Catchfence

Charlotte, NC.: Threatening skies finally opened up Saturday night at Lowes Motor Speedway, the deluge beginning just before the planned start of the Carquest Auto Parts 300. After about an hour delay to the start of the race, 170 laps were completed before the rains came again, bringing the night to an early end.

But the rains were not enough to dampen the spirits of Peyton Sellers. The young 25 year old former national champion unleashed a 16th fastest qualifying time at 179.66 mph. Sellers easily made the 43 car field for which 52 cars showed. “Running here is something I’ve dreamed of for a long time”, said Sellers.

It was the rookie’s third NASCAR Nationwide Series race of ten planned this year with primary sponsor SFP. Sellers posted his first top 20 finish earlier this month at Richmond.

Lowes Motor Speedway is notoriously difficult to run. Practice on Thursday was Sellers’ first time ever on the track, and the team worked quickly to find the best line possible. When the race started on Saturday, the car was bottoming out slightly. Sellers adjusted and found a higher line and began moving back through the pack, reaching as high as 12th place.

A slight touch with the wall between turns three and four late in the race affected the front end alignment of the car. The Cardinal Motorsports crew worked feverishly on the problem, making multiple pit stops during the same caution. With the issue resolved and Sellers beginning to gain ground again, the rain came and ended the race early. Sellers finished in 31st place for the night.

“This track has a very complex personality”, said Stacy Johnson, engineer for newly formed Cardinal Motorsports. “No two turns are alike, and it’s got bumps in lots of unusual places. It’s a tough place to just show up and run.” NASCAR eliminated all testing on NASCAR sanctioned tracks this year.

“Peyton had less than two hours on the track, and still qualified strong”, said team owner Will Spencer. “It’s unfortunate we couldn’t test. It makes it tough on a new team. I was really impressed with Peyton’s ability to learn such a difficult track so quickly and adjust to the changing weather. We probably had a top fifteen car tonight. If we could have gotten a couple more cautions and the weather hadn’t caught us, we would have been right there.”

The team now has its sights set on the upcoming race at Dover International Speedway this Saturday, May 30th. “We’ve raced at Dover before in the Camping World Series East”, said H. C. Sellers, crew chief of the #77 SFP Chevrolet. “We know what to expect there, and we’re ready for it.”

At Dover, the team will again be doing several pre-race events for sponsor SFP at Southern States retail locations around the area. He is also planning an appearance in conjunction with the non-profit student organization SkillsUSA later in the week. Cardinal Motorsports is also sponsored by Bosch and Jig-A-Loo USA who are supporters of SkillsUSA.

About SFP

Headquartered in Leawood, Kan., SFP is an innovative agricultural company that has developed a line of revolutionary products to improve fertilizer efficiency. The company’s flagship products, AVAIL® Phosphorus Fertilizer Enhancer and NutriSphere-N® Nitrogen Fertilizer Manager, are designed to be added to a farmer’s existing fertilizer to improve availability of the nutrients, in turn boosting crop yield potential by 10 to 15 percent. The company operates management, research, and manufacturing facilities in Kansas, Illinois and Ohio and has relationships with key distributors throughout the United States. In addition to domestic operations, SFP’s international distribution includes Canada, United Kingdom, New Zealand and the Philippines. For more information on SFP and its products, visit www.sfp.com.

About SkillsUSA

SkillsUSA is a national nonprofit organization serving teachers and high school and college students who are preparing for careers in trade, technical and skilled service occupations. Founded in 1965, it has become one of the country’s largest student-based non-profit organizations supporting those entering the world of skilled trade. With membership of more than 300,000 students and instructors annually, SkillsUSA has reached more than 9.6 million members since its inception. For more information, visit www.skillsusa.org.

– MediaFit, Inc. Press Release