June 24, 2006
Top-10 Streak Continues At Mid-Ohio
Rob Finlay qualified the No. 5 Make-A-Wish/Z-Line Designs Ford-powered Crawford Daytona Prototype in the 16th position but started the 250-mile/111-lap contest from the 13th position after three cars failed to pass technical inspection.
Finlay drove an impressive stint keeping the No. 5 machine exactly where he started allowing for his teammate to slide behind the wheel in great track position.
Michael Valiante took over the driving duties and immediately continued the charge towards the front.
"The car was great and I think it was even fast enough to win the race," said Michael Valiante. "J.C. France spun in front of me causing me to go the off track and unfortunately we lost a lot of time."
Valiante continued to improve on his track position but lost one lap following a yellow flag pit stop."We went down one lap because we were off on our pit sequence; fortunately we got it back and moved into the top-10. We should have finished better but the Shank car made contact with me twice causing me to spin during the closing stages of the race." Finlay and Valiante's eighth place finish at the EMCO Gears Classic continues a string of top-10 finishes.
Michael will next compete in the Brumos Porsche 250 at Daytona International Speedway on Thursday, June 29th.