ML Motorsports Fifth At Talladega
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Dale [email protected]
Saturday, in the Aaron's 312 Nationwide Series race at Talladega Superspeedway, the Warsaw-based stock car team proved it.
With Mark Green behind the wheel of the No. 70 Chevy, the ML Motorsports team finished a career-best fifth in what used to be known as the Bush Series.[[In-content Ad]]"I thought it was pretty impressive," Miller, the team owner, said of her team's finish. "For a small team from Indiana to compete with the big-time teams from down south, that says a lot. I told the team I knew they could do it all along. I'm very proud of everyone on the team. They've worked so hard and so long to be able to compete like this."
Tony Stewart won the race, followed in the top five by David Stremme, Bobby Hamilton Jr., Jason Leffler and Green.
Fan favorite Dale Earnhart Jr. finished sixth, while Mike Bliss, Patrick Carpentier, Scott Wimmer and Mike Wallace rounded out the top 10.
"I think it's a big deal," ML Motorsports Team Manager Tony Barnes said. "The guys had to put the car back together to take it to Talladega. It was actually better than it was at Daytona. This is the best our superspeedway program has been. We haven't thrown a lot of stuff into it, the guys just worked really hard getting the car back together and making sure it was ready for Talladega. We didn't even get to take it to the wind tunnel."
The car Green drove to a fifth-place finish Saturday qualified 12th in the season opener at Daytona but was involved in a multi-crash during the race, relegating Green and the team to a 41st-place finish.
"We had to make some pretty major repairs to the car after Daytona," said team member Tim Frantz, who, along with Barnes, has been on the team since its inception 10 years ago. "We had to put a new front clip on it, a new nose, new hood, it was pretty major."
Prior to Saturday's fifth-place run, the team's best finish was a 19th-place effort at Gateway International Raceway during the 2007 season.
"This is definitely a boost," said Frantz. "We'd been finishing in the mid-20s. To go from that to a top 5, and to do it against a bunch of the (Nextel) Cup guys, that's pretty awesome."
After starting 26th, Green was able to work his way up through the field and was solidly in the lead pack the majority of the race.
"We had a good car," said Green, who will pilot the car when the team heads to Richmond International Raceway this weekend for a short-track battle. "I knew the car was pretty good, so I hung back and made my move later. We were able to get right in there and run with the lead pack. The guys did a great job getting the car back together after Daytona."
ML Motorsports has plans to run 20 Nationwide Series races this season. The team has competed in five races thus far, Daytona, Bristol, Nashville, Texas and Talladega.
Saturday, in the Aaron's 312 Nationwide Series race at Talladega Superspeedway, the Warsaw-based stock car team proved it.
With Mark Green behind the wheel of the No. 70 Chevy, the ML Motorsports team finished a career-best fifth in what used to be known as the Bush Series.[[In-content Ad]]"I thought it was pretty impressive," Miller, the team owner, said of her team's finish. "For a small team from Indiana to compete with the big-time teams from down south, that says a lot. I told the team I knew they could do it all along. I'm very proud of everyone on the team. They've worked so hard and so long to be able to compete like this."
Tony Stewart won the race, followed in the top five by David Stremme, Bobby Hamilton Jr., Jason Leffler and Green.
Fan favorite Dale Earnhart Jr. finished sixth, while Mike Bliss, Patrick Carpentier, Scott Wimmer and Mike Wallace rounded out the top 10.
"I think it's a big deal," ML Motorsports Team Manager Tony Barnes said. "The guys had to put the car back together to take it to Talladega. It was actually better than it was at Daytona. This is the best our superspeedway program has been. We haven't thrown a lot of stuff into it, the guys just worked really hard getting the car back together and making sure it was ready for Talladega. We didn't even get to take it to the wind tunnel."
The car Green drove to a fifth-place finish Saturday qualified 12th in the season opener at Daytona but was involved in a multi-crash during the race, relegating Green and the team to a 41st-place finish.
"We had to make some pretty major repairs to the car after Daytona," said team member Tim Frantz, who, along with Barnes, has been on the team since its inception 10 years ago. "We had to put a new front clip on it, a new nose, new hood, it was pretty major."
Prior to Saturday's fifth-place run, the team's best finish was a 19th-place effort at Gateway International Raceway during the 2007 season.
"This is definitely a boost," said Frantz. "We'd been finishing in the mid-20s. To go from that to a top 5, and to do it against a bunch of the (Nextel) Cup guys, that's pretty awesome."
After starting 26th, Green was able to work his way up through the field and was solidly in the lead pack the majority of the race.
"We had a good car," said Green, who will pilot the car when the team heads to Richmond International Raceway this weekend for a short-track battle. "I knew the car was pretty good, so I hung back and made my move later. We were able to get right in there and run with the lead pack. The guys did a great job getting the car back together after Daytona."
ML Motorsports has plans to run 20 Nationwide Series races this season. The team has competed in five races thus far, Daytona, Bristol, Nashville, Texas and Talladega.
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