Dover International Speedway has a reputation as being a tough place to get around. Dustin Delaney, a rookie on the NASCAR Camping World Series East, didn’t find that to be the case. The former dirt racer adjusted well in his first visit to the Monster Mile, and posted a 12th place finish in the Sunoco 150 to prove it.
“We were fifth there for a while. It was a good day,” said Delaney. “I had a lot of fun running up front at a track as fast and demanding as this. This team is really starting to come together and I think you’re starting to see that in our finishes. This was the first time we’ve ever been here, we didn’t test, but the team pulled together and we had a strong run.”
Delaney started 23rd and opted for patience in the early laps of the race as he became acclimated with the track. After ten laps, Delaney decided it was time to go and he started a charge through the field. He made it up to 15th for the restart at lap 22 and was still making progress.
A long green flag run coupled with the torrid pace of the leaders threatened to put the #39 Delaney Infrastructure/Cars Under 10K Chevrolet a lap down, but caution came out just in time. Crew chief Jamie Aube called Delaney onto pit road where the team took on some fuel and tires.
Racing resumed at lap 60 with Delaney running 15th, but an accident at lap 67 brought the race under red flag conditions for about 20 minutes. Delaney had pitted again prior to the red flag with the swiftness of his crew on pit road gaining him two spots on the track. Delaney restarted the race in 13th.
Delaney used strategy at lap 102 to gain some track position when a lot of lead lap cars opted to pit one more time. Delaney stayed out and moved up to fifth in the running order. Delaney remained in the top-10 until the final 3 laps when Bryon Chew and Craig Goess were able to wrestle the spot away from him.
“We got mixed up with somebody and it kind of slowed us down for those last couple of laps,” Delaney explained. “People came in a lot later than us to get tires and that sort of hurt us, but we’re not disappointed at all with our results today. We were a competitive team, we stayed out of trouble, and we had a decent finish.”
Delaney will close out the 2008 NASCAR Camping World Series East season next week at Stafford Motor Speedway in Connecticut. The #39 Delaney Infrastructure/Cars Under 10K Chevrolet will take the green flag on Sunday, September 28th at noon.
For more information, contact:
Penny Aicardi
(508) 234-8684
PennyBNS@aol.com
