Tony Raines may be a team player, but Canadian road racer Ron Fellows is playing for keeps. He wants to win a NASCAR NEXTEL Cup race, and he wants it bad. Read on ...
"Ron Fellows' trip to Infineon, hot on the heels of his attempt in the 24 Hours of Le Mans for Corvette Racing, is his latest effort to satisfy a 13-year goal of winning a Cup Series road race.
"It'd be huge," Fellows said of a possible win. "It's why we keep pursuing it. It's unfinished business for me. We've been fortunate enough to win in the Truck Series and the Busch Series, but I really want to get a win in Nextel Cup.
"When you look at how big and popular Nextel Cup racing is, it's impossible to ignore. It would be, without a doubt, one of the biggest wins I've ever had."
Fellows' record in stock cars -- five wins between the Busch and Truck series, though all coming on the Watkins Glen International road course -- keep him coming back for more.
"I thoroughly enjoy doing [NASCAR races], whether it's Busch, Cup or Truck," Fellows said. "The Nextel Cup Series is the cream of the crop and on the competitive side of it, these guys are all very, very good. The racing is incredibly close and that's enjoyable."
Fellows, 47, is in a car guaranteed to start, for the first time in a while in Cup, and that excites him.
"We'll be able to put more effort into the race setup and that's a real positive," Fellows said. "I had a chance to test with the DLP team last month at Virginia International Raceway, and I got a chance to know Brandon [Thomas, crew chief] and the team.
"I had heard a lot about the COT and how it might behave [but] I didn't really notice a whole lot of difference. Maybe I will, but being a little rusty in those cars, it seemed fine to me." -source: Dave Rodman, NASCAR.COM
Ron was sixth fastest in practice today in the #96 car, usually driven by Tony Raines, and he just qualified 11th for the race on Sunday.
Look for Ron to be aggressive, driving like he has nothing to loose because he really doesn't - not from a driver's point perspective anyway. He might give the #96 team a few gray hairs though, but I'm sure they are going to go with the "checkers or wreckers" attitude too as this, and Walken's Glen, are their best chances for a win this season with Ron behind the wheel.
I'm not saying that Tony is a bad driver, I'm just saying Ron is a better road course driver. Having a better driver in a poorer car on a road course can sure even up the competition pretty fast, as opposed to having a better driver in a poorer car at Talladega for example.
The question now is, "Is Ron going to win his first Cup race?" and the answer is, "I hope so, but I don't think so - not in this car anyway." Now granted they almost won with Terry Labonte at the wheel last year at the same track, but it was their "checkers or wreckers" attitude (and Terry's level headedness) that did it for them and not a performance advantage by any means. So there is still hope, but I'm not betting the farm on it, if you know what I mean.
We'll just have to wait and see. My fingers are crossed.