(Mooresville, N.C., June 8, 2015–) Austin Wayne Self (AWS), driver of the No. 98 AM Technical Solutions Ford for Mason Mitchell Motorsports (MMM) appeared to be headed to his best intermediate finish of the 2015 season Saturday at Pocono Raceway. Self was running in the top-ten, challenging for a top-five finish in the closing laps when a right front tire sent the second year driver into the turn one wall.
Self and the No. 98 team finished the 80 lap event in the 15th position.
“We had the car perfect at the end of the race,” Self stated. “We worked all day Friday to find a great balance and when the race started we went to the front.”
“This team did a great job making adjustments all race long. It’s disappointing to have something like this happen after putting ourselves in position for a solid finish.”
“We have an awesome team, great racecars and great sponsors. I am ready to get all the pieces together and get this No. 98 back in victory lane.”
Self started the Pocono ARCA 200 from the 15th position and worked his way into the ninth spot before the caution was displayed for the first time at the end of lap one.
Crew chief Matt Weber brought Self and the No. 98 down pit-road during the races second caution at lap 13 and sent the Austin, Texas native back on track in the 13th position.
Self stayed on-track during the third caution at lap 18 and moved into the top-five for the first time. Self continued to move up the leaderboard making a three-wide pass on Josh Williams and eventual winner Trevor Bayne to move into the second position at lap 27.
During the afternoon’s longest green flag run of 42 laps, Self continued to race well into the top-five and positioned himself for a solid finish.
Self made his final trip to pit-road under caution at lap 66 and restarted 6th. The 2014 Scott Rookie of The Year was challenging for a top-five when he had a problem with the right front sending him into the turn one wall with four laps remaining.
Self and the No. 98 team finished 3 laps down in the 15th position. Self remained fourth in drivers points 135 behind leader Grant Enfinger.
Next up for the ARCA Racing Series is the Corrigan Oil 200 at the Michigan International Speedway Friday, June 12th. The race will be broadcasted live on the Fox Sports 2 beginning beginning at 5:45 p.m. eastern. Arcaracing.com will also have live timing and scoring for all on-track activity.
Follow MMM on Social Media: To keep up-to-date with the latest, news, information and race updates, follow MMM racing’s twitter page @MMM_Race and “like” their facebook page at Mason Mitchell Motorsports. Also, follow, Mason and Austin on their personal twitter pages @themasonracin @AustinWSelf
Contact: Tim Clagg
