Wreck Dampens Promising Run For Fadden Racing’s Albarracin While Laing’s Debut Nets Impressive 11th Place Finish
Jefferson, Ga. (August 30, 2010): Fadden Racing experienced a roller coaster day at the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East debut at Gresham Motorsports Park this weekend. Development driver and Columbia native Julian Albarracin was well on his way to a top-15 finish when he spun the No. 54 AAIC Chevrolet and hit the wall off of turn two at lap 90. The damage was too extensive and the team made the call to park the car for the remainder of the event. Tyler Laing, who was making his series debut in the No. 61 Ultimate Fish Scaler/Myachi.com Chevrolet, posted an impressive 11th place finish.
Albarracin, who never even tested at Gresham Motorsports Park, used the first practice session to become familiar with the track and improved steadily throughout the day. He posted his quickest lap during time trials and earned a 23rd place starting position.
“This is only his second oval course race, ever,” said Mike Olsen, team owner. “So we want him to be conservative and just go out there and learn. That’s what this season is all about for Julian. We don’t want to put any pressure on him to go out there and earn the pole – that time will come for him. Right now we’re solely concentrating on getting him some seat time, getting him comfortable in the cars, and getting him comfortable on these types of tracks. We were really pleased all day because at every different step he improved. He was better in the second practice session than he was in the first, and he was better in qualifying than he was in practice.”
Albarracin’s early performance was a good indicator at how comfortable he did feel at Gresham Motorsports Park. In the first half of the race, the 16-year-old driver advanced from 23rd to the top-15, and all indications were that he would keep moving forward. At lap 90, however, that all changed.
“He was on the outside of the 17 car and he got up a little too high, got into the marbles, and spun it out coming off of turn two,” explained Olsen. “Where you enter the track to go into the infield, there’s an opening and he just slid it into that opening and hit the wall. That wall was protected by water barrels, which burst open and soaked the track.”
The race went under red flag conditions while the Fadden Racing crew assessed the damage to the No. 54 AAIC Chevrolet. The hit damaged the spoiler and decklid pretty hard, and the team decided the damage was too much to continue.
Laing, who was making his series debut in a one-race deal with Fadden Racing, had earned an 18th place starting position with his qualifying effort.
“He was fast in practice all day, and in qualifying he got real free in turn four and that killed his lap,” said Olsen. “But Tyler ran a smart race and was able to turn that around fairly quickly.”
Laing, like Albarracin, decided a conservative approach was the best for the caution-filled event, and managed to stay out of trouble, and out of the wrecks, all race long. He quietly worked his way up to an 11th place finish.
“It was a good day for him,” said Olsen. “We were thrilled that he was able to pull off a finish like that. He’s a young kid with a lot of talent, and I hope we see more of him in the future.”
The next event on tap for the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East will be the New Hampshire 125 at New Hampshire Motors Speedway on Friday, Sept. 17. The American Fence Association 150 from Gresham Motorsports Park will air on SPEED on Thursday, Sept. 2 at 6 p.m. ET.