NASCAR Whelen All-American Series: Bobby Timmons
Beech Ridge Motor Speedway Race Report
SCARBOROUGH, Maine – Bobby Timmons III of Windham, Maine, finished a season-high third in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Pro Series 40 at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway in Scarborough, Maine, in Saturday, June 15. Timmons made a quick drive to the front in the Mulkern Racing No. 48 Southern Maine Chrysler Dodge Jeep/Timmons Machine Dodge from his sixth-place starting spot, and he was engaged in a three-car battle for the lead over the second half of the race. Timmons found himself shuffled back out of contention for the win on a couple of late-race restarts, but he was happy to have driven away with a podium finish and a strong effort after a rough start to the season.
WHO: Bobby Timmons III, Windham, Maine
TEAM: Mulkern Racing No. 48 Southern Maine Chrysler Dodge Jeep/Timmons Machine Dodge
CREW CHIEF: Bobby Timmons Jr., Windham, Maine
WHAT: NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Pro Series 40
WHERE: Beech Ridge Motor Speedway, Scarborough, Maine (.333-mile oval)
STARTED: 6th
FINISHED: 3rd
NEXT RACE: June 22, NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Pro Series 40, Beech Ridge Motor Speedway, Scarborough, Maine (.333-mile oval)
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BOBBY, DOES IT FEEL GOOD TO FINALLY HAVE A FINISH REFLECTIVE OF HOW FAST YOUR CAR HAS BEEN THIS SEASON?
Oh, definitely. You can’t complain. I probably only had the second- or third-best car, anyway. It was fading at the end. I used it up trying to catch Alan (Tardiff) early. It’s one of those things you’ll never know. If Kelly (Moore) hadn’t dive-bombed me, maybe I could have gotten the win. I don’t know. It’s just racing.
We had a fast car. I politely told him I wasn’t happy with him, but it’s in one piece. It’s stove up again, shocker. But it ran good, and it’s kind of a pick-me-up after the way the season’s started.
WAS THE CAR BETTER THAN YOU EXPECTED IT TO BE AFTER PRACTICE?
We finally kind of got a handle on our heat race package, which we’ve struggled forever with. We made some changes for the feature – but we might have went a little too far. It was a little snug. I could drive in and through the middle (of the corner) a ton, but I just couldn’t get the drive off. It’s just hard to get a perfect race car here.
Maybe Kelly saved his stuff a little better early. I know the first 20 laps or so, he was nowhere to be found. Usually, I’m a save-your-stuff kind of driver, but with the season we’ve been having, I was hungry to get going and go after it.
DID THE LATE RACE RESTARTS HURT YOU?
I’m not good at them. I think I’m getting better at it – I didn’t miss a shift or anything. I would have liked to see it go green-to-checker, just because I’m a better long-run driver and nobody would have caught us.
Like I said, I didn’t see Kelly for the first half of the race but once those cautions came, he started being a factor. Nonetheless, we had a third-place car and we finished third.