FRASERVILLE, ON – Despite the mechanical problems his team has endured the past few races, Kent Nuhn, driver of the No. 09 the Fuel Genie/BOC Gasses Pontiac Grand Prix, was excited and ready to get the final race of the year underway.
You could feel how excited the teams, crews, fans and officials were to see how the Championship was going to turn out and who would win the final race of the year. Going into qualifying at the 3/8 mile oval at Kawartha Speedway for the Dodge Charger 250, all eyes were on the top two contenders for the championship, the No. 17 Castrol Dodge Charger of D.J. Kennington and the No. 27 Wal-Mart/Tide Ford Fusion of Andrew Ranger.
Nuhn was able to qualify 24th out of 25 cars with a time of 18.493 and an average speed of 73.001 mph behind pole sitter No 9 Dodge/Leland Industries Dodge Avenger of Mark Dilley. In the early beginnings of the race, Nuhn had gained 8 positions and had moved up to 16th. Unfortunately, the mechanical woes would come back, like in the weeks past.
Around lap 70, he noticed that he was losing his brakes. He pulled the car behind the wall and team quickly got to work. Not only to fix the brake problem but to also fix damage on the left front of the car from a collision earlier in the night. Nuhn ultimately had to pull the car in another 2 times to fix the brake problem. They figured out that the exhaust was boiling the brake fluid and was causing the brakes to get hot and fade out.
“By the end (of the race) the brakes were fine. During the green flag runs, when I was going down the straightaway, all I had to do was pump them (the brakes) and they would come back," said Nuhn after the race.
Once again more mechanical woes struck with 20 laps to go, Nuhn lost a cylinder. With nothing to lose, Nuhn’s crew chief told him to stay out and put more laps on the car. Nuhn finished the race, with a smile on his face, in the 22nd position behind race winner No. 22 Toronto Marlies/Erb Group Dodge Charger of Scott Steckley.
The inaugural NASCAR Canadian Tire Series Championship went to Andrew Ranger. Nuhn, himself, finished the year in the 17th position in points.
“We had a good year, despite all the problems. We hope to be back next year,” Nuhn said. Nuhn and his team hope to gain new and additional sponsors in order to be able to race next season.
For further information regarding Kent Nuhn and The Fuel Genie/Nuhns Auto Recyclers Team or sponsorship information contact Hugh Nuhn at (519)794-2746. For more information on The Fuel Genie visit www.thefuelgenie.com.
Story and Photo by Leslie Bates
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