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NEW HAMPSHIRE
INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
Impressive Crowd of
43,000 Witness FMS Action
This past weekend, NASCAR Featherlite Modified Series
competitor Renee Dupuis took part in the Siemens 100 FMS
race at New Hampshire International Speedway (Loudon,
NH). Originally scheduled to run on Friday afternoon,
the event was rescheduled to late Saturday because of
inclement weather.
As has become the norm, car counts for the FMS were once
again high – with 48 cars attempting to qualify for 42
starting spots. In fact, in comparison to NASCAR’s two
most prominent Series’ (the Nextel Cup and Busch Series
- which were also in attendance at NHIS) the FMS boasted
the highest car count.
On Friday morning, Renee was featured on a live radio
broadcast segment on WUBB B95.3 FM, a Clear Channel
owned station based in Kittery, Maine. In other
broadcast news, the race was televised on tape-delay on
SPEED on Saturday at 10 PM ET.
In any event, when the green flag waved for the start of the
100-lap race, an enormous crowd of over 43,000 people
were on hand to witness the ground pounding excitement
of NASCAR’s only open-wheeled Series. Prior to the
halfway mark, Renee - who qualified 33rd –
had worked her way thru traffic into the top-20. She
sustained a flat left front tire after contact with
another car while exiting the fourth turn. Despite the
damage, the No. 90 pit crew changed all four tires and
added fuel without losing a lap.
Upon returning to the track, Renee again worked thru traffic
– impressively running as high as 13th after
the pit stop. However, just 10-laps from the end,
Renee’s torque arm (an aluminum part that holds the
rear-end from moving front to back) snapped – ending her
run. At the time of the mechanical failure, Renee was
running on the lead lap (which is significant because at
the end of the race only 14 cars were on the lead lap).
In the record book, the team recorded a 29th
place finish – but clearly had their strongest run ever
at the tricky 1-mile facility.
Looking ahead, the No. 90 team will next compete in a 150-lap
event at Massachusetts’ Seekonk Speedway on Saturday,
July 31.
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