Burnt
Carb:
A crowd of friends and family made the
trek from Daytona to Lakeland last week to cheer Holly Hill's Casey Yunick
when NASCAR's All Pro Series made a stop at USA International Speedway.
Though he posted the third-fastest practice
time, Yunick found himself on the short end of the speed charts during qualifying
and started 32nd in the field of 36 cars.
Yunick began his characteristic charge toward
the front when a wreck brought out a yellow flag. Slowing down, Yunick noticed
a fire under the hood of his car--a stuck carburetor fuel float--and brought
it into the pits.
Yunick returned to the track and narrowly avoided
two major wrecks. Despite spending six laps in the pits, he finished 17th.
Tape-delayed race coverage of the event will
be broadcast at 7:30 p.m. May 8, on the Sunshine Network.
Daytona Beach News Journal;Sports;April 27, 2001;Local notebook, BURNT CARB:;D.C.
Williams.
NO
LUCK YET:
Last year during his NASCAR All Pro Series rookie
assault, Holly Hill-based Casey Yunick got off to a roaring start.
Yunick regularly scored with finishes in the
top 10 and was off to an early substantial lead in the rookie points race
when the team was twice bitten by bad luck later in the season.
Though Yunick still took All Pro rookie honors in 2000, he was disappointed
that he finished 12th in the season's final points standings.
It was something Yunick set out to rectify this
year.
This year, instead of waiting, the bad luck
has struck Yunick during his first two races.
Last week, a crowd of 47 cars showed up to fight for one of 36 available starting
slots at Nashville (Tenn.) Speedway USA. Though his car wasn't what he wanted
it to be, Yunick nonetheless qualified 13th-fastest. Soon after the start
of the race Yunick was running in the top 10 when a mid-race caution sent
most drivers to the pits.
Screeching to a stop in the pits, it was only
after tires were changed and the car was fueled that the crew noticed Yunick
was parked just inches outside of his pit box. NASCAR officials held him for
a 15-second penalty and Yunick went a lap down -- a penalty from which he
would not fully recover, nevertheless finishing a respectable 15th.
Daytona Beach News Journal;Sports;April 20, 2001;Local
notebook, NO LUCK YET:;D.C. Williams.
BUMPER
CARS:
Casey Yunick and his Lou Anna Oil Racing team
visited Montgomery (Ala.) Motor Speedway last weekend only to have Yunick get
hit from just about every direction before race's end.
Qualifying 12th, Yunick quickly moved into the
top 10, where he ran until a pit road accident sidelined him.
As the team worked to service the car and change
four tires, the car in the pit directly in front of Yunick suddenly backed up
and bashed the front of Yunick's racer.
Though he twice pitted to straighten out the damage,
Yunick nonetheless stayed on the lead lap and worked his way into sixth place.
A lapped car ran into the left rear of Yunick's
car, causing the two cars' wheels to interlock. Yunick went down a lap while
the cars were separate.
Ten laps later, Yunick slowed to avoid another
accident and again was hit from the rear by the same backmarker who had hit
him earlier.
Yunick finished in 16th place, happy to get off
the track and looking forward to the June 15th race at Kentucky Speedway.
Daytona Beach News Journal;Sports; Friday, June 8, 2001:
Local notebook, - D.C. Williams
TEMPORARILY
OUT:
All Pro Series 2000 rookie
of the year Casey Yunick won't be going to Myrtle Beach, S.C., to race this
weekend.
"Basically, we're out of money, "
said Yunick. "We'll have to stay home this weekend and get ready for
Kentucky (on Aug. 11)."
Yunick, who stands 21st in driver points, faced
a lot of adversity this year.
The team has had one mechanical failure, a rear
end that broke at Kentucky Speedway in June, that put them out of the race.
The bulk of Yunick's poor finishes are a result
of wrecks that exploded around him.
At South Boston (Va.) Speedway on July 3, Yunick
was running in 11th place when two front-runners tangled and set off a 12-car
pile up, collecting Yunick and ending his race and that of four others.
"We've had a terrible year," said
a surprisingly upbeat Yunick, who insisted that as much as he doesn't like
it the lack of racing funds is a road that many others have traveled.
"There isn't a racer that's raced that
hasn't been in the same situation at some point in their career," Yunick
said.
"It's just luck itself that's put us out. We've
been stronger this year. It's just unfortunate that we haven't been able to
capitalize on it."
Daytona Beach News Journal;Sports; Friday, July 13,
2001: Local notebook, - DC Williams
