Tim Russell Starts Brighthouse Off Right at New Smyrna Speedway
2007 Champion Picks Right Up Where He Left off In Brighthouse Challenge Series
It didn’t take long for the 2007 Brighthouse Series Champion, Tim Russell, to get back into the groove of things. In fact, he started off his 2008 Brighthouse Challenge season just as he left it last season, out front. In the season opener at New Smyrna Speedway, Russell put his Rinnai machine out front and stayed out front the entire race to claim the opening race of the season for the series that he dominated in 2007.
“It was a really good race for us,” said Russell. “We had a really strong car all weekend long. It was good all through practice, and after the second practice we knew that it was good, so we decided to park it and save it.
“We just didn’t quite get the car adjusted to where we needed to with different tires for qualifying, and we were just really loose when we got out on the track and we qualified second. They inverted the top three in the field, so luckily we ended up starting right where we qualified. We were able to take the lead on the first lap, and we never looked back.”
From the outside looking in, Russell’s win may have looked easy. But easy is never the case in the competitive world of Florida Super Late Model racing. One has to always be on their toes and up on the wheel, on the lookout for those who want to try and get by at any given moment.
“We have a lot of stuff that we are working on, so we haven’t decided
what championship that we are going to go for yet, but this was a great way to start off the season. It’s nice to pick up right where we left off. We are going to take it race by race and see how it goes.
“We just have to keep the momentum rolling,” added Russell. “Our car is better than it was when we were down at Speedweeks, so that was a big advantage going out there this past weekend. Right off the bat I knew that our car was better than it was at Speedweeks, and we were pretty happy with the result. Our cars are driving great right now and it makes my job a lot easier, and I can’t wait to get back on the track at our next race at Orlando.”
Tim will be back in racing action on Friday, April 4th, when the Sunbelt Series returns to Orlando SpeedWorld.
“The field was pretty competitive, and we were able to work out a pretty comfortable lead. Wayne Anderson was second behind us, and that is always a challenging situation to have. Once we were able to get out front, I knew I would have to save my stuff in case we got a caution and would have to fight him on the restart, but the race ended up going green the whole way, so once we were out front it was clear sailing from there.”
While this was the continuation of something Russell started at Speedfest earlier this year, he along with his team, haven’t decided yet which direction or which Championships they will specifically be going for this year.
