March 7, 2001 (North Hollywood, Calif.) - Sean Woodside and Team Walker Motorsports are ecstatic about taking their #45 Ringers, Ron's Rear Ends, NAPA Chevrolet in the NASCAR Winston West Series to a third place finish in last Thursday's NAPA Auto Parts 300 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway's Bullring.
The podium finish has given the still-new team confidence that it can follow up this weekend with a strong finish in this Saturday's Tucson 250 at Tucson (Ariz.) Raceway Park.
"The team was unbelievable," Woodside said. "We had a couple of problems early in the day, but everyone pulled together and we put ourselves in a position to finish up front."
The team lost a motor during the first practice, but quickly replaced it with a backup motor. Although there was not much time left to practice, it was clear that the car was very strong.
>From a seventh place qualifying position, Woodside ran at the front of the pack throughout the race, and took the lead three times. He was in second place and making a run for the lead when he and another car made contact. Woodside quickly recovered for a third place finish.
Looking forward to Tucson, Woodside said, "We're taking the same car, and we don't want to change a thing. We can't wait to go racing."
Woodside won the January 1999 Winston West event at Tucson Raceway Park from an outside pole starting position. The team hopes for a repeat performance of that day this Saturday night.
The NAPA Auto Parts 300 will be televised tape delayed on Fox Sports Net, time and date to be announced.
More information is available at the team's Web site at http://www.teamwalkermo torsports.com.
Team Walker Motorsports is a multi-team racing operation owned by Donna Walker and her son, Michael. The team fields the #45 Ringers, Ron's Rear Ends, NAPA Chevrolet in the NASCAR Winston West Series, featuring driver Sean Woodside, and the #23 Ringers, Rons Rear Ends, Quixote, and Sunset Expendables, NAPA Chevrolet in Irwindale Speedway's Super Late Model program, driven by Mike Walker. North Hollywood, Calif.-based Team Walker Motorsports debuted in 1999 with a limited Late Model schedule.
