Well, the 2012 racing season at Sunny South Raceway has drawn to a close. We had an up and down season but overall it was very successful for us. We were not able to compete in the final race of the season. We had wrecked Mr. Joe's loaner car "The Blue 32" and only had a short week to repair it, we had the wreck on Saturday night Sept. 15 and the next race was the following Friday night. I tore the rear suspension down and repalced all the bent parts; trailing arms (both rear), the panhard bar, the pinion angle third link, the rear end housing, one rear shock, all heims, all bolts in the rear suspension. I did not have time to set the car up in that short week, so rather than put the car in harm's way plus we had over a 150 point cushion for 3rd. place points, I elected not to chance it and we didn't attempt to race on Fri night the 21st. That decision was further validated when Mr. Joe tore the car all the way down to go completely through it, which was his plan all along, he discovered that the top members of the frame were bent. So I made the right decision after all. It was tough to stay home and not race, but it was the right thing to do. We will have Mr. Joe's frame repaired.
On Nov 17th we attended the 2012 SSR banquet. It was a great affair and was held in a church, not the church's hall, but in the main church. It was very well attended the trophies were spectacular, the food was great and all had a good time. Connelly finished third in points behind Joseph McArdle who was second and Hunter Lewis who won the track championship. Joseph missed out on winning his second consecutive points championship by 11 points. That margin represents one position in qualifying, heat race and feature race for two races. Very close and since Hunter and Joseph were both involved in a couple of accidents/spins during the season it could have been either one of them's championship, just a matter of racing luck or one turn of the wrench in setup.
The record for the #32 team was one overall victory 3 seconds and 3 thirds a couple of fourths. We only had 2 DNF's (did not finish). Additionally we had one flat left rear that we changed with the help of half the people in the pits and got back on track without losing a lap to get a 3rd place finish, another replace a brake pedal bolt to get a 4th place finish with the help of Allen Luthor, another to get the right fender put back in place (thanks to Cliff Osmer),
another to re-install the nut on the upper front ball joint, we did loose a number of laps, but got back out there to finish the race--laps down. Some of this taught us lessons on pre race inspections and the true value of good friends. All in all we learned a lot, got some valuable seat time, and moved forward. We are now in the process of putting the black and orange #32 back together and are looking forward to the open test date in February that Mr. Joe announced at the banquet.
Sunday, December 16, 2012
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Saturday Night September 15 2012
Saturday afternoon Sept 15 found us on our way to Sunny South Raceway, we got away early as we had a lot to do when we got to the track. We were very tight at the last race before the huricane and couldn't keep the car on the bottom in the center of the turns which cost us a lot of time. We had an opportunity before the storm to scale the car and got the numbers to where we thought they should be (this coupe handles a lot differently than the sedan), but we are still "chasing it". After registering and going through tech we got on the track and were too loose, but the track temp was 132 degrees, so we tweaked the chassis a little to get it quicker, didn't gain much. We had to wait for the track to cool down some. After another minimal adjustment we qualified in fourth place. We wanted to take a big swing at the setup before the heat race, but Mr. Joe said he wanted to get an early start because we had the Bombers and the Mighty Mites on the schedule that night. I didn't want to get the car torn down and have him call Legends to the grid, so we decided to wait until after the heat plus the track was cooling down which would tighten it up some.
The cars that were in attendance Saturday were the #7 Hunter Lewis, #55r Ronnie Osmer, #44 Joseph McArdle, #53 Jeremy Lundy, #04 Dawson Kenner, #10 Chan Robinson, #94 Brad West, #33 Dalton Chipley and of cource #32 Connelly Dubuisson.
Qualifying: The #44 laid down fast lap for the pole, followed by #7, #53,#32, #55, #10, #04, #33, the #94 missed qualifying and was to start at the rear for the heat race. The top 5 qualifiers were separated by less than one tenth of a second.
Heat Race: As a result of the qualifying we started 4th in the heat, we were still too loose, Joseph in the #44 started from the pole and lead wire to wire for the win, followed by the #53, #7 and Connelly in the #32 for fourth with Ronnie in the #55r in fifth by a whisker. It was a well contested close race with the first five cars separated by no more than 150 feet.
After the heat race we went to thrashing on the #32. We changed the right front spring, Connelly said the car felt like it was "rolling over" on the right front, we then changed the camber in the left front. Part of the front suspension has to be disasembled to accomplish this and it took four tries to get it where we wanted it. Then it was off to the tech barn to scale the car, and it was about where we wanted it on cross. Then checked the ride hieght which was way off due to all the changes. We adjusted it to where it was close and decided to "go racing". This violates all of the rules of racing Rule #1 only change one thing at a time, Rule #2 NEVER violate rule #1, but what could we do we wanted to be competitive in the feature, so we took a "big swing" at it. We would probably start 4th in the feature and that would give us a chance to feel the car out before we really started racing hard. "Not so fast" Joseph throws the dice for the invert and you guessed it he throws a 4 now we are starting on the pole with a race car that we have no idea what it is going to do, with 8 snarling cars behind us looking for the win, we really felt like all the changes helped it, but who knows.
The Feature: I told Connelly in our pre race discussion to just hold his line and feel the car out for a couple of laps then go racing. He lead the first lap by a whisker and then got into the right front of the #55r with our left rear and fell back to 4th behind the #44, #7, and #53. The car appeared to be handling better and Connelly was able to close up to the rear bumper of the #53 and ran there for several laps. We were about 10 car lengths ahead of the #55r who was only a bumber ahead of the #94 when on lap 16 of 20 Connelly suddenly spun on the backstretch the #94 was right behind the #55r and didn't see Connelly spin and when the #55r slowed down the #94 went to the inside and had nowhere to go. He hit Connelly in the left rear doing fairly signifigant damage to the trailing arms, panhard bar, the pinion angle bar, all associated heims and the right rear axle bearing, relegating both the #32 and #94 to DNF's. Upon examining the left rear wheel we saw some blue paint off of the #55r on the wheel where we had gotten together with him, the wheel was slightly dented and it appeared that this was the created a slight leak which let the tire go down and caused the spin. Connelly said the incident with the #55r was his fault he should have given him more room. But what can you say, the last time we got together with the #55r in the same place on the track his tire was cut down and he had to drop out of the race. So what goes around comes around. Just one of those racing things. Betty did not tape the final 4 laps but I understand there was plenty of action, it seems the #53 and #44 got together sending the #44 to third, allowing the #7 to win, with the #55r moving up to second. Congratulations Ronnie. The final finishing order for the top five was: #7 first #55r second, #44 third, #04 fourth, and the #10 fifth.
Now we have a race car to repair, and a short week to do it in (we are scheduled to race again next Friday night) we will see what we can do.
The cars that were in attendance Saturday were the #7 Hunter Lewis, #55r Ronnie Osmer, #44 Joseph McArdle, #53 Jeremy Lundy, #04 Dawson Kenner, #10 Chan Robinson, #94 Brad West, #33 Dalton Chipley and of cource #32 Connelly Dubuisson.
Qualifying: The #44 laid down fast lap for the pole, followed by #7, #53,#32, #55, #10, #04, #33, the #94 missed qualifying and was to start at the rear for the heat race. The top 5 qualifiers were separated by less than one tenth of a second.
Heat Race: As a result of the qualifying we started 4th in the heat, we were still too loose, Joseph in the #44 started from the pole and lead wire to wire for the win, followed by the #53, #7 and Connelly in the #32 for fourth with Ronnie in the #55r in fifth by a whisker. It was a well contested close race with the first five cars separated by no more than 150 feet.
After the heat race we went to thrashing on the #32. We changed the right front spring, Connelly said the car felt like it was "rolling over" on the right front, we then changed the camber in the left front. Part of the front suspension has to be disasembled to accomplish this and it took four tries to get it where we wanted it. Then it was off to the tech barn to scale the car, and it was about where we wanted it on cross. Then checked the ride hieght which was way off due to all the changes. We adjusted it to where it was close and decided to "go racing". This violates all of the rules of racing Rule #1 only change one thing at a time, Rule #2 NEVER violate rule #1, but what could we do we wanted to be competitive in the feature, so we took a "big swing" at it. We would probably start 4th in the feature and that would give us a chance to feel the car out before we really started racing hard. "Not so fast" Joseph throws the dice for the invert and you guessed it he throws a 4 now we are starting on the pole with a race car that we have no idea what it is going to do, with 8 snarling cars behind us looking for the win, we really felt like all the changes helped it, but who knows.
The Feature: I told Connelly in our pre race discussion to just hold his line and feel the car out for a couple of laps then go racing. He lead the first lap by a whisker and then got into the right front of the #55r with our left rear and fell back to 4th behind the #44, #7, and #53. The car appeared to be handling better and Connelly was able to close up to the rear bumper of the #53 and ran there for several laps. We were about 10 car lengths ahead of the #55r who was only a bumber ahead of the #94 when on lap 16 of 20 Connelly suddenly spun on the backstretch the #94 was right behind the #55r and didn't see Connelly spin and when the #55r slowed down the #94 went to the inside and had nowhere to go. He hit Connelly in the left rear doing fairly signifigant damage to the trailing arms, panhard bar, the pinion angle bar, all associated heims and the right rear axle bearing, relegating both the #32 and #94 to DNF's. Upon examining the left rear wheel we saw some blue paint off of the #55r on the wheel where we had gotten together with him, the wheel was slightly dented and it appeared that this was the created a slight leak which let the tire go down and caused the spin. Connelly said the incident with the #55r was his fault he should have given him more room. But what can you say, the last time we got together with the #55r in the same place on the track his tire was cut down and he had to drop out of the race. So what goes around comes around. Just one of those racing things. Betty did not tape the final 4 laps but I understand there was plenty of action, it seems the #53 and #44 got together sending the #44 to third, allowing the #7 to win, with the #55r moving up to second. Congratulations Ronnie. The final finishing order for the top five was: #7 first #55r second, #44 third, #04 fourth, and the #10 fifth.
Now we have a race car to repair, and a short week to do it in (we are scheduled to race again next Friday night) we will see what we can do.
Sunday, September 2, 2012
Friday & Saturday Aug 31-Sept 1
We were supposed to be at Sunny South for the Friday night regular race event and Saturday night Bandolero national championship event, but hurricane Isaac had other ideas. Isaac was not a prticularly intense storm from a wind speed prospective but it made a tremendous amount of rain. Our wind speed here in Metairie probably got to 90 mph, but man did it rain !!!!! My rain gage goes to 10 inches and it was full on Thurs am. We have never had so much rain and so much sustained high wind for so long. I know we had wind speeds above 45 mph with moderete to heavy rain for at least 36 hours. I am so tired of seeing "sideways rain" if I never see it again it will be too soon. We were very fortunate in that we sustained no property damage, did loose elect power from 4:00 Wed morning to 10:30 am Saturday. Thank God for my generator, it ran everything referigerator/freezer, fans, plug in lights. Had enough extension cords running around the house to trip/hang half of the Italian army, but guess what NO A/C. Fri night it was 86 degrees in our bedroom. We had two fans working one oscelating and the fan we use to cool the Legend off in the pits. At that temprature they don't make enough fans to keep you cool. If you see me hug the generator in the back of my truck in the pits you will underatand why.
Some good news. Connelly had no school on Monday because of the storm, we used the day to "batten down the hatches" for the storm, then rolled out the racecar and started to work on setting the cross. We got it very close to where we feel it needs to be and rolled her back into the trailer just as the rain started, we feel very comfortable that we are close. The next race date is Sept 15 followed by the makeup dates of Sept 21 and 22 for the reg race date on Fri and Bando nationals on the 22, we can't wait. Come on out to Sunny South Raceway and see some outstanding racing put on by some very good young drivers. Sunny South is less than a one tank trip from the New Orleans area. You will enjoy the racing.
Some good news. Connelly had no school on Monday because of the storm, we used the day to "batten down the hatches" for the storm, then rolled out the racecar and started to work on setting the cross. We got it very close to where we feel it needs to be and rolled her back into the trailer just as the rain started, we feel very comfortable that we are close. The next race date is Sept 15 followed by the makeup dates of Sept 21 and 22 for the reg race date on Fri and Bando nationals on the 22, we can't wait. Come on out to Sunny South Raceway and see some outstanding racing put on by some very good young drivers. Sunny South is less than a one tank trip from the New Orleans area. You will enjoy the racing.
Saturday Night August 25, 2012
Saturday evening found us at the Sunny South Pit gate for 4 pm right at opening. We got there early, as we had a lot to do. We had put a lot of lead on the coupe since Joseph used a different set of wheels than we do and we were underwieght by almost 30 pounds. At home we got the car "legal" as to overall weight and left/right percentages, but the all important "cross" was way off of where we wanted it. Connelly had never driven a coupe in competition so he suggested that we wait until we get to the track to adjust the cross. When we got to the track he tried the car and he was way too tight. We came down, still too tight, came down again, same result, adjusted again still tight, so we put it back on the track's scales and all that adjusting only gained us 2%, we were still almost twice that off. We kept on adjusting until we had the ride hieght at the minimum so we stopped. We would now have to adjust the front and that is more sensitive and we were running out of time. The car was drivable, but not where we wanted it to be, so we adjusted the air pressures for qualifying and took a break.
The Competitors: There was an excellent field of cars for tonight's competition; the regulars of Ronnie Osmer in his #55r, Daniel Thompson in his #39, Jeremy Lundy in his #53, Hunter Lewis in his #7, Joseph McArdle in his #44jr, Chad Robinson in his #10, Dalton Chipley in his #33, Michael Beaslely in his #110, Robbie Johnston in his #96, Dawson Keener in his #04, Brad West in his #94, and of course the Blue #32 driven by Connelly Dubuisson. A good field of 12 cars.
During practice a strange event took place, our good friend and competitor Daniel Thompson in his #39 was testing on track when the #10 spun in the apex of turns 1 and 2, Daniel went to the outside to avoid hitting the spinning #10 and lost controll and hit the outside wall hard, the impact apparently cut the fuel line and the entire engine compartment went up in flames. The safety crew was there quickly putting out the fire and more importantly Daniel got out unharmed. Another competitor Jeremy Lundy got to the burning car first and helped get Daniel out, however the #39 was finished for the night. The car appears to need a signifigant amount of reapir before being ready to compete again. I offered whatever help we could give and will respond when called upon. The whole #39 team are good people and fine competitors and we want to see them back out there. The most important thing is that Daniel is OK, you can always replace broken parts, you know the rest of the saying.
Qualifying: Connelly in the Blue #32 qualified 5th out of 11 cars (no #39) starting him inside second row for his heat race. Not bad for a tight race car. In his heat race he finished third which would start him fifth in the feature
Feature: Connelly started fifth in the feature and held position for the first half of the race. Ronnie Osmer was always less than a car length behind, ready to "pounce" when the opportunity presented itself. They both were in close pursuit of the #10 and both finally made the pass. Connelly and Ronnie put on a really good race for fourth place for the remainder of the race. Finishing order was the #7 first, #53 second, #44 third, with Connelly #32 fourth and Ronnie in his #55r finishing out the top 5. The most hotly contested race for position was put on by Ronnie and Connelly for fourth place. Hey good racing is good racing no matter what positions are involved. We will work on the car if at all possible as the next race is Aug 31 and that is a short week. Looking forward to the next race already
The Competitors: There was an excellent field of cars for tonight's competition; the regulars of Ronnie Osmer in his #55r, Daniel Thompson in his #39, Jeremy Lundy in his #53, Hunter Lewis in his #7, Joseph McArdle in his #44jr, Chad Robinson in his #10, Dalton Chipley in his #33, Michael Beaslely in his #110, Robbie Johnston in his #96, Dawson Keener in his #04, Brad West in his #94, and of course the Blue #32 driven by Connelly Dubuisson. A good field of 12 cars.
During practice a strange event took place, our good friend and competitor Daniel Thompson in his #39 was testing on track when the #10 spun in the apex of turns 1 and 2, Daniel went to the outside to avoid hitting the spinning #10 and lost controll and hit the outside wall hard, the impact apparently cut the fuel line and the entire engine compartment went up in flames. The safety crew was there quickly putting out the fire and more importantly Daniel got out unharmed. Another competitor Jeremy Lundy got to the burning car first and helped get Daniel out, however the #39 was finished for the night. The car appears to need a signifigant amount of reapir before being ready to compete again. I offered whatever help we could give and will respond when called upon. The whole #39 team are good people and fine competitors and we want to see them back out there. The most important thing is that Daniel is OK, you can always replace broken parts, you know the rest of the saying.
Qualifying: Connelly in the Blue #32 qualified 5th out of 11 cars (no #39) starting him inside second row for his heat race. Not bad for a tight race car. In his heat race he finished third which would start him fifth in the feature
Feature: Connelly started fifth in the feature and held position for the first half of the race. Ronnie Osmer was always less than a car length behind, ready to "pounce" when the opportunity presented itself. They both were in close pursuit of the #10 and both finally made the pass. Connelly and Ronnie put on a really good race for fourth place for the remainder of the race. Finishing order was the #7 first, #53 second, #44 third, with Connelly #32 fourth and Ronnie in his #55r finishing out the top 5. The most hotly contested race for position was put on by Ronnie and Connelly for fourth place. Hey good racing is good racing no matter what positions are involved. We will work on the car if at all possible as the next race is Aug 31 and that is a short week. Looking forward to the next race already
Monday, August 13, 2012
Saturday Night August 11, 2012
Saturday morning we woke up to a tremendous line of thunderstorms. They passed and went out into the Gulf to agravate the fish. We got to the track went through tech and got ready to go out for some parctice. Connelly said the car felt wicked fast. He ran about ten laps increasing his speed on each lap. He was on Joseph's tires and we wanted to try the car just like they had run it last. Joseph went out with his #44 primary car (we had put our #32 on the car he loaned us) his oil filter loosened up and began to leak. He saw the oil on the track and pulled in and the engine was refilled with oil. The oil was cleaned up and practice resumed. We felt like we needed at least 30 or so laps of practice to get Connelly used to the feel of the car as coupes have a slightly different "feel" than a sedan. In the next session Joseph blew the engine, he put the #3 connecting rod through the side of the block. That put things in a totally different perspective. How can we race Joseph's back up car with our motor when he dosen't have a car to drive and he is currently the points leader? Connelly went up to Mr. Joe and said we weren't going to drive the backup car with our engine and that Joseph could drive it, at first Mr. Joe said no but we insisted. We are in 3rd place for points and a no points night would really hurt. The #7 team brings a backup car that they are trying to sell to the races and they very generously let Connelly use it. We really didn't want to put the car in jepordy by mixing it up with the rest of the cars, we just made a light qualifying run, ran about 4 or 5 laps in the heat race before retiring finishing last, ran half the race easy in the feature then retired with a 7th place finish. We were in full points conservation mode. We lost 17 points to the 4th place car but still are in 3rd by 36 points. We may use this race as our "drop" race, each team must drop their lowest points race of the season before the final points calculation is done. All in all a very interesting night and thanks to the generosity of the #7 team we were able to salvage the night.
The Racing: The race was reletavely uneventful with no cautions with the #7 fininshing first, #32 (Joseph) second, #55 third, #39 fourth, #33 fifth, #53 sixth, #13 (Connelly put his little sister's soccer number 13 on the side of the "loaner" in red masking tape) finished seventh. However the saga is not over yet, we loaned Mr. Joe the engine we ran last year in our sedan until they get their motor back from Charlotte so musical motors/cars contiues. Currently we plan to race the #32 coupe (Joseph's #44 backup car) next race on the 25th of August. Come out and see how this saga plays out and treat yoursellf to some really good racing.
The Racing: The race was reletavely uneventful with no cautions with the #7 fininshing first, #32 (Joseph) second, #55 third, #39 fourth, #33 fifth, #53 sixth, #13 (Connelly put his little sister's soccer number 13 on the side of the "loaner" in red masking tape) finished seventh. However the saga is not over yet, we loaned Mr. Joe the engine we ran last year in our sedan until they get their motor back from Charlotte so musical motors/cars contiues. Currently we plan to race the #32 coupe (Joseph's #44 backup car) next race on the 25th of August. Come out and see how this saga plays out and treat yoursellf to some really good racing.
Saturday Night July 28, 2012
In our pre race preparation we found a small discrepency in our setup, something we had overlooked for the past two races. We felt like it was such a small thing it couldn't have made much difference in the handling of the car. We put it back like it was supposed to be ane after going through registration and tech Connelly put it on the track and it handled really well. We then went to a slightly different air pressure setting and the car took off. It was really fast and stable, Connelly was really excited and anxious to race. The track's transponder reader had broken so there was no qualifying and we had to draw chips for the starting positions.
There were seven racers available tonight, the #44, the #7, the #94, the #59, the #33, the B00 from Ft. Worth TX and of course the #32 Of Connally missing were the #55r and the #39.
The Heat Race: Connelly drew the 6 th starting position so it was outside the second to last row for us at the start of the heat. The B00 drew the pole and at the start he broke his motor mount and could not shift, which backed up the inside row. Connelly took full advantage and shot to the front he came out of turn two in first place and led for the first half of the race with the #7 and #44 in hot pursuit. Connelly overdrove turn 4 slid up the track slightly but it was enough for the #7 to get by. Connelly went on to finish second behind the #7 with Joseph in the #44 third. Connelly said this was the best car he had ever had under him and he felt like he might have something for the #7 in the Feature.
Feature Race: Due to the roll of the big dice for the invert (a roll of 6) Connelly started 5th in the feature, by the end of lap two he was second to Joseph in the #44, going down the back straight he got a huge run on the #44 and instaed of going to the inside of Joseph he went to the outside letting the #7 and #B00 get by so in one straignt-a-way he went from challenging for the lead to fourth. Another driving mistake. But the car was really flying. A couple of laps later a caution came out for a spin by tne #33 and Connelly took the "choose" which put him outside front row on the restart, it took him a lap to get to the bottom now in 3rd place. The #7 passed the #44 and Connelly got inside the #44 going down the back stretch, Joseph drove it in deeper than Connelly and they were side by side through turn 3. It appeared that the #44 may have gotten a little loose and came down just the slightest, Connelly checked up a little and the#B00 got into the back of us getting us loose, Connelly saved it but the #B00 got us again and sent Connelly straight into the wall at about 60 MPH. It was a really hard hit and lifted the rear wheels off the ground. The safety equipment did its job, he did have some tenderness where the seat belts held him but by Sunday morning he was fine. The HANS kept his head from thrusting foreard, no neck tenderness, the worst he got was he hit his knee on the steering colum and that was tender until Monday. While they were loading the car on the rollback Connelly walked all the way across the infield to where the cars were parked on the backstretch under the red flag and had a "conversation" with the B00 driver. The infiend safety truck official went over and made sure there was no altercation and drove Connelly back to the trailer. The car was signifigantly damaged. It will need to be clipped and the entire right front suspension will need to be replaced. Thank God for the safety equipment built into the car and thank God it worked as designed. You can always replace parts.
Then something really special happened. Mr. Joe and Brian McArdle offered us the use of his backup car that is without engine (it is in Charlotte being re-done). We tore our car down on Sunday assessed the damage, went to get the #44 backup on Monday night and installed out motor in it on Saturday. We went over as much as we could and by Friday were ready to go RACIN. Cant wait to see what our motor will do in that car.
There were seven racers available tonight, the #44, the #7, the #94, the #59, the #33, the B00 from Ft. Worth TX and of course the #32 Of Connally missing were the #55r and the #39.
The Heat Race: Connelly drew the 6 th starting position so it was outside the second to last row for us at the start of the heat. The B00 drew the pole and at the start he broke his motor mount and could not shift, which backed up the inside row. Connelly took full advantage and shot to the front he came out of turn two in first place and led for the first half of the race with the #7 and #44 in hot pursuit. Connelly overdrove turn 4 slid up the track slightly but it was enough for the #7 to get by. Connelly went on to finish second behind the #7 with Joseph in the #44 third. Connelly said this was the best car he had ever had under him and he felt like he might have something for the #7 in the Feature.
Feature Race: Due to the roll of the big dice for the invert (a roll of 6) Connelly started 5th in the feature, by the end of lap two he was second to Joseph in the #44, going down the back straight he got a huge run on the #44 and instaed of going to the inside of Joseph he went to the outside letting the #7 and #B00 get by so in one straignt-a-way he went from challenging for the lead to fourth. Another driving mistake. But the car was really flying. A couple of laps later a caution came out for a spin by tne #33 and Connelly took the "choose" which put him outside front row on the restart, it took him a lap to get to the bottom now in 3rd place. The #7 passed the #44 and Connelly got inside the #44 going down the back stretch, Joseph drove it in deeper than Connelly and they were side by side through turn 3. It appeared that the #44 may have gotten a little loose and came down just the slightest, Connelly checked up a little and the#B00 got into the back of us getting us loose, Connelly saved it but the #B00 got us again and sent Connelly straight into the wall at about 60 MPH. It was a really hard hit and lifted the rear wheels off the ground. The safety equipment did its job, he did have some tenderness where the seat belts held him but by Sunday morning he was fine. The HANS kept his head from thrusting foreard, no neck tenderness, the worst he got was he hit his knee on the steering colum and that was tender until Monday. While they were loading the car on the rollback Connelly walked all the way across the infield to where the cars were parked on the backstretch under the red flag and had a "conversation" with the B00 driver. The infiend safety truck official went over and made sure there was no altercation and drove Connelly back to the trailer. The car was signifigantly damaged. It will need to be clipped and the entire right front suspension will need to be replaced. Thank God for the safety equipment built into the car and thank God it worked as designed. You can always replace parts.
Then something really special happened. Mr. Joe and Brian McArdle offered us the use of his backup car that is without engine (it is in Charlotte being re-done). We tore our car down on Sunday assessed the damage, went to get the #44 backup on Monday night and installed out motor in it on Saturday. We went over as much as we could and by Friday were ready to go RACIN. Cant wait to see what our motor will do in that car.
Sunday, July 22, 2012
Friday The 13th 7-13-12
Friday the 13th, one is always aprehensive on that day. Although I am not superstitious, I don't believe in taking chances. I had on my lucky T shirt, left home at the same time as usual, took the same route, filled up the truck at the same gas pump at the Shell station in Grand Bay, AL, and parked in my usual pit stall. I had done my part so lets see if Lady Luck will smile on us tonight.
We got to the track on time, the track opened at 5 pm due to the Friday night program. Got the car registered, went through tech, got on the track for a few practice laps, God, that track was slick. Track temp was 124 degrees, couldn't tell much about the car but Connelly said other than being loose (hot track) it felt good.
QUALIFYING: The participants tonight were the #53 of Jeremy Lundy, the #7 of Hunter Lewis, the #44 of Joseph McArdle, the #10 of Chad Robinson, the #39 of Daniel Thompson, the #04 ofDawson Kenner, the #59 of Terry Myers, the #55r of Ronnie Osmer, the #94 driven by a new driver who just purchased the car, this being his first race. and of course the #32 of Connelly Dubuisson.
Connelly qualified third, 2 one hundredths of a second behind second place #53 and 8 one hundredths of a second behind the pole sitter #7 of Hunter Lewis and only 1 onehundredth of a second ahead of the #44 of Joseph Mcardle. A very close field the first four qualifiers were within one tenth of a second of each other.
HEAT RACE: We started on the outside front row in the heat race and before we could get to the inside we were third behind the #7 and #10. It was an uneventful heat race with Connelly driving the #32 to a third place finish only one car length behind the #10, but almost a quarter of a lap anead of the 4th place car. Connelly was never more than 2 car lengths behind the #10 at any time in the heat.
FEATURE RACE: In the feature, Connelly started in fifth position because of his heat race finish (there were two heats) We raced in fifth place for the entire race always in touch with the #10 (who held down fourth place) but never quite able to pass. Connelly got alongside of the #10 at one point but before he could complete the pass, a caution came out and the restart was determined by the last completed lap prior to the caution, back to fifth. The #32 appeared to be a handful to drive, he wasn't able to keep it on the bottom in the turns and he was snappy loose coming out of the turns especially #4. As a result he could not get back to the throttle as soon as he needed to coming out of the turns and on several occasions after he got back to the throttle he had to "burp" it to get the rear end back under him. I didn't realize how bad the car was handling until I saw the in car video. His hands never stopped moving. He was definately sawing on the wheel. A fifth place finish was not what we were looking for, but under the circumstances, we'll settle for it. We gained pionts and are within 8 points of third place. The finish of the feature was #53, #7, #44, #10, #32, #39, #04, #59, #55, #94. In his first race the #94 did a great job, he didn't spin didn't get involved in any incidents, and overall handled himself and his car well.
I couldn't wait to get a look at the car and try to figure out what was causing our "tight in the center" problem. After going over the car with a fine tooth comb, we found that we set the fender bracket too low and the right front fender was draging on the tire in the turns so much that it cut a groove in the tire. That rub was causing the right front to not turn as freely as the left, causing the tight in the middle problem. The "snappy loose" off was caused by Connelly having too much "wheel" in the turn to try and hold the car down in the center that when he ran out of banking coming off the turns, the car was jumping out from under him. We have gotten all of that corrected and am looking forward to the next race July 28th.
CONCLUSION: I have learned that the secret to sucessfully running a Legend racing team is that there is no SECRET, just constant and deliberate attention to a thousand small details, all of which have to work in harmony to make one of these little boogers run. It is a slow process, but we are learning.
We got to the track on time, the track opened at 5 pm due to the Friday night program. Got the car registered, went through tech, got on the track for a few practice laps, God, that track was slick. Track temp was 124 degrees, couldn't tell much about the car but Connelly said other than being loose (hot track) it felt good.
QUALIFYING: The participants tonight were the #53 of Jeremy Lundy, the #7 of Hunter Lewis, the #44 of Joseph McArdle, the #10 of Chad Robinson, the #39 of Daniel Thompson, the #04 ofDawson Kenner, the #59 of Terry Myers, the #55r of Ronnie Osmer, the #94 driven by a new driver who just purchased the car, this being his first race. and of course the #32 of Connelly Dubuisson.
Connelly qualified third, 2 one hundredths of a second behind second place #53 and 8 one hundredths of a second behind the pole sitter #7 of Hunter Lewis and only 1 onehundredth of a second ahead of the #44 of Joseph Mcardle. A very close field the first four qualifiers were within one tenth of a second of each other.
HEAT RACE: We started on the outside front row in the heat race and before we could get to the inside we were third behind the #7 and #10. It was an uneventful heat race with Connelly driving the #32 to a third place finish only one car length behind the #10, but almost a quarter of a lap anead of the 4th place car. Connelly was never more than 2 car lengths behind the #10 at any time in the heat.
FEATURE RACE: In the feature, Connelly started in fifth position because of his heat race finish (there were two heats) We raced in fifth place for the entire race always in touch with the #10 (who held down fourth place) but never quite able to pass. Connelly got alongside of the #10 at one point but before he could complete the pass, a caution came out and the restart was determined by the last completed lap prior to the caution, back to fifth. The #32 appeared to be a handful to drive, he wasn't able to keep it on the bottom in the turns and he was snappy loose coming out of the turns especially #4. As a result he could not get back to the throttle as soon as he needed to coming out of the turns and on several occasions after he got back to the throttle he had to "burp" it to get the rear end back under him. I didn't realize how bad the car was handling until I saw the in car video. His hands never stopped moving. He was definately sawing on the wheel. A fifth place finish was not what we were looking for, but under the circumstances, we'll settle for it. We gained pionts and are within 8 points of third place. The finish of the feature was #53, #7, #44, #10, #32, #39, #04, #59, #55, #94. In his first race the #94 did a great job, he didn't spin didn't get involved in any incidents, and overall handled himself and his car well.
I couldn't wait to get a look at the car and try to figure out what was causing our "tight in the center" problem. After going over the car with a fine tooth comb, we found that we set the fender bracket too low and the right front fender was draging on the tire in the turns so much that it cut a groove in the tire. That rub was causing the right front to not turn as freely as the left, causing the tight in the middle problem. The "snappy loose" off was caused by Connelly having too much "wheel" in the turn to try and hold the car down in the center that when he ran out of banking coming off the turns, the car was jumping out from under him. We have gotten all of that corrected and am looking forward to the next race July 28th.
CONCLUSION: I have learned that the secret to sucessfully running a Legend racing team is that there is no SECRET, just constant and deliberate attention to a thousand small details, all of which have to work in harmony to make one of these little boogers run. It is a slow process, but we are learning.
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Saturday June 30, 2012
Saturday night June 30th competed three weeks of racing in a row. While Connelly loves it, it puts a strain on your service program as you don't have that off weekend to thoroughly go over the car. I can only imagine what someone like Joey Padgett goes through when they race 3 or 4 times a week. Gotta be tough on people and equipment.
We got to the track right on time, got the car unloaded, got registered, went through tech and were ready to hit the track. We still had to put one heat cycle on our last set of tires, so we got that done and put a couple of hard laps on them, however out lap times were not what we were looking for, high teens and low twentys, but the track temp was 121 degrees. Connelly still comlplained that the car still wasn't rolling through the middle of the turn as well as he would like it to, but all in all the car was very close. We discussed a chassis adjustment but didn't want to mess up what we had. We opted for the adjustment thinking that we could always put it back. After the adjustment he was all smiles, said it was the best car he had ever had under him and did not go back on the track again until it was time to qualify.
We had a very strong field of cars tonight. The #53 of Jeremy Lundy, the #7 of Hunter Lewis, the #44 of Joseph McArdle, the #39 of Daniel Thompson, The #10 of Chad Robinson, the #66 of Andrew Johnson, the #59 of Terry Myers, and of course the #32 of Connelly Dubuisson. Our good friends and long time competitors the Osmers with their #55r did not attend tonights race due to a prior planned vacation, we all missed them.
Quilifying: Qualifying was devided into two heats, we were in the second heat and qualified in third place two one hundredths of a second out of second (#53) and almost one tenth of a second behind the pole (#7).
The Heat Race: In the heat I told Connelly just to take it easy as the track was still quite hot (over 100 degrees and slick) we were running third about 6 car lengths off of second knowing that they were going to invert some cars for the feature race. With three laps to go there was a spin, bringing out a caution on the track. This bunched the cars up and Connelly decided to give it a shot and see if he had anything for the #53, and #7. During those last three laps you could have fit all three of those cars under a blanket. Connelly was right on their rear bumpers. The #53 won with #7 second and Connelly third by less than a car length. We just put fuel in the car and waited for the feature race. At intermission they had fan appreciation night. All the cars in all classes were parked on the front straight a way and the fans came out on the track and got autographs signed and photos taken with the drivers and cars. A lot of fun for all.
The Feature Race: Jeremy Lundy #53 threw the big dice and rolled a 4 meaning that the first four finishers in the heat race would be inverted. This put Connelly outside front row with the #53 behind him. Something very strange happened next. As soon as Connelly got on the track the upper ball joint came off the spindle block. The right front was leaning out at about a 30 degree angle, and they were fixing to go green. Jeremy #53 saw the problem and pulled up alongside Connelly waving his hand and pointing to that wheel. The flagman called off the start and Connelly limped into the pits. I got to the pits as fast as my worn out knees would allow, and Connelly's friend Thomas who helps us crew the car jumped the fence and we got to the car at about the same time. It took a couple of moments to figure out what the problem was. We carry a spare ball joint in the trailer, robbed the nut off of it got the greasy ball joint bolt back in place secured the nut and in our haste, replaced the right front wheel with the right front that we had just heat cycled instead of the one we had run in the heat race. Now we have a mis matched set of tires, a hastily repaired ball joint with no cotter key in it and we get back on the track with two laps to go, but we got back out there and scored 8th place points. Working in the dark on a greasy ball joint and getting it done in 18 laps aint too shabby. Connelly had left the in-car camera on during the whole repair process. It looked like a Chinese fire drill with Thomas and I fighting to get Con back out. The only damage done to the car was that we bent very slightly the lower right ball joint. We replaced it in our maintnence work done this week. After repairs, the car scaled right on the money. We hope we are ready for Friday night's race.
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Saturday June 23, 2012
After all of the craziness of last Saturday's race (there must have been a full moon somewhere) we were back at Sunny South Raceway with the #32 repaired and ready to go. We checked the morning newspaper and found that the I-10 was going to have two lanes closed all weekend, so we took an alternate route and got to the track ten minutes after the gates opened. We got the car registered and teched got on the track and we were OK but the track temp was 119 degrees and loose. We found out what we needed to know and finally got the last set of tires broke in (I would still like to get one more heat cycle in them).
We had the usual competitors available the #44 of Joseph McArdle, the #7 of Hunter Lewis, our old friend Tucker Yance was back with his repaired #4, the #04 of Dawson Kenner, the #39 of Daniel Thompson, the #55r of Ronnie Osmer, the #59 of Terry Myers, and of course the #32 of Connelly Dubuisson.
Qualifying, we qualified third behind Joseph McArdle in his #44, and the #7 of Hunter Lewis. We were 2 one hundredths of a second behind the #7 and about a tenth of a second behind the #44, not where we wanted to be but the car just seemed to not like the heat. We were a full tenth and a half of a second off of where we were three races ago.
In the heat race we started third and advanced to second by the end of the first lap, the #7 got under us and passed a few laps later coming out of turn 4. Then both the #7 and Connelly passed the #44. Connelly finished second in the heat race out of 8 cars, we still weren't as fast as we would have liked, but we finished 2 car lengths behind the #7 and about 5 lengths ahead of the #44. Not bad for a car that was slightly off.
Feature Race; Hunter Louis the #7 driver, by virtue of his heat race win threw the big dice to determine the number of cars to be inverted. He threw a 6 putting us in the 5th starting position. The #04 who was to start on the pole opted to go to the rear of the field to avoid a situation like the one at the start of last weeks race. By rule that moved the whole inside line up one position, now we are starting 3rd. At the start, Connelly got a good start and was second coming out of turn two, he ran about 1 to 2 car lengths behind the #39 for a few laps then we were able to get under the #39 and take the lead for a couple of laps. Joseph got under us in the #44, and he and Connally battled for the lead for a couple of laps. Connelly finally over drove turn two and got real loose and slid up the track and went from fighting for the lead to fourth in one quick move. Connelly was able to re pass both the #39 and the #7 and settled into second again, by now Joseph in the #44 was a half a straightaway ahead of us. Now the bizarre comes back into play, as the flagman prepares to display the white flag indicating one lap to go, the handle of the flag accidently pushes the button on the flag stand that turns the caution lights on around the track, so now the flagman is trying to end the race with a checker flag and everybody is slowing down to honor the caution lights being accidentally activated. The flagman and race director decided that the only fair thing to do was to give the field a "green-white-checker" finish. This gives the field the green flag to restart, then gives the white flag indicating one lap to go then the checker flag ending the race. The finishing order was; the #44 first, the #32 second, the #39 third, the #04 fourth, the #55r fifth, the #59 sixth, the #7 who had mechanical issues was seventh, and the #4 who also had mechanical issues was eighth. Not a bad night considering we were a little bit off, but we brought the #32 back in one piece and have already begun looking for that one and a half tenth of a second. Hopefully we will get it back in time for the next race as we are certainly looking forward to the upcoming race this Saturday night.
We had the usual competitors available the #44 of Joseph McArdle, the #7 of Hunter Lewis, our old friend Tucker Yance was back with his repaired #4, the #04 of Dawson Kenner, the #39 of Daniel Thompson, the #55r of Ronnie Osmer, the #59 of Terry Myers, and of course the #32 of Connelly Dubuisson.
Qualifying, we qualified third behind Joseph McArdle in his #44, and the #7 of Hunter Lewis. We were 2 one hundredths of a second behind the #7 and about a tenth of a second behind the #44, not where we wanted to be but the car just seemed to not like the heat. We were a full tenth and a half of a second off of where we were three races ago.
In the heat race we started third and advanced to second by the end of the first lap, the #7 got under us and passed a few laps later coming out of turn 4. Then both the #7 and Connelly passed the #44. Connelly finished second in the heat race out of 8 cars, we still weren't as fast as we would have liked, but we finished 2 car lengths behind the #7 and about 5 lengths ahead of the #44. Not bad for a car that was slightly off.
Feature Race; Hunter Louis the #7 driver, by virtue of his heat race win threw the big dice to determine the number of cars to be inverted. He threw a 6 putting us in the 5th starting position. The #04 who was to start on the pole opted to go to the rear of the field to avoid a situation like the one at the start of last weeks race. By rule that moved the whole inside line up one position, now we are starting 3rd. At the start, Connelly got a good start and was second coming out of turn two, he ran about 1 to 2 car lengths behind the #39 for a few laps then we were able to get under the #39 and take the lead for a couple of laps. Joseph got under us in the #44, and he and Connally battled for the lead for a couple of laps. Connelly finally over drove turn two and got real loose and slid up the track and went from fighting for the lead to fourth in one quick move. Connelly was able to re pass both the #39 and the #7 and settled into second again, by now Joseph in the #44 was a half a straightaway ahead of us. Now the bizarre comes back into play, as the flagman prepares to display the white flag indicating one lap to go, the handle of the flag accidently pushes the button on the flag stand that turns the caution lights on around the track, so now the flagman is trying to end the race with a checker flag and everybody is slowing down to honor the caution lights being accidentally activated. The flagman and race director decided that the only fair thing to do was to give the field a "green-white-checker" finish. This gives the field the green flag to restart, then gives the white flag indicating one lap to go then the checker flag ending the race. The finishing order was; the #44 first, the #32 second, the #39 third, the #04 fourth, the #55r fifth, the #59 sixth, the #7 who had mechanical issues was seventh, and the #4 who also had mechanical issues was eighth. Not a bad night considering we were a little bit off, but we brought the #32 back in one piece and have already begun looking for that one and a half tenth of a second. Hopefully we will get it back in time for the next race as we are certainly looking forward to the upcoming race this Saturday night.
Monday, June 25, 2012
Saturday Night June 16 2012
After a two race absence we finally made it back to SSR, Connelly was chomping at the bit to get back in the car. We had run into that I 10 traffic snarl again and got to the track an hour later than we wanted to. We had tires to break in and we wanted to try a couple of things to get the car to handle better. With the temps getting into the 90's there wasn't a whole lot of speed in the track.
We had a great bunch of cars racing tonight, the #83 of Joey Padget, the #53 of Jeremy Lundy, the #7 of Hunter Lewis, the #44 of Joseph McArdle, the #59 of Terry Myers, the #55r of Ronnie Osmer, the #04 of Dawson Kenner, the # 39 of Daniel Thompson, and of course the #32 of Connelly Dubuisson. All very good and fast cars. After a few practice sessions on the track we were not where we wanted to be but it was time for the drivers meeting then qualifying. Connelly qualified 3rd just 4 one hundredths of a second out of second place.we started the heat in 3rd behind the #83 of Joey Padget. got to second and hung there for a while then the #53 got under us going into turn 3 and we just couldn't hold him off. We hung there for a couple of laps when a late caution came out and bunched the field up and we got passed by the #7, wound up 4th in the heat.
Then came the feature and things got crazy. Joey Padget by vitue of winning the heat race threw the big dice to see how many cars would invert, he threw a 6 which ment that we would start 3rd. behind the #59 of Terry Myers with the #44 next to him and the #7 of Hunter Lewis next to us. The #53 heard a rattle in his brand new engine and withdrew before even coming on the track. The rest of the field settled in behind the #83 of Joey Padgett who startrd 6th. After a false start, we had a do-over, Connelly got a good start and got under the #59 almost to the rear of the #59's door, as they went into turn one it appeared to me that the #59 came down a little on Connelly and they got together pretty hard. Connelly came off so I could acess the damage. he was toed out way more than we wanted, but this was a double points night and we had to get as good a finish as possible. After the restart we were last because we had "worked" on the car during the caution. The car wasn't handling well but he was able to maintain position. After a few more laps there was a caution when the #7 and the #44 got together racing for the lead in turn 3 and damaged both cars. A crew member of the #7 took exception to the official's call on the placement of the two cars involved and got into a shouting match with the flagman. A scuffle insued when track security was called. It wasn't officially a fight as I don't believe any punches were thrown, it was mostly pushing and shoving and grabing, although the combatants did go to the ground. On the restart we took the choose and went to outside of the first row where we settled into second place and managed to hold on to it to the finish. Aparently we got our rear bumper inside the right front wheel of th #55r and knocked his valve stem off and he was forced to retire. I hate that it happened because the Osmers are great friends and Ronnie is a very good up and coming driver. All in all we came away with a better finish than we deserved, but sometime you get one that is worse than you deserve. We had a good points night and are thankful for that, looking forward to next Saturday already. When we checked the car over on Monday we found that we had bent the right front steering arm and we were toed out one and 5/8 of an inch when it should have been 1/8", no wonder the car wasn't handling.
We had a great bunch of cars racing tonight, the #83 of Joey Padget, the #53 of Jeremy Lundy, the #7 of Hunter Lewis, the #44 of Joseph McArdle, the #59 of Terry Myers, the #55r of Ronnie Osmer, the #04 of Dawson Kenner, the # 39 of Daniel Thompson, and of course the #32 of Connelly Dubuisson. All very good and fast cars. After a few practice sessions on the track we were not where we wanted to be but it was time for the drivers meeting then qualifying. Connelly qualified 3rd just 4 one hundredths of a second out of second place.we started the heat in 3rd behind the #83 of Joey Padget. got to second and hung there for a while then the #53 got under us going into turn 3 and we just couldn't hold him off. We hung there for a couple of laps when a late caution came out and bunched the field up and we got passed by the #7, wound up 4th in the heat.
Then came the feature and things got crazy. Joey Padget by vitue of winning the heat race threw the big dice to see how many cars would invert, he threw a 6 which ment that we would start 3rd. behind the #59 of Terry Myers with the #44 next to him and the #7 of Hunter Lewis next to us. The #53 heard a rattle in his brand new engine and withdrew before even coming on the track. The rest of the field settled in behind the #83 of Joey Padgett who startrd 6th. After a false start, we had a do-over, Connelly got a good start and got under the #59 almost to the rear of the #59's door, as they went into turn one it appeared to me that the #59 came down a little on Connelly and they got together pretty hard. Connelly came off so I could acess the damage. he was toed out way more than we wanted, but this was a double points night and we had to get as good a finish as possible. After the restart we were last because we had "worked" on the car during the caution. The car wasn't handling well but he was able to maintain position. After a few more laps there was a caution when the #7 and the #44 got together racing for the lead in turn 3 and damaged both cars. A crew member of the #7 took exception to the official's call on the placement of the two cars involved and got into a shouting match with the flagman. A scuffle insued when track security was called. It wasn't officially a fight as I don't believe any punches were thrown, it was mostly pushing and shoving and grabing, although the combatants did go to the ground. On the restart we took the choose and went to outside of the first row where we settled into second place and managed to hold on to it to the finish. Aparently we got our rear bumper inside the right front wheel of th #55r and knocked his valve stem off and he was forced to retire. I hate that it happened because the Osmers are great friends and Ronnie is a very good up and coming driver. All in all we came away with a better finish than we deserved, but sometime you get one that is worse than you deserve. We had a good points night and are thankful for that, looking forward to next Saturday already. When we checked the car over on Monday we found that we had bent the right front steering arm and we were toed out one and 5/8 of an inch when it should have been 1/8", no wonder the car wasn't handling.
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Saturday May 12, 2012
The old rain bug finally caught up with us on Saturday night. We had a run of five races with no rain, which is super good, and Saturday we had to pay the piper. Hopfully we got it out of the way and the Memorial Day weekend event will be good.
Monday, April 30, 2012
Saturday April 28,2012
Saturday night found the DMS 32 team arriving at Sunny South Raceway shortly after 5 PM. Although we left early enough we ran into construction on I 10 before the twin spans, it took us over an hour to go just 3 miles, I was fit to be tied as was Connelly. This would not give us the time we needed to properly set the car up. Before you knew it practice was over and we still had a few things we wanted to try, but we won last race with the car the way is was, so we'll give it a shot. The problem with that philosophy is BRIAN MCARDLE. He was to drive the #44jr, with Joseph his son driving the #44. When you go into McArdle "land" against Brian (4time track champion) and Joseph last year's champion and current point leader, you had better bring your "A" game and your best car, set up right. In addition to the two 44's the #7 of Hunter Lewis, the #55r of Ronnie Osmer, the #39 of Daniel Thompson, the #94 of Brad West, the #59 of Terry Myers, the #04 of Dawson Kenner, and last but not least the #32 of Connelly Dubuisson were in competition.
I was not comfortable that we had not done all that we could have done to have the car perfect. And against a field of this quailty???? Truth is, I don't know enough to get it perfect, so I guess I had it about as good as I could get it. In qualifying Brian McArdle in the #44jr sat on the pole with a 13.08, Joseph McArdle in the #44 was second with a 13.10, and Connelly was third with a 13.11. The top 3 cars only separated by .03 of a second. I thought to myself, we aren't too far off. In the heat race we started 3rd hung there for a while but Connelly had started the air pressures in the tires too high and when they built up we were too loose. The #7 got by for third and we wound up 4th.
During the intermission Brian threw the dice for the invert and rolled a 6 meaning that the first 6 cars would be inverted. We wound up starting 3rd, with the #55r on pole and the #94 on the outside row 1, the #7 outside of us in 4th, with Joseph in the #44 5th and Brian in the #44jr 6th, the #39 started 7th, the #04 8th with the #59 in 9th. Connelly got a good start and had the lead by the end of the first lap. He went on to lead the first five laps with Brian in the #44jr right on his rear bumper. I knew we were on borrowed time, Connelly was trying his best, but we just didn't have anything for the skill, experience and speed of the #44jr. He got by us and we got "freight trained" by the #7 with us now in 3rd. Connelly was pressing the #7 when he got into his rear bumper, and we almost lost it, and slowed a bit and Joseph shot by in the #44, in the next turn Joseph got into the #7 and spun him. Connelly went to the outside and just about had the accident cleared when the #7 came up toward the outside wall and hit us in the left rear tire cutting it down. Now we had a flat to deal with. I began running toward our pit area as Connelly left the track. When I got to our pit the car was up on the jack, the tire removed and about 6 people looking for the spare left rear. It was still in the bed of the pickup. For the last 3 races we had laid out our jack and spare tires in the pit area for just such a problem, but not tonight, so we had to thrash. Many thanks to our friends and competitors Cliff Osmer and his crew along with the #37 Bando crew as they changed the tire once I found it and had Connelly back on the track in 1 minute and 50 seconds. That ain't bad considering he had to drive all the way around the pits at very reduced speed. When he got back on track it was just in time to take the "choose" and he started outside second row in 4th. By the time he was able to get to the bottom where he could pass he was 5th, plus he wanted to feel the car out as we had mismatched set of tires on the car and had no idea of what the air pressure was on that replacement tire. He said the left rear was the only tire that had any grip, so it took some driving. He made a couple of nice passes, he was able to get by the #94 coming out of turn 4 and got the 39 coming out of turn 2, so now he is third again and angry. He was gaining ever so slightly on Joseph, don't know if he could have done anything with him if he had caught him. However he was really over driving the car in his attempt to catch Joseph and spun right in the middle of turn 3 and 4. Now back to the rear again. He took the "choose" and moved back up to the outside of row one, after the green flag he was able to manage to get to the bottom in third place and hold on to it to the finish although the #7 was literally on our rear bumper. Connelly wasn't handling well at all, but that new motor we got through Mr. Joe was making plenty of horse power to keep us in third place down the straightaways. At the finish we were about 5 to 6 car lengths behind Joseph, with Joseph another 5or 6 back from his father, Brian. The apple doesn't fall too far from the tree. Rounding out the field at the finish was the #39 in 5th, the #55r in 6th, the #04 in 7th, the #56in 8th with the #94 leaving the track with 4 to go. All in all a very eventful night. Connelly got some practice driving an ill handling race car, He got to lead a few laps while driving against some of the best drivers in the Southeast. In the end we just didn't have anything for the 44's and they just spanked us, but we are trying, and to be able to compete against and learn from drivers like the McArdles is truly special. We are already looking forward to the next race on May 12, come on out to SSR and treat yourself to some truly exciting racing
I was not comfortable that we had not done all that we could have done to have the car perfect. And against a field of this quailty???? Truth is, I don't know enough to get it perfect, so I guess I had it about as good as I could get it. In qualifying Brian McArdle in the #44jr sat on the pole with a 13.08, Joseph McArdle in the #44 was second with a 13.10, and Connelly was third with a 13.11. The top 3 cars only separated by .03 of a second. I thought to myself, we aren't too far off. In the heat race we started 3rd hung there for a while but Connelly had started the air pressures in the tires too high and when they built up we were too loose. The #7 got by for third and we wound up 4th.
During the intermission Brian threw the dice for the invert and rolled a 6 meaning that the first 6 cars would be inverted. We wound up starting 3rd, with the #55r on pole and the #94 on the outside row 1, the #7 outside of us in 4th, with Joseph in the #44 5th and Brian in the #44jr 6th, the #39 started 7th, the #04 8th with the #59 in 9th. Connelly got a good start and had the lead by the end of the first lap. He went on to lead the first five laps with Brian in the #44jr right on his rear bumper. I knew we were on borrowed time, Connelly was trying his best, but we just didn't have anything for the skill, experience and speed of the #44jr. He got by us and we got "freight trained" by the #7 with us now in 3rd. Connelly was pressing the #7 when he got into his rear bumper, and we almost lost it, and slowed a bit and Joseph shot by in the #44, in the next turn Joseph got into the #7 and spun him. Connelly went to the outside and just about had the accident cleared when the #7 came up toward the outside wall and hit us in the left rear tire cutting it down. Now we had a flat to deal with. I began running toward our pit area as Connelly left the track. When I got to our pit the car was up on the jack, the tire removed and about 6 people looking for the spare left rear. It was still in the bed of the pickup. For the last 3 races we had laid out our jack and spare tires in the pit area for just such a problem, but not tonight, so we had to thrash. Many thanks to our friends and competitors Cliff Osmer and his crew along with the #37 Bando crew as they changed the tire once I found it and had Connelly back on the track in 1 minute and 50 seconds. That ain't bad considering he had to drive all the way around the pits at very reduced speed. When he got back on track it was just in time to take the "choose" and he started outside second row in 4th. By the time he was able to get to the bottom where he could pass he was 5th, plus he wanted to feel the car out as we had mismatched set of tires on the car and had no idea of what the air pressure was on that replacement tire. He said the left rear was the only tire that had any grip, so it took some driving. He made a couple of nice passes, he was able to get by the #94 coming out of turn 4 and got the 39 coming out of turn 2, so now he is third again and angry. He was gaining ever so slightly on Joseph, don't know if he could have done anything with him if he had caught him. However he was really over driving the car in his attempt to catch Joseph and spun right in the middle of turn 3 and 4. Now back to the rear again. He took the "choose" and moved back up to the outside of row one, after the green flag he was able to manage to get to the bottom in third place and hold on to it to the finish although the #7 was literally on our rear bumper. Connelly wasn't handling well at all, but that new motor we got through Mr. Joe was making plenty of horse power to keep us in third place down the straightaways. At the finish we were about 5 to 6 car lengths behind Joseph, with Joseph another 5or 6 back from his father, Brian. The apple doesn't fall too far from the tree. Rounding out the field at the finish was the #39 in 5th, the #55r in 6th, the #04 in 7th, the #56in 8th with the #94 leaving the track with 4 to go. All in all a very eventful night. Connelly got some practice driving an ill handling race car, He got to lead a few laps while driving against some of the best drivers in the Southeast. In the end we just didn't have anything for the 44's and they just spanked us, but we are trying, and to be able to compete against and learn from drivers like the McArdles is truly special. We are already looking forward to the next race on May 12, come on out to SSR and treat yourself to some truly exciting racing
Monday, April 16, 2012
Saturday April 14, 2012
Well the moon, planets and all the stars finally aligned for what was to be our best Legends showing to date. We arrived at Sunny South Raceway just a few minutes after the track opened about 4:05, there were already quite a few cars in their pit stalls, although the track had not opened for practice. We got our pit passes, went to our pit stall, got set up, registered the car, went through tech and got on the track for some practice. We tried a few minor adjustments as the car was close and the track was at 108 degrees. We tried a couple of different setup combinations and finally settled on what we were going to run. Connelly went out and had a 13.05 on the hand held stop watch, but with that you can be off by as much as a half of a tenth. We had the set of carburators that had come with the new engine and we had never tried them, we still had a half hour of practice left so we decided to give it a try. Got them on and couldn't get them to idle, rushing too much. So now we are going back to the old carbs, couldn't get them to idle either---we just got flustered, so we pushed the car down to Joseph McArdle's pit and Joseph put the magic touch on them and got them right in about two minutes, Mr. Joe kept saying, "don't worry dude, we'll get you back out for a couple of passes" as practice was rapidly coming to a close. There were a couple of other cars that wanted one last shot before qualifying and we all got our chance. The car ran good, so we just checked the air pressures for qualifying.
We were in the third qualifying set and the track had cooled down somewhat and Connelly laid down a lap of 13.04 on the transponder, no finger error there. When Ms. Marcie came to the tech barn to post the times and the starting positions for the heat races, I was kidding with her and she said "quit complaining you got the pole". The next closest time was a 13.11 with the third qualifier at 13.17. Connelly's first pole!! At the driver's meeting they announced that this would be an inverted start race, you might know it our first pole and they are going to throw the big dice. What happens is that after the heat race the winner of the #1 heat race throws a three foot dice off of the scoring tower stairs, whatever number comes up that is how many cars are inverted for the start of the Feature Race.
The competitors for Saturday's Legends race were the usual; Joseph McArdle in the #44jr, #44 with Billy Elmore Jr. driving, #94 Brad West driving, #7 Hunter Lewis at the wheel, #39 with Daniel Thompson driving, #52 back for his first race this season With Cody Karl driving, #55r of Ronnie Osmer, #59 driven by the track chaplan Terry Myers, #04 driven by Dawson Kenner who finally got his ignition gremlin exorcised, #4 driven by Tucker Yance, #j8 driven by Alan Kirkfield, and of course Clonnelly Dubuisson driving his black and orange #32. A very impressive field by any standard.
In his heat race Connelly in #32 on the pole, with the #44jr on his outside followed by #52, the #55r, #j8, with the #04 in 6th. Connelly got a perfect start and got out front followed closely by #44jr. for the first half of the race the #32 and #44 were glued together, seldom separated by more than one car length, by about lap six Connelly began to stretch it out to about a 5 length lead which is where they finished with the #52 third followed by #55r, #04, #j8.
As the winner of the first heat, Connelly had to throw the big dice, he threw a "2" so the first two rows were inverted. So instead of starting on the pole he would start inside second row, with one of his best friends Joseph in the #44jr starting on the pole. So now the starting positions would be the opposite of the Heat Race. The outside row also inverted with the #4 front row and #94 second row outside. The rest of the field kept the starting positions they earned in the Heat Race. At the start Joseph got out front with Connelly passing the #4 for second with the #94 getting to third. They ran that way separated by only one or two car lengths with neither the #32 or the #44jr being able to gain any advantage. On lap 6 a caution came out for a spin by the #j8. On the restart Joseph left just the slightest gap on the inside and Connelly took full advantage shot through for the lead, with the #94 in third. Joseph and Connelly put on a fantastic show for the fans seldom being more than one or two car lengths apart. On one occasion the #94 got under Joseph and took second, Joseph executed a classisc "slide job" and took second back. Some really exciting racing for the fans. There was an extended red flag for the #j8 who got into the wall hard coming out of turn #4 knocking off his right front suspension, the wheel rolled all the way to turn two. That left 9 laps to go at the restart, Connelly was able to hold Joseph off for those 9 very hotly contested laps for his first Legend win. This was a case of two cars which, on that night, were very close in speed, with two equally skilled drivers that raced each other very close and very clean. Connelly stopped at the exit to the pits where Mr. Joe gave him the checkered flag and congratulated him, Connelly said, "man he is strong he almost broke my arm congratulating me". Connelly did the "Cajun Victory Lap" (wrong direction) and got a good round of applause. I am proud to be a part such a race and to be associated with such classy people as the McArdles. Thanks Mr. Joe for providing us with such a great venue. Come out next race on 4-28-12 and treat yourself to a night of great and exciting racing.
We were in the third qualifying set and the track had cooled down somewhat and Connelly laid down a lap of 13.04 on the transponder, no finger error there. When Ms. Marcie came to the tech barn to post the times and the starting positions for the heat races, I was kidding with her and she said "quit complaining you got the pole". The next closest time was a 13.11 with the third qualifier at 13.17. Connelly's first pole!! At the driver's meeting they announced that this would be an inverted start race, you might know it our first pole and they are going to throw the big dice. What happens is that after the heat race the winner of the #1 heat race throws a three foot dice off of the scoring tower stairs, whatever number comes up that is how many cars are inverted for the start of the Feature Race.
The competitors for Saturday's Legends race were the usual; Joseph McArdle in the #44jr, #44 with Billy Elmore Jr. driving, #94 Brad West driving, #7 Hunter Lewis at the wheel, #39 with Daniel Thompson driving, #52 back for his first race this season With Cody Karl driving, #55r of Ronnie Osmer, #59 driven by the track chaplan Terry Myers, #04 driven by Dawson Kenner who finally got his ignition gremlin exorcised, #4 driven by Tucker Yance, #j8 driven by Alan Kirkfield, and of course Clonnelly Dubuisson driving his black and orange #32. A very impressive field by any standard.
In his heat race Connelly in #32 on the pole, with the #44jr on his outside followed by #52, the #55r, #j8, with the #04 in 6th. Connelly got a perfect start and got out front followed closely by #44jr. for the first half of the race the #32 and #44 were glued together, seldom separated by more than one car length, by about lap six Connelly began to stretch it out to about a 5 length lead which is where they finished with the #52 third followed by #55r, #04, #j8.
As the winner of the first heat, Connelly had to throw the big dice, he threw a "2" so the first two rows were inverted. So instead of starting on the pole he would start inside second row, with one of his best friends Joseph in the #44jr starting on the pole. So now the starting positions would be the opposite of the Heat Race. The outside row also inverted with the #4 front row and #94 second row outside. The rest of the field kept the starting positions they earned in the Heat Race. At the start Joseph got out front with Connelly passing the #4 for second with the #94 getting to third. They ran that way separated by only one or two car lengths with neither the #32 or the #44jr being able to gain any advantage. On lap 6 a caution came out for a spin by the #j8. On the restart Joseph left just the slightest gap on the inside and Connelly took full advantage shot through for the lead, with the #94 in third. Joseph and Connelly put on a fantastic show for the fans seldom being more than one or two car lengths apart. On one occasion the #94 got under Joseph and took second, Joseph executed a classisc "slide job" and took second back. Some really exciting racing for the fans. There was an extended red flag for the #j8 who got into the wall hard coming out of turn #4 knocking off his right front suspension, the wheel rolled all the way to turn two. That left 9 laps to go at the restart, Connelly was able to hold Joseph off for those 9 very hotly contested laps for his first Legend win. This was a case of two cars which, on that night, were very close in speed, with two equally skilled drivers that raced each other very close and very clean. Connelly stopped at the exit to the pits where Mr. Joe gave him the checkered flag and congratulated him, Connelly said, "man he is strong he almost broke my arm congratulating me". Connelly did the "Cajun Victory Lap" (wrong direction) and got a good round of applause. I am proud to be a part such a race and to be associated with such classy people as the McArdles. Thanks Mr. Joe for providing us with such a great venue. Come out next race on 4-28-12 and treat yourself to a night of great and exciting racing.
Friday, April 6, 2012
Saturday March 31, 2012
Saturday night brought the 32 team to SSR early!! like 4:05, right after the gates opened. The Osmers #55r, pulled in 5 minutes after us, their comment was, "my God you know you are late when the Dubuisson's get here before you". The early arrival was good as it gave us time to get registered, go through tech and not have to rush like crazy. It also gave us time to sort the car out as we were pushing pretty bad last race. Couple of adjustments and the car settled down and handled much better. In qualifying Connelly posted a 13.124 which was good enough for 5th place out of 13 cars. The first five cars were seperated by only .04 of a second -- real tight. There were the usual competitors; the 7, 53, 44jr, 44, 59, 55r, 4, 39, 94, the 94 (yellow) 08, a new driver from Houston driving his fourth race in the #81 and of cource Connelly in the #32.
Connelly's 5th place qualifying earned him the inside of second row in his heat race. He was in the heat with the super fast #7 of Hunter Lewis and the #53 of Jeremy Lundy. He started 3rd and ran in that position for the whole 10 laps never being more than 2 or 3 car lengths behind the #53, which is where he finished. That finish earned him inside 3rd row for the feature.
Connelly got off to a fair start in the feature and settled down in 5th or 6th place for the first 7 or 8 laps, which was his plan, to save his "stuff" for the last 8 or 10 laps. Then it got rough for us. During a caution we lost our brakes, thank God it was during the caution, he came off and got out of the car forgetting to unplug the Raceiver, broke the wire to his earpieces, so now he will have no Raceiver if he gets back out. The race had now been red flaged trying to get the lineup straight, which gave us a couple of minutes to find the brake problem. We found it, the heim that connects the brake pedal to the master cylinder had the nut that secures it vibrate off, thus NO BRAKES. We found the heim and the rod that activetes the master cylinder put it back on, still no nut, one of the Bandolero owners had a compartmented box full of assorted nuts and bolts, within seconds we found the right one, got it secured, Connelly got buckled in and got back on track just as the red flag was lifted. Since he had come off the track and worked on the car he would have to start last. No problem at least we were back in the action although from 13th position. He made a couple of passes, took the "choose" on a couple of occasions and got up to 4th on one of the restarts. Then he and the 39 got together we got spun and hit in the driver's door. No serious damage. But guess what?? back to the rear of the field again. After working his way back up to 6th, he was trying to get past the #44, who was trying to get past the #94. Connelly was giving them plenty of room, but the #44 and #94 got together and wrecked, Connelly had no place to go and he plowed into the back of the #44 tearing off both front fenders, the bumper and grille were destroyed, the oil cooler was pushed back into the front of the engine. No suspension parts appeared to be damaged, we won't know until we scale the car this weekend. At this writing two new fenders, a new grille, bumper and oil cooler bracket have all been installed. We plan to scale and "nut and bolt" the car tomorrow and take the fenders off and get them to the paint shop on Monday and be ready for next Saturday night at SSR. Much of our misfortune could have been avoided had we checked the 1/4 nut that holds the brake m/c rod in place. You can bet that has already been added to our off weekend inspection protocol. All things considered, it could have been a lot worse. We tore up a couple of hundred dollars worth of parts, but Connelly just got his pride brused a little. If that brake heim had come off at full throttle we could have been in big trouble. But we were able to push the car into the trailer and it appears none the worse for wear, and we are already looking forward to next Saturday night at SSR. Come out and see some really good racing.
Connelly's 5th place qualifying earned him the inside of second row in his heat race. He was in the heat with the super fast #7 of Hunter Lewis and the #53 of Jeremy Lundy. He started 3rd and ran in that position for the whole 10 laps never being more than 2 or 3 car lengths behind the #53, which is where he finished. That finish earned him inside 3rd row for the feature.
Connelly got off to a fair start in the feature and settled down in 5th or 6th place for the first 7 or 8 laps, which was his plan, to save his "stuff" for the last 8 or 10 laps. Then it got rough for us. During a caution we lost our brakes, thank God it was during the caution, he came off and got out of the car forgetting to unplug the Raceiver, broke the wire to his earpieces, so now he will have no Raceiver if he gets back out. The race had now been red flaged trying to get the lineup straight, which gave us a couple of minutes to find the brake problem. We found it, the heim that connects the brake pedal to the master cylinder had the nut that secures it vibrate off, thus NO BRAKES. We found the heim and the rod that activetes the master cylinder put it back on, still no nut, one of the Bandolero owners had a compartmented box full of assorted nuts and bolts, within seconds we found the right one, got it secured, Connelly got buckled in and got back on track just as the red flag was lifted. Since he had come off the track and worked on the car he would have to start last. No problem at least we were back in the action although from 13th position. He made a couple of passes, took the "choose" on a couple of occasions and got up to 4th on one of the restarts. Then he and the 39 got together we got spun and hit in the driver's door. No serious damage. But guess what?? back to the rear of the field again. After working his way back up to 6th, he was trying to get past the #44, who was trying to get past the #94. Connelly was giving them plenty of room, but the #44 and #94 got together and wrecked, Connelly had no place to go and he plowed into the back of the #44 tearing off both front fenders, the bumper and grille were destroyed, the oil cooler was pushed back into the front of the engine. No suspension parts appeared to be damaged, we won't know until we scale the car this weekend. At this writing two new fenders, a new grille, bumper and oil cooler bracket have all been installed. We plan to scale and "nut and bolt" the car tomorrow and take the fenders off and get them to the paint shop on Monday and be ready for next Saturday night at SSR. Much of our misfortune could have been avoided had we checked the 1/4 nut that holds the brake m/c rod in place. You can bet that has already been added to our off weekend inspection protocol. All things considered, it could have been a lot worse. We tore up a couple of hundred dollars worth of parts, but Connelly just got his pride brused a little. If that brake heim had come off at full throttle we could have been in big trouble. But we were able to push the car into the trailer and it appears none the worse for wear, and we are already looking forward to next Saturday night at SSR. Come out and see some really good racing.
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Saturday March 17, 2012
Saturday afternoon found us running late getting to the track, Connelly's younger sister had a soccer game that we had to attend, by the time we got out of town we were an hour late. By the time we got to the track, got registered and teched we only had a little over a half hour of practice left. It wouldn't have been too bad, but the car that was handling so well last race went to junk on us. It just wouldn't roll through the center of the turns and was sliding the front end up the track. The track temp was 94o and we should have been loose. I made a slight adjustment which helped some, but we were still tight, made another adjustment, still tight, then practice ended. The track finally got the transponders in so we were able to qualify on time. Connelly laid down a pretty fair lap, 13.20 for a fourth starting spot out of 11 cars. As usual we had a very good field of cars. The very fast #53 of Jeremy Lundy, Both of the 44's the blue driven by Joseph McArdle, with Billy Elmore, Jr. in the silver car. In addition Joey Padget in his very quick #83, the always fast #7 of Hunter Lewis, of cource the #32 with Connelly Dubuisson doing the driving. The much improved #4 of Tucker Yance, along with the #39 of Daniel Thompson, the #55r of Ronnie Osmer, the #59 of Terry Myers, and Andrew Johnson driving the #66. A very strong field again this weekend. Connelly's fourth qualifying spot gave him the outside front row in his heat race, alongside of #83 of Joey Padgett. At the start Connelly was able to get to the bottom in a half a lap, then coming out of turn four got under the #83 they touched and Connelly got dead sideways (you could read his number from up the track) he was able to maintain 2nd position for a couple of laps then coming out of turn two spun, which put him last, since there were only three laps to go there was no "choose", in three laps he was able to work his way up to 3rd. Which gave him outsde of third row (6th) starting position in the feature race.
Eleven cars answered the call for the feature, after the start it took Connelly a full lap to get to the bottom of the track where he could race, by then he was 8th, he then worked his way back up to 5 th when he got into a long slide down the back stretch and lost 3 positions, worked his way back up to about 6th when the 55r and 66 got together and as a result of a case of mistaken identity by the race director, Connelly got sent to the back for causing the accident?? oh well, all this and the car is handling worse (the track is cooling off and getting tighter)--just what we didn't need. We get back to racing Connelly just completes a pass on the 39 for 5th and Joey Padget blows an oil line off his engine and oils the track down causing the silver #44 to spin right in front of Connelly leaving just a narrow lane between the car and the wall on the back straightaway, Connelly managed to squeeze through and not hit anything or anybody. Joey was finished for the night. After a lengthy cleanup delay we got back underway with a "green, white, checker" Connelly wound up finishing 6th. It could have been a lot worse, we put ourselves in position to get run over by the #4 on two occasions, Tucker skifully avoided us, and that squeeze between the silver #44 and the wall was too close for comfort. Considering we were dealing with an ill handling race car and several near misses, I was overjoyed to just be able to push the #32 back on the trailer in one piece. Oh well, we'll give it another try next race on the 31st. Come on out to Sunny South Raceway and treat yourself to some very exciting and action filled racing.
Eleven cars answered the call for the feature, after the start it took Connelly a full lap to get to the bottom of the track where he could race, by then he was 8th, he then worked his way back up to 5 th when he got into a long slide down the back stretch and lost 3 positions, worked his way back up to about 6th when the 55r and 66 got together and as a result of a case of mistaken identity by the race director, Connelly got sent to the back for causing the accident?? oh well, all this and the car is handling worse (the track is cooling off and getting tighter)--just what we didn't need. We get back to racing Connelly just completes a pass on the 39 for 5th and Joey Padget blows an oil line off his engine and oils the track down causing the silver #44 to spin right in front of Connelly leaving just a narrow lane between the car and the wall on the back straightaway, Connelly managed to squeeze through and not hit anything or anybody. Joey was finished for the night. After a lengthy cleanup delay we got back underway with a "green, white, checker" Connelly wound up finishing 6th. It could have been a lot worse, we put ourselves in position to get run over by the #4 on two occasions, Tucker skifully avoided us, and that squeeze between the silver #44 and the wall was too close for comfort. Considering we were dealing with an ill handling race car and several near misses, I was overjoyed to just be able to push the #32 back on the trailer in one piece. Oh well, we'll give it another try next race on the 31st. Come on out to Sunny South Raceway and treat yourself to some very exciting and action filled racing.
Monday, March 5, 2012
OPENING NIGHT 3-3-2012
This past Saturday night was opening night at Sunny South Raceway for the 2012 season. Everyone was really looking forward to the opening especially Connelly. He has worked hard getting his grades in order as well as working very hard getting the car ready. There have been a couple of private test sessions and one open test date and everyone was all tested and practiced out and ready to go RACING. There have been a couple of new entries in the Legends class in the Young Lions division. Ronnie Osmer has moved up from Bandoleros with his #55r and Daniel Thompson has also moved up from Bandoleros with his #39. We raced Bandoleros with them and they are both good competitors and great friends. We welcome them to the Legends class and look forward to racing with them both.
The field of 12 Legends that presented Saturday was a very strong one. In addition to Ronnie #55r, and #39, Jeremy Lundy #53 with his wicked fast '34 coupe, Joseph McArdle blue #44, (2011 Young Lions track champion), his dad Brian McArdle three time track champion in the Pro division in his silver 44jr coupe. Terry Myers with his '37 sedan #59 was sporting a new paint scheme, looks like gloss black that has been in the rain also he has a new engine, Obviously Connelly with his '37 sedan, new engine and all, Also competing was the #4 of Tucker Yance, the #7 of Hunter Lewis, who has a new motor and is super strong. The #66 is also a new driver here for his first race, the #04 whose name I do not have at this time (but I'll get it) and finally another Louisiana driver from Harahan, LA driving his #8 again I do not have his name.
HEAT RACE
We were not able to qualify this Saturday as the transponders did not arrive in time, hopefully they will be in for the next race. I drew the chip for starting position and drew a high number so we would start 5th out of 6 for our heat. The #39 who was scheduled to start ahead of us opted to start last (his first race) to try and get his "racing feet" under him before starting up in the middle of the pack, smart thing to do. That moved us up to starting 3rd as they just moved the whole line up. We were in the first heat with the #53, #44jr, #66, #4, #39 and Connelly in #32. At the start we were able to move up to second held it for a short time when Brian in the #44 got past us. We ran 3rd for a few laps behind the #53 and#44jr when Brian spun the #44jr right in front of Connelly, Brian being the professional driver he is locked the car down and gave Connelly a good lane to get buy without any contact. That brought out the caution, Brian took the "choose" which put Connelly back to third. After a couple of laps of hard racing the #39 got into the #4 and spun him, another caution. We again started 3rd., Brian made a great pass on the white flag lap for the win, the #53 finished second Connelly third with the #4 fourth followed by the #39 and #66. Connelly drove a good heat, fairly conservatively but he was in some fast company with the #44jr and the #53
FEATURE RACE
In the feature we started inside second row behind the #53, the blue #44 of Joseph McArdle outside pole, the #59 was outside of us with the #4 inside 3nd row, the #08 outside of the3rd row, with the #39 inside 4th row and the #55r outside 4th row, the#66 inside row 5 with the #7 outside of him. Brian McArdle wasn't feeling well after the heat race so he put a relief driver Billy Elmore in the #44jr for the feature which put him starting last. Connelly started third and finished third, but had to pass about twelve cars to do that. (The "choose" cone is put out after each caution except on the last three laps and allows all the drivers behind the leader move up to the outside of the 1st row, then the next car that "chooses" goes to the outside of the 2nd row and so on.) So when the caution comes out if you are in third place and do not "chosse" you are now in 5th place, however the outside is the long way around the track and the slower line, but the driver who was third and is now 5th has to pass all those outside cars again. There were a number of spins, some one car spins about three others that someone got spun by someone else, so there were a lot of "choosers". Connelly even got into the act. Going into turn one on one of the many restarts the #44jr came down on Connelly and they just barely touched and the #44jr went around, however it knocked Connelly's fender loose, I had to bring him in for repairs, before I got to him Cliff Osmer just snaped the fender back in place and Connelly got back out and didn't loose a lap, but now he is dead last. One lap after the restart Connelly had passed one car when the #39 spun and was black flagged (three spin rule) and withdrew. Connelly took the "choose" and went to the outside of the first row, by time he got to the bottom he was fourth behind the#53, the#7, and Joseph in the blue #44. Connelly got by Joseph in the #44 on a restart, I think Joseph missed a shift. Connelly was able to maintain his position and finish third. He almost got to second when the #7 thought the white flag was the checker and backed off, then realized his error and got back in it, Connelly got to the side of him and was third by less than a 1/2 car length. Joseph in the#44 was 4th, Billy Elmore in the #44jr was 5th with the #4 finishing 6th, the #08 was 7th, with the #59 came in 8th, and the #55r in 9th. After the race in the tech barn Billy Elmore showed what a class act he is when he came up to Connelly and accepted full responsibility for their little "get together" the mirrors in the #44jr were set for Brian and he just couldn't see. All in all a very eventful race, with several spins a couple of slight fender benders and some real good racing. I thought Connelly had a very good race, he got to race against the best drivers and equipment in the deep south and held his own, he is coming along and shows real promise. Our next race is at Sunny South on March 17. Come out to Grand Bay, AL and see some really good racing.
The field of 12 Legends that presented Saturday was a very strong one. In addition to Ronnie #55r, and #39, Jeremy Lundy #53 with his wicked fast '34 coupe, Joseph McArdle blue #44, (2011 Young Lions track champion), his dad Brian McArdle three time track champion in the Pro division in his silver 44jr coupe. Terry Myers with his '37 sedan #59 was sporting a new paint scheme, looks like gloss black that has been in the rain also he has a new engine, Obviously Connelly with his '37 sedan, new engine and all, Also competing was the #4 of Tucker Yance, the #7 of Hunter Lewis, who has a new motor and is super strong. The #66 is also a new driver here for his first race, the #04 whose name I do not have at this time (but I'll get it) and finally another Louisiana driver from Harahan, LA driving his #8 again I do not have his name.
HEAT RACE
We were not able to qualify this Saturday as the transponders did not arrive in time, hopefully they will be in for the next race. I drew the chip for starting position and drew a high number so we would start 5th out of 6 for our heat. The #39 who was scheduled to start ahead of us opted to start last (his first race) to try and get his "racing feet" under him before starting up in the middle of the pack, smart thing to do. That moved us up to starting 3rd as they just moved the whole line up. We were in the first heat with the #53, #44jr, #66, #4, #39 and Connelly in #32. At the start we were able to move up to second held it for a short time when Brian in the #44 got past us. We ran 3rd for a few laps behind the #53 and#44jr when Brian spun the #44jr right in front of Connelly, Brian being the professional driver he is locked the car down and gave Connelly a good lane to get buy without any contact. That brought out the caution, Brian took the "choose" which put Connelly back to third. After a couple of laps of hard racing the #39 got into the #4 and spun him, another caution. We again started 3rd., Brian made a great pass on the white flag lap for the win, the #53 finished second Connelly third with the #4 fourth followed by the #39 and #66. Connelly drove a good heat, fairly conservatively but he was in some fast company with the #44jr and the #53
FEATURE RACE
In the feature we started inside second row behind the #53, the blue #44 of Joseph McArdle outside pole, the #59 was outside of us with the #4 inside 3nd row, the #08 outside of the3rd row, with the #39 inside 4th row and the #55r outside 4th row, the#66 inside row 5 with the #7 outside of him. Brian McArdle wasn't feeling well after the heat race so he put a relief driver Billy Elmore in the #44jr for the feature which put him starting last. Connelly started third and finished third, but had to pass about twelve cars to do that. (The "choose" cone is put out after each caution except on the last three laps and allows all the drivers behind the leader move up to the outside of the 1st row, then the next car that "chooses" goes to the outside of the 2nd row and so on.) So when the caution comes out if you are in third place and do not "chosse" you are now in 5th place, however the outside is the long way around the track and the slower line, but the driver who was third and is now 5th has to pass all those outside cars again. There were a number of spins, some one car spins about three others that someone got spun by someone else, so there were a lot of "choosers". Connelly even got into the act. Going into turn one on one of the many restarts the #44jr came down on Connelly and they just barely touched and the #44jr went around, however it knocked Connelly's fender loose, I had to bring him in for repairs, before I got to him Cliff Osmer just snaped the fender back in place and Connelly got back out and didn't loose a lap, but now he is dead last. One lap after the restart Connelly had passed one car when the #39 spun and was black flagged (three spin rule) and withdrew. Connelly took the "choose" and went to the outside of the first row, by time he got to the bottom he was fourth behind the#53, the#7, and Joseph in the blue #44. Connelly got by Joseph in the #44 on a restart, I think Joseph missed a shift. Connelly was able to maintain his position and finish third. He almost got to second when the #7 thought the white flag was the checker and backed off, then realized his error and got back in it, Connelly got to the side of him and was third by less than a 1/2 car length. Joseph in the#44 was 4th, Billy Elmore in the #44jr was 5th with the #4 finishing 6th, the #08 was 7th, with the #59 came in 8th, and the #55r in 9th. After the race in the tech barn Billy Elmore showed what a class act he is when he came up to Connelly and accepted full responsibility for their little "get together" the mirrors in the #44jr were set for Brian and he just couldn't see. All in all a very eventful race, with several spins a couple of slight fender benders and some real good racing. I thought Connelly had a very good race, he got to race against the best drivers and equipment in the deep south and held his own, he is coming along and shows real promise. Our next race is at Sunny South on March 17. Come out to Grand Bay, AL and see some really good racing.
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Open Test Date SSR 2-11-12
We had our test date last Saturday, got to see a lot of old friends including Mr Dan who I met on my first visit to SSR, he has followed Connelly's progress throughout his brief career, it was great seeing him again.
We had a busy agenda for the test session, new engine to break in, new tires to break in. Mr. Joe said that the engine was ready to go as we had it dynoed in Charlotte, but I am so cautious I broke it in again, when you spend that much money you want to be sure. In our first time on the track there were about 7 cars out with us, I told the other drivers we were going to be running about half speed and that we would stay out of their way, which we did. We got a break as there were no cars in the grid and we got 20 laps before the next class was up. We did two more 10 lap sets gradually increasing speed. The car handled great and the enging felt really strong. In the next set I told Connelly to increase his speed and push it a little. He turned some pretty good times, He even practiced a restart. The car really looked good on the track, very smooth. We ran the whole practice without the front fenders or hood or grille in order to maximize air flow to new engine. It still got very hot. We put a fan on it between sets to bring it down which it did. In the final set I told Connelly to run it, he got some really good times, although the track was cold, the ambient air temperture was around 50 degrees with a 20 mph wind, it was more than cool. All in all we had a very successful test and are looking forward to the 3rd of March to start the season.
We had some liquid on the top of the engine and some oil drops on the left rear fender and running board. I thought that the head bolts were leaking, so I called Mr. Joe Sun. morning all concerned. Mr Joe pointed out you were running too good to have an oil leak through the head bolts, you would be loosing compression. I was so paranoid about that new motor. Joe told me go out there and find your oil leak and you will be fine. The rear oil cooler line had worked about an eighth of a turn loose and there was just a slight drip, which accounted for the oil on the rear fender and running board. The liquid on the top of the engine was brake fluid, we had over filled the tank. Joe probablly thinks that I am a raving lunatic worrying about every little thing without checking it out first. O well that is what us neophites do. Again Joe sorry for being such a pest.
We had a busy agenda for the test session, new engine to break in, new tires to break in. Mr. Joe said that the engine was ready to go as we had it dynoed in Charlotte, but I am so cautious I broke it in again, when you spend that much money you want to be sure. In our first time on the track there were about 7 cars out with us, I told the other drivers we were going to be running about half speed and that we would stay out of their way, which we did. We got a break as there were no cars in the grid and we got 20 laps before the next class was up. We did two more 10 lap sets gradually increasing speed. The car handled great and the enging felt really strong. In the next set I told Connelly to increase his speed and push it a little. He turned some pretty good times, He even practiced a restart. The car really looked good on the track, very smooth. We ran the whole practice without the front fenders or hood or grille in order to maximize air flow to new engine. It still got very hot. We put a fan on it between sets to bring it down which it did. In the final set I told Connelly to run it, he got some really good times, although the track was cold, the ambient air temperture was around 50 degrees with a 20 mph wind, it was more than cool. All in all we had a very successful test and are looking forward to the 3rd of March to start the season.
We had some liquid on the top of the engine and some oil drops on the left rear fender and running board. I thought that the head bolts were leaking, so I called Mr. Joe Sun. morning all concerned. Mr Joe pointed out you were running too good to have an oil leak through the head bolts, you would be loosing compression. I was so paranoid about that new motor. Joe told me go out there and find your oil leak and you will be fine. The rear oil cooler line had worked about an eighth of a turn loose and there was just a slight drip, which accounted for the oil on the rear fender and running board. The liquid on the top of the engine was brake fluid, we had over filled the tank. Joe probablly thinks that I am a raving lunatic worrying about every little thing without checking it out first. O well that is what us neophites do. Again Joe sorry for being such a pest.
Off Season Prep for 2012
The #32 team began preparing for the 2012 season in early fall. We tore the car down to the last nut and bolt, had the chassis clipped and powdercoated -gloss black. The old clip was out a bunch, 1/2 inch in on the right side and almost 3/4 inch up on the right side, probablly a result of three too close encounters with the #4. We just seemed to have an attraction to each other. We ordered a new engine from Mr. Joe which is now installed, changed all of the brake lines, put all new bolts in the controll arms, new steering collum (we had already replaced the steering box last August), changed all fluids. It took us forever to get the car scaled as the front clip was so far out that we had to go back to the measurements we took of the car when we first got it. We have it pretty close. It was a lot of work but the car looks good and we are waiting to get to the track on the 11th of Feb. The new engine sounds strong, we will see how strong. We are certainly looking forward to the 2012 season.
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