Abrams stepping up her track performance

By Ed Turner For the News & Messenger
Published: August 1, 2008

Amber Abrams has found her groove in U-Cars at Old Dominion Speedway.
The 15-year-old Stafford driver has notched three top fives and a sixth this season and, in her last two races, snagged a pole.
“It felt completely amazing to win the pole each time,” said Abrams, who’d made that a priority this year. “It felt almost as good as a win.”
  In her last two races, Abrams was also knocking on the door for a win. In the July 5 race, she got up to second, battling Greg Sites for the spot when her tire blew.
On July 12th, she led 13 laps before hot-foot Bryan Fox took the lead. Abrams still looked like she might have a second or third but was involved in a double-wreck, which totaled her race car.
Despite the bad luck of running out of gas once and other crashes that slowed her this year, Abrams has still been stepping up her performance on the track.
“It’s been a complete turnaround from last season,” Adam Brenner, her brother, said.
“With more seat-time, her confidence is really starting to build. Unfortunately, her old car is totaled. But the new car should be as fast as the first one. It’s just going to take some work.”
Abrams’ frustrations started in the opener. She had a fast car but totaled that when Mickey Payne and Albert Anderson wrecked in front of her and she had nowhere to go.
“It was frustrating because I knew my car was really good,” Abrams said. “And then to go out there and total it two laps in, I was so upset.”
  Abrams came back and worked hard on her new car and finally got it fast enough that she was collecting poles and running upfront before it also was destroyed.
“Once you get a car that can win and then that car is totaled, too, it’s even more frustrating when you have to start over again,” she said.
  In the July 12th race, Abrams was pretty confident that she might just get a win. Even after Bryan Fox passed her for the lead, she was hoping she might catch him. Her car, however, kept getting looser and she struggled to keep from wrecking. Then Sites’ car got into her and another also driver smacked hers.
That last hit shifted the roll bar, which broke her finger and injured her foot. Her injuries are pretty much healed. Now she’s trying to get her new car ready. She’ll be back either this weekend or next.
Abrams still remembers her first race last season.
She started on the pole, an intimidating prospect the first time out. She was nervous and excited but held her own.
In her first five races, she notched three top 10s in stiff competition, including two eighths. Now, after 27 races, she’s excited about being a frontrunner.
When she returns, she’s hopeful that she’ll pick up where she left off, grabbing poles and gunning for a breakthrough finish.
“With the new car, I’m going to let Adam set it up again,” she said. “I feel comfortable that Adam will get another setup together and that I’ll still be able to run upfront and be strong the rest of the season.”