Mechanical gremlins cut short top-35 hunt, again

After garnering another top-10 starting position, AJ got off to a clean start for today’s LENOX Industrial Tool 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. The 84 picked up a spot on the first lap and continued to climb up. AJ said the Camry was a bit too tight in the center, but not bad off and decent. AJ came in for his first stop in 6th on Lap 65, making minor adjustments. When the round of green pit stops cycled through, AJ was still in the top-10, running 8th.

The run started with the car way too tight. The 84 followed the leaders in for its second stop under yellow on Lap 87. The team made track bar adjustments, added a rubber to the right rear, and took right side tires only. The race went back to green on Lap 90 with AJ in 16th.

AJ continued to chase those valuable top-35 points until Lap 202 when mechanical gremlins struck us again. A clamp came loose, damaging the oil lines and causing the Red Bull car to burst into flames. The damage was too extensive to get the Camry back out, leaving it to finish 43rd.

“To say this is frustrating is an understatement,” said AJ shaking his head. “We seem to get a good momentum going and now we keep getting hit with these problems and we can never gain any real ground. We’re so close to cracking the top-35, but so far away at the same time.”