Engine Change Following Qualifying Proves To Be Right Move

SPARTA, Kentucky (July 17, 2007) - - Blake Feese in his normal quiet fashion roared to the front of the field in last Friday’s WLWT Channel 5-150 to notch his second consecutive top-10 finish in his second start of the season, leaving Feese two-for-two heading into his next planned event next month at Nashville Superspeedway.

Driving the Sadler Racing’s No. 95 Scottish Rite-FPC Dodge Charger, Feese headed into Kentucky looking to capitalize on his run at Kansas Speedway where Feese notched a third place finish. While Feese didn’t tap a top-five on Friday night, it was still a strong run from Saybrook, Illinois native.

Heading into practice, Feese was looking to turn up the wick. With a large fan base on hand, Feese racked in the 21st fastest lap in practice with a time of 31.409 seconds at 171.925, just under a second from session leader Pete Shepherd.

“I can’t believe how competitive the field is this weekend. We are feeling good about our chances. The practice session was good. We dabbled with a few changes, you really can’t rely on what your turn in practice, because it’s clearly in the middle of the day, and we’ll be running under the lights. We turned much our focused towards race runs.”

In ARCA SIM Factory pole qualifying Feese nailed the throttle capturing a lap of 31.388 seconds or 172.040 MPH. The effort positioned him 23rd in the starting lineup, but the team had another issue to worry about.

“It was a decent lap, but we’re having motor problems,” Feese explained. “We’re not pulling the RPMS that we need to be turning and the motor is acting flat, so we’re going to pull it and put a spare motor in. Hopefully we’ll be able to redeem ourselves coming from the back and give our sponsors a good showing.”

With the turnaround from qualifying to race just a few hours, the team hustled to make the swap. Luckily, the change went flawlessly and Feese was able to climb in his No. 95 Scottish Rite-FPC machine on schedule.

With the unapproved motor change, Feese had to relinquish his original qualifying position and drop to the rear of the field for the start of the WLWT Channel 5-150.

By the time Feese completed the first lap, the driver picked up eight positions on the start only to be stopped by an incident in turn four which forced Feese to take quick action around several mangled racecars.

Feese reported under the caution that the new motor seemed to be strong and he felt that he had a car capable of getting the front.

A few early race cautions kept the two-time ARCA winner at bay, but during a long stretch of green flag racing, the No. 95 machine came to life with the talented driver at the controls.

Feese was able to pick his battles, slice and dice his way through the field and position himself in the top-15 heading into the first scheduled pit stop.

The team performed brilliantly slapping on four new Hoosier tires, adding Sunoco Racing fuel before sending Feese back into battle.

On the restart, Feese rocketed into the top-10 and marched his way into the sixth position overtaking Jeremy Clements with just a few laps remaining in one of the best battles on the 1.5-mile speedway.

His top-10 finish Friday night awarded Feese with his sixth top-10 finish of his career only overshadowed by a 11th place run at South Boston Speedway in 2003.

“It was a great night for the team,” Feese said. “I’m really proud of the guys. We were debating whether or not to make an engine change and I really feel it paid off. The car was great. I think if we would have been able to start in 23rd, we might have a chance at a better finish, but no complaints. We had a strong finish and I’m really happy.”

Feese added, “I cannot say enough about our sponsors Scottish Rite and FPC. I am honored to represent them and to come away from Kentucky with another solid run only gives us higher hopes heading into our next scheduled race at Nashville next month. I’ve won there before, I’m itching to win their again.”

With his outstanding performance on Friday night, Feese earned the Hoosier Tire Hard Charger honors for advancing the most positions.

Feese & Co. will have no time to celebrate Friday’s effort as the team is planning to compete in Saturday’s NASCAR Busch Series event from Gateway International Raceway.

The ARCA series takes a two week breather from competition before returning to action at Pocono Raceway on August 4.

About The Scottish Rite:

The Scottish Rite is a Masonic organization that continues a Master Mason’s education of the first three degrees. The Scottish Rite consists of the fourth through 32nd Degree and an honorary 33rd, which is awarded for exceptional service.

About Fuel Performance Catalyst (FPC):
FPC is a fuel additive that changes the burn rate for internal combustion engines. It works by making the fuel burn more efficiently. Independent tests have confirmed that FPC reduces fuel consumption from 4 percent to 8 percent.

Besides increasing fuel economy, FPC will extend engine life and performance. Since the engine will be burning fuel more effectively, hard carbon cannot build up on critical engine components. Hard carbon causes injector coking and accelerates engine wear.

FPC also reduces pollutants. Laboratory tests have shown reduction in carbon monoxide (CO), unburned hydrocarbons (carbon particulate), Particulate Emissions, sulfur dioxide (SO2), and NOx. Additionally, FPC will reduce oil contaminants caused by soot and carbon generated in the combustion process.