Russell Overcomes Spin For Another Top-10 In ASA SAT

Despite Altercation, Russell Brings Home 10th Place Finish

Tim Russell has only run two races with the ASA Southeast Asphalt Tour and each of those starts resulted in a top-10 finish, one of which was a win. Thus, going into the RC/Cola MoonPie 100 at Lanier National Speedway (GA), Russell had a healthy amount of confidence behind him.  Unfortunately, a scuffle with another competitor handicapped his finish a bit before the checkered flag flew, relegating him to a 10th-place finish.

“We had really good car,” commented Russell. “I definitely knew we had a top-three car and we qualified fourth. I knew we were pretty good in qualifying and I thought we had a good car for the race.

“I don’t know what the 41 car [TJ Reaid] was thinking.  He just drove in there and turned me around getting in the corner for no reason.  If he’s that much faster than me that early in the race he could’ve gone to the outside, but I guess he was just impatient. I hate it for my guys because when I got spun I had to stay on the gas to keep from hitting anything or anybody so it chewed up my rear tires and we were just hanging on from there.  Fortunately we were able to get the IOA Chevy back in the top 10 and keep it there. Now we’ll just move on to the next one.”

Despite the altercation, Russell has not lost his appetite for the track or the series.

“The track is tough, it’s pretty slick,” explained Russell.  “I thought we had it down pretty good, but like I said, after we had gotten spun I think I just burned the rear tires off, so I think it made it even slicker for us.

“This is a good series.  The car counts are up in the 30s and Micky [Cain] does a good job promoting this.  It’s a fun to come race with these guys.  Hopefully we’ll have some better luck at the next one.”

Tim Russell and the Insurance Office of America Chevy will be back in action this Thursday, July 2nd, at New Smyrna Speedway (FL) for the Clyde Hart Memorial, which honors the track founder and FASCAR creator.