KINGSTON, Ont. – May 25, 2016 – Danny O’Brien picked up right where he left off in weekly competition at Brockville Ontario Speedway by earning the opening night win in 358 Modified action on Saturday, May 21.
The defending track champion was fastest in time trials and then won his heat race before starting third in the 30-lap main event. The driver of the 1000 Islands RV Centre/ATC World Class Trailers No.17 fell back to fourth initially before he began plotting his march forward.
“I picked my way back up to second and got the lead on a restart on lap 14,” O’Brien said of his move past Bobby Herrington. “On the restarts, the top lane was fast. After the track slowed down, the middle was probably the place to be. (The racetrack) was black and slippery.”
The opening night hat trick for the Kingston, Ont. native was a welcome start to the season after a studious off-season in the race shop.
“We worked really hard all winter. Everything we worked on turned out in our favour. We spent a lot of time on all the little stuff this winter and so far it’s working well,” O’Brien added.
The Kingston, Ont. native continued further east on Sunday for the first round of the Canadian Nationals358 Modified series at Cornwall Motor Speedway. The first 125-lap race of the season brought the best of the best from New York, Ontario and Quebec. O’Brien was third fastest in his time trial group before finishing third in his heat.
“We redrew 12 out of 12, which is somewhat normal for me,” O’Brien joked about his feature starting position. “It was really hard passing. We started making some ground up and had a left rear tire go flat.”
“We changed that on about lap 80 and went to the back. There was still a ton of cars on the racetrack and we battled our way back to ninth.”
Even without the flat tire, it would have been difficult for O’Brien to challenge for the win on that night because starting position was so critical.
“It’s a tough racetrack and everybody was about the same speed. There were a lot of good cars there,” O’Brien commented.
O’Brien and his team now get set for a pair of 50-lap races this weekend at Mohawk International Raceway in Ogdensburg, NY on Friday before returning to Brockville for the first round of the Ogilvie’s Triple Crown Series on Saturday.
Follow Danny O’Brien’s 2016 season on Facebook by ‘Liking’ his page at facebook.com/DannyOBrienRacing. The Danny O’Brien Racing team will debut a new website in the coming weeks.
Danny O’Brien’s 2016 DIRTcar 358 Modified season is supported by several dedicated corporate sponsors, including: 1000 Islands RV Centre, ATC World Class Trailers, Bob FM, Ambush, Pat’s Auto Centre, Bicknell Racing Products, Heather-Lynn Topping, Integra Shocks, Northwood 2 Construction, and Snap-On Adam Way.
Prepared By Clayton Johns Media
