John Salemi wraps up BNS rookie season with a 16th at Thompson; 13th in overall points
Thompson, CT (10/3/005) NASCAR Busch North Series driver John Salemi wrapped up his impressive rookie season Sunday night at the Thompson Speedway with a 16th place finish in the New England Dodge Dealers 150. The event had been postponed numerous times, due to inclement weather and was finally able to take place over the past weekend. Salemi drove his #63 Pontiac Grand Prix from a 22nd starting position to 16th place finish and survived multiple close-calls on the track and a blackout at lap 64 of the event. John was a little uneasy going into the event, as he had very little on-track experience at the Thompson Speedway. “My only laps here came in the practice sessions back in June on the first weekend that it was rained out. Now, it is forty degrees cooler and this feels like a different place to me,” Salemi recalled. The practice sessions got underway on Saturday afternoon, but not very many green flag laps were run by any of the Busch North Series teams. “The track was like ice on Saturday because of the low temperatures. Cars were spinning every time the green came out. I think we got 14 laps on the track, 8 of which were under a caution. It wasn’t really a practice, it was more like a scuff session.” Without really knowing what to expect in qualifying, John ran the 22nd fastest time out of the 35 cars that were entered for the event. “We didn’t even begin to make adjustments in that practice session. I couldn’t even come close to figuring out what we had. I saw some cars in front of me wreck on their qualifying laps, so I knew the track hadn’t changed a whole lot from practice. I just did the best that I could with the situation that we were in.” The track was a little better for the start of Sunday’s race. “Some of the grip came back because of the warmer temperatures,” John said. “My goal for the race was to bring the car home in one piece, so we had something to go to Irwindale with.” Salemi was able to do just that, but not without an eventful race and a very loose racecar. “At one point, everyone was checking up going into turn 2 and a big pileup started right around us. I got down low to get out of the way, but someone hit me pretty hard in the back. I felt the tires come off of the ground.” It turned out that the damage on the #63 car was not serious and John was able to continue the race. “We hung around 18th or so for the majority of the race and fought the handling. I didn’t want to take any unnecessary chances and lose valuable points.”Salemi’s strategy worked out very well throughout the race. After losing one lap under the green flag, he was the lucky dog beneficiary two yellows later and was able to regain his lap. John pitted for an adjustment before the green came back out. “We made a major change to the car to help me in the turns. It was a great call and the car really came to life for last portion of the race.” John restarted on the lead lap and began to work his way forward when another close call struck the Nashua, NH driver. “A few cars in front of me tangled going into turn 3, I just barely missed getting caught up in it. I did get into someone a little with the nose, but it was nothing serious.” When the checkered flag fell, John had raced his way up to the 16th position and concluded a very impressive rookie season in the series. “We are very happy with the way the season went. We came into this year as a real dark horse. No one really knew who we were, or where I came from in my racing background. We really wanted to win Rookie of the Year, but the competition was tough. I just want to say congratulations to Sean and 5 team on their great year. We made the Showdown in our first try, so we have that to be proud of. I’ve raced Irwindale before in the West Series, so I’m not going to show up at a new track for the first time this season.” The Toyota All-Star Showdown is set to run Saturday November 12th live on Speed Channel from the Irwindale Speedway in Los Angeles, CA. Sponsorships are still available with John Salemi and the #63 Pontiac. For more info please visit the team website @ http://www.johnsalemiracing.com or email marketing@johnsalemiracing.com