Bad luck gives Salemi a 25th place finish at Holland
Rochester, NH (6/25/06) The tough start to the 2006 season continued for NASCAR Busch East Series driver John Salemi at Holland. Looking to rebound from a tough race at Stafford, the #15 Waste Management/BG Environmental/Daddy’s Hot Sauce/Dennis Ciotti Racing team took to the tight 3/8 mile oval in Western New York on Saturday. With another quick start to the race, John had his Chevrolet positioned for a strong push to the finish. A flat tire, and broken suspension piece, quickly changed his fortune and forced Salemi to retire early from the event.
Practice started in the afternoon for the Busch East teams. Salemi took to the track in the #15 car to break-in a new setup in run some fast laps in preparation for qualifying. “We were trying a few new things out on the car this week. Mark has years worth of notes out here and I had some good things from last season.” John said. “We were a little loose in practice, but I felt that the car was going to be great for the race.”
Early in the second practice session, electrical issues hit Salemi. “Our voltage gauge was dropping a little and we figured out that the alternator was not charging the system,” Salemi recalls. “Our primary alternator was damaged in last week’s wreck, so this was our backup that failed today.” Most of the second session was lost while the team located and swapped out the faulty alternator with a new one.
John took to the track fifth to qualify the Waste Management Chevrolet. Due to the lost practice, the team was not able to improve John’s handling as much as they would have liked. “We planned to use the majority of the second session to change a few things and really get the car dialed in for the night. We lost most of that session and had to go with what we had.” Salemi posted the 18th quickest time and would start mid-pack for the race.
John took the green flag at Holland and quickly moved up from his starting position. Similar to last weeks’ race, Salemi jumped into the lead pack in the opening laps and settled in to get some laps behind him. On lap 41, the right front tire went flat and John did his best to keep the car from hitting anything. “I didn’t get any notice with the right front, it just went flat quickly. Once it went down, I could feel a bad rub and vibration.” Salemi brought the car to the pits for a new right front tire and returned to the race. While still under yellow, a long line of sparks was visible from under the car. Salemi brought the car back to the pits to inspect the problem. The right sway bar arm had been ground off when the tire went flat. Repairs were not possible for the #15 car and John was forced to retire from the race with a 25th place finish.
“It’s a strange thing to have happen.” John said. “We seem to be stuck with some bad luck in the last two races. We will work through it and get everything turned around. We have a strong team and great sponsors in Waste Management, BG Environmental, Daddy’s Hot Sauce and Dennis Ciotti Racing Products. We have been very strong in every race so far, so we are excited about that. It’s tough right now, but I am confident that we will turn things around.
The NASCAR Busch East Series returns to action this coming Thursday night at the Thompson Speedway in Thompson, CT. The Pepsi Busch East 100 will take the green at 9:00 pm. Sponsorship opportunities are still available with the #15 car. For more information visit the team website at http://www.johnsalemiracing.com or email marketing@johnsalemiracing.com
