Rob Bunker completes first test

Rob Bunker can add stock-car racing to his list of potential futures, after completing a successful test with Cunningham Motorsports. The Bridgewater, N.J., driver paced the team's ARCA Series car through two days of testing on the Peach State Speedway half-mile asphalt track in Jefferson, Ga.

"I was very impressed with Rob, personally and professionally," team owner Kerry Scherer said. "It was his first time in a full-bodied stock car, on a strange race track, but he did an outstanding job. He never scared me that something bad was going to happen; I always felt that he was in control of the race car. We think he has a lot of talent."

Although his previous racing experience has been in smaller, open-wheel cars, Bunker quickly adapted to the heavier, faster stock car.

"When you get past the weight and you get past the sensation of power, a race car is a race car. Seeing as how I'm a race-car driver, I'll put it to its limits," he explained. "The most surprising thing and also the coolest thing about the car was how much grip it made. It was cool that such a large car could take everything that I could throw at it."

Cunningham Motorsports general manager Mark Gibson appreciated Bunker's ability to work with the crew to improve his performance.

"Rob had a lot of good feedback from the changes we made," Gibson said. "A lot of times, when somebody comes from a real lightweight, open-wheel-type car, it takes awhile to get up to speed with the big, heavy 3400-pound stock car. What impressed me the most was he wasn't intimidated and he went fairly fast quickly. He did a great job."

Bunker's Speed Secrets coach, Bob Perona, agreed:

"Rob performed extremely well, right up to the very lofty expectations that we have for him. He took to the ARCA car extremely well, showing his adaptability. He did a wonderful job with feedback and he was able to drive the car awfully quick. The ARCA team is very excited about his championship possibilities in that level if he decides to pursue it."

Wherever he races next, Bunker will apply an important lesson from the test: "I can get on the throttle a lot sooner!"

-credit: sp