DANNY O’QUINN, JR. FINISHES 29TH AT NEW HAMPSHIRE INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
Danny O’Quinn, Jr. and the No. 50 Stonebridge Life & Associate Sponsored Barr-Nunn Transportation Ford Fusion
LOUDON, NH (July 15, 2006) – The warm weekend in Loudon began Friday with three practice sessions and continued on into Saturday where Danny O’Quinn and the No. 50 Stonebridge Life & Associate Sponsored Barr-Nunn Transportation team qualified 34th for the New England 200.
The race got underway Saturday afternoon around 3:00pm EST, immediately following the conclusion of the modified race that began earlier in the afternoon. There was talk of rain in the area so NASCAR tried to get things going in time to get at least half of the 200 lap race in.
O’Quinn said, “The car was very loose during qualifying, but it should be pretty good for the race.”
In the past O’Quinn has run well on short flat tracks like Loudon, unfortunately that was not the case this weekend.
During the first 50 laps of the race the No. 50 car went from “pretty good, maybe a little off,” according to O’Quinn to “tight off the gas,” to a lap down and tight on entry, center, and off the turns.
When the caution flag came out on lap 55 the No. 50 Stonebridge Life & Associate Sponsored Barr-Nunn Transportation team sprung into action giving O’Quinn fresh tires, an air pressure adjustment, fuel and a track bar adjustment. The team was able to gain 4 spots in the pits and returned to the track in 26th position.
When asked about his car 30 laps later O’Quinn said, “It started off real loose, but it’s coming back.”
Lap 90 marked the 6th caution of the day. A wreck just ahead of the No. 50 car caused the bumper cover of O’Quinn’s Ford Fusion to be crushed. For a short period of time, it was thought that the car had a flat because it was so loose on the restart. However, the spotter reassured the team that the tire was not flat and that there were no tire rubs from the damage done to the bumper.
As the race continued O’Quinn repeatedly told the team that the car was loose so on lap 147 he headed for the pits for their second and last stop of the race. The second stop was almost identical to the first: four tires, fuel and track bar and air pressure adjustments.
O’Quinn ran 29th consistently for remainder of the race. He finished three laps down and in 29th.
“It was a pretty tough day for us,” said Crew Chief Drew Blickensderfer. “Starting out the car was decent. When it started to tighten up we made some adjustments and the handling improved, but then it would start to loosen up and then we just couldn’t ever get it quite right. The No. 50 Stonebridge Life & Associate Sponsored Barr-Nunn Transportation team did a good job in the pits. It was just a disappointing race.”
O’Quinn will compete next at Martinsville Speedway on July 22nd in the Goody’s 250. He will be driving the No. 50 Transamerica & Associate Sponsored Barr-Nunn Transportation Ford Fusion.
Roush Racing is a subsidiary of Livonia, Mich., based Roush Enterprises which operates 14 motorsports teams; five in NASCAR Nextel Cup Series with drivers Mark Martin, Matt Kenseth, Jamie McMurray, Greg Biffle and Carl Edwards, six in the Busch Series with Martin, Kenseth, Biffle, Edwards, Todd Kluever and Danny O'Quinn, and three in the Craftsman Truck Series with Martin, David Ragan, Erik Darnell and Michel Jourdain, Jr. For sponsorship inquiries, contact Robin M. Johnson, Roush Racing, (704) 720-4645.
To find out more about the racing program at Barr-Nunn Transportation or to become part of the Barr-Nunn team call: 1-888-999-7576.
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