By Scott Collins, John Salemi Racing
August 21, 2005
RADFORD, Va. — The long haul to western Virginia was well worth the trip for BNS rookie John Salemi, as he finished a career best 10th place in the Star Country 150 at Motor Mile Speedway. John’s first top ten was a well-fought finish for the entire team after overcoming a 20th place starting position, brake issues, and a flat tire at the midway point of the event.
Brief rain showers hindered the scheduled 2-hour practice session in the afternoon, with John only getting a limited amount of track time. "We made the most out of the few laps that we had and made some adjustments. We could have used a couple of more runs, but most teams were probably in the same position." The #63 car recorded the 21st fastest time in practice, but felt pretty good overall.
During qualifying, John was able to improve on his practice time and run the 20th fastest lap. "Just by watching the first half of the cars out to qualify, I was able to help myself out a lot. There were a lot of cars very loose coming out of the turns, so I knew ahead of time how things were most likely going to feel out there."
The 150 lap main event unfolded very quickly at the Motor Mile Speedway for the Nashua, NH driver. Salemi quickly jumped into 18th position in the opening laps and it looked like John had an excellent handling car. However, by lap 45, John had radioed to the crew that his brakes felt extremely soft and the pedal was going to the floor entering the turns. "We weren’t sure at first what was causing the problem. I decided to put a little more rear brake into the car and take some of the load off of the front, just to see if it would help." The adjustment, combined with some caution laps, allowed the front brakes to cool off enough to continue the race. "The brakes came back to me in the middle of the race once the fluid cooled off. I just had a little too much bias in the front and started to cook them." Salemi continued to battle under green, while nursing the brakes as best as possible.
The excitement continued at the midpoint of the race when John felt the right front tire going down. Luckily, the yellow flag came out for a separate incident just as Salemi felt the problem. Once the pits were opened, he brought the car in for a new right front tire. After making the change, Salemi restarted as the last car on the lead lap and began to work his way towards the front. John steadily made his way forward and was running 13th in final stages of the race when another yellow came out. "I felt the right rear tire was very worn, so we decided to change it under yellow while we had the chance," recalls John. The pit stop only dropped John back a few spots in the running order for the restart. The fresh rubber allowed John to made another strong push towards the front in the last 10 laps. On the final lap, Salemi was able to grab 10th place with a strong move in turns 1 and 2 to score his first career top ten finish in the NASCAR Busch North Series.
"I am very happy with our finish tonight. With all of the issues we had throughout the race, we fought hard and didn’t give up. We pitted two separate times with tire issues and didn’t lose a lap, which is tough to do on a short track like this one. Track position plays such a major role in this sport; It is on everyone’s mind throughout the race. We were able to remain on the lead lap, stay out of serious trouble, and really make a strong run at the end." John Salemi and the #63 team are looking forward to going to Oxford with some momentum. "Oxford will be a little like Waterford because of similarities of the tracks. We had an 11th at Waterford, so I feel like we have an excellent chance at a good run this coming weekend as well."
The Busch North Series will run the Fisher Snow Plows 150 this coming Saturday at the Oxford Plains Speedway in Oxford, ME. The event marks the return of the series to the legendary Maine racetrack after a long absence. Sponsorship opportunities are available with John Salemi Racing. For more info visit the team website at www.johnsalemiracing.com or email marketing@johnsalemiracing.com.
