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BNS: Waterford: Ryan Moore race notes

Moore Puts Himself on the Outside Pole Once Again to Start Long Weekend (Waterford, Conn. - July 17, 2004) - It was a hot and humid Saturday afternoon in Waterford, Connecticut. The Moore Racing team was thrilled to hear Ryan Moore's reaction when ...

Published: Jul 20, 2004, 10:06 PM

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Moore Puts Himself on the Outside Pole Once Again to Start Long Weekend

(Waterford, Conn. - July 17, 2004) - It was a hot and humid Saturday afternoon in Waterford, Connecticut. The Moore Racing team was thrilled to hear Ryan Moore's reaction when he ran his first few laps of the ninety-minute practice session. "We have a rocket ship here guys," said Moore, as his R.C. Moore Transportation/Bill Dodge Auto Group/Shell Rotella T Chevrolet ran some great times when Moore first got out onto the track. Overall, they ended up about eleventh fastest.

Qualifying came later in the day and Moore went out late. He turned a lap time of 15.013 seconds, only hundredths of a second away from earning another pole award. It would be his second week in a row of starting on the outside pole and his second year in a row on the outside pole at Waterford.

At the drop of the green, the outside groove did not have the grip Moore had hoped for. He had a hard time getting down to the inside groove and slowly fell back to fifth. The car was not handling ideally and the Moore Racing Team knew they would have to pit the first chance they got. On lap 68, Moore ducked into the pits, joined by teammate and father Kelly Moore as well as the number 6 car of Andy Santerre. All three cars needed adjustments, the 74 car needing the adjustments to the chassis. Moore joined the back of the field and soon realized he would need more changes. He again ducked into the pits ten laps later, and the adjustments this time seemed to give Moore the power he needed to pick cars off one by one. Ryan had made his way to eleventh by lap 124 when misfortune occurred for the 47 car of Kelly Moore, who had been running in the ninth spot. The younger Moore saw the spinning cars directly in front of him and quickly veered left through the grass and smoke. The 74 car came through the wreck without a scratch, putting him in the eighth spot. The 2003 Rookie of the Year did an amazing job of maneuvering his way around the caution involving his father and competitors. He continues to earn himself top-ten positions, helping him out in the championship battle.

After a three hour and thirty minute drive back to Moore's hometown of Scarborough, Maine, Ryan and Kelly got a quick "power nap" before having to head off the Oxford Plains for the annual Banknorth 250. The helping hands of family and friends joined them and Moore's dedicated 74 team. It was another hot, humid, dusty day and the 74 crew was exhausted from the night before. Moore was filled with both exhaustion and anxiety, for he was looking forward to competing with Nextel Cup drivers Matt Kenseth and Kurt Busch.

The method to qualifying for the 250 is to draw for position in a heat race, where only the top-four drivers enter the 250-lap event. Moore drew the last starting position for his heat, but was willing to give it his best shot. He gave it all he could, but his car was performing nothing like it had during testing for the event. He had blistered tires and a bad handling race car.

"The track just isn't what I am use to," said Moore, "I have always been great in the outside groove here, but it just doesn't exist anymore. I was really looking forward to seeing how I stand up to the competition today, but with no sleep and a difficult race car, it just wasn't meant to be."

The Moore racing team has three days to prepare for Loudon, NH. They will leave Wednesday evening and Moore is really looking forward to the "Magic Mile." "It is just a great facility and I'm really looking forward to the whole weekend." The Siemens 125 will take place Saturday afternoon in front of a live HDNet television audience starting at 3:30 PM. For more information, visit www.ryanmooreonline.com.

-ajc-

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