Russell Uses Patience Through Series' Tire Woes To Score Second

Lake Mary, Florida, Racer Frustrated After Logging Laps at New Smyrna

Earlier this season, Tim Russell and the rest of the Super Late Model racers were used to running the Florida series on Goodyear tires, but FASCAR made a change to Hoosiers midway through the year, throwing the drivers and teams for a loop.

With a few races under his belt with the Hoosiers, Russell was still trying to find the happy balance Saturday at New Smyrna Speedway (FL) for the combined Bright House / Sunbelt Series event at the track.  He ended up finishing second, but it was a frustrating day for the Lake Mary, Florida, racer.

The tire issue went so far as to affect Russell's run in qualifying, where he timed in fourth fastest.

"We thought we had our car pretty good on the other tires and even when we ran a race earlier in the year on the Hoosiers at Lakeland in the ASA Southeast race they were pretty comparable to the Goodyears we used to run.  It is a shame because it isn't real racing.  You just ride around, saving your tires and trying to keep them from blistering.  I want to go out there and race hard every lap."

Russell and his team will try again to get to victory lane in the Bright House Challenge event on Friday, October 17th at Orlando Speedworld (FL).

"We have been spoiled lately getting a bunch of pole positions, so fourth was a bit of a dejection," explained Russell.  "We had to make some adjustments for the tire problems they have been having there, so we gave up a little in qualifying."

In the race, the tire issues forced Russell and the rest of the racers to log laps until the end.  By that time, he could only get to the second position.

"We started fourth and had a good race, but it was just boring, riding around and trying to save the tires from blistering," said Russell.  "We got to do some racing with about 15 laps to go.  I got around (Jeremy) Colangelo on the outside on a restart.  By the time I got him cleared, Wayne (Anderson) had got out to an eight-car lead.  It was hard to try to run him down when we were both running the same speed.  If we had a caution, it might have been interesting, but all in all it wasn't too bad.