Akinori Ogata proved he belongs in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series Saturday night at Gresham Motorsports Park with an excellent drive. The 38 year-old Japanese driver battled a long, hard race to bring home a top-15 in his first start in the K&N Pro Series driving the Kajima USA No. 49 Dodge for MacDonald Motorsports.
“Akinori did an excellent job for us tonight, explained Randy MacDonald (team owner). “For his first race in the car and with our team, I couldn’t be happier. Even with the damage from a late race accident, the team kept pushing and we were able to get a top-15 and finish on the lead lap.”
“A lap 126 accident knocked the toe out and damaged the right front fender, said crew chief Mark Durgin. “The car wasn’t very good after that but the team just kept working and we were able to put together a pretty decent finish. I’m happy with the progress Akinori and the team made this weekend and looking forward to Langley in a couple weeks.”
The next race for MacDonald Motorsports and Ogata will be Saturday, June 23rd from Langley Speedway in Virginia. The Visit Hampton, VA 175 will take the green flag at approximately 8:00pm EST.
Fans can also learn more about Akinori and follow all of his racing at his website at www.akinoriogata.com or follow him on twitter @akinoriogata.
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