D&N Motorsports Back on the Podium at Summit Point

Summit Point, WV (July 9, 2006) – Dennis Short, driver of the No. 24 Hazardous Sports Saturn SW2, was back on the podium this afternoon after finishing 2nd in the 3rd east coast round of the USTCC at Summit Point Raceway in Summit Point, WV.

The D&N Motorsports team started the weekend off with one of the same problems they had experienced in a previous round at Mid-Ohio.  During Saturday morning’s practice session Dennis reported that the clutch was slipping again and was forced to cut the session short.

It seemed that the clutch would start to slip late in the session after a hard run.  Replacing the clutch would be a lengthy repair, and there were only a few hours before the first qualifying round.  With all of this in mind the team decided to wait on the repair and put in a good qualifying lap before the clutch started to slip.

The decision to wait turned out to be the right one.  During the qualifying round, Dennis put down a time that was quick enough for the front row on the outside pole.  They were not out of the woods yet.  The clutch still needed to be replaced and there was still a second round of qualifying on Sunday.

At the end of the day crew chief Don Short along with crew members Mike Leischner, Ray Walker and Eric Gustafson started on the removal of the engine and transmission.  After several hours of labor the clutch had been replaced and the car was ready for the second qualifying round.

Unable to improve on his time, Dennis would line up for the traditional standing start of Sunday’s feature race on the outside of the front row.  On the standing start, Dennis launched off the starting line for the drag race to turn one.  Unable to gain the position into turn one, he locked on to the bumper of the leading car.

Dennis followed close behind the lead car, and by lap 3 he already had to deal with lap traffic.  The very busy track slowed his charged to the front, but the Saturn pilot was able to deliver the D&N Motorsports/Hazardous Sports team their first podium of the year.

D&N Motorsports would like to thank their sponsors, Hazardous Sports, Quality Tire, The Sign Shop, CarCraft Collision Center, Valvoline, Fiberwise Pasta, and Osiris Shoes.

DENNIS SHORT, OWNER/DRIVER NO. 24 SATURN: “I’m really proud of this team.  They worked hard to repair the clutch and get the car set up for the feature race.  The weekend started off as bad as the last race, but it all came together in the end with a strong second place finish.”

DON SHORT, CREW CHIEF NO. 24 SATURN: “We were hoping the clutch problem was fixed from the last race, but unfortunately it wasn’t.  It turned out to be a good weekend though, and I’m proud of Dennis for the job he did behind the wheel.”