Dustin Delaney signed autographs and chatted with the fans before the race at South Boston. (51 Sports Photo).
Delaney Rallies For Tenth Place Finish At South Boston
Post-Race Report
Dustin Delaney continued his 2009 short track success with a solid tenth place finish in the Camping World Series East’s 150-lap feature at South Boston Speedway Saturday night. It was Delaney’s third top-10 of the young season, and solidifies a sixth place position in the championship point standings for the Mayfield, N.Y. driver.
Delaney came out of the box strong by topping the speed charts in the final practice session of the day. His fast lap of 16.082 seconds bested Ryan Truex, Ryan Gifford, Ryan Duff, and Brett Moffitt, and was 7/10th’s quicker than his fastest lap in the first practice session.
“We struggled getting a handle on the car in the first practice session, but the guys worked real hard and turned it right around,” said Delaney. “We’ve been getting better and better at each race, and we’re still getting better.”
The team had high expectations for qualifying, but a lap time of 16.473 seconds (87.416 mph) in the Delaney Infrastructure Chevrolet earned him a 15th place starting position.
“We had a good car in practice, but both the guys and I thought the track was going to tighten up. We set it up loose expecting the track to tighten up and it never did,” Delaney said.
Patience and tire management were the key to surviving the tight confines of South Boston Speedway. Delaney was a solid top-15 contender in the first half of the race as few cautions stretched out the field.
“Last year we were pretty tore up when we left here,” explained Delaney. “You just have to be patient. You kind of want to let things settle down. It’s a long race and you have to know when to go and when not to.”
Once things got tightened up, Delaney was on his march forward. He was in the top-10 by lap 80 and became a mainstay there for the remainder of the event. Delaney advanced to ninth, but lost it to Eddie MacDonald just before taking the checkers.
“We’re on top of the charts in practice and having consistent finishes so I think we have some momentum going. The guys are all into it and so am I so we’re only going to get better,” said Delaney. “We’re pretty excited with the results we’ve been having.”
The NASCAR Camping World Series moves on to Watkins Glen International road course for the 28th running of the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen on Saturday, June 6th.
