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Brandon Sweet Has Disappointing End to Super DIRT Week After Motor Problems Developed in Final Practice Session at Syracuse

Craig Revelle - Finish Line Web Design - October 19, 2011

Brandon Sweet and the BSR Enterprises team definitely made a statement at Super DIRT Week in Syracuse this year.  The team knew it was going to be tough to qualify for the Nationwide 150 with only 40 spots available out of the 53 cars on hand, but they were confident that they had the driver to get the job done, but lacked the funding that most other teams have.

Sweet hit the track on Thursday for the first practice session and was 41^st on the speed charts.  Sweet and long-time crew chief Jamie Platt spent a lot of time discussing what the car was doing, and what Brandon needed to get the car faster.  Brandon and Jamie have been together since Brandon’s first time in a Sportsman Modified six years ago when Brandon was just 15 years old, so the chemistry between the two have matured to a point where Jamie knows exactly what Brandon wants the car to do.

In the second practice session of the day on Thursday, Sweet moved up on the charts to 37^th fastest, and then showed drastic improvements when it counted, posting the 23^rd fastest time in qualifying.

For the first time ever at the New York State Fairgrounds, Qualifying heats were run under the lights.  With his strong time trial effort the day before, Sweet would start his qualifier from 12^th place.  He needed to finish inside the top 15 in order to lock himself into the Nationwide 150.  At the end of the race, Sweet finished 9^th and we would earn the 20^th place starting spot in Saturday’s main event.

On Saturday morning, the BSR Enterprises team was very excited about the progress they had made during the week, and were looking forward to the Nationwide 150.  Early on Saturday, the team got on the track for the final practice session before the big race, and soon after problems began to develop on the BSR Enterprises Troyer.  It was quickly discovered that a broken rocker was the culprit, and the team scrambled to find a replacement as the pre-race ceremonies were underway.  With the help of several other teams, a replacement rocker was found, but only enough to start the Nationwide 150.

"I’m pretty disappointed that I couldn’t run the entire 150 laps.  Our team put a lot of hard work into this weekend and we were looking forward to this race”, says a discouraged Sweet after the race.  “I know we had a top ten car this weekend, but I have learned over the years that this is just part of racing”.

The BSR Enterprises team would like to thank all of the race teams that offered assistance to get the car fixed in time for the Nationwide 150, as well as their sponsors FX Caprara Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep in Watertown and Alex Bay, Finishing Touch Auto Detail Center in Watertown and Fort Drum, The Auto Clinic of NNY, Fast Eddy’s and Bradley Military Sales for their support of their Super DIRT Week efforts