An Up And Down Day For Turner Motorsports

[NickHolt]

An Up And Down Day For Turner Motorsports

 

Buescher and Helton Stay Patient In Pro Cup Championship Series Opener

 

Turner Motorsports teammates James Buescher and Gary Helton entered the first race in the USAR Hooters Pro Cup Championship Series at Mansfield Motorsports Park (OH) looking for success. Both drivers have been stepping up their game in preparation of the five-race championship, and it showed by Buescher snagging a top-10 finish and Helton manhandling his car with mechanical issues to a top-20 finish.

 

Buescher’s day started out better than expected with solid practice runs and no problems. Starting the race from the 17th position, he made his way to the front of the pack and lead for multiple laps.

 

“This was the first time in the Pro Cup Series I have led a race,” said Buescher. “I led like 50 laps. Once pit stops cycled through I was in the back and had to work my way back up as high as I could get.”

 

With the laps winding down, Buescher was able to make his way back up to the 10th spot by the end of the event.

 

“It was one of our better Pro Cup races of the year for sure,” said Buescher. “We were actually in the top 25 in practice. We are doing better in practice than we have most of the races this year and I didn’t really have any bad luck this time like we have had in every other race. It was just a good night altogether.

 

“It is pretty good because we finished fifth or sixth in the rookie of the year standings in the south and we started the Championship series in 31st in points, and now after one race we are second in the rookie standings and 15th in championship points. It feels pretty good to start off the championship like that.”

 

On the other side of Turner Motorsports was Gary Helton, who started off the day promising, but a mechanical issue forced him to work harder than the rest of the pack to keep his car going in the right direction.

 

“The shock mount on the right front broke,” said Helton. “It put us really behind. Eventually we had to come in and just take the right front shock off the car. It broke on lap four or five, and we just took it off. It made it twitchy getting into the corners and I had to be very careful getting in and coming off the corners. We ended up not too bad considering.”

 

The next race in the five-race Pro Cup Championship Series is at Iowa Speedway (Newton, IA) on Saturday September 22nd. Although Helton hasn’t raced on the track yet, he is looking forward to going to the newer racing facility.

 

“There is an open practice there Friday before the race,” explained Helton. “We will definitely be there getting it hooked up for the race.”

 

For more information on Turner Motorsports, contact Jason Buckley at (704) 788-2134 x 6