Contreras Battles Brake Problems, Perseveres to Bring Home 29th Place Finish Martinsville, VA. (July 22, 2006) - Carlos Contreras battled back from brake problems to salvage a 29th place finish in the Goody's 250 Saturday at Martinsville Speedway.
Starting 31st in the No. 12 Supercuts/Beach Bash Dodge in only his second start of the 2006 season, Contreras methodically began picking his way through traffic from the drop of the green flag. With the help of veteran spotter Scott Clodfelter Contreras was able to maneuver his racecar into the top-25 in only 5 laps.
A caution flag on lap 68 would allow crew chief, Paul Wolfe to call his driver to pit road for some much needed adjustments. Hoping to alleviate the tight handling condition plaguing the No. 12, Wolfe would call for four tires, fuel and two rounds down on the right jacking bolt before sending Contreras back to the racing surface. These changes appeared to be exactly what the Supercuts/Beach Bash Dodge needed as Contreras broke in to the top-10 on lap 86.
The carnage out on the racetrack would continue with the caution flags flying with regular occurrence. Crew chief Wolfe offered this advice to his driver on one such caution.
"Carlos, you've got to keep this car clean," explained Wolfe.
"Be smart about it, you see how these guys are racing, you're doing a great job."
Mid-race contact from another car would cost Contreras a dozen spots forcing the Supercuts/Beach Bash Dodge back to the 24th position. Battling his way back up through the field Contreras began complaining he was losing the handling of his No. 12 Dodge.
"I'm tight, very, very tight," radioed Contreras. "I think my brakes are going bad."
"Hang in there buddy," encouraged Wolfe. "We've go to try and hang in there, you let me know if it gets worse and we'll get you in here." Contreras would fight brake problems for the remainder of the race bringing the Supercuts/Beach Bash Dodge home on the lead lap in the 29th position.
"This is not the finish I had hoped for," commented Contreras. "The Supercuts/Beach Bash car was good. My crew gave me good stops, made all the right adjustments. I really think we had a top-20 car today for sure."
"We had a lot of problems with the brakes," added Contreras. "They just got so hot, all I could do was hang on till the end."
The NASCAR Busch Series moves on to Gateway International Raceway for the Gateway 250 presented by Shop n' Save Saturday July 29th. TNT and MRN radio will carry all the racing action live beginning at 8:00 p.m. ET.
Olympia Steel Buildings is a proud co-sponsor of the No.12 Dodge owned by FitzBradshaw Racing
# posted by Olympia Steel Buildings @ 6:50 AM
