ARCA
Tim Russell Chicagoland race report
Tim Russell Impresses in Third ARCA RE/MAX Attempt 23-Year-Old and Team Pull Together For Top-10 at Chicagoland INDIANAPOLIS, IN (September 11, 2006) -- A penalty in the ARCA RE/MAX Series usually means a team's day is over; not so for ...
Edited: Dec 11, 2006, 4:17 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Tim Russell Impresses in Third ARCA RE/MAX Attempt
23-Year-Old and Team Pull Together For Top-10 at Chicagoland
INDIANAPOLIS, IN (September 11, 2006) -- A penalty in the ARCA RE/MAX Series usually means a team's day is over; not so for Tim Russell and the Hagans Racing team. They weren't going to let a one-lap penalty ruin their stellar weekend as the team pulled together and brought home an eighth-place finish in the SK Hands Tool 200 at Chicagoland Speedway (IL).
"It's great to finish in the top-10 at a track like Chicagoland," said Russell. "It was a pretty stout field out there today; I am just glad we had no scratches on the car. It was just so tight all day long. If we would have had another stop, we probably could have gotten the car right and brought home a top-five."
The impressive weekend for the rookie started off fast as the team set a good pace in the afternoon practice. They made some adjustments in practice that paid off during qualifying as the team secured themselves a fifth-place starting position.
Once the race was underway Tim was able to keep his car solidly in the top-10 all afternoon. Multiple cautions throughout the event limited the amount of green-flag runs.
The challenge for the team came on lap 66. Russell was running in the second position and was preparing to pit when a miscommunication about position on the track (concerning whether the team could pass lapped cars and pull directly behind the leader) resulted in Tim being penalized and held a lap. During the ensuing stop, the team took the opportunity to work on the tight condition and go up a round on the track bar.
"I kind of made a mistake out there on pit road," admitted Tim. "On the backstretch, I came down a little too early and got penalized a lap when we were in a position to be in the top-five. The whole Hagans Racing team worked their butts off all day long, and we were able to get the Rinnai Tankless Water Heaters Dodge back on the lead lap."
On the restart, Tim put himself in a position to earn his lap back. It happened quickly, as he was able to stay in front of the leader and avoid the carnage out on the racetrack as cars got together behind him and brought out another caution soon after the green flag was waved.
Once he earned his lap back, Tim was caught up in traffic, but he still managed to make the right moves and work his way up to the eighth position by the time the checkered flag fell.
"My car was really good on the outside, because it was tight," added Russell. "There were a lot of racing grooves out there, so I was able to take it three-wide a few times and get up there. It was fun; I really liked this place, and I am really looking forward to coming back next year."
Team owner Matt Hagans was up on the pit box calling some of the shots for the young rookie and was pleased with his results, as well as how the team handled the adversity that was dealt to them throughout the afternoon.
"I am very happy with the finish," said Hagans. "We didn't give him the best car; he didn't have a winning car. We had a little bit of struggle there with the balance on the car during practice, qualifying and the race. He made some great moves in the race, and there was a lot of carnage and yellows out there, and he missed every single one of them. He finished without a mark on the car, and that is how we like it.
"We got a lap down, and we got it back, and that is the mark of a good team and a good driver. You just don't ever give up until the checkers fall."
Then next race for the Hagans Racing team will come at the high-banked and newly-repaved Talladega Superspeedway on Friday, October 6th. The event will be broadcast live on SPEED at 4:30pm (EST).
-credit: www.hagansracing.com
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Cleary Motorsports Salem II race report
Next article Ryan Foster Chicagoland race report
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Matt Hagan
Hagan, Torrence, McGaha emerge victorious at Epping
NHRA
NHRA
New England
Hagan, Torrence, McGaha emerge victorious at Epping
Hagan, Brown, Enders lead first day of NHRA Spring Training
NHRA
NHRA
Hagan, Brown, Enders lead first day of NHRA Spring Training
Beckman wins Funny Car Traxxas Nitro Shootout
NHRA
NHRA
Indianapolis
Beckman wins Funny Car Traxxas Nitro Shootout
Latest news
FIA ratifies key 2027 WRC sporting regulations
WRC
WRC WRC 36 min
FIA ratifies key 2027 WRC sporting regulations
Toprak Razgatlioglu to miss the rest MotoGP season due to shoulder injury
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Australian GP
1 h
Toprak Razgatlioglu to miss the rest MotoGP season due to shoulder injury
MotoGP teams told Qatar Grand Prix expected to go ahead
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Qatar GP
1 h
MotoGP teams told Qatar Grand Prix expected to go ahead
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe