Hello everyone and welcome to The AERS Pre-Race Show Episode 3 at Mosport sponsored by AAA here on ASN. I am your host Jeff Klinger, as always.
Lots of stories to talk about this weekend. The first one I'll touch up on is the success of Dangerous Dog Racing at their home track. This weekend, both DDR cars qualified for the race at their home track. The 00 of Tyson Lautenschlager has been on fire so far in 2010, well, in the Qualifying races, making all four races in the AMP Energy Racing Series. Ahmad Awwad in the 49 had a brilliant run at Daytona, only to be caught up in a late race spin to take him out of contention. DDR struggled a bit last year with the 00 full time as a single car team, with one start from the 01 of Jeff Lautenschlager at McKinley. I think that the added team really boosted the team's morale, seems that way because they're hanging right in there. Down to Sam Davids with Tyson Lautenschlager:
Davids: Thanks Jeff, I've caught up with the driver of the 00 for DDR Tyson Lautenschlager. Tyson, what made your team step up so much this weekend?
Lautenschlager: I think we stepped it up so much just knowing that were at not only the teams home track, but mine as well. Knowing that you have a bit of a home track advantage kind of effects your confidence and you're going to run.
Davids: What do you think has been contributing to Dangerous Dog Racing's recent success, seeing as the 49 and you qualified for this race, and you haven't DNQ'd yet in 2010?
Lautenschlager: I think what has helped me is knowing that I am just a little bit more experienced and I think I've done better starting when we got Jake Messier at the end of 2009 as the new crew chief. Awwad has also known he has gotta step it up so knowing that he is at the bosses home track probably helped him.
Davids: Are you confident about your car this weekend?
Lautenschlager: I am very confident about our chances of victory today. This #00 Jayski.com Dodge has run very well through out the week and I hope we can bring some nice hardware back to the shop today!
Davids: Does your team get pumped up about heading to road courses?
Lautenschlager: Everyone at DDR gets pumped up mostly because AERS doesn't run many road courses so the guys always feel the need to perform at the road courses and they get very pumped up!
Davids: Thank you Tyson, good luck at your home track today.
Lautenschlager: Thanks! Hopefully we can bring this ol' dodge to victory lane today!
Thank you Sam, I am once again joined by Verizon Veterans/Startup League driver Austin Hackk who will run down what to see at the road course today, explain what it takes to master this tight road course, and go over some more stories throughout the AARO, Austin.
Hackk: Thanks Jeff, today we are at the two mile road course in Mosport, Canada for the first road course race of 2010, for all of AARO, they'll be the first to tackle a narrow road course in 2010. Expect a fuel mileage race today, that's what we saw in the Q-Race, and that's what we expect this afternoon, as cloudy skies are rolling in and out, throughout the morning. The schedule change that happened shortly after Boston got teams thinking, why Mosport? The track is so tricky to tame and takes a couple laps to get used to, even for the road course specialists. That's all I have to say, Jeff, back to you.
Jeff: Down to Kyle Anist with Herb Cilantro.
Anist: First off Herb, thanks for your time. Okay, you won last race, you're 2nd in AERS points, you've rebounded from a tough Salem, and led....I don't know, 50 something laps, and we're just three races in. What has contributed to your success throughout your AERS career?
Cilantro: I'd have to say my time drivin' late models helped me adapt to these AARO cars...I mean, I know they're just stock cars with less horsepower but that kinda makes these cars handle a lot like the ones I used to drive. So when I came here back in '09, the learning curve wasn't that steep.
Anist: Does your team have any concerns going into a tricky Mostport road course?
Cilantro: We didn't do so hot on the road courses last year compared to everywhere else. I think we got 32nd at Rattlesnake Point and 31st at Nox. But Jen and I were testin' at the road courses more than anywhere else over the offseason and we got a lot of new data for the cars, so we'll see if that carries over to the race today.
Anist: Okay, after seeing that humongous wreck last week with Jorge Hernandez, are you at all concerned with the safety of these AERS cars?
Cilantro: It ain't so much the cars as it is the way the track's set up. Those SAFER barriers, ironic as it is, kinda jut out at the end, and if you get run into the wall right at that part it's like going head-on. If the track organizers can just fix that, I think we'll be okay.
Anist: We've been talking a lot about home tracks this weekend, as DDR's home track is Mosport, what would be 426 Motorsports' home track?
Cilantro: I'm gonna go with McKinley since our shop is up in the Northeast. Winning that race last year was just huge, not just 'cause of that, but 'cause it was amazing to see the place rebound from that horrible wreck it had two years ago. I can't wait to get back down there and defend our title. I heard a rumor they're using a new pavement mixture for the track surface so we wreck less, so...that'll hopefully save the teams a lot of money. (Laughs)
Anist: Thank you for your time, Herb.
Cilantro: 'Preciate it. Thanks for having me.
Okay, that about wraps up this short episode, just going to go over our picks. Check out
aaroracing.com for more information, here are my picks.
JEFF'S PICKS:
Drivers to win/contend:
1. 49 Ahmad Awwad - Out of country drivers are usually great at road courses, I have a feeling Awwad will get a nice finish at Mosport.
2. 42 Herb Cilantro - Riding a wave of momentum after that win at Boston, I think he'll get some consistency, but like he said, its hard to be consistent.
3. 02 Ted Hendricks - Finally gets to show off new sponsor, I think he gets a top 10.
Drivers to have bad races:
1. 00 Tyson Lautenschlager - Just because this is his hometrack doesn't mean he'll get a good run. If he starts near the back he will finish near the back.
2. 40 Grant Jacobs - Locked in, will be locked out soon.
3. 16 Justin Pisani - Yes, he won his first race on road course, but he said he was terrible at them and I'll take his word for it.
AUSTIN'S PICKS:
Win/Contend
1. 34 Kody Lachner - LOOOOOVES road courses.
2. 94 Jacob Williams - Will rebound, he proved to everyone that he can run up front as a rook.
3. 89 Brandon Corna - Won the Q-Race, has a brilliant car.
Bad Race
1. 09 Shawn Glossum - He drives for KGI, that's all there is to it. LOL!
2. 26 Jalen Scransen - He will NOT have a great run, he already said he absolutely dreads coming here...
3. 23 C.J. Long - He's been quiet all year, rooks don't fare well at roadies.
Thu May 09, 2024 12:54 pm by 
