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SUMMIT RACEWAY, April 29, 2006 (Day 2) |
| Finally got to bed around 1am on Friday
night (20 hour day) and woke up early to get the dogs out and walked.
By 8am we were at Skip's Radiator shop to get the car washed as we had a
10:00 photo shoot at new sponsor Oak Tree Inn. Wrapped up the
spit shining and high tailed it back to the hotel. Had a great
time meeting the staff and having our photos taken in front of the car,
trailer, and hotel. Even better we were able to give them
Friday's trophy for show in the front lobby! Good timing for the
win. Following the shoot headed over to Matties Bar
& Grill to meet up with them. Mom, Dad, Larry, and Skip ate
lunch there as after that it was time for a 1:00 pizza party celebrating
Ryan Greenwood's 4th birthday. Ryan is Blake's nephew.
The kid made out with some serious monster truck, motorcycle, race car
stuff. At 3:00 we headed to the track to get the car
prepped for the Saturday portion of the race. Checked it over
for loose/broken suspension components, greased it, went over the motor,
etc.
The track was still rutted but a little bit of dragging that was done
on the very soft surface did quite a bit of good. It was dry for
hot laps but they watered heavily before the heats. I was at the
rear of the 1st heat this time and found the track fast in spots and a
little greasy in others. At the green I jumped high and got by a
few cars and into the 3rd spot. Had a run on the top 2 just as
the leader pushed and came back down the track exiting turn 2.
The two leaders banged and I jumped to the outside. 2nd place
came to a stop in the infield and the yellow waved. At the green
I tried high only to lose ground. A few laps later I had
recovered and made the pass for the lead. 2nd began to
pressure back on the inside but I was able to hold on for the win.
They held a $20 buy-in 'Dash for Cash' but I chickened out. :)
The point average invert found me inside row 5 for the feature race.
With the track looking very fast for the Pro-Stocks in front of us, I was
concerned that passing might be tough to do. On a fast track,
everyone is fast. Since I was starting on the bottom the plan
was to work the bottom until I wasn't moving up any longer.
Used the bottom to move up to 7th and then fell back a spot so I quickly
jumped up a groove. Was up to 6th when the first yellow fell a
few laps in. At the green I jumped high again and moved by a car
or two. By the next yellow I surprised myself by already
being into the 3rd spot. Had to work an outside in move on
the restart to take over the 2nd spot and settled in to find a way into the
lead. The leader was working a good line and actually got a few
car lengths away from me for a few laps before I found the groove my car
wanted to run in. A few restarts later I was able to duck inside
the leader coming off turn 2 and into the lead just about the time the
crossed flags were displayed to the field. Heavy traffic soon
came into play and I was having a tough time finding the quick way by some.
2nd place was able to stick his nose inside a few times so I knew he was
there. As the race wore on, the track began to black over in
places and I had to adjust my line lower and lower until I was riding the
low ring for the last 5 or 10 laps. Just like Friday, a couple
of late race yellows made things exciting as it bunched us up but I was able
to keep it straight and going forward long enough to win the feature.
WOO HOO!
Thanks again to Mom, Dad, Blake, Skip, Larry, & Tracy for their help
and support and to Andy Greenwood for all his work getting our two new
sponsors on board, Oak Tree Inn and Matties Bar & Grill! |
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SUMMIT RACEWAY, April 28, 2006 |
| A full day of work, rush out of the
classroom and heading up north to Summit Raceway for their season opener.
My mom and dad took the car up early Friday morning to have it there and
ready for my late arrival. It's a 6 hour trip and it took all of those
6 hours to get there. Arrived just as the heats were starting.
It was opening night so there was a draw, but I had them request a rear
start so I tagged heat 3. The track was pretty rough but
they have had a lot of rain and rain always wreaks havoc with racing
surfaces. I struggled early and then came on strong at the end
to finish a close 3rd. The top 3 of us were right together.
The opening night, draw, redraw had the top 12 finishers from the heats
redraw. I drew 47 and glanced at the other numbers drawn and saw
it was the 2nd worst. OUCH!! However.......they invert the
draw!! WOO HOO! Outside row 1. Made a few
changes to the car and lined up for the 25 lap main. At the
green I jumped out to the lead only to have a car spin coming off 4 on lap
1. Restart. On the first attempt of a restart I was
called for jumping the start. Warning. 2nd start I
had to "behave" and lost the jump to settle into 2nd. A couple
of laps in however I was able to duck under the leader as he pushed coming
off turn 2. Into the lead I went and bouncing through the ruts I
went. Tried and tried to find the best way through the ruts but
wasn't having much luck. By 1/2 way I was getting pressure from
behind and on the inside and my left forearm was starting to cramp from
holding on to the wheel so hard. Tried working the cramp out
under yellow but it wasn't working too well. During this time we
had a long green flag stretch and began working lapped traffic.
Inside, outside, inside, FUN! It was then that I was able to
gain some breathing room between myself and 2nd place. A few
restarts with a couple of laps remaining kept things tight but I was able to
hold off all challengers for the feature win! Awesome.
Thanks Mom, Dad, Blake, Skip, Larry and Tracy for their help and
support!! Couldn't have made it up there without the total team
effort. |
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BATTLE MOUNTAIN RACEWAY, April 22, 2006 |
| Once awake at the hotel on Saturday, we
headed over to the local park to unload the car and prepare it for the
Battle Mountain Raceway opener. We had some racing damage to do
to the right rear quarter panel, then it was on to normal, routine
maintenance of the suspension, motor, and trailer. A couple
hours later the car was clean, fueled, greased and ready for action.
Blake, Brandy, and Robert joined us about 30 minutes later and we sat around
reliving the action from Friday night. Another batch of
storms rolled in to disrupt the beautiful weather that had stuck around most
of the day. The temperatures dropped quickly and the rain came
down in spurts. Headed to the track and met up with Skip and
Larry. Chose not to hot lap and headed out to for my heat.
Opening night is done on a draw and I drew lucky number 13! OH
FUN! However the draw earned me the outside pole for the heat.
After a few failed starts, they moved another car to the inside
pole.........my old car!! Talk about strange, racing AGAINST something
that I was successful in. But, get over it right?
The car pushed going for the green as the rains had the Battle Mountain
track "bitey-er" (racer-ese for tacky) that I had ever seen it.
Settled into 2nd and wasn't really doing much. Decided to try a
different entry to the turns and it seemed to work as I gained ground on the
leader. A slip high in turn 2 gave me an opening to take the
lead. From there I survived a couple of lapped cars and won the
10 lap heat. The main event was scheduled for 40.....yes 40, 2
times 20, 4 times 10, 40 laps. I have NEVER been in a 40 lapper
in a dirt car before, so COOL! I love racing up north as their
events are always more laps than what we get down south. I
drew 8 on the redraw which lined me up in the 7th position for the feature.
Top half of the field, but still behind some good cars. At the
green I stuck to the bottom and moved right up to 4th coming off turn 2.
YELLOW. Darn it! Back to 7th and again tried to move up
using the bottom. Managed to get into 5th, then 4th and was not
going much further once getting there. Then a few laps in,
SURPRISE. Someone had hit the standing water inside turn 3 and
boy did that make for a quick push to the fence. I know I was
puckered as the car flew towards the wall. Adjusted my
line for the next time and the yellow waved. On the restart I
drove around the slick spot and dove low as the 3rd place car slid up to
move into 3rd place. From there it was a pretty even match
between the top 3 of us as we stayed about the same distance apart for a
while. As I followed the 2nd place car out of turn 4 I could see
we would be encountering a lapped car into 1. He chose low so I
went in high on the lapped car and scared the living heck out of myself in
the process. I did a quick prayer that the car would stick as I
hadn't run the outside all night. WHEW it stuck and I had used
the 'pick' to take over the 2nd position. Some great
racing then began for the top spot. I was crossing over low-high
and the leader was going high-low. It was really fun inside the
car and quite a challenge. Managed to stick my nose under the
leader a couple of times but never enough to get the spot. I
finally saw that the low line in turn 3 had dried out enough to race down
there without getting the quick push to the fence. Tried that
low line and got a great shot off 4. About 2 feet short of being
side by side we went into turn 1 and ran out of room. Fell
back to 2nd. Back to the drawing board. A
yellow waved and I was able to try the outside going into turn 1.
It wasn't fast enough so I went back to trying the high low.
Finally a slip high and a good run off 2 for me had us completely side by
side into turn 3. I was in the lead off turn 4.
Had another scary outside move to make on a lapped car and then the yellows
waved every 3 or 4 laps for a while. With every restart I was
getting heavy pressure from behind and I knew I was probably in the way of
someone. Decided to hold my line, keep it smooth and let it play
out. Finally the white waved. Going into turn 1 I
felt a slight nudge from behind. UH OH, he's on my tail!!
Went into turn 3 holding my breath, kept it low, got it turned and jumped
off turn 4 for our 2nd win in as many days. AWESOME!!!
Thank you Dad, Blake, Skip, Larry, Brandy and Robert for their help and
support. That makes 2 wins for mom on her birthday
weekend. Happy Birthday again mom!! |
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WINNEMUCCA REGIONAL RACEWAY, April 21, 2006 |
| Our 2nd straight Friday night trip to
Winnemucca Regional Raceway was being done on my mom's birthday.
Wouldn't you know it, she wasn't able to get off work to go. :(
BUMMER! The trip was again made with the threat of rain in the
forecast. Bright, sunny skies when we arrived became cloudy and
threatening as race time arrived. By the time they called to
pack the track, the rain was coming down pretty steadily. For
the first time I saw them packing the track while it was raining.
Interesting. I chose not to pack as I didn't think it was great
to have an aircleaner sticking through the hood while the rain was coming
down. After the rain stopped I did head out to do my part
packing the track. Lined up 5th for the heat race but was moved
up to 4th when one car failed to make the call. At the start I
jumped into 3rd and made an inside move on the 2nd lap to take the 2nd spot
coming out of turn 4. The leader had already built up a healthy
lead and my car was a little tight which wasn't helping matters much.
I wound up running a lower yet sweeping line to free up the car.
As we hit 2 to go the leader approached a lapped car which slowed him down.
His hesitation was enough to allow me to set up the pass on the low side
coming out of turn 2. From there I led the last lap for
the heat win. With the rain sometimes comes unpredictable track
conditions and this time was no exception. The track began
breaking apart in places with some very dry dirt underneath.
They watered to help with the dry holes and the other classes had some good
track conditions before us. I lined up 10th for the feature and
knew it was going to be a tough 30 lapper. At the green I
managed to dip low and move past a few cars. By the time the
first yellow waved I had used the outside to dip into the 5th position.
From there it was a lot of touch and go racing as yellows interrupted any
rhythm I was trying to establish. A great lap in which I
was able to pass 2 cars to move into 3rd was negated by another yellow.
Finally up to third I was able to sneak by and into 2nd coming off turn 2 as
my car was hugging the bottom very well. Looked inside the
leader down the front stretch a few times but was never close enough to keep
my nose in there. Finally got the opening I needed out of
two and drove it into turn 3 and into the lead. A yellow came
out what seemed like over a lap later, however they said that I was back to
2nd on the restart. I got a good run off turn 4 going for the
green, drove inside the leader and was out in front. Once in
front I had a nice surprise as I rounded turn 2 as a tire was knocked out
onto the track from the infield. Whack I hit it as I had nowhere
to go seeing it last second. Not used to looking down, more used
to looking ahead on the track. The next lap I was looking for it
and found it about 4 feet in the racing surface. I went around
it high and as I hit turn 3 the yellow waved. Managed to survive
the remaining laps and won the shortened (25 lap) race. Happy
Birthday MOM!! Trophy for you!! WHEW!! The
race took over an hour and I used over 20 gallons of fuel to complete it.
Almost a gallon a lap. Yikes! Thanks to Dad,
Skip, Larry and Wade for their help and for surviving the incredibly cold
temperatures and rain. |
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PAHRUMP VALLEY SPEEDWAY, April 15, 2006 |
| Hit the road around 8:30am on the way
to Pahrump Valley Speedway. A nice, safe trip found us there
about 2:30 and we unloaded the car to perform the normal maintenance.
Upon greasing the LR birdcage on the housing, Blake noticed that the frame
had broken due to the pressures of racing in the ruts in Winnemucca. A
few phone calls later and we were headed with fellow racer Ronnie Williams
over to fellow racer Leland Hibdon's shop for repairs. Leland
and Ronnie fixed up the car nicely and we headed back to the track to get
ready for the evening's action. Thanks Leland and Ronnie for
your help! We found that we used up about 26 gallons of fuel in
the 30 lap race on Friday. WOAH! Anyway, the track
surface has changed greatly at Pahrump Valley Speedway since my most recent
events there in 2005. Lined up 7th for the heat but started 5th
for some reason. Fell back early just having no idea what I was
going out there. Felt like a huge rookie out there.
The leader spun and there was a scramble to avoid it. I wound up
tagging the tangle at the end and damaged the RR corner of the car.
Managed to get my act together slightly and ran up to 2nd place.
Putting heavy pressure on I took the white flag right up on the leader.
Went low into turn 1 and got a little too excited as I did a 1/2 spin
killing the engine. Darn it! Restarted at the
rear and ran the final lap to finish. Some quick repairs
to the crash damage in the pits and I was ready for the main. I
was actually hoping the track would slow down some for this old man and
lucky for me it did. WHEW! Lined up 11th in the 21
car field and looked to finish and hold my own. At the green I
just didn't really move up that much. In fact I was still 11th a
couple of yellows in. I then decided to get a move on.
The car was working great on the bottom as other cars ran several other
grooves. I was up to about 8th place when trying a pass for 7th
some contact gave me a flat RF. The yellow came out right then
and I exited the track for repairs. Mom, Dad, and Blake changed
the tire and I was back at the tail of the 20 car line. YUCK!
In fact the leader was 1/2 way down the back stretch when I got the 1 to go
signal from the flagstand. With a furious charge in and out of
traffic I found myself all the way up to the top 10 by the next yellow.
A few yellows later and I was all the way up to 5th place. After
following the cars in front of me for a few laps I decided to dart high when
they began getting a little more intense racing one another. The
moved paid off as I got into 4th and slipped by 3rd when he got loose coming
off turn 4. Into third and the caution waves. Under
this caution the 2nd place car and myself could see fuel pouring out of the
broken fuel cell of the leader. Tried to get the attention of
officials and they didn't see us. The lights flashed and we were
going green. Knowing the lead car would run out of fuel soon, it
was a chess match to determine where to go while awaiting the leader to
slow. Coming off turn 2 the 2nd place car swerved high and I
went low. As I went low the slowing car tried to get off the
track and whacked right into the right side of me putting me into the
infield. I slipped back onto the track in turn 3 but had already
lost 2nd place again. At the next yellow I was in 3rd and made a
quick move on the bottom of turn 2 to retake the runner up spot.
Was gaining on the lead car but the white flag waved and I wasn't able to
mount a good enough charge on the final lap to win it. But a win
and a runner up on the weekend is GREAT for this team.
Especially after all the drama and aggravation from last weekend.
A great charge from the rear of the field in a limited number of laps.
Thanks Mom, Dad, Blake, and Kim for their help and support on
Saturday! |
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WINNEMUCCA REGIONAL RACEWAY, April 14, 2006 |
| Hit the road to Winnemucca, NV on
Friday morning for the season opener at Winnemucca Regional Raceway.
Old blue took the trip this time as the great white is awaiting an engine.
Threatening skies and cool temperatures met us in the pits as well as 15
other modified teams. Went out for hot laps and the track was
dry but the car was hooked up. A little too well actually as it
began to hike up the LF. Not quite to great white status but at least
1 foot off the ground quite a ways around the track. Before the
heat the rains came. It rained for about 25 minutes off and on
making for a nicely watered track. By the time my heat hit
the surface the track was in great shape. Lined up outside pole
for the heat race and raced into the lead at the green, never looking back
and rarely touching the LF to the ground. The LF was a sticker
tire to begin the evening and you could still see the sticker on the tire
after the heat race. The feature line up placed me 3rd on the
grid for the 30-lapper. Two double file starts yielded false
starts before they decided to send us out single file. With the
outside pole sitter causing one of the restarts, I lined up 2nd for the
single file start. Tried using the high side in turn 1 as it was
rutted up quite a bit. Followed the leader for a few laps
before finding the opening on a restart. At the green I jumped
lower than the leader and drove by on the front stretch. Once in
the lead there were numerous yellows. Too many in fact.
It made me a little nervous as I knew the guys behind me were getting
multiple chances to try grooves and work on a way around me.
During the middle stages of the race we had a long green flag run where we
began lapping cars and I was able to stretch out a decent lead only to have
it negated by some more yellows at the end. About 90
minutes later the race was over and we had our fourth win of the 2006
campaign.
Racing was finished at 11:30 and we hit the road for an hour drive to
the hotel. About 15 minutes out of town, BOOM a tire popped on
the trailer forcing us to pit. Following a bite to eat at the
truck stop we hit the sheets around 2:20am awaiting our 7:30am wake up call
to head back for the race at Pahrump Valley Speedway!
Thanks Dad, Blake, Kim, Skip, Larry, Wade, Tracy, and Andy for their
help and support in Winnemucca! |
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MOHAVE VALLEY RACEWAY, April 8, 2006 |
| Following our weekend off as the truck
was in the shop being fixed we worked on the set up on the white car to
ready for the event at Mohave Valley Raceway. Not feeling 100%,
I contemplated not even making the long haul and actually didn't hook up to
the trailer until 30 minutes before our scheduled departure time.
Got to the track a little early and found a nice field of about 18 cars in
attendance. Took the car out for hot laps to see if the dreaded LF
would still hike up 3 feet in the air. To my udder shock, the
car didn't lift at all. An inch maybe at the most. It
drove really smooth and was actually pretty boring to drive. haha.
But I was pleased, although I was sure I had tamed it a little too much.
Lined up outside row 2 for the heat race and battled to 2nd using the top
side and had a great battle with the 18 car until finally finding an opening
and going on to my first heat win in the new ride. Decided to
make some changes for the feature to get the car to bite a little harder as
it was really soft in the heat race. Lined up outside row 5 for
the feature and battled up to around 6th early. The bottom was
the place to be but everyone was there. So I moved up to the
slicker top side and began fighting hard for spots. Several
times I passed more than one car only to have the yellow negate the pass.
But to my surprise, when it went back green, I was the only one in the top 6
that was trying the top side. Finally got by the 3 in front of
me to move into the 3rd spot. It was then that I began to think
about all the talk and rumors that were flying around the pits.
"Someone's going to claim tonight"....etc, etc. I contemplated pulling
off, falling back, but that's really not my style. Had a good
battle for second that lasted a couple of laps and had one pass negated by
another yellow. Finally got into 2nd and got the yellow I needed
to close the gap. But it just wasn't meant to be on this night
as my car wasn't quite good enough to make a run at the leader.
As the cars stopped in the claim area, there was that dreaded extra car and
wouldn't you know the 2nd place finisher was the one nabbed. But
then I've been the only one nabbed at Mohave Valley the last few years.
So it was no surprise to me. However this time I was able to
say, "I Pull, YOU Pull" and make them remove the hot motor from their car.
By about 12:30am we were next to last to leave the track and were on the
road. It was then that the long day finally caught up with me.
I hadn't eaten all day and it all caught up to me. Massive
migrane headache that rendered me useless on the way home. Tried
to eat and get some sleep and it didn't work. Within 20 miles of
eating we were pulling over as my body was rejecting the food.
About every 30 miles from there on out we were stopping more for my body to
reject just about everything it could. At times I thought it was
beginning to reject organs. Arrived home at about 3:15am and
headed to bed setting the alarm for 6:30am. At 6:30 I awoke
still with a slight headache and no sleep to speak of and headed off for a
day of work at Petty. 10 hours of work later, I was back at home
and it's now time to get to washing the car. It will be a little
easier to wash with the engine out......OUCH! :)
This just in, some fun! Multiple choice. Which
engine is the one I received in exchange for mine on Saturday night at
Mohave Valley Raceway. Think carefully!
ENGINE A OR
ENGINE B ? |
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MOHAVE VALLEY RACEWAY, March 25, 2006 |
| The blue car was loaded and ready to go
on Thursday night and I had to work at Petty from 4:00 to 11:00pm on Friday
night, so we seemed pretty much set for Saturday. After
breakfast on Saturday though I got to work on the little things that needed
to be done on the white car, rescaled it and decided to do a last minute car
swap. The last minute things were changes to the suspension which were meant
to calm it down from the tire carrying episode at Pahrump's test-n-tune.
A solid 26 car field greeted us in the pits and as I went out to pack the
track / hot lap I must say I was quite nervous. Tried to get
myself alone out there with some room in front and behind as I wasn't sure
what the car would do or where it would go. The answer, straight
up! First time down the front straight the left front was about
3 feet off the ground and holy cow was it hard to see. Rode it
out during hot laps and came in to make changes for the heat.
Seeing that the track had slicked over I felt that coupled with the changes
would calm it down. WRONG! Managed to hold on to a
3rd place finish, but who knows if the other racers were just afraid to get
near me all hiked up. Not my usual style. CHANGES
AGAIN and out for a 2 lap test after intermission. (Thanks to
the staff for the couple of laps). Still no better.
By now I'm sick to my stomach and wondering if I should even go out for the
feature. I felt like a rookie again. Lined up 9th
for the feature and they watered the track before the race.
After packing for a while we got the green. The car wasn't
lifting, but I was caught in the greasy lower groove. When I
finally moved up.......up came the left front. I was out in left
field as I worried about not being able to control the car and I definitely
didn't want to run over anyone. At one time I had managed to
work my way from 12th up to about 7th and slipped the right rear off the
back stretch. The earlier watering made it like ice and I flew
off the track in turn 3 and plowed into the ditch. Restarted in
20th and was up to about 9 before fading back again at the end to 11th.
Holy cow am I lost. I know that I'm too old to drive a car like
that. Need 4 on the floor for me to do it.
Tested the car again today (Sunday). Changed nothing
before going out and it never once lifted the left front. Not
even an inch. Granted it was at a different track and it was
dry, but come on. Mohave was dry as well. I am
contemplating a week off as this racing stuff has me stumped.
We'll see how the week goes.
Thanks Mom, Blake, Skip, and Kelly for their help and support this
weekend. |
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MOHAVE VALLEY RACEWAY, March 18, 2006 |
| Yet another weekend of avoiding the impending weather to
get another race in. Drove through a little rain and rain was
all around while we finished up the evening's events. 16 cars in
the pits this weekend as Pahrump was back to racing. Lined
up 5th in the heat race and jumped to 4th on the first lap. On
the 2nd lap I was able to jump to the outside to take third and took 2nd a
lap later with a low move in turn 3. From there I could only
chase the leader as he was about 1/2 a straight ahead the rest of the way.
The invert found me 11th for the feature event. At the
green I was content waiting out "the big one" but it never really
materialized. Began picking off cars and was very pleased with
how the car was going. Moving forward and going where ever I
would put it. Picked off a few cars high, one or two low and was
heading to the front. During a long green flag run I had lost
track of where I was but was following a mere inches off the car in front of
me. The car in front of me slipped inside another car. The
car on the outside wiggled and then went to dive in behind the passing car.
Just as he did, he lost it. Instead of driving into the 1/2 spun
car, I decided to try avoiding the contact. BIG MISTAKE.
I wound up spinning myself and sat driver's side first in the line of
traffic. WHAM, WHAM! Major, major hit in the
driver's side. Hardest hit I have ever taken by far.
Full speed hit in the door. Completely wasted the LF suspension,
even collapsed the spring pocket as well as ripping the upper control arm
mounts from the frame. OUCH! Needless to say I was
done for the night. The bad news.....the car I was right behind,
was the leader. Darn it!! But I do take some
good away from the night as for the first time in a long time I was one of
the faster cars on the track. The car was running great and
handling well. It's great to start feeling competitive again.
Just need to make better decisions as sometimes it's just best to drive
through a wreck instead of becoming it. Even if you have to push
your way through. Lesson learned! The expensive way.
Hopefully the frame isn't bent, hard to tell when it's dark and your
judgment is a little clouded.
Thanks Mom, Blake, Dad, and Skip for their help and support on
Saturday. |
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MOHAVE VALLEY RACEWAY, March 11, 2006 |
| With a forecast predicting 70% chance of snow, hail, and
thunderstorms with the possibility of 1/4 an inch of rain, it seemed silly
to get in the truck and head to Mohave Valley. However, my mom,
Blake, and myself all loaded up and headed off at 1:00pm. About
45 miles outside of town we encountered the first rain. As we climbed
in elevation, it turned to flurries, then hail, back to snow.
Outside of Searchlight, NV (about 1/2 way) we hit another batch of rain.
Got the track under threatening skies and a huge storm off to the north.
A large field of modifieds (23) came in search of the checkered flag this
weekend. Pahrump Valley Speedway was off this weekend so their
regular contingent of drivers made the trek down. Lined up 5th
of 7 for my heat race and raced too cautiously to move up any.
Went absolutely nowhere and by the time I made a move I was far too back to
do any damage. Missed the inversion (needed to run 4th) so that
put me back in 14th for the feature. The cooler temperatures had
the track in very nice shape for the feature and although turns 3 and 4 were
coming up a little, the racing would be fast. At the green it
was obvious that no one was waiting to "settle in" and I found myself under
siege early. Three and four wide racing made for some hair
raising moments. I saw that most cars were fighting for the top so I
dropped to the bottom and began making some passes on the low side.
It was a quick and furious 5-7 laps of wide open racing. Used
the outside going into turn 1 to make a pass only to have two lapped cars
push up into my groove. I was barely able to double back and
squeeze between the car I had just passed and the two cars sliding up the
track. When the caution waved for the first time somewhere
around lap 5,6 or 7 I had no idea where I was. However when I
caught on to who the leader was I realized I was in 3rd. Talk
about surprised. At the restart I played it safe and
started to look for an opening. Another yellow.
At this green I found the opening I needed down low and raced side by side
for a lap before taking over the 2nd spot. Another yellow.
Finally back to racing I was again feeling out a spot to squeeze by.
Was finally able to time a good inside run off turn 4 to take over the top
spot. As the race went on, the car began to get incredibly loose
coming off the turns. I was hoping it would go green for the
rest of the event as I was having to slow drastically entering turn 3.
Had built up a couple of decent leads when coming to take the white, yellow.
Oh shoot! I knew I was a sitting duck as the car just wasn't
reacting the way it had in the first 12 laps or so. Knowing the
crowd was behind I was readying for a fight. A fight it was.
As heavy heavy pressure from behind and beside ensued and taking the white I
could hear the cars as if they were INSIDE my car. Out of
two I could feel the nudge from the inside as someone was there and coming
hard. Not giving an inch we touched ever so slightly and headed
off into turn 3. Coming off turn 4 the car again was loose and
the sound of the other cars was close as ever. Those final 30
feet were far too long but we managed to hold on to our 3rd win of the 2006
race season! WHEW!! Another 5 laps and I might have
been lucky to finish in the top 3.
Thanks mom, Blake, Kelly, Jerry, and Skip & Tracey for their help and support
this weekend!! I appreciate it. |
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MOHAVE VALLEY RACEWAY, March 4, 2006 |
| Excellent weather and a group of Vintage Sprint cars
greeted us at Mohave Valley Raceway this weekend. The vintage
cars are so neat to see and really put on a fun show. A couple
of the drivers in that class are over 80 years old!! Holy cow,
that means I might have another 48 years left in me. NOT!
Anyway......about 16 cars were in the pits this weekend, down from 25 the
previous week. Lined up outside row 3 for the heat race
and raced into 3rd fairly quickly. Grabbed the lead on lap #3
and never looked back in the caution free race. The track was in
great shape for the heat race and was quite fast. Lined up
inside row #4 for the main event and missed the giant hole early and failed
to move up. In fact at the 2nd or 3rd yellow I was clear back to
8th spot and stinking up the place. At the next green I was able
to slip into 4th and began setting my sites on the lead trio.
Their side by side close racing allowed me to close in on them, however we
were all evenly matched and there was little or no movement within the top
4. The racing was so fast that I found myself trying to drive
the style of the others in front of me. A few flashes of my life
before my eyes made me remember that I can't drive like that and I needed to
get back to doing things my way. Settled myself down on
the next yellow and simply felt that if I couldn't get to the front driving
in better control, then I would just settle for 4th. At the
green I finally was able to get my car to turn well enough (brake bias) in
the middle of the turns and was able to get a great drive off the bottom of
2 to take the third spot. From there I ran in 3rd until 2nd
place did a half spin into the infield of turn 4 and I managed to get by
without getting caught up. Caution. I was able
to go into the turns much harder than the leader but was checking up to
avoid bumping going into the turn. I would go in about 1/2 a car
higher and get the car turned to drive under him. Was almost by
once heading into turn 3 but the door closed up, and the next shot I had was
negated by a yellow flag. At the next green I was surprised when
the door was left open heading into turn 3. I filled the hole
and we were wheel to wheel exiting the turn. At the flagstand
there was wheel to wheel contact. A door slap and a tug of the
wheel later I was in turn 3 and into the lead. Yellow.
2nd place had spun in turn 1. The pass was ruled clean on my
part and 2nd was sent to the rear. From there I was able to lead
the next 3 laps to take the win! Our 2nd at Mohave Valley in
2006.
Thanks to Mom, Dad, Blake, Rod & Ginger for their help and support
this week. I appreciate it! |
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