Danny O’Brien Gets Top Ten Finishes in DIRTcar 358 Series Events at Cornwall and Merrittville
August 2, 2011 (Craig Revelle – Finish Line Web Design) — The 358 Modified DIRTcar Series championship is about the only thing that Kingston, Ontario racer Danny O’Brien has not won in his successful career that has put up Hall of Fame numbers and multiple track championships including nine of them alone at Brockville Speedway. O’Brien has come close on several occasions, none more heartbreaking then last season. That is all in the past now for O’Brien as he looks ahead to another chance at the “Stanley Cup” of DIRTcar 358 Modified racing. The DIRTcar 358 Modified Series resumed this past weekend with a 100 lap race at Cornwall Speedway, plus the remaining 75 laps of the 358 Series race at Merrittville Speedway on Monday, the conclusion of a race that originally was run on the long weekend in May before run cut the program short before the finish.
The first event of the weekend was at Cornwall Speedway. O’Brien certainly had home track advantage over most of the Series competitors and it paid off as he not only set fast time out of his group, but was also the fastest of the 43 cars in the pit area at Cornwall. O’Brien started his qualifying heat race from the front row and finished the race in second place, locking into the redraw for one of the top ten starting spots for the evening’s 100 lap main event. The redraw took place in front of a packed crowd at Cornwall Speedway just as driver introductions took place to introduce the 30 car starting lineup. By luck of the draw, Danny drew the second position, placing him outside of the front row for the feature race. O’Brien had the race in hand for the first 25 laps before losing the top spot just one lap later. The caution was out on lap 31, and O’Brien had now slipped to third place as the handling on the car began to deteriorate as the race went on. By lap 70, now in the middle of an unusually long green flag run, O’Brien was hanging onto a top five spot. The next and final caution of the race came on lap 91 and O’Brien was still running in the fifth position. When the race resumed he fell back one more spot to sixth place.
With Monday being a holiday here in Ontario, Merrittville Speedway hosted a Big Block Modified Super DIRTcar Series race. In addition to that, the remaining 75 laps from the 358 Modified Series was also added to the schedule after rain cut the night short back on the originally scheduled date back in May. When the race resumed, it picked up where it left off on lap 25, with O’Brien running in the 21st position. As they reached lap 50, O’Brien had climbed to 16th place, and moved up one more spot as they approached lap 75. From there, O’Brien found a lane that worked, and in the final 25 laps he moved up to 8th.
With the 358 Modified race now over, O’Brien decided to try and qualify his 358 Modified against the more powerful Big Blocks Modifieds. With a dry and slick racing surface, the underpowered Small Block could have an advantage. In time trials, O’Brien was the fourth fastest in his group, placing him in the fourth position for his heat race. He advanced to third, picking up the final qualifying spot for the 100 lap Super DIRTcar Series feature. O’Brien started the race from inside of the seventh row in the 13th position. O’Brien held his own for much of the race, but slid back to finish a disappointing 22nd.
“We had a solid run in the first race, and that is what counts toward our championship. The second race, we were experimenting with some things to see if we can learn anything for the next time we are out here”, says O’Brien.
In the 358 Modified Super DIRTcar Series, Danny currently sits third place in overall points The next race on the DIRTcar 358 Modified Series schedule is back at Cornwall on Sunday, September 4th.
Danny will be back at Brockville Ontario Speedway this coming Saturday night as they return to action after giving their weekly classes the night off. Tentatively, he also plans to race at Cornwall Speedway on Sunday.
Danny O’Brien and Kendrick Racing would like to thank 1000 Islands RV Centre, Pat’s Rad, Stover Bus Lines, BOB FM, Ponte Bros. Masonry, Morrison Racing Engines, Bicknell Racing Products, and Integra Racing Shocks for their support during the 2011 racing season.
For more information on Danny O’Brien and the 17D racing team, please visit our website, www.dannyobrien.ca
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