Dugger Setting High Expectations for Kansas Lottery 150

Sept. 23, 2010 - PRLog -- OWASSO, OK –  Careful observers are starting to notice a trend involving Russ Dugger.  Amongst an impressive roster of ARCA Racing Series front-runners and NASCAR Nationwide Series stars, for a period of nearly 30 minutes, Russ Dugger’s name this week found its way at the top of the time charts - again.

The setting was Kansas Speedway, and the occasion was the ARCA Racing Series open test session on Tuesday, September 21st.  Teams from across the nation were on-hand preparing to tackle the quick 1.5 mile circuit for the upcoming ARCA Kansas Lottery 150, which will be held there on Thursday, September 30th at 5:00pm EDT with live coverage on SPEED TV.

Two hours into the afternoon session, Russ Dugger in the #12 Accell Construction Chevrolet leapt to the top of the “last lap” chart with a time of 33.307 seconds at 162.128 mph.  His next lap was almost identical at 33.333 seconds.  Both times were quick enough to stand atop the list of all cars in race trim at that point in the session, and with that knowledge, the team proclaimed “Mission Accomplished”.

Given Dugger’s admittedly short racing resume – he has made only one start on a 1.5 mile track, in April of this year at Texas – the DGM Racing team lead by crew chief Mario Gosselin could not be more excited about their prospects for the Kansas Lottery 150.  “We made a ton of progress today.  Russ really helped get us dialed-in fast, and we got the car to be quick for him both in the shade and when the sun came out.  We should be good when we come back next week for the race,” said Gosselin.

Dugger’s enthusiasm is notoriously infectious – especially when he’s fast – and there’s evidence that it may be catching within the team.  “I told Russ a couple of months ago that I wanted to give him a top-5 car for this race.  Of course, he told me that if I did, he was going to go win it for us,” said Gosselin.  “The guys on this team really like working with him.  They know that when he climbs in the car, he’ll make all that hard work worthwhile.”

Case in point, Dugger’s fast lap of the afternoon session was 8th fastest overall.  It eventually settled at 14th quickest late in the day, as crews began taping up noses and making mock qualifying runs.  By that time, the DGM team knew that they had made enough progress to return to Kansas with a competitive setup, and opted to preserve the #12 car by calling it a day.

After roughly 50 laps of practice, there was no doubt that this was definitely the best prepared car Dugger has piloted, at any venue.  “This car responded so well to changes, and I feel like I was able to get a really good handle on the track here right off the bat.  It’s a cool place to run, and I think we’re in a position to really surprise some people next week,” said Dugger.

Dugger will once again field the Accell Construction livery for fellow Oklahoma businessman Steve Todhunter, who will debut a custom-made Accell Racing hospitality trailer at Kansas.  Accell recently made teammates of sorts with Dugger and Gosselin, by sponsoring “Super Mario” in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series for a four race package.

While the Texas race saw Dugger working with another veteran crew chief, both he and Gosselin are excited to work with one another in that capacity again.  “We both feel like we could have done better than 14th in Texas if we had the chance, even though it was a great result for us.  Now we have that chance,” Dugger said.

“There’s also some unfinished business with Daytona,” Dugger said, referring to his early departure in February despite setting fast lap of the race.  “Mario and I have both wanted another shot at this (mile-and-a-half) thing.  We’ve got good equipment, as we always do, and we work really well with one another.  If we can stay out of trouble, look out.”

The green flag drops at Kansas Speedway for the ARCA Kansas Lottery 150 at 5:00pm Eastern on Thursday, September 30th, with live coverage on SPEED HD.



About DGM Racing

Team owner Mario Gosselin and his DGM Racing team has been fielding winning cars in the ARCA Racing Series since 1999. It has two poles, four wins and multiple top 10’s to its credit. In addition to fielding entries in ARCA, DGM Racing also competes in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series with Gosselin behind the wheel of its No. 12 Chevy Silverado.



About Accell Construction

Accell Construction is a Claremore, OK company specializing in excavation with operating capabilities across the United States, and is owned & operated by Stephen Todhunter.  Accell is a proud sponsor of Russ Dugger and Mario Gosselin in both the ARCA Racing Series Presented by Re/Max and Mendards, and the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.




On The Web

http://www.RussDugger.com
http://www.MarioGosselin.com
http://www.accellconstructioninc.com
http://www.ad-racing.net

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Russ Dugger is a professional racing driver. His goal is to provide organizations a better way to energize their marketing efforts, by blending the excitement of motorsports with first-class, unparalleled customer experiences.