Chad Finchum Finishes Third in First-Ever Late Model Race at Newport Speedway

During the majority of the 2010 racing season, Tennessee racer Chad Finchum focused his racing efforts in his #19 Embassy Suites of Concord Legends Car, racing at multiple tracks across the country, including at the Charlotte Motor Speedway (NC) in the Legends Million event mid-season.  On Saturday, September 18th, Finchum made the move up to full-sized cars by racing in the Limited Sportsman division at Newport Speedway (TN).  While the two types of racing machines are completely different, Finchum’s knack for quick adaptation from behind the wheel propelled him to a third-place finish in the feature.

The #19 Brickyard Bar-b-Que Late Model team made their way to the race track on Thursday so Finchum could get some seat time in the car prior to his debut in a Late Model event on Saturday.  On Friday, they returned to work on the car set-up for the race.

“On Friday, we ended up running lap times comparable to the current points leader in the division,” said Finchum.  “We were second fastest at the end of the day.  I was getting really comfortable in the car and it ended up being a good few days of practice.”

The two days of practice paid off in qualifying as Finchum was third fastest.  However, he had to work to get back to the top three during the feature as he had to battle through adversity throughout the event.

“On the first lap, we got hung out on the outside line and fell back to last,” said Finchum.  “We came back up through the field, and had a car chop down on us, which blew out our right rear tire.  We made an unscheduled pitstop, and ended up getting back to third.

“Our team as a whole did a really good job for our first time at the race track in a Late Model.  It was really fun.”

Chad Finchum will be back behind the wheel of his #19 Brickyard Bar-b-Que Late Model in the Limited Sportsman division feature at Newport Speedway on Saturday, September 25th.