Top: JN Motorsports, Smith, Crompton Flop: Jerry Richson Motorsports, Calamicom Inc.
Post-Race:
Vermette scores another top-5; Dwyer loses points lead at Michigan
It was a very tame and quiet yet thrilling race at the Michigan International Speedway, where Nate Smith and Carson Crompton completed the ACS Racing 1-2 after Smith took the lead back with one corner to go. Madison Vermette found himself in a familiar spot, running behind Smith in 2nd in the late stages of the race, and wound up finishing in the third position. While frustration has settled in from being so close to his first career win, Vermette acknowledged his team's performance and their overall drive up through the field in order to be in contention for the win.
"We didn't have a good weekend in general I thought," said the rookie, "But we're always working and we've always got the main goal in mind each week, to be there at the end. That's what this team does so well, we fight and we don't lose sight of the goal at the finish. We kept picking at the car to try to get it right and didn't lose confidence or get angry when it looked like a top-10 was out of the question. [Crew chief] Drew [Williams] had a gameplan and we just stuck with it all day. This team is one that could win with any driver, I'm so proud to be representing them and everyone at KGI, they do such an awesome job."
The rookie finished 3rd after starting in the 39th position. He now climbs 8 spots to the 9th position in the points standings and sits 250 points back of points leader Mikael Carter, which is a full race plus a little more, so he is still very much in the title conversation. Vermette is also locked into a battle for the rookie of the year title, currently held by 2nd place Caine Dwyer. Vermette passed fellow rookie Seth McGuire this weekend, after McGuire 20th and dropped from 9th to 13th in the standings.
"We've got our work cut out for us," said Vermette, "It's going to be a battle but we cannot have any races off. You see how well the 10, 39, all those guys, how well they're running and you can see they're not going to slip up. I know I'm a rookie and I'm supposed to be learning and all that but if we've got a chance to win a title here we're surely going to keep working to get it."
Meanwhile, for the first time since the 3rd race of the season at Daytona, Caine Dwyer is no longer in the top points position. He finished 13th at Michigan, 6 spots behind new leader Mikael Carter, and lost the points lead. He now trails by 42.
"It's just crazy," he exclaimed, "We run well, lead a few laps and finish a respectable 13th, and that's not enough. I guess it shows how good and experienced those guys are, and we're going to learn from it. I thought we had a good race today and it ended up not being enough, so we're going to go back home this week and see what we can improve on and bring it to Bristol."
Carter, was frustrated his team couldn't close out.
"I really thought we dominated today. We had a lot of time out front and personally, we feel we had the best car. It's a shame to finish 7th, but that was a lot of fun, especially for our guys. Just couldn't get it done, but we're going to Bristol next week and I think we know how to win there so maybe we can get it done there."
Jakar545 Racing Legend
Posts : 286 Join date : 2011-11-25 Location : Quartz Land
Subject: Re: 2018 AERS Race 10 - Michigan (Little Caesar's 250) Sat May 26, 2018 1:19 pm
Newbridge after the race): "Well, no wonder we've been failing to qualify more often than not. Our cars handle like pure distilled garbage."
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Posts : 7740 Join date : 2009-05-16 Age : 29
Subject: Re: 2018 AERS Race 10 - Michigan (Little Caesar's 250) Sat May 26, 2018 3:43 pm