Darnell Takes Pole; Finishes Fourth at The Mile

June 21, 2009
12:13 PM

Milwaukee, Wis. (June 20, 2009) – Tonight’s NorthernTool.com 250 at The Milwaukee Mile is one Erik Darnell will not forget. After grabbing the pole in the No. 6 Northern Tool + Equipment Ford Fusion, the 26-year old would lose the top spot after 21 laps. Tightness with the car throughout the race forced the team to make multiple adjustments on it before finally finding the right setup and sending Darnell and the NT+E team home with a fourth-place finish.

Polesitter Darnell and his No. 6 NT+E Ford Fusion led the 43-car field to the green flag Saturday night to begin the NorthernTool.com 250. Darnell quickly sped away from the field and by lap seven had a five car lead on the No. 20 of Brad Coleman. His commanding lead though eventually evaporated just 14 laps later as Coleman passed by the No.6. Darnell was able to secure second-place for only six laps before he was passed again, this time by the No. 29 of Stephen Leicht. This became an unpopular trend for the next 43 laps as Darnell’s Ford machine continued dropping spots; eventually falling all the way to 16th-place.

On lap 70 Darnell came across the radio saying the car was way too tight including a vibration on the right front side of the car. Crew Chief Mike Kelley immediately radioed to his driver to come to pit road for his green flag stop. The car received four tires, fuel and a track bar adjustment. Darnell was now in the 29th spot following the stop and also down two laps. However, he got back on the lead lap following the conclusion of green flag stops taking over seventh-place by lap 83.

Darnell’s car seemed to not want to cooperate with the previous adjustments as it continued to get tighter as the race went on. The crew got a second opportunity to work on the car on lap 123 when the yellow flag dropped making another track bar adjustment, taking four tires, fuel and adding a spring rubber to the right rear. Darnell exited pit road in ninth-place with still 133 laps to go.

The next 60 laps saw Darnell go back and forth between ninth and 10th-place while continuing to battle a very tight race car. A caution on lap 194 gave way to Kelley and the crew to hopefully find the right setup for the NT+E Ford Fusion. Again the call was made for another track bar adjustment, four tires and fuel. Flawless work by the pit crew got Darnell out in sixth-place with just 52 laps to go. This time the adjustments came out in Darnell’s favor as he shot up through the field overtaking fourth-place at lap 211 and just six laps later taking control of the third spot previously held by the No. 88 of Brad Keselowski. Darnell’s next opposition was the No. 18 of Kyle Busch. With 30 laps left, Darnell drove past Busch to secure second-place. The No. 6 NT+E Ford Fusion held onto to second for over 20 laps before getting passed by Busch then Keselowski in the closing laps to come away with a solid fourth-place finish.

“This Northern Tool + Equipment Ford Fusion was not very good when we unloaded it the other day. Practice was bad and I really didn’t know what to expect out of qualifying because we didn’t get the chance to make a mock run. Mike Kelley and the crew did an outstanding job getting the car ready for qualifying and I was able to put it on the pole. The car started out fine then it got real tight in a hurry. We fell like a rock after the first 20 laps. I was amazed how the car tightened up so much after that short amount of time. I have never had a car change that much in 20 laps, but Mike and crew kept working and working on it and eventually got it to where I could do something with it. The car was great on short runs, but bad on the long ones. Overall it was a pretty good evening for this Northern Tool + Equipment team,” said Darnell.

The fourth-place finish earned Darnell top rookie honors; making it the second time this season in just five races. Next stop for the Nationwide Series will be New Hampshire Motor Speedway for the Camping World RV Sales 200 presented by Turtle Wax on Saturday, June 27 at 3 p.m. ET.

About Northern Tool + Equipment
Northern Tool + Equipment has been a supplier of high-quality tools and equipment for more than 27 years, selling products through direct mail, the Internet and at nearly 70 retail locations in 11 states. Along with a deep selection of hand, power and air tools, Northern Tool + Equipment carries a wide variety of products, including generators, pressure washers, air compressors, hydraulics, small engines, trailers, water pumps, tractors, welding equipment and much more. Northern Tool + Equipment also serves as the exclusive distributor of NorthStarTM brand equipment, which is fabricated and assembled at the company’s 250,000 sq. ft. manufacturing facility. For more information, visit www.northerntool.com.

About Roush Fenway Racing
Roush Fenway Racing is NASCAR’s largest team operating nine motorsports teams. Five in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series with drivers Matt Kenseth, Jamie McMurray, Greg Biffle, Carl Edwards and David Ragan; three in the Nationwide Series with Kenseth, Biffle, Edwards, Ragan, Erik Darnell, Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. and Colin Braun; and one in the Camping World Truck Series with Braun. For more information on any of the Roush Fenway Racing teams, log onto www.RoushFenway.com. For sponsorship inquiries please contact Robin Johnson at 704.720.4645.

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