Biomet Driver Finishes Strong Rookie Season
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
HAMPTON, GA. - When the rain finally subsided and the fog bured away, Biomet/Damon RV driver Brian Ross finished his inaugural season in the ARCA Bondo/Mar-Hyde Series the way his crew had planned when the season started back in February - with Rookie of the Year honors. It just took a little longer than expected.
After qualifications for Saturday's Georgia Boot 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway were rained out, the 41-car field was positioned by season points - giving Ross and his Mary Louise Miller-owned Monte Carlo a fourth-place start.
ML Motorsports crew chief Scott Eldridge said he was more than happy with the second-row start at the 1.5-mile oval, jokingly admitting that he did a rain dance. In nine previous big-track - tracks 1.5 miles or bigger - starts, Ross had three top 15 finishes. In four of those nine events, Ross finished 31st or worse.
So impressive was Eldridge's so-called rain dance that the race itself was postponed until Monday due to wet conditions and was run after NASCAR's NAPA 500, a race that was rained out Sunday.
When the green flag finally dropped for the ARCA season finale, the 38-year-old Ross, behind the wheel on his wedding anniversary, drove the No. 67 machine to an eighth-place finish in the 162-lap event, his ninth top five and 11th top 10 finish of the year
"First of all, I'd like to thank Dane and Mary Louise Miller for making this possible," Eldridge said. "Without them this wouldn't be possible. When we got into ARCA, we wanted to finish in the top 10 in points and get Rookie of the Year. We finished with nine top fives and 11 top 10s. For a rookie driver who has never been on these big tracks, that's awesome."
Though a rookie to ARCA, Ross is no stranger to the world of racing.
In 21 years behind the wheel, Ross has taken the checkered flag in 160-plus late model feature races throughout the midwest. In 1999, the 5-foot-11, 170-pound Plymouth native started 16 races in the Kendall, Indiana Late Model Series, finishing with 14 top-five finishes and nine wins. He finished out of the top 10 but one time and won the Winchester 400 along the way, a season good enough for a points championship.
While the speedways that Dale Earnhardt, Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart call home were Ross' weakness in his rookie year, he made up for it on the midwestern short tracks that he's dominated over the past two decades.
In 10 short-track races, Ross' worst finish was 12th at Kil Kare in late June. Ross finished the year with second-place finishes at Flat Rock and Winchester and third-place finishes at Anderson and Berlin.
Ross' best big-track finish came June 10 at Michingan International when he qualified 35th and finished fourth.
"I've done it all on the short tracks," Ross said Monday outside the ML Motorsports transporter, the sun going down on the track that hours before NASCAR legend Darrell Waltrip ended his 29-year career on. "I matured a lot on the speedways. At times on the speedways I needed to get used to the pace and see what the car could do."
Monday, Ross found himself making left-hand turns with Kerry Earnhardt, son of seven-time Winston Cup champion Dale Earnhardt, along with cars from Roger Penske and Robert Yates garages - both operations synonomous with racing.
Asked the team's season highlight, Eldridge said, "Today (Atlanta race). To go out and run with the caliber of cars we did today, the Earnhardt's, the Penske's, the Yates', is awesome. To be able to go out and run with cars out of those stables is great."
To Eldridge, being able to run with those programs is more special when given the fact that his crew of Tim Frantz, Craig Barnes, Ken Nisely, Jeremy Marsh and Carson Kintzel all hold full-time jobs and volunteer their time. Eldridge, Ross and tire specialist Tony Barnes are the only full-time ML Motorsports employees.
"All of our guys come out of the Warsaw area," Eldridge said. "We don't have a full Winston Cup crew, but I think our guys do a great job."
Pit stops played a huge part in Monday's eighth-place finish.
While finishing ahead of Iowa's Shawna Robinson in the rookie points, Ross also finished fourth in the overall points standings.
Robinson finished fifth in Monday's season finale, her first top-five finish of the year. Robinson ended the season standings in sixth place.
Point-wise, there was no possible way Robinson could have caught Ross in the rookie standings Monday.
The ML Motorsports driver entered the season final ahead of the Iowa driver by 12 rookie points - even with a win, Robinson would have finished at least two points behind Ross.
While Ross finished ahead of Robinson for Rookie of the Year honors, the buzz around the Georgia track this weekend had possible co-Rookies of the Year. The final decision will be voted on by a committee and will be announced Dec. 9 at the championship awards banquet.
The 2001 ARCA season begins Feb. 11 at Daytona International Speedway. [[In-content Ad]]
HAMPTON, GA. - When the rain finally subsided and the fog bured away, Biomet/Damon RV driver Brian Ross finished his inaugural season in the ARCA Bondo/Mar-Hyde Series the way his crew had planned when the season started back in February - with Rookie of the Year honors. It just took a little longer than expected.
After qualifications for Saturday's Georgia Boot 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway were rained out, the 41-car field was positioned by season points - giving Ross and his Mary Louise Miller-owned Monte Carlo a fourth-place start.
ML Motorsports crew chief Scott Eldridge said he was more than happy with the second-row start at the 1.5-mile oval, jokingly admitting that he did a rain dance. In nine previous big-track - tracks 1.5 miles or bigger - starts, Ross had three top 15 finishes. In four of those nine events, Ross finished 31st or worse.
So impressive was Eldridge's so-called rain dance that the race itself was postponed until Monday due to wet conditions and was run after NASCAR's NAPA 500, a race that was rained out Sunday.
When the green flag finally dropped for the ARCA season finale, the 38-year-old Ross, behind the wheel on his wedding anniversary, drove the No. 67 machine to an eighth-place finish in the 162-lap event, his ninth top five and 11th top 10 finish of the year
"First of all, I'd like to thank Dane and Mary Louise Miller for making this possible," Eldridge said. "Without them this wouldn't be possible. When we got into ARCA, we wanted to finish in the top 10 in points and get Rookie of the Year. We finished with nine top fives and 11 top 10s. For a rookie driver who has never been on these big tracks, that's awesome."
Though a rookie to ARCA, Ross is no stranger to the world of racing.
In 21 years behind the wheel, Ross has taken the checkered flag in 160-plus late model feature races throughout the midwest. In 1999, the 5-foot-11, 170-pound Plymouth native started 16 races in the Kendall, Indiana Late Model Series, finishing with 14 top-five finishes and nine wins. He finished out of the top 10 but one time and won the Winchester 400 along the way, a season good enough for a points championship.
While the speedways that Dale Earnhardt, Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart call home were Ross' weakness in his rookie year, he made up for it on the midwestern short tracks that he's dominated over the past two decades.
In 10 short-track races, Ross' worst finish was 12th at Kil Kare in late June. Ross finished the year with second-place finishes at Flat Rock and Winchester and third-place finishes at Anderson and Berlin.
Ross' best big-track finish came June 10 at Michingan International when he qualified 35th and finished fourth.
"I've done it all on the short tracks," Ross said Monday outside the ML Motorsports transporter, the sun going down on the track that hours before NASCAR legend Darrell Waltrip ended his 29-year career on. "I matured a lot on the speedways. At times on the speedways I needed to get used to the pace and see what the car could do."
Monday, Ross found himself making left-hand turns with Kerry Earnhardt, son of seven-time Winston Cup champion Dale Earnhardt, along with cars from Roger Penske and Robert Yates garages - both operations synonomous with racing.
Asked the team's season highlight, Eldridge said, "Today (Atlanta race). To go out and run with the caliber of cars we did today, the Earnhardt's, the Penske's, the Yates', is awesome. To be able to go out and run with cars out of those stables is great."
To Eldridge, being able to run with those programs is more special when given the fact that his crew of Tim Frantz, Craig Barnes, Ken Nisely, Jeremy Marsh and Carson Kintzel all hold full-time jobs and volunteer their time. Eldridge, Ross and tire specialist Tony Barnes are the only full-time ML Motorsports employees.
"All of our guys come out of the Warsaw area," Eldridge said. "We don't have a full Winston Cup crew, but I think our guys do a great job."
Pit stops played a huge part in Monday's eighth-place finish.
While finishing ahead of Iowa's Shawna Robinson in the rookie points, Ross also finished fourth in the overall points standings.
Robinson finished fifth in Monday's season finale, her first top-five finish of the year. Robinson ended the season standings in sixth place.
Point-wise, there was no possible way Robinson could have caught Ross in the rookie standings Monday.
The ML Motorsports driver entered the season final ahead of the Iowa driver by 12 rookie points - even with a win, Robinson would have finished at least two points behind Ross.
While Ross finished ahead of Robinson for Rookie of the Year honors, the buzz around the Georgia track this weekend had possible co-Rookies of the Year. The final decision will be voted on by a committee and will be announced Dec. 9 at the championship awards banquet.
The 2001 ARCA season begins Feb. 11 at Daytona International Speedway. [[In-content Ad]]