Flat Tire Deflates Moffitt’s Run At NHMS

 

            Loudon, N.H. (June 27, 2009): Brett Moffitt has been on an upward climb in the NASCAR Camping World Series East, but Friday afternoon bad luck struck the 16-year-old driver that resulted in a 27^th place finish in the Heluva Good! Summer 125 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Moffitt was running third when a tire blew on his No. 44 Castle Packs Power/EJP/Brettmoffitt.com Chevrolet and sent him into the wall in turn four. The incident caused enough damage that the Andy Santerre Motorsports entry had to park the car for the day.

            “There was no warning or anything. The tire just went out,” said Moffitt.

            The weekend kicked off for Moffitt with a qualifying effort of 124.106 mph (30.690 seconds) – a speed fast enough to earn a starting position in row two in the fourth position.

            When the green flag dropped, Moffitt took the third position away from Kevin Swindell and quickly settled in behind the leaders. A long green flag run developed with more than a second separating Moffitt from the second place driver of Ryan Truex. As the laps ticked off and the leaders hit lapped traffic, Moffitt was able to close up the distance to a single carlength.

            Despite his progress, however, trouble was just around the corner.

            “The car was really, really good. Andy has always run good here. It was just a little bit tight, but we could have made a couple of adjustments during the pit stops and that would have really helped us out,” Moffitt said.

            At lap 39, Moffitt was coming around turn three when he suddenly slid up the banking and hit the wall. The 16 year old driver brought the No. 44 back to pit road, but due to the damage, could not maneuver the car behind pit road wall.

            “The right front rotor broke. We were trying to get it behind the wall and the right front was locking up so we couldn’t turn,” he explained. A tow truck was sent out to get the car and Moffitt was done for the day.

            Up next for the NASCAR Camping World Series East is Thompson International Speedway on July 11^th. The race, which marks the seventh event on the schedule, could mark a turning point for the team.

            “We’re still sponsorless and we only have one more race covered,” said Moffitt. “Our plan was always to run the first seven races and hope to find a partner for the remainder of the season. At this point, it’s just Thompson and that’s it.”

            For more information on Brett Moffitt and Andy Santerre Motorsports, visit www.andysanterremotorsports.com or www.brettmoffitt.com. Sponsorship inquiries can be directed to Sue Santerre at 704-455-6555.

 

 

Leighton Finishes 18^th At NHMS

 

            Loudon, N.H. (June 27, 2009): Brad Leighton has won at New Hampshire Motor Speedway more than any other driver in the NASCAR Camping World Series East, but during Friday evenings Heluva Good! Summer 125, Leighton experienced something he never has at the 1.058-mile oval – a struggle with the set up in the No. 55 Irving Oil Chevrolet. Leighton finished the day with an 18^th place finish.

            “We missed it. It’s the first time in a while and it’s humbling. We thought we had a better car than that. I didn’t know if we had a car to win, but there was nothing there. I had to hang on and keep it in one piece,” he said. “We were just trying to showcase Irving. We’ve always done well here for them at the speedway with all the exposure the place gets, but it just didn’t work out today.”

            Leighton’s season debut in the NASCAR Camping World Series East kicked off with a qualifying effort of 122.813 mph (31.013 seconds) to earn a starting position in row seven. At the drop of the green, Leighton dropped back to 19^th and realized that an adjustment would have to be made. A long green flag run that lasted the first 39 laps of the race threatened to put the four-time track champion a lap down.

            “We were pretty close there,” admitted Leighton. “We really needed that caution and it came just in time for us. We were able to stay on the lead lap at that point and come in and try to adjust on the car a little bit.”

            The teams effort didn’t make much difference on the track. Leighton continued to struggle, but was able to gain position nevertheless. Leighton made it up to 13^th before coming back down pit road for a fresh set of tires. He returned to the track in the 20^th position.

            Leighton had his work cut out for him, but his determination prevailed and the Center Harbor, N.H. native was able to get into 18^th before the checkers dropped. Leighton stayed out of trouble the entire race long and was able to bring the car home in one piece.

            “The fortunate thing is that we have a car we can work on,” said Leighton. “The guys don’t have to go back and worry about fixing body and frame damage. They can concentrate on making this car better for the September race.”

 

Late Race Tangle Relegates Kobyluck To 11^th Place Finish

 

            Loudon, N.H. (June 27, 2009): Matt Kobyluck was poised for a podium finish in Friday night’s Heluva Good! Summer 125 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, but a late race restart at lap 110 proved costly for the driver of the No. 40 Mohegan Sun Casino Chevrolet and the team ended the night with an eleventh place finish. The trouble happened in a battle with Steve Park that resulted in contact on the backstretch.

            “The 9 car spun his tires and he didn’t go on that restart. I had to slow up for that and a bunch of cars went by me. We came out of turn two and the 35 came up in front of me. The 29 went to go under the 35 and got in the back of him, which got Park out into the fence. That’s when I got into the back of him,” explained Kobyluck.

            Kobyluck started the Camping World Series East race from the seventh position and became a factor in the top four as early as lap 20. He got shuffled back to eighth in lapped traffic before the first caution of the night flew at lap 39.

            Kobyluck followed the leaders onto pit road for fuel and returned to the track in fifth place for the restart at lap 46. Eventual race winner Matt DiBenedetto went by Kobyluck for fifth on the restart, but Kobyluck reclaimed his place in the top-five in a battle with Alan Tardiff just two laps later.

            Kobyluck pitted for fresh tires at lap 65 and restarted the race at lap 68 in the eighth position. In just a single lap, Kobyluck gained three positions but caution would quickly slow his progress on lap 69.

            The race resumed at lap 73 with Kobyluck in fifth with an intense battle to settle the top-five at the drop of the green. Kobyluck battled with Ryan Truex, but soon found himself in a tight door-to-door battle with Ryan Gifford. At lap 77, when the caution came out, Kobyluck had advanced to fourth.

            On the restart, Kobyluck found himself in a three wide battle with Ryan Truex and Steve Park. Kobyluck emerged the third place driver and was closing in on the second place car of Kevin Swindell. At lap 100, Kobyluck was challenged again by Truex and was relegated to the fourth spot before caution came out at lap 105.

            Following the contact with Steve Park, Kobyluck dropped back to 18^th and was forced to pit on the next caution at lap 115.

            “I did a bunch of right front damage to the car and the tire was rubbing so bad it would have blew out the tire and wrecked the car,” said Kobyluck. “We got what we could get after that.”

            Kobyluck rallied in the closing laps of the race to finish 11^th.

 

 

Top-10 Finish For Delaney Derailed By Late Race Contact

 

            Loudon, N.H. (June 27, 2009): Dustin Delaney was a solid fixture in the top-10 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway’s Heluva Good! Summer 125 Friday night, but late race contact with Patrick Long ended his solid run and relegated the driver to a disappointing 17^th place finish. The event marked the halfway mark for the NASCAR Camping World Series East with Delaney currently seventh in the championship point standings.

            “We were a top-five car today,” said a dejected Delaney following the race. “He (Patrick Long) is not in it for the points, and he said he wanted to get his point across to me. It’s very frustrating to have a good run come to an end like that.”

            Delaney started the race from the 11^th position and maintained his position in the early going of the event. The first caution flew at lap 39 with Delaney following the leaders down pit road for fuel. He returned to the track in ninth for the restart.

            Delaney maintained his position in the top-10 before pitting one more time for tires at lap 65. The No. 39 Delaney Infrastructure Chevrolet was lined up in 15^th following the pit stop and was ready to turn up the heat. With half the race in the books, Delaney was ready to make his presence known in the front.

            The young Mayfield, N.Y. driver gained three spots before caution was out once again two laps later. This time he would take the green from 12^th and advance to ninth before caution slowed the pace once again.

            Following the lap 81 restart, Delaney got involved in a battle with Long for a top-ten position. The two made contact and the No. 39 Chevrolet was relegated deep in the field.

            “I got into him and I let him go and let him get his position back,” explained Delaney. “I let his momentum go, I waited a lap, and I got back underneath him. Then he just drove me right down the frontstretch. We were almost into the wall but I let off. When he came across he just knocked the toe way in.”

            Delaney could only hang on for the remainder of the race and salvage a 17^th place finish – certainly not indicative of his performance throughout the day.

            “We’ve had a really good season this year,” said Delaney. “We’ve been improving week in and week out and we had hoped to continue that here at New Hampshire. We ran better than 17^th today and my crew deserved a better finish then this.”

 

 MACDONALD SCORES A SIXTH PLACE FINISH AT NHMS


     Eddie MacDonald's late race battle back through the field netted a
sixth place finish in the NASCAR Camping World Series East Heluva Good!
Summer 125 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. The goal to win the event for
the third time in a row after sweeping both races last season at The Monster
Mile did not happen but the Grimm Racing Team accomplished one of its goals
to move to second in the point's race.
     MacDonald started on the outside pole then powered by Ryan Truex to the
lead in turn two holding on to the top spot for 33 laps. The team earned ten
bonus points for leading a lap and shared the lead for the most laps led in
the race with 39. The #71 and the #00 pulled away from the pack early
leading by as much as 20 cars lengths. No one came close to challenging the
pair over the first 62 laps. MacDonald said after the race, "I probably
should have let him (#00) go. We were running pretty hard and the car was
really good so I could have easily stayed in behind. There was no pressure
from behind and I could have saved a little more of the car. It is tough to
do that because Ryan and I were having a lot of fun out there."
     The car then began to change with MacDonald saying, "The car got really
tight and I had to wait so long to get on the throttle I put in more rear
brake but I had trouble getting in the center and off the turn. It was
bouncing especially in turn two and kept washing up the track."
     Despite the tight condition, the decision was made not to take tires on
the lap-39 and lap-63 cautions when most of the field pitted for gas and
fresh rubber. The team planned to employed the same strategy as last year
when they pitted late for tires and the plan worked to perfection as the
NEMO-New England Mechanical Overlay sponsored ride was able to blast through
the field for the wins. This year, things did not work as planned.
     MacDonald was running third when the caution flag flew on lap-77 giving
the team an opportunity to bolt on right side tires and fill the Grimm Chevy
full of gas. The restart on lap 81 found MacDonald in 19th place and the
struggle was on to move back to the front. MacDonald said of the strategy to
take tires late in the race, "We waited last year to pit and it worked out
but there were some slower cars on the lead lap that made it tough to pass
and we fell further behind the leaders. Last year there were more lapped
cars so it was easier to get around them. I had to race a couple of guys
really hard to get by them."
     On the 100th circuit, MacDonald made the move into ninth place but knew
there was not much left saying, "I used up a lot of the car and tires
getting back up through. I was just hoping to get a couple of more positions
before the end of the race." When the checkered flag waved MacDonald had
picked off two more cars to post a hard-earned sixth place finish.
     "We had a good points day and hope we can improve on that at Thompson.
We have had success there in the past and really enjoy running there. We
were certainly trying to get three in a row here but it just didn't happen
today. Everyone worked so hard on this car so our finish was not for lack of
effort. That's racing and we'll get them next time."
     The Camping World Series East will invade the famed Thompson
International Speedway on Saturday, July 11th.

Disappointing Season Debut For Olsen

 

            Loudon, N.H. (June 27, 2009): Two-time NASCAR Camping World Series East Champion Mike Olsen made his season debut at New Hampshire Motor Speedway Friday night behind the wheel of the No. 61 KDD Auto Parts Chevrolet, but a missed set up made for a frustrating and long day for the car owner of Fadden Racing. Olsen finished the Heluva Good! Summer 125 with a 13^th place finish.

            “I do this to have fun, and it wasn’t a lot of fun out there today,” said Olsen. “The car was tight early and it wasn’t coming into it. I was just kind of riding and we weren’t that good.”

            Olsen started the race in the 21^st starting position after a qualifying effort of 31.462 seconds (121.060 mph). The team was still optimistic, however, for a solid run.

            “We weren’t really worried about our starting position,” said Olsen. “We set the car up for the long run and hoped that it would come to us as the race went on. Unfortunately, it didn’t.”

            The No. 61 KDD Auto Parts Chevrolet was tight right from the green flag, and Olsen struggled to gain position. A long green flag run didn’t help matters, and Olsen found himself a lap down before the first caution flag flew at lap 39. He had just gone the lap down when the caution dropped and was awarded his lap back through the beneficiary rule.

            “We caught a break there,” said Olsen. “We came down pit road for fuel and an adjustment, which helped a little bit.”

            Olsen came back down pit road for tires following a caution period just past the halfway mark, and was assessed a penalty by NASCAR for a blend line violation.

            The team continued to persevere and rallied to a 13^th place finish before the checkers dropped. Still, with only limited appearances on the schedule, he had hoped for a better finish.

            “I don’t want to come here and look in the mirror and see only three cars behind me,” said Olsen. “I come here to be competitive. I come here to try and win the race. We got off our strategy early today and we were off.”

 

 

Accident Robs Smith Of Solid Run At NHMS

 

            Loudon, N.H. (June 27, 2009): Jonathan Smith used strategy and patience to make his way up to third in the NASCAR Camping World Series East Heluva Good! Summer 125 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway Friday night, but mid-race contact with Ryan Gifford brought his solid run to a screeching halt when he spun on the backstretch and hit the wall. The driver of the No. 16 Fadden Racing Chevrolet finished a disappointing 21^st place.

            “Coming out of turn two we were sitting third and the 29 just got underneath me and wrecked me. I couldn’t hold onto it, hit the inside wall and just trashed the car. I just had to hold on for the rest of the race,” said Smith. “The right front got smacked in and the right rear got smacked up. The car was really free after that and there was not much we could do about it but hang on.”

            Smith started the race in 20^th and was running 11^th following a round of pit stops at lap 39. The team had adjusted on the car during the fuel stop and Smith was confident that he could progress through the field.

            “We missed the set up at the start of the race, but we got it back when we came in for the pit stop. The guys made the car pretty good with a couple of adjustments,” he said.

            A second caution period saw the leaders come back down pit road at lap 65 for a fresh set of tires, but Smith and his Fadden Racing crew opted to stay out and gain track position. It was a decision he said was easily made. When racing resumed at lap 68, Smith was in the third position.

            The trouble started at the drop of the green. Smith protected his third place position through turn one, but exiting the second corner, everything fell apart when the 29 got into the back of Smith. The No. 60 spun across the backstretch and hit the barrier on the inside of the track. The damage was extensive and Smith headed right for pit road.

            The team changed tires, pulled the sheet metal out and returned to the race. Smith went a lap down before the race conclusion and had to settle with a 21^st place finish.

            “We have a great team, great cars, and great runs. We just have bad luck. We’ll be there. We’re always up front, but stuff just happens to us. We’re looking for that racing luck,” Smith said.

            Up next for Smith and the NASCAR Camping World Series East is Thompson International Speedway in Connecticut on July 11^th.

 

 MACDONALD SCORES A SIXTH PLACE FINISH AT NHMS



     Eddie MacDonald's late race battle back through the field netted a
sixth place finish in the NASCAR Camping World Series East Heluva
Good! Summer 125 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. The goal to win the
event for the third time in a row after sweeping both races last
season at The Monster Mile did not happen but the Grimm Racing Team
accomplished one of its goals to move to second in the point's race.

     MacDonald started on the outside pole then powered by Ryan Truex to
the lead in turn two holding on to the top spot for 33 laps. The team
earned ten bonus points for leading a lap and shared the lead for the
most laps led in the race with 39. The #71 and the #00 pulled away
from the pack early leading by as much as 20 cars lengths. No one
came close to challenging the pair over the first 62 laps. MacDonald
said after the race, "I probably should have let him (#00) go. We
were running pretty hard and the car was really good so I could have
easily stayed in behind. There was no pressure from behind and I
could have saved a little more of the car. It is tough to do that
because Ryan and I were having a lot of fun out there."

     The car then began to change with MacDonald saying, "The car got
really tight and I had to wait so long to get on the throttle I put
in more rear brake but I had trouble getting in the center and off
the turn. It was bouncing especially in turn two and kept washing up
the track."

     Despite the tight condition, the decision was made not to take tires
on the lap-39 and lap-63 cautions when most of the field pitted for
gas and fresh rubber. The team planned to employed the same strategy
as last year when they pitted late for tires and the plan worked to
perfection as the NEMO-New England Mechanical Overlay sponsored ride
was able to blast through the field for the wins. This year, things
did not work as planned.

     MacDonald was running third when the caution flag flew on lap-77
giving the team an opportunity to bolt on right side tires and fill
the Grimm Chevy full of gas. The restart on lap 81 found MacDonald in
19th place and the struggle was on to move back to the front.
MacDonald said of the strategy to take tires late in the race, "We
waited last year to pit and it worked out but there were some slower
cars on the lead lap that made it tough to pass and we fell further
behind the leaders. Last year there were more lapped cars so it was
easier to get around them. I had to race a couple of guys really hard
to get by them."

     On the 100th circuit, MacDonald made the move into ninth place but
knew there was not much left saying, "I used up a lot of the car and
tires getting back up through. I was just hoping to get a couple of
more positions before the end of the race." When the checkered flag
waved MacDonald had picked off two more cars to post a hard-earned
sixth place finish.

     "We had a good points day and hope we can improve on that at
Thompson. We have had success there in the past and really enjoy
running there. We were certainly trying to get three in a row here
but it just didn't happen today. Everyone worked so hard on this car
so our finish was not for lack of effort. That's racing and we'll get
them next time."

     The Camping World Series East will invade the famed Thompson
International Speedway on Saturday, July 11th.


Tiff Daniels Tries Her Hand at Loudon


Loudon, NH:  Tiff Daniels, driver of the #94 Love's Travel Stops and
Country Store/Wide Open Energy Drink Dodge, made her second appearance in
the NASCAR Camping World Series East at New Hampshire Motor Speedway this
weekend.  Daniels and the Hamilton Racing team finished 25th for the day.



Daniels backed the car into the wall during a mock qualifying run for the
Heluva Good! Summer 125 race earlier in the day.  The team made enough
repairs to start the race, but she continued to fight the ill-handling car
for the duration of the race.  There were just six cautions during the
night.



Daniels maintained her position throughout most of the race, when with
just 17 laps to go the car suddenly jumped sideways and made contact with
the inside wall, ending her night early.



"We're still not sure exactly what happened, but something gave way," said
Daniels.   "I'm just thrilled to have the opportunity to run in NASCAR's
top developmental series with this team.  There's a learning curve here
for me and for us as a team.  It's my first time at most of these tracks,
and I'm learning the car now.  We're hoping to have a better run in
Thompson."



Daniels' next scheduled race is July 11th at Thompson International
Speedway in Thompson, CT.