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BNS: McCarthy Watkins Glen race report
Joey McCarthy and Team Pull Together to Finish Watkins Glen Race in 19th Joey McCarthy, driving the Mannings USA Chevrolet on the NASCAR Busch North Series, came to Watkins Glen International for his first road course performance since last ...
Edited: Dec 22, 2003, 5:59 AM
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Joey McCarthy and Team Pull Together to Finish Watkins Glen Race in 19th
Joey McCarthy, driving the Mannings USA Chevrolet on the NASCAR Busch North Series, came to Watkins Glen International for his first road course performance since last October's race at Lime Rock Park. After more than a few difficulties, including changing an engine on the morning of the race, the team put in a solid performance, finishing nineteenth when it wasn't even sure if it was going to make it to the starting line.
During Friday's practice and qualifying sessions McCarthy thought the engine was losing power, and in the afternoon the team replaced valve spring retainers hoping that the problem would be solved. With a 29th place starting position, the team went out for Saturday morning practice only to discover the engine was still not healthy. The decision was made to change the engine.
The McCarthy/Pritchard Motorsports crew went to work on the car and the engine was changed in about 90 minutes. There were still some question marks concerning the replacement engine, but they started the race with every intention of getting everything out of the car they could.
McCarthy, with the engine concerns and without a special road-racing transmission, wasn't even sure if the car would go the distance. He ran a conservative race, never ran off-course and went the whole race without changing tires en route to finishing 19th.
"It was a big test for a bunch of part-time team members," he said after the race. "All week long we rebuilt motors and it still broke up the whole race. I didn't have a real motor for the whole race, and it killed us on the strightaways. If we took tires we have done a lot better, but I don't care. I just don't believe the motor finished. I had no fuel pressure, I had one pound of pressure, but it kept going.
"The car handled good until about lap 40 and the tires went away. I was more worried about getting ice than tires. I'm happy with what we've got."
McCarthy and the team will get a welcome week off after racing every weekend since the end of May. They will return to action on August 26th at Nazareth Speedway, running in conjunction with the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.
For more information on the team, visit its website at http://www.mccarthy-pritchard-motorsports.com.
-MPM-
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