FLAMBORO, ON- After a disappointing start to his 2014 Lucas Oil Sportsman Cup campaign, Mike Nelson fired back in Round 2 of the tour, overcoming an early spin to earn a 5th place finish at Flamboro Speedway on June 28th.
“I think what we were able to do tonight just shows that hard work pays off”, offered Nelson as his team worked to load their R&J Machine No. 85. “We weren’t great when we unloaded, but my guys went to bat for me, today. They weren’t going to stop working until we had a top-5 car”
The Peterborough, ON driver qualified 8th in the 16-car field, and made a litany of adjustments prior to the 100-lap feature event.
“We put a spring rubber in the right rear just before time trials and I hated it”, explained Nelson. “So we fixed that up before the feature, and made a couple of small adjustments and it just woke the car right up”
“Once we took the green flag, it immediately felt as though we had a better car than we did in practice”
An early-race spin sent the former Mini Stock standout to the tail of the field, though Nelson made good use of an extended green flag run to make his way back to the top-5.
“This was a long run car tonight. That green flag run could not have come at a better time for us”, said Nelson. “The race ran green for about 40 laps, and we were able to make up a tonne of track position. If this had been a caution-filled race, I’m not sure we would have been able to make our way through the field”
“We lost the brakes with 20 to go, and still managed a top-5. I’d say that’s an awesome outing for this team. We beat ourselves up a bit after Sauble, but this gets us back in the right direction for the rest of the season”
The top-5 performance vaulted Nelson to 7th in the series point standings, as the sophomore competitor prepares for Round 3 of the tour at Capital City Speedway in Ottawa, ON.
Mike Nelson’s 2014 campaign is made possible thanks to 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.
For details on the Lucas Oil Sportsman Cup event at Capital City Speedway on July 5th, visit www.LucasOilSportsmanCup.com
Follow Mike and the team on Twitter @NelsonRacing85 and visit Mike Nelson Racing on Facebook for updates as the squad prepares for Round 3.
By Spencer Lewis (@itsspencerlewis)
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