Tim Russell Survives for Sixth-Place Finish in Georgia
First Visit to Watermelon Capital Speedway Ends with Positive Results
Tim Russell put an undefeated record on the line when he entered the ASA Southeast Asphalt Tour event at Watermelon Capital Speedway (GA). Russell had won in his only other ASA SAT start at the now defunct USA International Speedway (FL). Not worrying about the past, Russell tested the waters with a track new to him against a pack field of Late Model drivers. In the end Russell outlasted the attrition-filled race and finished a satisfying sixth.
“We qualified 16th and I knew we were going to be pretty good during the race,” said Russell. “We were able to make it up in the top eight pretty quickly, but the cautions kept coming and slowing down any forward progress. We probably ran 100 laps of cautions. We got up to fourth late in the race, but the leaders tangled up a bit and we had to scramble to miss them and we lost some spots. All in all a sixth-place finish isn’t that bad considering the quality of cars that were there.”
Russell could never quite get into a rhythm as the race was slowed close to 20 times for caution periods. He also had never been to the Cordele, Georgia track prior to the event. Still the team was happy with their results.
“I am really proud of all my guys,” added Russell. “That’s not the type of result that we were looking for, but this place can be a little crazy. With no outside wall, I think some drivers lost their heads real quick. I wish we could have had a longer run to see how good our car was. We know this race was really caution plagued, but we would like to run with them (ASA SAT) again later this season.”
Russell will be back in action this coming weekend at Orlando SpeedWorld (FL) on Friday, June 12th for a the next round of the Bright House Challenge Series. The event will be 50 laps as Russell goes for his third win of the 2009 season.
