We've raced Rolling Wheels, Fulton and "the moody
mile" at Syracuse. It all started with Rolling Wheels on Sept.
22....
Sept. 22 - Rolling Wheels race fans, a premier facility with
an awesome 5/8 mile track. Biggest one
we've raced on so far this year, long sweeping turns, huge straights and fast.
We unloaded way too loose. Just couldn't give her gas coming off the corners
without it coming out from underneath me.
Papa G and I jammed on the car, with some ideas from the 2 car
crew. The modifieds were also there
today so a lot of rubber was getting laid down, just making it slicker and
slicker as the day wore on. We tweaked,
I got my game face on and ended up having to run the consi (last chance race). We got in that consi and took off. The car was way better than when we unloaded
and we had something for them. Once we
knew we were in, it was time to focus on the feature. We went and watched some modified laps and
I'm glad we did - I watched the leader dipping his left rear in the nice brown
stuff on the bottom and finding some grip.
The top side cushion was WAY up there, so the guys trying it were doing
okay, but giving up a lot of ground...the bottom line was the one to be on
tonight.
Lined up 19th on the starting grid for the feature; we sure
had a lot of work lined up to get to the front, and I still wasn't sure how
well she was gonna stick when I stuffed it in there. Well, she stuck and was awesome. I took the first two laps nice and easy, just
keeping my place and making sure I didn't get caught up in any of the crazies
up front. Then it was go time. We were passing cars like they were sitting
still. About lap 8 or so I got by 2 of
them in one turn. The car was fast and I
really started to get in a groove. About
lap 15 we caught up to 8th place, I was playing it safe and riding the 73 car's
bumper; but we were working so much better than he was it was killing me trying
to find a way around. Finally, the car
was rolling through 3, I came right up on him and instead of braking or lifting
I just let it roll right into his rear bumper.
A nice square shot, not a "wreck him" shot, just a
"hello, you better go" shot.
He moved up a lane and I shot by on the bottom. It was a good sportsman shot, not even close
to a dirty one, and it worked. By lap 20
we had worked into 6th place. 5th was
really pushing up in the corners and the car was really working great on the
bottom. It was a good race with him, but
we were faster. I actually started
watching 4th place's line and thinking about how I was gonna pass him. Then it happened. I had caught up to the front pack, setup the
88 car to shoot by on the bottom, dove low, he went high, it was go time, I was
just starting to work the throttle back down when the 37 car lost it from 2nd
place. He came right down in front of
me. I tried to check up, was hard on the
binders, it looked like he might just keep sliding and I'd find a way
through...but instead, he braked hard and came to a stop dead in front of me. I t-boned him, and I mean a ton! I lifted his car about 2' off the ground. I
got it refired, backup away from him, tried to go and it just didn't feel
right. Safety guys came out on the track
so I started yelling through the helmet at him "Will it race?" He gave me the "wait a minute" hand
signal, leaned down in front of the car, pulled out the 37 car's tire that was
wedged in there and threw it aside. So,
I yelled again "Will it race NOW?",
he stepped back, took a look, shook his head no, then said I had a flat
right front. I was right past the
entrance so I spun around a 180 and headed for the pits. Don Barnes' crew came running over and got
the tire changed while a Sportsman guy's crew tie wrapped the bumper cover to
the car and I got back on the track without losing a lap! However, she wasn't what she was before the
wreck. I rode her out, took what she had
and brought her home on the lead lap, 18th.
It was pretty tough, we had the run of our lives, against the best out
there and got caught up in somebody else's mess. We were able to hold our heads up high
because we had finally got the car where it needed to be and the driver driving
like I needed to. Despite the hard luck,
we had a lot of fun that night and a really good run to build momentum on for Fulton.....if
we can get her all fixed up by then....This is a link to some pictures from the night.
Sept. 28 - Fulton
Speedway. We had a lot of work to do this week to get
her ready after that freakin' mess from Rolling Wheels. A porta-power and a dream! Papa G really jammed this week and did what
it took to make sure we'd be here. We made
it. It ain't as pretty as it used to be,
but it'll race Fulton, which is a
very nice 3/8 miler; it's super track, great surface, lots of grip and wide as
heck making for some great racing! We
unloaded WAY too tight this time, the car just wouldn't turn, it was so bad we
ended up falling back to 6th in the heat race -- a non-qualifying
position. We're back in the consolation
(last chance) race to make the feature.
43 cars showed up, only 30 get to race tonight. We started second in the consi, 4 qualify, so
if we could hold onto it we're in. Got a
nice start, let 1st place slide down in front of me, no worries, we've got a
spot. Then third place pulled up on my
outside and I got the "I don't think so" attitude going, started
really pressing first, the three of us held a nice tight, clean pack race all
the way to the checkers. We got second
and transferred into the feature. I
coulda taken 1st down, but it wasn't worth the risk of wrecking it and this one
didn't really count. Then the rain
started, and teased us for 2 hours. All
we could do was hang around and hope. It
finally quit and the show was on!
This time we started way back, 23rd. Making in through the consi starts you way in
the back and we knew we had our work cut out for us tonight.
Got a few laps going, and man, I really like this
track! Once I really started to push it
and get a good rhythm going, it was awesome!
So the march began...passed about 5 cars the first few laps, then a few
more, and a few more then caught up to pack of 'em doing the side by side thing
so I was trying to be patient. Patience
wore out, I started rolling through 1 and 2 and this car was working! I came up on the guy on the inside, gave him
a nice shot in the bumper, kind of like the Rolling Wheels one, but it was
little harder shot, got him loose and up the track, down bottom I went and it
was an easy pass. It was the right thing
to do, he was way slower than we were and needed to get out of the way. We got a caution a lap or two later and I
finally had a chance to count, we were in 12th place already! There was about 10 laps to go, we got going
again, car was working, I was loving it, passed three more of them in no time
and here I was in 10th. 8th and 9th were
playing with each other in front of me leaving me no where to get by. After 2 laps of that I'd had enough and gave
the 3 car a little hello shot on the bumper...son of gun, he got a LOT faster
after that and finally shot by the 93 car.
That left me to deal with the 93...he was doing that out of control
banzai stuff: drift way up the track
(over driving it in), then chopping down the bottom like a freakin'
weapon. I lifted once to keep from
getting wrecked out. The next lap, I
stuffed it in there, he was able to control it enough to stay out of us and I
made it by. Playing around with him let
that 3 car get away...I chased him for the final few laps and in the end came
up 8th. Best tour race finish ever. We finally strung one together, had our good
luck and nailed a nice race...it was freakin' awesome! We got some pictures tonight too...
October 5 - Syracuse,
the Moody Mile, Super DIRT Week XXXVI.
Man is this track fast! It's the
biggest track we've ever raced, a full mile long. We dropped her down to 4.something gears to
stay under the 6,000 rpm limit in the rules.
It was our first time here, over 50 cars, only two of us had never raced
on it; so we did our best guess with the chassis and help from some of the
other guys. We unloaded way to loose,
with that fast of a track, we really had to tighten her up to keep her underneath
us. During the first practice I went out
twice, tried getting used to it and it felt kinda loose, but I wasn't sure how
much was me and how much was car. After
the second round I knew we had to make some changes. I hammered back to the pits, Papa G met me
there and started cranking some rounds in and out to tighten her up; he did an
awesome job: we only had a few minutes
left, he jumped right up in there and got her done. I jumped back out there and gave it another
try. It was a lot better, I was able to
get on the throttle a lot earlier without the rear end coming out from
underneath me. First round of practice,
5,600 RPM, third round 5,700 RPM. After
practice was over we had maybe 10 minutes to get it ready for qualifying. We had a fresh set of rubber to put on there,
got them on, all pressured up and got in line for our 2 laps. We hit the track and laid down a 41 second
lap. Not good enough for a top 24 lock
in...back to the consi tomorrow. It
started raining, so we packed it all up and got headed back home. We left the trailer in Syracuse
so we wouldn't have to haul it back and forth, when I jumped out of it a I
landed on the side of my foot, saw the sole of my shoe and twisted my freakin'
ankle. Believe me, twisted was an
understatement...when I finally went to the doc on Tuesday I found out I
actually broke my freakin' leg -- "a small fracture of the
fibula". Oh, it hurt, it hurt a
lot. But, I had some racin' to do. I drove us home, elevated it, got up Sunday
at 5:30 am to get back to Syracuse
for Sunday's consi race. We started 6th,
and they were only transferring 3, definitely a lot of work ahead of us. We were pretty competitive the first few
laps, the 18 car was getting wild just overdriving it hard, he slid up the
track into the marbles, I got a nice run on the bottom, then he took a banzai
run right at me. I did the sportsman
thing and lifted a little instead of wrecking him...I shoulda wrecked him! We were faster than him, and that little
twitch on the throttle I gave him to allow him to save it killed my momentum
and I ended up getting passed. Son of
a. Turn 3 and 4 were just killing our
lap times, the car could not get into 3 without getting all loose. I was going down the back straight and my
helmet starting shaking we were going so fast.
The roof was shaking, the hood, my helmet, we were freakin'
flying!!! We knocked 3 seconds off of
our lap times, good enough for 14th if we had laid it down in qualifying, with
a broken freakin' leg. Anyway, we gave
it a shot and weren't able to get a spot in the feature. Pretty disappointing, but not in the grand
scheme of things. We got there, raced in
THE premier event for all of DIRT (it's DIRT's Daytona 500 if you will...this
is THE race of the year). We gave it an
honest shot and learned a whole bunch about that place. Papa G and I had a lot of fun this weekend,
regardless of the outcome, it was freakin' awesome!!! Afterwards I did the math, we averaged 94 mph
a lap and peaked at 117 mph. That's a
ride man, let me tell you, that was a fun ride!!!
We dragged her home, got her unloaded and we're gonna get
her back on the scales "as is" so we can get some numbers and unload
a lot better next year. We found some
aero tips, have some other ideas and think we're gonna have a good shot next
year. I'm already stoked to get back
there and do it again.....Here's the Super DIRT Week Photos.
Hope you enjoyed the ride on the writeups, it's been a long
time coming, so I wanted to do a nice job for you. I'll be periodically making some more updates
as we prepare for next season...we've got some clean up and plenty of work for
the off-season.Thanks for all your support this year, we had a lot of
fun!!!!
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