(Press release from Our Motorsports)
Seuss and McLaughlin Look Forward After a Successful Test
New England sports fans have had a lot to cheer for in the past four months. The Boston Red Sox won the World Series, Connecticut’s Joey Logano won the NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series championship and this weekend the New England Patriots will battle for yet another Super Bowl title.
The cheering won’t end with that game though. When the ARCA Racing Series starts their 2019 season next weekend at Daytona International Speedway, an all-New England team will be among the entries.
New Hampshire’s Andy Seuss and Massachusetts native C.J. McLaughlin will make up the roster of drivers for team owner Chris Our of Massachusetts. Seuss will be driving the #02 Robert B. Our Company/Canto Paving Chevrolet while McLaughlin has gotten the nod to drive the #09 SciAps Chevrolet in his debut for the team. Nine Line Apparel has also joined on to support the team.
Seuss, who has finished as high as second for the Our team in an ARCA race at Talladega Superspeedway, has been overseeing the preparations of both cars for months at his North Carolina shop. In January, both drivers visited Daytona for an open test session and the results were very positive. Seuss worked to tinker and try new things with the #02 car while McLaughlin worked to acclimate himself to superspeedway racing. The strategy paid off. By the end of the two-day test, McLaughlin found himself on top of the speed chart. He posted the quickest time of the final practice session while Seuss was also ranked within the top five of the final session.
“The #09 (McLaughlin) unloaded really quick for the Daytona test while the #02 focused on research and development,” said Seuss. “We all learned a lot and got both cars where we wanted them to be by the end of the weekend.”
The team did not stop there though.
“It felt great to test at Daytona and we were quick, but I think that we will be even better when we go back for the race,” said McLaughlin. “They have made even more adjustments back at the garage.”
McLaughlin has raced in ARCA competition before, but this will be his first effort at Daytona. He has studied the films and done his homework though and knows what to focus on heading into the race.
“We need to try to keep the car in one piece throughout the race and be there at the end,” said McLaughlin. “Survival is the name of the game. It sounds cliché, but you need to survive first if you want to be in the position to win the race.”
And winning the race, with either entry, is something that is very possible.
“We have been doing this for a few years and we keep improving,” said Seuss. “We learn something every time we test or race. I like our chances more and more each time we go out. We started out as rookies and became contenders. We finished second and came close to winning at Talladega. We might still be underdogs, but it was nice after the test to be mentioned in the same conversation as the best teams out there now – the Venturini team and the DGR-Crosley team. We will keep building and adding a second car to our team will give us more depth as we continue to get better and better.”
The addition of SciAps to the #09 team is a big step for the team as well. Not only is the New England-based company a sponsor on the car, they also will serve as motivation for a good finish as an entire whole group from the company will be in attendance for the race to cheer on the race team in person.
“SciAps is behind us more than 100%,” said McLaughlin. “Everyone there is as excited as I am about this race. I really appreciate having that kind of team behind me and I can’t even put into words how I feel about racing for them at Daytona.”
The Lucas Oil 200 at Daytona International Speedway is scheduled to take place on Saturday, February 9th at 4:30pm ET. The event will be televised live on Fox Sports 1.
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