Top 15 for
Salemi at Dover
Rochester, NH (9/23/06) BES driver John Salemi entered the last oval race of the 2006 season in a tight points battle and in need of another good run. With only two races remaining in the season, John continued towards his goal of a Toyota All-Star Showdown invitation. The series moved to the one mile speedway in front of the Nextel Cup and Busch Series teams on Friday afternoon for 150 laps. The race would play a large role in determining the final points standings and Salemi made the most out of the race with a fourteenth place run.
Practice for the Sunoco 150 began on Thursday afternoon for the BES cars at the concrete speedway. Salemi and the crew battled a small tight condition throughout the day, while making minor adjustments to the car. “We were being very careful with the adjustments on Thursday,” said John. “This place is so fast that it is very easy to over-adjust on something and make the car even worse.” The handling improved over the course of the practice sessions and Salemi posted solid lap times.
With an early qualifying draw, John was not sure what to expect for his two laps. “We were fourth out to qualify, so I wasn’t sure what to expect from the track,” said the Nashua, NH driver. “It was tough to read which way it was going to go because we went out early.”
Only thirty cars would make the race. With many non-series regulars entered in the event, there was a possibility that some full-time teams may be sent home. “I knew that we needed to have a fast qualifying time,” John said.
Those concerns were quickly put to rest during qualifying as Salemi picked up a full second from his practice times. “The car was great and it was by far our best qualifying effort all season. We beat some fast cars and had a solid starting spot, so we are pretty happy about that.”
John took the green flag from the inside of the tenth row for the 150-lap event. John quickly was able to move up to fifteenth in the opening laps and settled in to put some laps behind him. “We were a little tight during the race from the start, but it could have been a lot worse,” Salemi recalled. Under an early lap caution, Salemi brought the #15 Waste Management/BG Environmental/Dennis Ciotti Racing Products Chevrolet to pit road for a quick adjustment to correct the handling issue on the car.
Returning to the race, Salemi and the crew began to work on pit strategy for the rest of the event. On a lap 68 caution, John brought the car back to the pits for two right side tires and fuel and retuned the following lap for left side tires. The four tires and fuel would be enough to get Salemi to the finish and ensure that he would not have to stop again.
“We got back out with the new tires and fuel at the halfway mark and made a strong run towards the finish.” With a few cautions spread out over the next 75 laps, Salemi was able to keep the nose clean and stay out of trouble. “We had a great race with a few cars that we are in a tight points battle with.”
Salemi survived a few late-race cautions and a green, white, checkered finish to bring the car home fourteenth.
“It was a great points day for us. We really want to go to Irwindale and in order to do that we have to finish strong here at the end of the season. We stayed out of the trouble all day and had good pit stops, so we are happy. The points are really tight and it looks like it is going to come down to Lime Rock between myself and the 84 for 12th place. Dion is a good driver and I like racing against him, so it should be a great race next week on the road course.”
The Mohegan Sun NASCAR Busch East will take the green flag on Saturday 9/30 at 12:30pm on the road course at Lime Rock Park in Lakeville, CT. Sponsorship opportunities are still available with the #15 team. For more info visit the team website at http://www.johnsalemiracing.com or email marketing@johnsalemiracing.com
