Race 6: Rockingham

Race 1 Results
Race 2 Results
Points

Spoiler:

O'Reilly Nabs 10th in Emotional Rockingham Return

Despite being involved in two race incidents and being somewhat off of the pace compared to most of the leaders, Andrew O'Reilly and his Westockin Racing Team STS managed to squeeze into the top-10 in an emotional return to the Rockingham Motor Speedway, one year after the tragic deaths of Shawn Glenhooke and Ben Tremblay.

It wasn't an easy run for the team, as on lap 15, O'Reilly turned Carla Rosinski hard into the outside frontstretch wall, collecting many cars, including a flipping one down near turn 1. Later on at the lap 41 mark, O'Reilly was spun into the infield grass in turn 2 by Miko Rantanen and several other drivers, eerily similar to where last year's fatal wreck occurred, and undoubtedly bringing back terrible memories for Westockin and others. Luckily, O'Reilly's roof flaps did the job and he spun harmlessly through the grass and back onto the racing surface.

With all of the attrition that occurred earlier in the race, O'Reilly was able to nurse his car back home to a top-10 finish to the delight of his team and to the crowd.

"This is a big deal for all of us, and I'm so glad to come back in memory of Shawn and Ben, and to get a top-10 here is magnificent. I admit, I was nervous about racing here, and we still had some pretty hard wrecks out there, the safety features implemented by Dash Cup officials have really done a great job this season. That Norisring wreck was terrible and I walked away from that. That turn 2 accident also frightened me for a second, but once I got control of the car, I knew we would be alright, and I'm glad to return this car into the top-10. This season has been tough, but once we show that we can finish, we usually finish pretty well. I hope that our TM Master Cup Series debut at Karjala will go just as well, if not better. We've got some backing from some great partners, and I would love to represent Westockin and Dash Cup there! Maybe this finish will rebound us for a much better finish to our season!" exclaimed the always talkative O'Reilly.

Team manager Gerry Mills was seen with teary eyes as O'Reilly crossed the finish line.

"We keep persevering, and great things will happen to us! Andrew has shown that he belongs here, and this is a great way to remember both Ben and SG [Shawn Glenhooke]!"

This second top-10 finish for the team this year will surely propel them up through the points standings, also thanks in part to the high attrition rate featured in this year's running of the Rockingham GP.

Penalties

Car #28 - Tommi Arjanien
1 race suspension for the driver, 30 point penalty and the driver is put on probation until the end of the racing year.