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MORE USAR HOOTERS PROCUP NEWS
| Michael Faulk Gets Another Top Ten Finish | Third “Rookie of the Race” Award for LiftOff Racing's ProCup Entry
By Scott McAllister
 Michael Faulk and the MB3 Motorsports team rolled into Myrtle Beach Speedway this past weekend for round 8 of the USAR Hooters Pro Cup Southern Division racing season. After literally being “knocked out” at the previous race at USA International Speedway in Lakeland, FL, Faulk was anxious to get back on the track and go racing.
Unfortunately, weather would delay the team before the event could get underway. The front eventually moved through the Myrtle Beach area and the race was rescheduled for Sunday at 3:30.
Heat would once again be an issue for the teams and drivers, but this time, Faulk was ready. “I worked harder than ever to prepare myself for the heat after the Lakeland race. I was determined that [heat exhaustion] wouldn’t happen to me again,” said Faulk. The starting grid was established by driver points, placing Faulk in 14th position. The LiftOff Effervescent Energy Drink Ford Taurus was working well for Faulk on the historic ½ mile speedway.
The car was good on the preferred bottom groove, but when traffic got bottled up, Faulk experimented with several different lines to get through the field. Three and even four wide situations were not uncommon, but Faulk was able to maneuver his way through the pack relatively unscathed.
Timely pit stops and good race strategy got Michael as high as 6th in the running order. “I just tried to keep the wheels as straight as possible and not overdrive the turns,” Michael said. “We could have waited one more caution to take fresh tires, which would have put us in excellent position to win the race. I can’t say I’m happy with 9th because I think we had the car to beat, but we’ll take it.” The 9th place finish was the 3rd top ten finish for the rookie driver making Faulk the only 3-time winner of the Miller Lite Rookie of the Race Award in the 2005 Southern Division series.
The Groucho’s Deli 250 presented by Black’s Tire Service will be aired nationally on SPEED Channel Saturday, July 2nd. The next stop for the USAR Hooters Pro Cup Southern Division Series will be at Hickory Speedway in Newton, North Carolina for the Aaron’s 250 presented by Tucson on Saturday, July 9th.
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Mart Nesbitt of Asheville NC switched to the Northern Division of the Hooters ProCup Series this season after years of the competing in the Southern Divisiion. Nesbitt is seeing many of the tracks for the first time in his career, but he had something to compare Lake Erie Speedway against from his days as a Southern Division regular.
"It really reminds me of a cross between South Boston and Ace Speedway," said Nesbitt. " It think we'll be real good the nesxt time we come back."
Nesbitt has struggled in some of the events this year. This team still has some strong cars but luck has been to this team very long this year.
But you can expect the Blue Advantage/ Homezone Ford to be strong when it comes down to the Championship run later on this season.
Nesbitt has also been supplying cars for Michelle Theriault this season also as she is trying to get into the championship with a limited budget.
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| Battery Beats McFarland...Again! | Mooresville, NC - For the second time this season a dead battery cost Mark McFarland at shot at a great finish.
 Mark McFarland intervewed by Speed Channel at USA International
The No. 32 WINFUEL Chevrolet looked like the car to beat in Saturday night's running of the Mansfield 250 at Mansfield Motorsports Speedway, but problems with the power cell relegated the team to a 26th-place finish as 15-year-old Joey Logano became the youngest winner ever in USAR Hooters Pro Cup competition.
After starting the Northern Division race in the seventh spot, McFarland kept his car in the top-five throughout the first half of the race. The JR Motorsports crew made sure he stayed there. Of the cars that stopped for four tires and fuel, McFarland was the first off pit road.
However, having only to pass the No. 20 of Shelby Howard to be first among the cars that already pitted, the second battery began to go.
"The car was unbelievable, especially on long runs," said McFarland. "We found a dead battery right before qualifying and we don't know how it happened because the main power switch was turned off. The officials let us change it and that one died during the race."
"I'm fairly certain that cost us our first win because we were pulling away from the guys who ended up running up front."
The bright side of the situation is that this was a Northern Division race.
"Luckily this race doesn't count against our Southern Division points," sounded McFarland. "We still need to figure these battery problems out before the Championship Series races start."
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