what new tires would do to it. It’s kind of disappointing.”
With the race requiring teams to make a pit stop for tires and fuel, MacDonald wouldn’t rule out a shot at winning – even after having to start 33rd.
“I’ll have to do whatever I can to get us in good position for when we’re ready to put tires on. We’ll put some tires on at the end, and hopefully we can come back up again,” MacDonald said. “It was handling pretty well in practice. We wouldn’t have changed a whole lot for the race, anyway, but it would have been nice to see what the tires would have done for it.
“We’ll just have to take a swing at it and see what happens.
NOTES: Dale Quarterley is pulling double duty this weekend. The Westfield, Mass., driver will compete in both the New England 125 on Friday and the F.W. Webb 100 on Saturday. … Two-time Sprint Cup Series championship-winning crew chief Andy Petree will make his first start in a NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour event after qualifying fifth. … Corey LaJoie, son of two-time Nationwide Series champion Randy LaJoie, qualified fifth for the New England 125 after breaking a transmission early in practice. … Four drivers did not qualify for the K&N Pro Series East event – Beto Monteiro, Jeff Anton, Keith Flach and Scott Bouley.
Sources: Travis Barrett, Special To NASCARHomeTracks.com