Young Driver Claims another Top-Five, Looks toward ARCA Race
It is has already been well established just how busy Tim Russell has been in 2007. In only a little over a month he has competed in 11 different events. He has only finished out of the top-10 in one of those events, and he is planning on adding some more solid finishes to his stats this coming weekend.
Russell’s most recent up-front finish was the runner-up spot at Orlando SpeedWorld, where he competed on Friday, March 16th, in the BRIGHTHOUSE Challenge Series event. Russell set the fast time, and started third after the inversion for the 50-lap feature.
“It was a short race with only 50 laps,” said Russell. “But it was 50 green laps, so the cautions didn’t count. It was probably about a 100-lap race with the cautions, and there were quite a few cautions.
“We had a really fast car. We just kind of got drove all over by another competitor, and if we could have gotten by him, we probably should have won. I am really looking forward to racing here again. The car that we left back at the shop is even faster than this one, so I am looking for a repeat finish, but hopefully we will be number one instead of number two next time.”
So what is up next for the young hotshoe? That’s simple; more races.
Russell and the Rinnai team are planning yet another double header for this upcoming weekend. On Friday Russell will practice his No. 9 Rinnai ARCA RE/MAX car at USA International Speedway in Lakeland, Florida, and then jet over to Orlando SpeedWorld to compete in the BRIGHTHOUSE CHALLENGE / SUNBELT Series event.
“We will be at Lakeland on Friday first and see if we can’t put the Rinnai Dodge on top of the speed charts there. Then we will head over to Orlando SpeedWorld to see if we can win that race. It will be a pretty busy day on Friday, and then we just need to go get a solid run Saturday night at Lakeland to make it a really good weekend.
“I am really excited about getting back in the ARCA car. We tested at Lakeland the week before Daytona and it went really well. I talked to the guys at the shop, and they are excited to get back to racing, and they are ready to go out there and get a good, top-five finish.”
A top-five should be easy for the team to get, considering the season that they have had and the momentum going into this weekend.
“We had a top-five going for us at Daytona, but we just had some unfortunate incidents that took us out there late in that race. But I am really looking forward to going to Lakeland. We have a lot of laps around there so I think we will have a good advantage, and I am really excited.
“We are also hoping to add some more ARCA races to our schedule soon. We are looking to put some stuff together for Nashville, so if we could bring home two solid ARCA finishes in the next few weeks, that would be pretty awesome.”
Russell’s next chance for victory will be on Saturday, March 23rd, in the
BRIGHTHOUSE Challenge Series Super Late Model event at Orlando
SpeedWorld (FL), and he will follow that up with an ARCA RE/MAX
Series event at USA International Speedway (FL) on Saturday March 24th.
If you would like more information on Tim Russell and his future racing plans, contact Amy Hayes at (704) 455-2051 and check out TimRussellonline.com for all the latest Tim Russell racing news.
