For the first time in nearly a year, David Calabrese returned to the NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour on Saturday night at Caraway Speedway and brought home a eighth place finish. It was also Calabrese’s first time at a NASCAR Tour event with Hillbilly Motorsports.
Saturday’s lone practice session did not bode well for the No. 79 team, as Calabrese struggled to find the handle, forcing himself and the crew to decide on adjustments for Coors Light Pole Qualifying. The team’s guesses took the car in the right direction, improving Calabrese by nearly three tenths of a second from his fastest time all day and starting them just outside the top ten.
Once the race was under way, it had a green flag look much like the previous week’s event at South Boston. A caution on lap 88 for debris gave Calabrese and the crew a single opportunity to adjust on the racecar in addition to making a tire change as permitted by NASCAR rules. Calabrese used the final 54 laps after the restart to claw his way forward to an eighth place, lead lap finish.
“We had a pretty good car, we just had the car set up for long green flag runs which we were having until the caution came out with around 60 to go,” Calabrese said after the race. “The car just took too long to come in after the tire change, but we sorta knew what was going to happen and we still ended up in eighth.
“All in all, it was a really good time and I believe we had a car capable of finishing in the top five had we gone green to checker like we were hoping. That’s what the tour has done the last few races, including last week at South Boston, but sometimes luck just doesn’t go your way,” he concluded.
The next race for Calabrese Motorsports will come this weekend at Dover International Speedway in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series. ARCA/CRA Super Series veteran Chad Finley will be making his first start for the team and only his fourth career start in the series. His career best finish came on a one-mile track in 2014 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway where he finished fifth.
For the latest information on David Calabrese and Calabrese Motorsports, “like” their page on Facebook at facebook.com/
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