FLAMBORO, ON- Lucas Oil Sportsman Cup series sophomore Mike Nelson overcame a poor qualifying effort to muster a 5th place finish at Flamboro Speedway on July 20th, marking his second top-5 in 4 races this season.
“We ended up having to work a little harder for it today, but I’m stoked to give my guys another top-5 finish. They definitely deserve it”, smiled Nelson post-race.
“We’ve had a tough time with qualifying all season, I think once we get that sorted out we’re going to start contending for wins on this tour. This car has been great all season, it’s just tough not using your stuff up when you have to come from so deep in the field”
Nelson started in the 14th position, and utilized a 73-lap green flag run to work his way through the field, infiltrating the top-5 late in the race.
“I think today just goes to show how quickly you have to adapt your strategy for one of these races”, explained Nelson. “I’m not sure how many guys were ready for that long of a green flag run to start the race, but it definitely worked out in our favour”
“This is a long-run car”, continued Nelson, “it just kept getting better as the race went on. The more laps we put on the board, the better this car felt”
The top-5 comes off the heels of a spirited rebuilding effort, after Nelson heavily damaged his R&J Machine No. 85 in Round 3 of the series at Capital City Speedway on July 5th.
“We needed this in a big way”, said Nelson. “For morale more than anything. We tore this car up pretty bad at Capital City, and it took a pile of work just to get it back to the track. We’re a small team, so there’s not a lot of manpower to go around. It took a tonne of hours, and I can’t thank my crew enough”
Nelson entered the event tied for 5th in series points, and hopes his performance at Flamboro will help push him towards the top-3 in LOSC standings.
“This was an awesome points night for us. We’re chasing our first championship, and we know that we just have to keep digging”
“The competition on this tour is so tight, there really isn’t a lot of room for error. So, hopefully we can keep knocking down these top-5 runs and move ourselves closer to a shot at the top-3 heading into the second half of the season”
Mike Nelson will return to action when the Lucas Oil Sportsman Cup series rolls into Peterborough Speedway on August 9th.
Mike Nelson’s 2014 season is powered 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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