Kelly Bires knew there would be some lessons in his first season in the NASCAR Busch Series season. Last Saturday’s Carfax 250 at the Michigan International Speedway was one of them.

The Wood Brothers/JTG Racing team struggled with the No. 47 Clorox Ford at the two-mile raceway. The team used some new suspension ideas. Most worked. Some didn’t.

Bires said his car was fast early in each run, but it lost front end grip late in the run. Although Bires finished 32nd, he said the race was an important step. A year ago he was racing on short tracks of the American Speed Association; now he’s racing on the best tracks NASCAR has to offer.

The race team remains undaunted by their Michigan finish. In fact, they immediately started preparing for Friday night’s Food City 250 at the Bristol Motor Speedway.

WHAT THE TEAM HAS TO SAY

Kelly Bires, driver of the No. 47 Clorox Ford Fusion:
“We fought a push all weekend,” he said. “The car started off good, then it started to push really bad. We went one direction with the setup and we missed it. That happens. I’m proud of everyone on this Clorox team for thinking out of the box to make it better. If we were bad all the time and not doing anything about it that would be reason to be upset.

“When we put this deal together in the middle of the season, we knew there would be some tough races. Everything we’re doing is building for the future. When we start next year, we’re going to be able to hit it running. We can’t lose that focus. I’ve only made nine Busch Series starts, so everything is a learning experience. We learned a lot at Michigan, so as a team it was a success. I also learned a lot about the car and what it needs. That’s another success. The finish isn’t what we wanted, but came away a better race team than when we got here.”

RACE NEWS

-Bires earned $18,735 in his ninth NASCAR Busch Series start. He’s also earned $76,250 in seven starts in the truck series this year.
-Bires’ next scheduled race with Wood Brothers/JTG Racing will be at the Food City 250 at the Bristol Motor Speedway on Friday night.
-Denny Hamlin won the Carfax 250 at the Michigan International Speedway. Matt Kenseth was second, while Kevin Harvick was third, Jeff Burton was fourth and Greg Biffle was fifth.