Bristol, TN. (August 25, 2006) - Scott Wimmer and the Family Dollar team battled the fast Bristol Motor Speedway Friday night to bring the No. 14 Family Dollar Dodge home in the 17 th position in the caution filled Food City 250.
The short track ace started the 250-lap event from the 12th position and quickly began working his way through the field picking off cars one at a time.
"It's a little loose in, and a little tight off," Wimmer radioed crew chief Ron Otto 36 laps into the event. "Not bad though. I think we're going to be ok."
A caution on lap 69 allowed Otto to call his driver to pit road. The Family Dollar crew quickly went to work changing four tires, adding fuel and an air pressure adjustment before returning their driver to the racing surface in the 20 th position.
The adjustments briefly improved the handling of the No. 14 Dodge allowing Wimmer to race his way back into the top-10 by lap 90.
"It's real bad loose," radioed Wimmer. "I've been adjusting the brake bias, but it just seems to make it worse."
Despite the loose condition, Wimmer continued to stay with the leaders inside the top-10. A timely caution on lap 122 was just what the Family Dollar team needed. Hoping to alleviate the loose condition, Wimmer brought the No. 14 to pit road for fuel, tires, and a chassis adjustment.
It didn't take long for Wimmer to radio Otto with an update on the handling of his racecar.
"I can't touch the brakes getting into the corner, it makes it loose, then I get tight off."
Although battling his loose machine, Wimmer was able to fight his way back into the top-20.
Knowing they had nothing to lose, Otto called his driver to pit road one last time on lap 222 for a wedge adjustment hoping to tighten up the No. 14 Dodge for the sprint to the finish.
The adjustment was just what Wimmer needed as he raced his way up through the field in the closing laps of the race. Running out of time due to a lengthy caution, Wimmer and the Family Dollar team would be forced to settle for a 17 th place finish.
"We had a fast racecar tonight," said Wimmer. "I got bad loose there, couldn't even touch the brakes without it busting loose on me. The guys got me fixed up there at the end, we just ran out of laps. If I'd had another 15 laps or so, we could have had us a top-10 finish. The car was real good there at the end."
The NASCAR Busch Series heads to California Speedway next weekend for the Ameriquest 300. All the racing action will be broadcast live on both TNT and MRN Radio starting at 10:00 p.m. ET.
Olympia Steel Buildings is a proud co-sponsor of the No.14 Dodge owned by FitzBradshaw Racing
# posted by Olympia Steel Buildings @ 11:13 AM
