Jimmy Weller and the No. 55 Geneva-Liberty Steel Chevrolet Camaro team finished 40th at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway on Friday evening. Making his NASCAR Nationwide Series debut in a joint effort between Viva Motorsports and SS Green Light Racing, a mechanical failure caused Weller to struggle shifting through the gears while coming to the green flag and ultimately brought his race to an early end after just one lap.
Competing in a Nationwide Series car for the first time, Weller worked diligently with his Geneva-Liberty Steel team throughout back-to-back practice sessions on Thursday afternoon. The Hubbard, Ohio native first focused on learning how the Nationwide Series race cars reacted on the track, and then on dialing in the setup in the No. 55 Chevrolet Camaro. Picking up over half-a-second from practice to qualifying, Weller secured the 34th starting position for Friday night.
With heavy thunderstorms passing through the area between qualifying and the race, afternoon activities at the Richmond, Va. facility were delayed. The green flag waved more than two hours after the scheduled start time, and teams knew they had approximately 40 laps until a competition caution would slow the field and give teams an opportunity to work on their cars.
Weller’s team, however didn’t even have that long as his car struggled to shift through the gears coming to the green flag. The driver was forced down pit road and ultimately to the garage area, completing only one lap in his Nationwide Series debut. Once in the garage, the Geneva-Liberty Steel team found evidence of terminal mechanical damage and officially retired from the event.
“It’s always unfortunate when you have problems early in an event,” commented Weller. “We’re obviously disappointed with our finish, but at the same time, we’re proud of the effort that we made all weekend. The Geneva-Liberty Steel team did a great job working together to improve our car throughout practice, and our Chevrolet Camaro was handling the best it had all weekend during our qualifying run. There was nothing that anyone could have done differently to change what happened tonight, so we just need to learn what we can from it, keep our spirits up and move on to the next race.”
In just two weeks, Weller will be back in the No. 07 Geneva-Liberty Steel Chevrolet Silverado to compete in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series at Kansas Speedway on Friday, May 9.
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