Dustin Delaney ready for qualifying. (51 Sports Photo)
Patient Run Nets Delaney Career-Best Finish At Tri-County
After Two Races Delaney Ninth in East Series Points
Dustin Delaney posted a career-best finish of ninth place in the inaugural visit for the NASCAR Camping World Series East to Tri-County Speedway Saturday night. Delaney spun during the race, but got back underway on his own power without bringing out the caution. It was a solid run for the sophomore year driver, and earned him a ninth place position in the early season point standings.
“We’re pretty happy with this finish,” said Delaney after the race. “We were good in practice all day and then we qualified decent. We spun out and came back up through. I got right back going again thanks to my spotter Steve (Tapley), who did a great job. I really like this track. It’s racey and you can run two or three different grooves.”
Delaney wheeled the No. 39 Delaney Infrastructure Chevrolet around the banked 4/10th’s mile track at a speed of 85.893 mph (16.765 seconds) to earn a 15th place starting position. In the early laps, Delaney dropped back to 20th, but started to work his way back up through the field methodically as the laps ticked off. By lap 62, Delaney was back up to 14th and moving forward.
At lap 82, however, Delaney faced an obstacle when he spun in three and four. With guidance from his spotter, Delaney was able to get back into the race without a caution coming out, but the driver had been relegated back to the 18th position.
Again, Delaney focused on the task at hand – one car at a time. By lap 100, he was running 14th and by lap 130 he was in 11th.
The race was extended three times to allow for a green-white-checker finish and each time Delaney made progress through the field. On the final restart at lap 163, the Mayfield, N.Y. native was sitting in the ninth position.
“It was a really wild race, and fortunately, we were able to keep the car in one piece and bring home a our best finish yet. I have to thank everyone on my crew for all the hard work they put into this effort. They put a great car underneath me and I’m happy that I could make it pay off for them,” said Delaney.
“It’s my younger brothers birthday this weekend so this will be great to tell him about,” continued Delaney. “He’s just turning eight and he’s out in Buffalo right now racing himself. He’ll be happy about this.”
The next NASCAR Camping World Series East race is the combination event with the NASCAR Camping World Series West at Iowa Speedway May 17.
