Newton, Iowa (May 19, 2009): Fadden Racing’s Jonathan Smith was involved in an early race accident that resulted in a 30th place finish in the Long John Silver’s 200 at Iowa Speedway Sunday evening. The team was forced to pit during green flag conditions after they discovered the opening for the radiator had been blocked by the damage.
“The nose got knocked down and because the opening to the radiator was blocked the car started to overheat,” explained crew chief Harry Norcross. “We didn’t discover the issue until we had gone back to green.”
The weekend started on a high note when Smith, who was the first car to take to the track after a brief rain shower, turned a lap of 24.060 seconds (130.923 mph) in qualifying for a 16th place starting position.
“We gained a tenth of a second from practice times so we were really confident heading into this race,” said team owner and two time NASCAR Camping World Series East Champion Mike Olsen.
Smith allowed the field to get singled out in the early laps, but was advancing through the field when he tangled with the No. 27 car at lap 29.
“I was in a pack of about eight cars when everybody just checked up,” Smith explained. “The hood was a little tore up and the grill was knocked down, but we thought we were good.”
When the field went back to green flag conditions at lap 38, Smith radioed in that the car was running too hot. They had no other choice but to come down pit road where they lost three laps. Smith went back out, and was running speeds as fast as the top-15, but few cautions allowed him to be in a position to regain any of the lost ground.
“We had a good car, but fortunes were not on our side today,” Smith said. “We’ll get it next time.”
- Fadden Racing Press Release