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Piekarski Finishes 20th
in Late Model Nationals at Lee The PBJ Motorsports team kicked off the day with a
couple of rounds of practice. The car was fast but the handling was just a
bit off. "The car felt pretty good through practice rounds,"
said Piekarski. "We needed to tighten the car up just a bit to get it
ready for our qualifier," continued Piekarksi. In the first round of qualifying, only 3 cars would
make the big show out of fifteen. The rest would have to go to the
consolation round. Piekarski started 10th in the fourth
qualifier. When the green flag flew, Piekarski quickly picked up two
positions to run eighth. A caution flew quickly in the race. On the
ensuing restart, Piekarski moved to the 7th position. Then a
car spun in front of Piekarski in turn two. He locked the car down to
avoid the incident. Slight damage was still had from incidental contact,
but he was relegated back to the position he was running before the
caution. The green flag flew again and Piekarski charged to the fourth
position where he would finish when the checkers flew. "That was a good run and the car felt better than
practice, but still a bit off," said Piekarski. "It would have been nice
to gain one more spot so that we could be in the show, but we will have to
go to the consi," expressed Piekarski. Piekarski started fifth in the consolation race and
hovered around that position until lap ten. At that point, the car was
overheating and he pulled into the pits to have the problem assessed.
Having not finished the consolation, Piekarski had one last chance to make
the main event through the ‘C’ Main Feature. "I think we have fixed the overheating problem,"
said Piekarski prior to the ‘C’ Main. A bit of luck came Piekarski’s way for the ‘C’ Main.
He started on the pole of a 26-car field. He led every lap and captured
the win, guaranteeing a transfer spot to the ‘B’ Main. With the program moving right along at a blistering
pace, the team worked feverishly to prepare the car for the next race.
Seven cars would transfer from the ‘B’ Main to the 150-lap Nationals race.
Piekarski started in the 16th position. He had just twenty laps
to crack the top seven. Piekarski made it to 14th position
before spinning. He restarted 23rd after recovering from the
spin. By lap 10, Piekarski had worked his way back up to the 9th
position where he finished the race. The ninth place finish did not get
him into the ‘A’ Main, but an ACT Tour provisional did. "We are in," said Piekarski. "That takes a lot of
pressure off just knowing that we are in the show. The car has been
improving all day." Piekarski rolled off 31st in his Toyota
of Nashua/Collision Centers of New Hampshire #19 Late Model. When the
green flew, Piekarski quickly picked up seven spots by lap five. Several
cautions kept the action tight and allowed the PBJ Motorsports team to
make pit stops under caution to improve the handling. At lap 50, the car
was still loose and Piekarksi was running in the 27th position.
A few laps later, the team made their last pit stop to adjust the car. All
of the adjustments paid off as Piekarski started to storm his way to the
front. By lap 75, Piekarski was running fourteenth behind
eventual race winner D.J. Kennington. Five laps later, the pair cracked
the top ten. For the next twenty laps, the pair ran nose to tail drawing
in on the lead pack. They caught the pack at lap 105 and Piekarski was
running just outside the top five in sixth position at lap 112. On lap
115, slight smoke could be seen from the right side of the car. On lap
118, tour officials pointed Piekarksi to the pits to assess the problem.
The right rear fender had started to rub the tire slightly. Unfortunately,
the problem happened under green-flag conditions and Piekarski lost a
couple of laps in the pits. The car was very fast when he returned to racing
action, but unfortunately he had lost more than he could make up with just
30 laps remaining. Piekarski finished 20th when the checkers
flew. "The car was awesome on that long stretch of green
flag laps," said Piekarski. " I was following Kennington through the pack.
I knew how fast he was early in the race and I figured he was going to be
the car to beat at the end. It was a tough break with the fender rub, but
I am still happy with how the team worked hard to provide me with a great
car to race. We had a top five car today," closed Piekarski. The PBJ Motorsports team moves on this weekend to
the classic Milk Bowl race at Thunder Road in Barre, Vermont. The race is
the last on the 2004 ACT schedule. Piekarski extended his point lead in
the Rookie of the Year race to 81 points and is currently fifteenth in
points overall. [ Previous Page ] |
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