Brian Simo Sears Point Cup race recap

Road-racing champion Brian Simo had a strong start in Sunday's NASCAR Winston Cup race but was stopped by a mechanical failure. The Carlsbad, Calif., driver started 15th in the 43-car field on the two-mile Sears Point Raceway road course in Sonoma, ...

Road-racing champion Brian Simo had a strong start in Sunday's NASCAR Winston Cup race but was stopped by a mechanical failure. The Carlsbad, Calif., driver started 15th in the 43-car field on the two-mile Sears Point Raceway road course in Sonoma, Calif. In only his second Winston Cup start, he was in solid position when he lost power in the No. 90 Hills Bros Coffee Ford on lap 31 of 112, putting him out of the race.

"This is groundhog day for me," he said. "The Hills Bros team has put together a great effort to run up front, and I really think we had a chance today to run in the top 10. Unfortunately, we didn't get that opportunity. We think we lost something in the driveline. It was one of those weekends where we just had to pack up early. We'll look forward to the Glen and put something together there."

Simo and Donlavey Racing, which fields the Hills Bros Coffee car, will team up again for the second Winston Cup road course race at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International on August 12.