Salem: Brandon McReynolds race report

McReynolds Exceeds in ARCA Debut Despite Finish Position
Beating and Banging Results in Early Exit after Radiator Problems

MOORESVILLE, NC (April 14, 2010) -- Brandon McReynolds didn't leave Salem Speedway on Sunday evening satisfied with his 26th-place finishing position in his ARCA Racing Series debut. However, he did walk out of the track with his head held high, knowing that the rest of the ARCA field knew his #6 Eddie Sharp Racing Toyota was there and knowing that team owner Eddie Sharp told Brandon he was impressed and that sometimes "you have days like that at the track."

McReynolds started the race in 14th, fell back to just inside the top-20 early, then convincingly moved his way into the top 10 before a hole in the radiator ended the day of the #6 Team ESR/ApplianceZone.com/Marcone Supply Toyota just 64 laps into the event.

"I really believe that we had a car that was capable of winning or finishing in the top-three," said the 18-year-old McReynolds. "We had a rocketship for sure. The entire Eddie Sharp Racing team gave me a great car. We were passing guys early in the race that would end up finishing in the top-five, and we were putting some distance between us and them early on. It's just unfortunate that things turned out the way they did, because we didn't get to show our hand. But you will have that in short track racing. Eddie was my spotter and told me he thought I did a great job and that sometimes, you will have days like that at the track and that there isn't much you can do about it."

McReynolds practiced in the top-10, but struggled in qualifying with the car bottoming out because the team never got a chance to make a full mock-qualifying run during practice. At the start of the 200-lap event, the outside line got bottled up, allowing several cars to pass McReynolds on the inside and putting him back near the 20th position.

It didn't take long for McReynolds and the #6 ESR team to make those positions up and get even more.

"We got bottled up at the start, but once things got going, we were heading to the front and getting there fast. Before you knew it, we went from being in the 21st-postion or so to being back inside the top-10. During that run to the front though, I got into the back of a car coming off of turn two when he got loose in front of me. At the time, we didn't realize it had put a hole in the radiator.

"We came in for a pit stop and were running ninth. Unfortunately, the guys let a tire get away and we had to start at the back of the field. That is when we noticed the problems and had to pull into the pits and call it a day. But during the time we were out there, we were fast. I think we could have been there at the end."

The Salem event was McReynolds first with Eddie Sharp Racing. McReynolds will return to action with the team at Talladega Superspeedway in just over a week's time to run the Talladega ARCA 250. McReynolds will have a sponsorship on the car from the Talladega/Texaco Walk of Fame at the Davey Allison Memorial Park with support from Ken Allen and Allen Oil Company.

The 2010 Induction Ceremony will be at the Park on Saturday evening, October 30th at 7:00pm prior to the fall Sprint Cup Series race in Talladega. For more information on this event, go to www.talladegawalk.com.

-source: Brandon McReynolds PR