Smith Grabs Second Top-10 Finish Of The Season At Thompson
Thompson, Conn. (July 12, 2009): Jonathan Smith posted his second top-10 finish of the season in the Pepsi Full Fender Frenzy 100 at Thompson International Speedway Saturday night. The NASCAR Camping World Series East driver rallied from a lap 64 spin to post the finish and gained some ground in the point standings. He currently sits 13th with five races remaining to the season.
“We had a really good car all day,” said Smith. “We were a little tight at the end of the race, but we hung on and finished in the top-10. We’re ready to go to Adirondack and go get them there.”
Smith was confident after a solid practice session was backed up with a qualifying effort of 108.591 mph (20.720 seconds). The speed was fast enough to earn the driver of the No. 16 Fadden Racing Chevrolet a 12th place starting position.
Smith moved up to ninth at the drop of the green and was challenged by the 88 of Jody Lavender before the race hit lap five. Lavender moved low and challenged on the inside, which set off a side-by-side battle that lasted an entire circuit. Lavender persisted with his challenges on Smith, and eventually took over the spot on lap nine coming out of turn four. The two, however, were running nose-to-tail until caution slowed the pace at lap 12.
The Fadden Racing entry lined up tenth for the restart at lap 18 and maintained a position in the top-12 throughout the first half of the 100-lap race. A caution tightened up the field for a lap 55 restart with Smith 11th, but it was on lap 64, coming around turns three and four, that Smith spun.
“I was following the 96 for a couple of laps and trying to set him up. Earlier in the race the 31 had blown up and they never really got the oil cleaned up in turn three. When I went to go by the 96 I got up there in the oil and just slid right into him. It spun both of us and somebody else. I did my best not to get hit, but it was a racing deal,” explained Smith.
Fadden Racing crew chief Harry Norcross summoned Smith to the pits. After a quick pit stop, Smith rejoined the field at the tail end. He knew he had his work cut out for him. However, by lap 75, Smith was back up to 11th, and in the final 20 laps he was able to pick off two more positions to finish ninth.
“We made an adjustment and it didn’t exactly do what we wanted it to do – it actually made the car tighter for the end of the race,” said Smith. “We hung on and finished ninth so it wasn’t a bad day at all.”
The NASCAR Camping World Series East will take a couple of weeks off before their next event at Adirondack International Speedway in New York on Saturday, August 1st.
For more information on Jonathan Smith or Fadden Racing, visit www.faddenracing.net.
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