Tim Bainey Jr. and the Aaron’s Dream Team Qualify 7^th, Get Taken Out by Lapped Car While Leading K-Mart 250

 

Tim Bainey Jr. and #00 Aaron’s Dream Team have been very strong all season long, and Saturday night they just might have been the team to beat during the K-Mart 250 in Radford, VA.

 

“Our Aaron’s Dream Machine was just awesome,” said a smiling Tim Jr. after a tough 250 laps at the Motor Mile Speedway.

 

“We’ve been really good everywhere this season, but tonight was probably the best car I’ve ever driven. It’s taken a lot of work to get here, but we have these cars working so good right now – it’s great.”

 

The Aaron’s Dream Team picked up right where they left off the last two events of the USAR ProCup Series Tour. They sat 2^nd on the Practice Charts right up until the last minute, and were a solid contender for the pole.

 

“Timmy was really happy with the car all through practice,” said Seth Miller – crew chief of Brett Butler’s #99 who spent time between the two teams during the practice session.

 

“He didn’t run many laps,” Crew Chief of the #00 Aaron’s Dream Machine Dan Bainey added. “He told us the car was so good he didn’t want to take any chances – and with the times he was running, we couldn’t argue with that.”

 

Tim Jr. backed it up in qualifying with a very strong 8^th place time, although that wasn’t everything he thought the Dream Machine had in it. “It was really good,” said Tim Jr. “I was probably a little too careful on the second lap, but that’s another story.”

 

From the drop of the green it was clear the #00 Aaron’s Dream Machine was strong. Tim Jr. made his way up to 3^rd within the first 10 laps, and on lap 38 he moved into the lead as the cars in front of him elected to go with an early-pit strategy.

 

“We talked about it prior to the race,” said Crew Chief Dan Bainey. “We did the early pit deal at Salem and Mansfield and wanted to try something different here.”

 

The Dream Machine looked to be on a rail as Tim Jr. and the rest of the top-5 pulled away from the field.

 

A restart on lap 62 however would cause major problems for Tim Jr. and the #00 Aaron’s Dream Machine.

 

As Bainey led the field through the first corner, the lapped car of Lonnie Rush (#71 who was 3 laps down at the time) got into the side of Tim Jr. off turn two… as Tim Jr. regained control of the #00 and pulled to the outside of the lapped car, the #71 moved up again this time making harder contact with the Dream Machine.

As Tim Jr. tried to gather the #00 back under control the 2^nd place running car got hard into the back of him sending the Dream Machine spinning into turn 3.

 

Tim Jr. did a great piece of driving to keep the #00 from backing hard into the outside wall - but as he came to a stop just inches from the wall, the smokescreen from the spin would find another top-5 running car making contact with the front of the #00. The damage was minor to both machines, but would take a few stops over the next 125 laps for the Dream Team to get everything back in shape.

 

“That was really a bad deal for us,” said Tim Jr. “We were on a rail,  the restart put the #71 on the inside of us – but with him being 3 laps down I never would have expected him to try and race us like that. Hitting us the first time was bad, but then trying to crowd his way up into us like that was just terrible.”

 

Tim Jr. and the Aaron’s Dream battled back throughout the rest of the night to come home with a still very solid 14^th place finish - not what they were hoping for, but a great team effort considering the circumstances.

 

“It was a tough night, but it was also another really great momentum builder for the team,” said Tim Jr. “It was nice because someone from just about every team came up to me personally after the race and said something positive about where we are at right now with our Aaron’s Dream Team – and that really makes you feel good.”

 

Tim Jr. and the Aaron’s Dream Team retained their 9^th place position in the Championship Point Standings.

 

You can watch the K-Mart 250 next Friday July 18^th at 11:00pm on the Versus Network.

 

Keep up with all the latest news and results for Tim Jr. and the #00 Aaron’s Dream Team at www.timjr.com.

 

About Aaron’s

 

Aaron Rents, Inc. (NYSE: RNT) based in Atlanta, GA currently has more than 1,530 Company-operated and franchised stores in 48 states and Canada for the lease ownership, rental and sale of residential and office furniture, consumer electronics, computers and household appliances. The Company also manufactures furniture, bedding and accessories at 13 facilities in five states.

 

Aaron's stores offer customers access to high quality furniture, appliances, electronics and computers for sale or on a lease-ownership arrangement. Customers have the option of buying their merchandise for an attractive cash price, or opting to lease their merchandise for even greater payment flexibility. With a lease option, customers make modest monthly payments and have the immediate use of the items they need without waiting for credit checks or other delays. Plus, Aaron's will take care of delivery, set-up, repairs and more for the duration of a customer's lease.

 

Visit www.shopaarons.com for more info.