It’s been two weeks since the ARCA Racing 250 at Talladega Superspeedway, and the entire Bill Martel Racing organization is still riding the high of a solid 12th place finish in their ARCA Superspeedway debut. After the setbacks of missing Daytona, a solid run, with a lot of media exposure was just what BMR needed to get the momentum rolling on the rest of their 2010 season.
The team went to Talladega with a solid plan: qualify for the race, and run well, get laps, and gain respect. “We are still a new team; we have only run 6 races in this series. Kyle is a very skilled driver, but he still has to earn the respect of the veterans of the series and show that we are seriously here to compete” said team owner Bill Martel. The team unloaded fast right off the truck. The newly reorganized team, led by veteran crew chief Ted Brown, discovered that their original setup was pretty good from the start. “We changed sway bars, a rear gear, and played with our carb a little. Kyle likes the way I set the cars up, and with the amazing level of feedback he provides us with, it makes it really easy to make informed changes to the car and not chase ourselves."
The car was much better in the draft than by itself. Kyle started the race 26th, and wasted no time moving forward. The 43 ran most of the race inside the top 15, avoiding accidents and learning the draft. “The biggest problem we faced was overheating,” said Kyle, “We were hot all race, and it kept me from being able to make some of the moves I wanted, because I wanted to make sure I saved the car and didn’t tear it up. I race hard, but I have to race smart.” The team hooked the cool-down up on one pit stop to help, and left the rest of it in Kyle’s hands. Towards the end of the race the team ran inside the top ten till getting shuffled back to 12th at the end of the race.
Team owner Bill Martel was pleased with the results: “For as small a team and as underfunded we are, 12th is a great finish. Everyone has given 120% on this team to get our new shop done, and get all our cars built and ready for this season. We have a wonderful group of dedicated guys behind Kyle, and to finish 12th, without ever changing tires during the race, shows how strong we are. With some sponsorship behind us, we could definitely content for a victory in the ARCA series.”
Next up for BMR will be tackling the “Tricky Triangle” of Pocono Raceway. Last season, Kyle drove to a 9th place finish at Pocono, and the team hopes to build on that momentum in June. Brown plans to run BMR003 for the first time at Pocono: “We decided to not bring the chassis we ran last year, instead that will be the backup. We reclipped 003 over the winter and did a lot of work to make the car faster. It’s good to know your taking an even better car to the track than you ran last year. If our backup car can run 9th, we hope to put this new car into the top five, especially since we added a better engine package.”
Kyle is also excited to return to his home track. “We ran really well there last year. Teddy made a lot of changes when he came aboard and it really helped the car drive better last year. I mean, I got my best finish so far there last year, and we don’t go and run in the top five all day, I’m going to be disappointed. Every race is important, but you always want to do your best at your home track. You got friends, family, sponsors all there watching, and to give them the best show possible, it’s what we do.”
The team is still actively searching for additional partners for Pocono and beyond. Any interested parties should contact either Bill Martel (Bmartel@hanovercoldstorage.
