BROCKVILLE, ON - Entering the Global Warranty DIRTcar Fall Nationals at the Brockville Speedway last weekend, Danny O’Brien had a mere 10 point lead over his nearest competitor and was only 5 more points up on third place. While O’Brien has 25 years of experience, and is a nine-time Brockville Speedway champion, winning this year’s Mr. DIRTcar 358 Modified championship was going to be no easy task with both Danny Johnson and Pete Bicknell look to pounce on any opportunity to take over the points lead on the final night of the series.
Time trials set the starting line up for the qualifying heats, and O’Brien turned the fastest time in his group, and fourth fastest speed overall out of the 48 358 DIRTcar Modifieds signed into the Brockville Speedway pit area. Standard procedure for DIRTcar time trials is that racer with the fastest time selects a number from one to four, and with that, determines the number of cars in each group that would be inverted. The number that was drawn was two, meaning the fastest car in each group would start second in his heat.
Normally, O’Brien excels on the outside lane of the BOS, but on this day, the bottom was the place to be. O’Brien failed to qualify through the heat race, but rebounded with a second place run in the days last chance qualifier, giving him the 23rd starting spot for the main event. It was a struggle for O’Brien early, and when the caution came out on lap 19, O’Brien looked to pit road for some changes, and returned to the field hoping to move through the field. As the race progressed, and the halfway indicator was given to the field, O’Brien was still marred back deep in the field. In the late stages, the car began to come to life moving up towards the top ten. With just two laps remaining, steering issues caused O’Brien’s car to drift high, up and over the banking in turn one and two. O’Brien was credited with an 18th place finish, and ended the season third in the overall points.
“The track had one lane that was real fast, and it was tough to pass. Not qualifying through the heat really put us back, and that’s just the way it goes. We were quick in our group for time trials, and we did the inversion, and it put us on the outside, and we needed to be on the inside”, says O’Brien.
With Saturday’s events over with, O’Brien and his team went over the car in preparation for Sunday’s Big Block Modified Super DIRTcar Series race. Using the same car and Small Block Motor from the previous day, O’Brien qualified 19th out of the 39 Big Blocks in attendance, and finished second in his qualifying heat, placing him into a redraw for one of the top 12 starting positions in Sunday’s 100 lap main event. O’Brien drew the 11th position to start the race. O’Brien pulled off early with mechanical issues, and finished 24th.
This concludes the 2010 season for Danny O’Brien and his Global Warranty, 1000 Islands RV, Pat’s Radiator, 103.7 BOB FM, Jackson’s Landscaping & Property Maintenance, Murdock’s Cement Finishing, Stover Bus Lines sponsored Kendrick Racing team. Stay tuned for a season in review press release in the coming weeks.
For more information on Danny O’Brien and the 7* Global Warranty racing team, please visit our website, www.dannyobrien.ca.
PHOTO: Danny O’Brien sits patiently waiting for the command to fire the engines at the BOS last Saturday. (Rick Young Photo) // By Craig Revelle – Finish Line Web Design
