ML Motorsports has history of success at short track in Va.
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Dale Hubler-dhubler@timesuniononline.com
Though Richmond International Raceway is 13 hours away from its shop, the ML Motorsports team is hoping to feel right at home this week. The Warsaw-based NASCAR Nationwide Series team will race at the famed .75-mile track in eastern Virginia Friday night. The Toyota Care 250 is scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m., with live TV coverage on ESPNews beginning at 7 p.m. While the team considers Lucas Oil Raceway or Indianapolis Motor Speedway to be its “home track”, RIR is arguably its best track in terms of success. “It’s a place we’re very comfortable at,” said ML Motorsports car chief Jeremy Marsh. “Obviously with the way we ran there last fall, we’re excited about this weekend. This is probably one of our best tracks.” ML Motorsports made its first start in the Nationwide Series at RIR, as former driver Justin Diercks qualified 28th and finished 43rd in 2006. The team’s results have only gotten better since that first start. In 2008, Mark Green was on top of the speed chart in practice. He qualified the Mary Louise Miller-owned Chevy fourth before finishing 22nd in the race. In 2009, Shelby Howard qualified 13th and finished 13th in the No. 70 car. In 2011, David Stremme finished ninth. In the team’s last appearance at RIR, back in Sept., 20-year-old Johanna Long qualified eighth before finishing 32nd. Long, who is back behind the wheel again this season, got all the way up to fifth place in that race before a flat tire sent her crashing into the wall. “We were really good at Richmond in the fall,” said ML Motorsports crew chief Mark Gutekunst. “We qualified eighth, Johanna was racing in the top five and the brakes got hot and we had the tire issue. We melted the bead on the right front tire, that’s what Goodyear said. But we had a really good car, and it looked like it was gonna be a really good day.” Long and the team are hoping to find that same success Friday, but also come away with a good finish, as opposed to just success in practice, qualifying and early in the race. A strong finish this weekend is exactly what Long and the team need. In four Nationwide Series starts this season, Long has an average starting spot of 23rd and an average finish of 28th.
