WARD SURVIVES MECHANICAL DEMONS TO SECURE TOP TEN

Date: June 6, 2008

For Release:  Immediately

Eighth Place Finish Moves 2007 Rookie of the Year Into 2^nd In 2008 Northern Points

 Concord, NC--Don’t talk about the dreaded “sophomore slump” to Randy Humphrey Racing’s driver Brandon Ward or any of his Claremont Posse crew—they’ll refuse to listen.  Despite suffering two blown engines at South Boston due to parts failures, Ward used a borrowed motor, and precious little practice time on race day, to battle his way to 7^th at finish of the season opener at South Boston. 

 At Milwaukee, a mysterious handling problem relegated Brandon to 35^th fastest on the pre-race practice sheet.  Diagnosed as a faulty upper control arm, a replacement was installed and suddenly Ward was fast, clocking in with the 6^th best qualifying time.  “We knew that we had a better car than we were able to show in practice,” said Ward.  “When Rob and the guys got it figured out and fixed, and we qualified well, I really thought we had a car that could win.  Unfortunately, our mechanical problems weren’t over.”

 As the fastest Northern Division qualifier, Ward took the green flag from the pole position for the start of the “Sears Auto Center 150” on the flat, historic Milwaukee Mile.  But it became quickly apparent that all was not well under the hood of the RHR #93 Fusion.  “The motor just felt flat, and we knew we had our work cut out for us if we were going to salvage a decent finish”, said Ward.  But he wasn’t about to give up. 

 Despite having a good-handling car that seemed capable of running with anybody except eventual race winner Mark McFarland through the wide, sweeping corners, the car just would not accelerate off the 2^nd and 4^th turns.  “Horsepower and momentum are critical factors here,” said crew chief Rob Huffman after the race.  “We discovered a broken exhaust header.  It probably cost us a hundred horsepower, which just kills you on a big track like this.  Brandon did an awesome job to get us an eighth place finish tonight.”

  “We’ve really got the car turning much better than last year, and I know we’re capable of running up front”, concluded an upbeat Ward, despite the obvious disappointment.  “We’re really looking forward to Mansfield.  We finished 2^nd my first time there last year, so we’re going up there hoping to improve on that by one position.”

 Don’t bet against him.

 For more information:  Rob Albright, (704) 787-8737