The finish was one of the best I have seen on a non superspeedway in a while.
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Posts : 7740 Join date : 2009-05-16 Age : 28
Subject: Re: 2015 Race 14 - Bristol (Hardee's 250) Tue Jun 23, 2015 10:47 am
Post-Race:
Carter Wins at Bristol; News from the Hardee's 250
After a sudden turn of events with just 2 laps to go, Mikael Carter and his #39 AMP Energy team found themselves celebrating after what they expected was a 4th place run. After getting involved in shenanigans all race long, and avoiding others, Mikael Carter felt like the team deserved this one.
"You could just tell, after all those incidents and such that we were destined to win this race," He said, "I can't tell you how many times we had to avoid a wreck or got into a mess like we did in the pits there. But it feels great to pull a win out here, especially at Bristol."
When asked about the finish, Carter explained, "I just wanted to bring the car home in one piece. I saw them battling up there and I thought for sure they'd wreck seeing how this race went. After a short while they got a bit slower, my spotter told me they were trapped behind lap traffic and that they could be stuck on the outside heading into 3. I just kept it pinned to the bottom and sure enough, we pulled through and got the win. No idea what happened to the 54, but I'm proud of my team, my sponsors and everyone involved here for such a great run. This isn't possible without this support."
The Hardee's 250 was the first for Carter since 2012 at South Boston, and his first in a JN Motorsports Dodge.
"We're having the season we knew we could have," he exclaimed, "It's not often to have a season quite like this, we need to keep pushing and make sure we make it worth our while."
With the win, Carter extends his point lead on Mack DiCario to 120 points. Mack finished 29th after getting collected in a late race crash started by Alex Jates and Grant Jacobs. Jacobs was not pleased with Jates.
"The dude just drive straight into you as if you're not even there. It's ridiculous, it's not the way you race. Nobody is lesser than Alex Jates. If you want a position in this sport you earn it, you don't plow your way through everyone, he's got one comin'. It's such a shame because we were having a fantastic run, it felt good to be up there again. And boom, done just like that because of one idiot. It's ridiculous."
Alex Jates obviously saw the situation very differently, taking shots right back at Jacobs.
"It's funny because he drove down straight into me. He has a history of causing accidents and tonight showed no different. I did nothing wrong, nothing. We were having a phenomenal run once again at Bristol, why would I jeopardize it like that? He turned Blanco here last year, this year he takes us out. It's stupid, I'm glad Simmons is paying him well to wreck the field."
The two talked in the AARO hauler, but no further comments were had with the media.
Great day goes sour for Hensler, Kurtis scores career best 8th.
The first half saw probaly the best Silver Green Racing has run in its entire AERS history with Brian Hensler, and Brad Kurtis. The second half saw Brian Hensler go out while Kurtis scored his first career top-10 finish in AERS competion.
Hensler, despite having a strong car in the first half of the race, was involved in two sperate incidents, one with Tommy Ricther, and other with Ross Lowery, Tim Averall, and later Ricardo Blanco, with the latter taking him out of the race. "I don't know if that 2 car what he was doing, I guess he was trying to go around on the outside where I don't think that would've worked out. Kind of unforuntaunte that we were taken out by the same car that wrecked the finish for everyone else, I also didn't mean to take the 75 out, but it was just our car slid down the track, and I think he had no where to go. I dunno what the 08 did there, but I think that was when our car was ruined for good. Lets see what we get next week."
In the other hand, Sioux City, Iowa native Brad Kurtis scored his career best 8th place finish at Bristol, and suprisly didn't have much to say. "The damage from the Jates/Jacobs fiasco had affected the performance of the car a little bit, luckly it still did the job. This top 10 will be a big milestone in my learing process, I haven't really put up the numbers from AAPT, but that was kind of expected from Roger, he just wants me to learn, he doesn't want me to worry about trying to fight for my drive in just my first year unlike some other guys. "
NathanSmith83 Racing Legend
Posts : 242 Join date : 2014-12-31 Location : The 5th Dimension
Carson Crompton lead for several laps in the late stages of the Hardee's 250. However he was passed by Oppenheimer while approaching the much slower 44 of Ross Lowery. Then all hell broke loose.
"I can't tell you how hyped I was on the radio. Then I got passed by dat 99 doe and was worried about dropping back several places. Then mayhem. Crazy. A mosh pit opened in front of me. Suddenly I went from likely falling to like 5th to the lead, I thought. I saw Carter had damage and assumed he was a lap down for a minute. Then around turns 3 and 4 my spotter informed me the 39 had won. But still, that fiasco did help me in a way. Can't complain about a 2nd place after starting last, at this of all places."
Crompton however did find something else to complain about
"Okay no more questions after this... But this is about the 70th time this season I've slowed down to avoid a catastrophe in front of me and then I get ran over from behind by some moron who doesn't hit the brake. I'm sick of it. Thankfully tonight aerodynamics were not important or it'd have screwed me, again. Learn to brake you idiots..."
Smith finishes a solid 7th, first finish between places 4th and 18th this year.
A year of inconsistency for the 83 team has hindered them from being in the championship hunt during the mid-season. With no finishes in the Top 10, or even Top 15 for that matter, outside of several strong showings in the Top 4 in the early season has hurt them in points. Couple that with flipping in a race they were once leading you dont have to look far for missed opportunities.
"I usually am one to look to the future, so I'd like to point out the massive gap from the leader that DiCario is. Carter has one bad race and it's anybody's title to win. So we have to keep pushing, 7th is a solid run, great work team, and if we keep it up we could be the lucky ones to pounce on the title when we get to Sasky."
Mertz finished in 10th completing another very strong showing for C-S Motorsports on a short track. Nick Black got the pole and lead the most laps, but was caught in a wreck later on in the event. He still picked up spots on the standings and is the first time C-S Motorsports has cracked the Top 5 in points since the early season.
Lester hangs onto Top 10 finish despite impeding leaders
"We had a good car all night, just got caught off the lead lap."
With a wild finish in the Hardee's 250, Casey Lester managed to snag a 9th-place finish. The thing is, he was really battling with the leaders the entire time, but off the lead lap. He ended up causing a crash late in the race with an overly-aggressive move under Nick Dawson [Black] and turned the #38 3 Musketeers Volkswagen around in Turns 1 and 2, creating a pileup on the backstretch as the field failed to use their brakes and avoid the accident. Lester quickly apologized over the radio and admitted that he "was way too aggressive there" and stated he "didn't do that on purpose".
"I just got in over my head with Nick and I cost him a good run. I apologize immensely for that. We were so close to getting back on the lead lap and maybe fighting for this one, but it just never happened. The leaders were so strong, especially Jates, and we were just pinned back in 9th for pretty much the whole night. Glad that we've got a good finish out of today and don't have to worry about too many repairs this week."
Weatherman Hall of Famer
Posts : 795 Join date : 2009-06-23 Age : 32 Location : Sunrise, FL
Jerry Richson, happy with 3rd, but overall dejected. Jefferson and Bibson get 13th and 14th respectively.
"You know, after the kind of day we had to today, I am very happy with 3rd, but man, it would have been nice to get that win. The 44 and I got together earlier, and yeah wasn't happy about it, but that had nothing to do with what happened with 2 to go, I really had to go for it, and when I hit the turn, I just braked insanely too late and that's what happened at the end there. I got nothing bad to say about the 44, he was only doing what he is supposed to do and yeah we got hot with each other earlier, but he didn't cost me the win, I did that to myself."