Client PR Report
Pounding Mill, VA(April 12, 2012) — After getting his 2012 campaign off to a solid start at Motor Mile Speedway in the season opener a couple of weeks ago with a fifth place finish, Long backed that up with a second place effort in his NASCAR Whelen All-American Series debut at Kingsport Speedway.
Having only been to Kingsport Speedway for a UARA-STARS Series race last spring, Long spent some time this off-season testing at the 3/8 mile concrete speedplant and it seemed to pay off in his first trip to the track this season. The young driver posted the second fastest time in qualifying, but had to start fifth due to the invert rule to help make the racing exciting. Long’s view of the race was certainly exciting as he had to take one of the fastest cars at the track and keep his nose clean, biding his time to get to the front of the pack.
Riding fourth for much of the race behind the reigning track champion, Long was hoping to have saved his equipment and be in the right place at the right time. With just a handful of laps remaining in the 60-lap race, Long got a break when the leader of the race got taken out by a lapped car leaving him with a chance to lineup with the leaders. Long looked to have the fastest car, but as the laps click away fast on the 3/8 mile track, he ran out of time and had to settle for a second place finish.
Long could have been disappointed after the race, but instead he was looking forward to a return trip to the Kingsport, TN track and looking to carry the momentum with him to Kingsport.
“It’s hard not to be disappointed,” said Long. “We came here to win the race, we knew we would have a great car and we knew that we had hit on something. We came up a little short, we simply just ran out of laps, but it’s a great way for us to start our season. Fifth at Motor Mile last week, second at Kingsport this week. It feels good to be running up front.”
Long will get his chance to continue to ride the momentum he’s been building this season, this weekend as Motor Mile Speedway returns to action on Saturday afternoon. Long is hoping that his recent success is a sign of things to come.
“Running like we have right out of the box this season is very encouraging. This team has worked their butts off on this program and I think we’re finally where we want to be. It has me excited for Motor Mile this weekend, I think we can contend there again this weekend.”
The young driver has shown that he’s on the verge of having a breakout season and after starting off with back to back top five finishes, this year could be the one.
“I’ve got a fat monkey on my back from having not won yet,” continued Long. “I’ve been carrying this thing long enough and it just keeps getting heavier. I’m ready to throw him off in victory lane and I hope we can do that this weekend at Motor Mile.”
Despite his confidence and the momentum Long’s been carrying the last two weeks, he knows that winning at Motor Mile is going to be a tall task.
“We race at Motor Mile, because it’s the best of the best in these Late Model Stock Cars. The guys who race there and win can go anywhere and win races, so I know it’s going to be a challenge to get a win. I just know that we’re closer than we’ve ever been and I don’t want to let any chance slip by.”
Long and the rest of the top NASCAR Whelen All-American Series, Late Model Stock Car drivers will be in action for 150-laps this weekend on the 4/10 mile oval in Dublin, VA. For more information on the track, visit Motor Mile’s website at http://www.motormilespeedway.com/.
Long is supported by Tru-line Pipeline, Inc., CNX Gas and Hedgecock Racing Enterprises. For more information on Adam Long Racing, please check out the team website at http://www.adamlongracing.com/ or follow them on twitter @adamlongracing.
