Riding With A Rookie: Chris Bingham
by Chris Bingham-Staff Writer and Busch Series Driver
05/15/2003

Hi Race Fans -

Our bid for the NASCAR Busch Series rookie of the year honors rolled into Gateway Raceway last weekend. I have had some prior experience at Gateway, however it was in another series. Last weekend marked my first time at the track in a stock car.

I would climb aboard the No. 39 Ford for the event, as Jason White took the reigns of the No. 49 for the race.

In the first practice session, we were dealing with brake problems, which caused our lap times to be nowhere near what we wanted them to be. I was also still learning the track, learning the different lines, the grooves, etc, and to get only 15 laps in the first session, I was pretty optimistic heading into qualifying.

In qualifying we were much better. We were able to shave off three seconds from the first practice and begin catching up with the rest of the field time and speed wise. The car was good, we had some slight handling problems, but we posted a good lap from where we were when we unloaded.

We elected not to go out for “Happy Hour”, as we didn’t want to take any chance of wrecking the car, or blowing an engine. We wanted to be around for the end on Saturday.

Heading into Saturday, we picked up a one-race sponsorship from Three Stooges Beer. I was excited about having them on board for the race, and the car looked great. We had some severe weather roll into the speedway in the morning, but the skies cleared and we were able to start the race one hour later than scheduled.

The car was okay at the start of the race. We were slowly picking up positions on the track, yet trying to remain on the lead lap. We made some chassis adjustments on the first pit stop, trying to improve the car even more.

The brake problem would re-appear in the race, and while our goal was to complete the race, the brakes would lock-up and leave us locked on pit road. I radioed to the guys and told them not the have the track wreckers push the car, because it wasn’t moving. They came and did anyway, causing extensive rear end damage to the car.

It was a heartbreak for the team. We were really looking forward to a good run. But again this is all a part of racing. We will overcome this, and we are still in the process of obtaining sponsorship for the car. I am confident the our second half of the season will be successful.

The series heads to Nazareth Speedway this weekend. I had some success back there in 1997, in Indy Lights. However, this weekend will be a whole new ball game. I just want to learn the track, qualify decent and have a solid run for the Jay Robinson Racing team.

Thanks for reading, Until Next Week

Chris Bingham

You can reach Chris Bingham at: cbingham@catchfence.com