INVERARY, Ont. – July 18, 2017 – After his first finish outside the top-10 last year, Danny O’Brien bounced back to his usual form with a third-place finish in 358 Modified action at Brockville Ontario Speedway on Saturday night.
O’Brien started the night with a quick time lap in his heat group and then won his heat to put him on the pole for the 50-lap main event.
“We started on the pole and the No.38 of Luke Whitteker was outside,” O’Brien said. “The outside was the place to be and I followed him for 46 laps. When the last yellow came out with four laps to go, I made a bonsai move to try and make something happen and I lost a spot. I ended up third.”
O’Brien felt his car wasn’t strong enough to get by Whitteker in the bottom lane and was likely a second-place finisher and his last lap effort was his only chance to steal the win.
“The car was just off. I don’t know if I missed the setup or had a bad torsion bar,” O’Brien explained. “We were going to be probably a second-place car unless lapped traffic played a factor. It’s still a good run and another top-five.”
With Sprint Cars in attendance at Brockville on Saturday along with rain earlier in the week, the track threw a curveball at the field of competitors.
“It was heavy with slick spots,” O’Brien said. “It was a little rough going into turn three with a cushion going into turn one. Historically they always run the Sprint Cars first and this time they ran us before them. It’s not the usual track that we always have. It’s still a good run. We just have some work to do.”
Every race team is now in the dog days of summer. The long and hot summer days can make the middle portion of the season particularly challenging. However, the number of rainouts in the Northeast have largely kept O’Brien to racing once a week.
The rain has not only limited the amount of racing for the drivers, but has caused problems for the racetracks. Brockville has done an excellent job with the cards they’ve been dealt, O’Brien said.
“The fatigue has not been a factor this year with how much rain we’ve gotten,” O’Brien said. “Every Friday it rains, so it’s been playing havoc with the racetracks. Brockville’s been lucky. We’ve had great tracks all year. This is the first time it’s actually had any roughness to it at all, so he’s been doing a great job.”
O’Brien will be back in action on Saturday, July 22 at Brockville Ontario Speedway for Hall of Fame induction night. For additional event information, visit www.brockvillespeedway.com.
SEASON STATS
Danny O’Brien – 11 Starts: 3 Wins, 8 Top-5s, 10 Top-10s
DANNY O’BRIEN MEDIA
Website: dannyobrien.ca
Facebook: facebook.com/DannyOBrienRacing
Danny O’Brien is proud to partner with several dedicated marketing partners for the 2017 race season, including 1000 Islands RV Centre, ATC World Class Trailers, Bob FM, Pat’s Auto Centre, Bicknell Racing Products, Heather-Lynn Topping, Integra Shocks, Number One Speed Shock Service and Kenneth Topping.
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