Piekarski Finishes 20th in Late Model Nationals at Lee : Raceway Media

Lee, NH – The largest Late Model stock car event in the Northeast took place this past Sunday at the Lee USA Speedway. Seventy-six cars entered the event which paid the winner $10,000. The American-Canadian Tour sanctioned race only started a 36-car field. Before the main event, a number of qualifying rounds were required. Nashua’s B.J. Piekarski was among the drivers entered. He was up for the challenge as he was returning to a track he called home during the 2003 season.

The PBJ Motorsports team kicked off the day with a couple of rounds of practice. The car was fast but the handling was just a bit off.

“The car felt pretty good through practice rounds,” said Piekarski. “We needed to tighten the car up just a bit to get it ready for our qualifier,” continued Piekarksi.

In the first round of qualifying, only 3 cars would make the big show out of fifteen. The rest would have to go to the consolation round. Piekarski started 10th in the fourth qualifier. When the green flag flew, Piekarski quickly picked up two positions to run eighth. A caution flew quickly in the race. On the ensuing restart, Piekarski moved to the 7th position. Then a car spun in front of Piekarski in turn two. He locked the car down to avoid the incident. Slight damage was still had from incidental contact, but he was relegated back to the position he was running before the caution. The green flag flew again and Piekarski charged to the fourth position where he would finish when the checkers flew.

“That was a good run and the car felt better than practice, but still a bit off,” said Piekarski. “It would have been nice to gain one more spot so that we could be in the show, but we will have to go to the consi,” expressed Piekarski.

Piekarski started fifth in the consolation race and hovered around that position until lap ten. At that point, the car was overheating and he pulled into the pits to have the problem assessed. Having not finished the consolation, Piekarski had one last chance to make the main event through the ‘C’ Main Feature.

“I think we have fixed the overheating problem,” said Piekarski prior to the ‘C’ Main.

A bit of luck came Piekarski’s way for the ‘C’ Main. He started on the pole of a 26-car field. He led every lap and captured the win, guaranteeing a transfer spot to the ‘B’ Main.

With the program moving right along at a blistering pace, the team worked feverishly to prepare the car for the next race. Seven cars would transfer from the ‘B’ Main to the 150-lap Nationals race. Piekarski started in the 16th position. He had just twenty laps to crack the top seven. Piekarski made it to 14th position before spinning. He restarted 23rd after recovering from the spin. By lap 10, Piekarski had worked his way back up to the 9th position where he finished the race. The ninth place finish did not get him into the ‘A’ Main, but an ACT Tour provisional did.

“We are in,” said Piekarski. “That takes a lot of pressure off just knowing that we are in the show. The car has been improving all day.”

Piekarski rolled off 31st in his Toyota of Nashua/Collision Centers of New Hampshire #19 Late Model. When the green flew, Piekarski quickly picked up seven spots by lap five. Several cautions kept the action tight and allowed the PBJ Motorsports team to make pit stops under caution to improve the handling. At lap 50, the car was still loose and Piekarksi was running in the 27th position. A few laps later, the team made their last pit stop to adjust the car. All of the adjustments paid off as Piekarski started to storm his way to the front.

By lap 75, Piekarski was running fourteenth behind eventual race winner D.J. Kennington. Five laps later, the pair cracked the top ten. For the next twenty laps, the pair ran nose to tail drawing in on the lead pack. They caught the pack at lap 105 and Piekarski was running just outside the top five in sixth position at lap 112. On lap 115, slight smoke could be seen from the right side of the car. On lap 118, tour officials pointed Piekarksi to the pits to assess the problem. The right rear fender had started to rub the tire slightly. Unfortunately, the problem happened under green-flag conditions and Piekarski lost a couple of laps in the pits.

The car was very fast when he returned to racing action, but unfortunately he had lost more than he could make up with just 30 laps remaining. Piekarski finished 20th when the checkers flew.

“The car was awesome on that long stretch of green flag laps,” said Piekarski. “ I was following Kennington through the pack. I knew how fast he was early in the race and I figured he was going to be the car to beat at the end. It was a tough break with the fender rub, but I am still happy with how the team worked hard to provide me with a great car to race. We had a top five car today,” closed Piekarski.

The PBJ Motorsports team moves on this weekend to the classic Milk Bowl race at Thunder Road in Barre, Vermont. The race is the last on the 2004 ACT schedule. Piekarski extended his point lead in the Rookie of the Year race to 81 points and is currently fifteenth in points overall.

For more information about PBJ Motorsports log on to www.pbjmotorsports.com.

Classified Ad Sites