Road America: Brian Scott race report

SCOTT SURVIVES WILD ROAD AMERICA RACE WITH SOLID 13TH-PLACE FINISH

Elkhart Lake, Wis. (June 19, 2010) - Brian Scott finished 13th in the Bucyrus 200 on Saturday at Road America. The No. 11 BigSpot.com Toyota spun twice and narrowly avoided a third accident as the laps wound down for a wild finish at the inaugural event.

Under a beautiful blue sky in Elkhart Lake, Scott began the day by qualifying 21st for his first ever Nationwide Series start on a road course. Even with his limited road course experience, the Boise, ID native picked up over a full second from his fastest practice speeds in qualifying.

At the drop of the green flag, Scott immediately went to work on the field. Picking up five spots in the first five laps, Scott seemed determined to fight for a top-10. A yellow flag was displayed on lap 11, giving Scott the opportunity to pit for four tires and fuel. Just when Scott began to leave his pit stall, another car blocked his exit, costing him valuable positions. When he finally made it back onto the race track, Scott restarted in the 25th position.

When the green fell on the field once again, Scott attacked the 14-turn road course. Working his way all the way back to 16th, another full-course caution fell upon the four-mile Wisconsin road course. With the BigSpot.com Toyota close on fuel strategy, crew chief Billy Wilburn brought Scott down pit road for four tires and ordered the fuel crew to 'pack the car' with fuel. A lightning-fast pit stop by the BigSpot.com crew had Scott restarting in the 12th position on lap 29.

Back green, Scott was sniffing the top-10. Just as Scott entered the blind left-hand turn six, his BigSpot.com Camry was sent spinning off the nose of another car. As Scott sat turned around in the middle of the corner, carnage happened around him. As a red flag was displayed to clean up the wrecked racecars and debris, the No. 11 BigSpot .com Camry escaped with only slight fender damage.

Bringing the BigSpot.com Toyota to pit road, the No. 11 Braun Racing crew went to work repairing the slight fender damage, bolting on four fresh tires and filling the No. 11 Camry with as much fuel as it would hold. As Scott pulled away, he would take with him only .6 more laps of fuel than needed. If the race remained under the green-flag, the BigSpot.com crew would be gambling on Scott making it to the end.

Restarting in the 15th position, Scott immediately worked his way to 12th, knowing the leaders in front of him would still have to pit. As the laps wound down, cars bounced off Scott and his BigSpot.com Camry aggressively worked for position. Narrowly missing a spinning car that blocked the track right in front of him, Scott sat 13th with just seven laps to go. As he entered turn eight, contact to the back bumper of the No. 11 BigSpot.com Camry sent Scott spinning. Miraculously saving it with minimal damage, the 22-year-old rookie regained19th position and kept running. Picking up another six spots in the closing laps, Scott finished his first Nationwide Series road course event in 13th place.

"What a wild finish," Scott said after the race. "We had a great car today. The BigSpot.com crew really put a lot of effort into this weekend and it showed. We made some really great calls using the adversity we were shown to the best of our advantage. I knew that we were close on fuel, but I also knew we were sure to have some cautions near the end. I was really bummed that we got taken out with only seven laps to go, but I never gave up and were able to gain those spots back. Great effort all around for the BigSpot.com Braun Racing crew and I'm glad we could finally get a solid finish."

This 13th place finish puts Scott 12th in the NASCAR Nationwide Series Championship standings, 48 points out of 11th and 948 points from the lead.

Next Stop: The NASCAR Nationwide Series heads to New Hampshire Motor Speedway this weekend for the New England 200.

-source: braun racing