Fading Motor No Match For A.J. Frank; MacHill Motorsports At Greenville-Pickens Speedway

Topics:  A.J. Frank

Chris Knight
October 14, 2010

MOORESVILLE, North Carolina (October 14, 2010) - - AJ Frank recorded his eighth top five finish of the season in 10 starts, in his first USAR Racing Pro Cup Series at the legendary Greenville-Pickens (S.C.) Speedway last Saturday night in the Kevin Whitaker Chevrolet 250.

The MacHill Motorsports (MHM) team unloaded Saturday morning with redemption in mind after a top-five finish was wrenched from the Mooresville, North Carolina-based team in the previous USAR event at the Historic North Wilkesboro (N.C.) Speedway.

In practice, Frank delivered a fast lap in his No. 56 Speedco / Lucas Oil / 3 Wide Apparel Chevrolet Impala, good enough for second overall on the rundown.

Frank consulted with crew chief Todd Myers about their hotrod following practice hoping to balance their No. 56 Chevrolet bowtie with the ideal setup that would allow the MHM team to be satisfied with their qualifying effort.

After gunning for his first USAR pole, Frank, the Bluffton, South Carolina native came up a little short and had to settle for the outside pole, position number two on the starting grid.

“I’m really happy with our car,” said Frank. “The guys have done a fantastic job with our No. 56 Speedco / Lucas Oil / 3 Wide Apparel Chevrolet Impala. I think we have a real good racecar for the race.”

Hunkering solidly in the top-five during the half of the Kevin Whitaker Chevrolet 250, Frank was waiting on a yellow flag to make some much needed adjustments to his Speedco machine.

After some hiccups in the pits at Historic North Wilkesboro (N.C.) Speedway, the MacHill Motorsports team was prepared to prove that those troubles were something of the past. Their statement clearly was proven as the team clicked off flawless stops during the night. The “money” stop occurring in the last half of the event would be no match for the focused crew as the team’s effort was good enough to put their driver back in contention for his first win of the season.

During the course of the final 60 laps, Frank began to hear a different pitch from the motor underneath his General Motors nameplate. Frank also quickly realized that his automobile was lacking power around the turns of the racetrack.

Still, Frank was determined to give his team a satisfying run despite the obstacle. A late race caution flag allowed Frank the opportunity to bring his machine to the attention of his team, hoping to find an obvious problem with their horsepower under the hood. Unfortunately, the team would diagnose the problem as internal but with every point counting as the season draws to a close, the No. 56 Speedco / Lucas Oil / 3 Wide Apparel Chevrolet Impala would return to the racetrack focused on earning ever position possible.

Through determination and brilliance, Frank was able to keep his racecar on the lead lap and cross the checkered flag in the third position, completing all 250 laps.

“Our finish just shows that even a potential devastating problem cannot derail the focus and drive of this MacHill Motorsports team. We wanted to bounce back from a frustrating run at North Wilkesboro and obviously we did that with our top-three finish under adverse circumstances,” offered Frank.

He continued, “I want to thank Speedco, Lucas Oil and 3 Wide Apparel for their continued devotion and belief in our race team. Hopefully we can go to South Boston (Va.) Speedway in a couple weeks and cap off the year with a win. I’ve always run well there. Now, it’s time to seal the deal.”

When asked if the team was able to further diagnose the faded pitch in the motor, Frank remarked, “it happened to be a broken rocker arm. We’ll get it fixed and have a new “bad to the bone” motor for South Boston here in a couple weeks.”

Frank’s finish on Saturday capped him his 25th career top-five and 44th top-10 finish of his career in 77 starts. Frank will return behind the wheel of the No. 56 Mac Hill Motorsports Chevrolet at South Boston (Va.) Speedway on Saturday, November 6 for the fifth and final championship race for the USARacing Pro Cup Series tour in the Strutmasters.com 300.

Join A.J. Frank on Facebook by visiting, Facebook.com/ajfmotorsports.

Visit the USARacing Pro Cup Series on the web at, USARProCup.com.

For additional input on SpeedCo Truck Lube & Tire, please click to, Speedco.com.

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For more information, visit Speedco.com.

MEDIA CONTACT:
NAME: Chris Knight
PHONE: 239.834.9797
EMAIL: chris@chrisknightpr.com
PHOTO CREDIT: Laura Ward / USARacing Pro Cup Series

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