FLAMBORO, ON- Lucas Oil Sportsman Cup sophomore Mike Nelson tallied his third top-5 finish of the 2014 season on August 23rd, after an impressive performance in Round 6 of the tour at Flamboro Speedway.
The Peterborough, ON-based driver opened up the event by improving upon his recent qualifying struggles, time trialing 7th in the field.
“Being able to knock down a strong time trial effort was the perfect way to begin our day”, smiled Nelson. “There’s definitely still room for improvement, but we’ve had a number of time trials where we’ve ended up qualifying at the back of the field. 7th is certainly a step in the right direction for us”
In the 100-lap feature event, Nelson employed a conservative strategy. Staying out of trouble and advancing his way to the top-5 by virtue of his trademark smooth driving style.
“We had a great car tonight”, said Nelson. “There was so much work that went into just getting our equipment repaired after wrecking at Peterborough. Truthfully, as banged up as we were after our last race, I had no idea how the car would even handle tonight”
“I’m elated we were able to rebound like this”, continued Nelson. “It’s attributable to the people I’ve been lucky enough to surround myself with. Guys like John Baker Jr. and Joey McColm. I owe so much of my success to those two”
“We didn’t have much to lose tonight, so we experimented a little bit with the setup and it worked like a charm. Awesome night”
After his 5th place finish, Nelson remains in the hunt for a top-5 finish in the Lucas Oil Sportsman Cup championship points standings.
The former Mini Stock standout will next set his sights on Delaware Speedway for Round 7 of the tour on September 19th, with hopes of closing the 7 point gap between himself and 5th place in points.
“Everytime we hit a bump in the road, we seem to come back even stronger”, explained Nelson. “I don’t see any reason why this team can’t muster a top-5 finish in points. Delaware’s an awesome track, and I can’t wait to get back there. We know what we want to happen, now we just have to formulate a strategy and go out and get it”
Mike Nelson’s 2014 season is fueled by EXTRA 90.5 FM Peterborough Sports Talk Radio, R&J Machine, Peterborough Roofing, Love’s Tires, Dohjo Muay Thai, NAPA Auto Parts of Bridgenorth, Custom Signs & Graphics and The Canadian Breast Cancer Society.
Follow Mike and the team on Twitter @NelsonRacing85 and visit Mike Nelson Racing on Facebook.
By Spencer Lewis (@itsspencerlewis)
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