FREEMAN IS BULLRING BOUND AFTER TOUGH NIGHT AT STAFFORD

To a young racer, confidence can sometimes be just as important as having a fast racecar.  John Freeman has had both in the first two races of the NASCAR Busch East Series season, but just has not had the finishes to indicate it.  Freeman’s bad luck continued when the Busch East hit the track at Connecticut’s famed ½ mile oval, Stafford Motor Speedway.

Freeman was fast all day at Stafford.  He posted the 12th quickest lap in qualifying.  But in the race Freeman’s good day turned bad.  While biding his time just outside the top-ten, Patrick Dupree spun his #24. Freeman had nowhere to go and was collected in the tangle and then T-boned by Jaime Aube.  Freeman’s #5 was relegated to a 26th place finish.

“We were running a solid top-twelve run and just trying to get some laps in,” said Freeman. “I had a good cushion behind me. I backed off the guy in front of me in case they got loose or wrecked that I would have time to get around it. Apparently a wreck happened in turn one. By the time I got there I had enough speed where I couldn’t get it woe’d down enough. I spun it and just clipped my rear quarter and saved the car. A car further back in the field squared us in the door and broke the exhaust. We basically had it fixed but NASCAR didn’t like the way it was fixed. We eventually had to give up on it and call it a night.”

Freeman rolls around the historic Stafford half-mile

“When I was on the track I felt like I was where I was supposed to be at that time in my life. I felt comfortable in the seat and comfortable with everyone around me. I didn’t get to finish and had to watch the final 35-laps or so.  We were right there all day with the guys that ended up finishing in the top-five.”

Now Freeman and his Motion Racing team turn their sights to one of the Busch East Series trickiest little tracks, Holland International Speedway in Upstate New York.  Freeman said he is anxious to get back behind the wheel and is up for the challenge.

“I don’t know anything about Holland,” admitted Freeman.  “I don’t even have Holland on my simulator. I have not driven Holland and have no idea what it looks like. It will be fun. I know these guys will put a good car under me for Holland. 

“Everyone is just telling me ‘bullring, bullring’. It will be interesting. It is supposed to have some banking in it. I am sure I will be getting schooled on it this week. Barney has old tapes from back with the Dinosaurs. Maybe he will pull out the projector screen for me or something. We’ll watch a bunch of old tapes of the place and try to get a feel for the place.

“We just want to try and go out there and turn our luck around. We just have to keep on plugging away. We came over to this series to make a name for ourselves and so far we’ve been unsuccessful. But I really think we can turn this around and make a strong run for that rookie of the year title.

John goes over some pre-race strategy with the crew.

“We had a good car at Greenville, a good car at Stafford and now we are going to take a good car to Holland.”

John Freeman and Motion Racing return to action at Holland Speedway on June 24th at Holland International Speedway for the Fuccillo Auto Park HUGE NASCAR 150 presented by Sunoco and Hanes Supply.

The television broadcast of the Busch East Series race from Stafford Motor Speedway will air on SPEED on Wednesday June 28th at 12PM EST.