DANNY O’QUINN, JR. SURVIVES CHARLOTTE WRECK FEST AND ACHIEVES CAREER BEST FINISH

Danny O’Quinn, Jr. and the No. 50 Transamerica Ford Fusion

CONCORD, NC -- The No. 50 Transamerica and associate sponsored Barr-Nunn Transportation team made their second trip to the nearby Lowe’s Motor Speedway this weekend to compete in the Dollar General 300 on Friday night.

Danny O’Quinn, Jr. who qualified 37th on Friday afternoon anticipated an intense race. “The race will probably be pretty crazy,” said O’Quinn, Jr. prior to the start of Friday night’s event. “There are a lot of guys running the Busch race that do really well here and a lot guys like myself that are starting to get the hang of the track now that we have been here a couple of times. I’m just going to have to use my head and make smart decisions”

The race got underway just after 8:00 pm EDT. Several early cautions made it difficult for O’Quinn, Jr. to gain a lot ground. So, when he came in on lap 15 for fuel and a track bar adjustment he was still running near the back of the field.

He was able to get some green flag laps in before his next stop and came down pit road for the second time of the night in 23rd position. The fuel only stop put O’Quinn, Jr. back out running 12th and with a race car that was improving with each lap.

Pit strategy really played in the No. 50 team’s favor. After several lead lap cars made green flag stops the team caught a break when the caution came out on lap 96 just before they planned to pit. The crew quickly gave O’Quinn, Jr. four fresh tires, fuel and a few minor adjustments before sending him back out in 11th position.

Less than twenty laps later the No. 50 Transamerica and associate sponsored Barr-Nunn Ford got loose coming out of the corner and O’Quinn, Jr. spun out by himself. He was able to save the car from coming in contact with anything. After bringing it into the pits for new tires, fuel and a wedge and track bar adjustment he was back out on the track and in 15th position.

With only about twenty laps left in the race and with only seven cars still on the lead lap; O’Quinn, Jr. was having a strong run in fifth place.

Due to a dispute between the No. 60 and No. 42 teams about who should have been leading the race after the caution on lap 183 NASCAR stopped to field on the front stretch to settle the issue.

When they got the green flag again on lap 192 O’Quinn, Jr. was in third place with only three lead lap cars behind him. Three laps later the No. 60 and No. 42 car wrecked each other after battling hard for the lead. O’Quinn, Jr. was forced to get on the breaks in order to avoid the collision and ended up with some damage to the No. 50 machine as well.

The team brought him in to make some repairs to the right front fender and for fresh tires before they sent him back out to take the green flag.

O’Quinn, Jr. finished 5th, his best finish of the 2006 season, his first top five finish in the Busch Series, as the top finishing rookie contender.

"It was definitely a great run for us,” said O’Quinn, Jr. “These guys on this team worked real hard. Yesterday we struggled a lot and they changed everything on it before qualifying and the car was really coming around in the race there. We did some thing through pit strategy and stuff there to get us up front, and it seemed like once we up there, we could stay around the top 10. We got our first top-five of the year, and I'm really happy to get that top-five for all of my sponsors, Transamerica and everyone. I'm just really excited and hopefully we can carry this momentum over to next week."

Danny O’Quinn, Jr. will compete next at Memphis Motorsports Park on October 28th in the Sam’s Town 250.

To find out more about the racing program at Barr-Nunn Transportation or to become part of the Barr-Nunn team call: 1-888-999-7576.

Roush Racing is a subsidiary of Livonia, Mich., based Roush Enterprises which operates 14 motorsports teams; five in NASCAR Nextel Cup Series with drivers Mark Martin, Matt Kenseth, Jamie McMurray, Greg Biffle and Carl Edwards, six in the Busch Series with Martin, Kenseth, Biffle, Edwards, Todd Kluever and Danny O'Quinn, and three in the Craftsman Truck Series with Martin, David Ragan, Erik Darnell and Michel Jourdain, Jr. For sponsorship inquiries, contact Robin M. Johnson, Roush Racing, (704) 720-4645.