Vidovich Rallies to 33rd after Being Punted at PIR

Auggie Vidovich

Avondale, Ariz. (November 11th, 2006) – Auggie Vidovich and the Biagi DenBeste Racing team entered Saturday’s Arizona Travel 200 at Phoenix International Raceway (PIR), hoping for a good run on a track that the driver had a lot of experience on. Unfortunately, the No. 4 GEICO/DenBeste Dodge was hit from the rear and sent slamming into the turn two wall on lap 94. The crew worked quickly to repair the damage and return their car to the track where they would pick up seven spots to finish 33rd.

After a mid-pack qualifying draw, the GEICO Dodge picked up nearly three-tenths of a second from their final practice speeds to qualify 33rd in the tight field with a lap of 27.775 seconds at a speed of 129.613 miles per hour.

As the Arizona Travel 200 got underway, Vidovich wasted little time traveling toward the front. By the events first caution on lap 20, Vidovich worked the GEICO Dodge into 25th on the scoring sheet. “You’re catching that group in front of you,” said Crew Chief Joe Dan Bailey on lap 47 as he called out lap times from high atop the team’s pit box.

“We’re tight in the center of one and two,” replied Vidovich. “And we’re a little free in turn three.” When the caution flew on lap 58 for an accident in turn two, Bailey called his driver to pit road for four tires, fuel, and air pressure and chassis adjustments returning the West Coast native to the track 29th.

When the race returned to green, Vidovich claimed the 25th spot but he wouldn’t remain there long as the No. 43 punted him in the rear and sent him slamming hard into the turn two wall. As a result, the 43 car was penalized for rough driving while the No. 4 car limped to the garage where the crew went to work to repair the sheet metal damage and return their driver to the track just 14 laps down in 40th spot.

Although he was nursing a damaged race car, Vidovich’s lap times held steady. With a car that was good on long green flag runs, Vidovich picked up five spots before pitting under green for his final stop of the day on lap 158. After hitting pit road for four tires and fuel, Vidovich returned to the track 35th. In the closing laps, a multi-car accident took place on the front stretch and the race went in to overtime. With a green, white, checkered finish and the race in the books, Vidovich and the Biagi DenBeste team had rallied to a 33rd place finish.

Vidovich and the Biagi DenBeste Racing team will close out the 2006 NASCAR Busch Series season on Saturday, November 18th at Homestead Miami Speedway for the running of the Ford 300. The race will be broadcast live on TNT at 7 p.m. with radio coverage provided by MRN and XM Satellite radio.