Indianapolis, IN.:  Peyton Sellers had his hands full with the #77 Chevrolet Saturday in the NASCAR Nationwide Series race at O’Reilly Raceway Park.  Although the short track was expected to suit the former Whelen All American National Champion, Sellers fought an ill-handling car the entire day, posting a 23^rd fastest qualifying time and finishing 26^th for the day in the 43 car field.

 

“The car was just really loose all day”, said Sellers.  “We knew as soon as we hit the track we had issues, but we had only an hour of practice because of the rain, and we weren’t able to get it dialed in during the race.  None of us are happy with a mid-pack finish here.”

 

The race at Indy on the .686 oval was a bump-fest from the drop of the green flag, with half of the race’s six cautions coming in the first 35 laps.  By the halfway point of the 200 lap race, only fourteen cars remained on the lead lap and ten cars were out of the race. 

 

 “I couldn’t believe he hung onto it as well as he did”, said Will Spencer, owner of Cardinal Motorsports.  “The race was three-wide a lot of the day.  The fact that he stayed clean speaks volumes about his abilities as a driver.  It’s up to us to give him a better piece for the next race.”

 

Sellers has put in good runs at Iowa while in NASCAR’s Camping World Series East. In 2007, he started fourth and finished 21^st after engine problems. In 2008, he finished 11^th after starting in the third spot.  The US Cellular 250 this weekend will be the Nationwide Series’ first trip to the track, and is an expected sell-out.

 

“We’re really looking forward to Iowa”, said Sellers.  “The first race we ever ran for SFP was here last year.  They are an agricultural products company, so between the two of us we have a lot of fans in the area.”  Sellers will appear at a pre-race event at The Heart of Iowa Co-op in Roland, Iowa on Wednesday this week.

 

Cardinal Motorsports also has a partnership with SkillsUSA, one of the country’s largest student non-profit organizations.  The team is also sponsored by Jig-A-Loo USA and Bosch, both of whom are supporters of SkillsUSA.