THE #32 TEAM

THE #32 TEAM
Connelly, driver-chief mechanic, Betty-- in charge of videos and when it is time to eat, Petey must smell everything-has not peed on any tires yet, Paul- crew chief and pays for everything.

Clean Sweep Winner 9-19-15

Clean Sweep Winner 9-19-15
Unpainted New Body After 6-6-15 Wreck

#3 Pro Challenge

#3 Pro Challenge
Connelly Drove #3 to Victory First Time Out

In The Pits--Pre Race

In The Pits--Pre Race
New Car and Connelly

THE "NEW" #32 COUPE

THE "NEW" #32 COUPE
IN THE PITS BEFORE FIRST RACE

OUT FRONT

OUT FRONT
Leading The Pack Down The Front Straightaway

WON FIRST RACE OF SEASON

WON FIRST RACE OF SEASON
WON FIRST PLACE TROPHY PLUS $200 BOUNTY

Saturday, May 30, 2015

Sunday 5-24-15 second half of Momorial day Classic

Well here we are at the pit gate of SSR for the Sunday race of Memorial Day Classic.  We bedded down at the La Quinta Inn, I fell into a "coma" I was exhausted, ate the classic La Quinta continental breakfast and got to the track for opening time (12 noon).  We still had a lot to do, had to change the oil and filter on the race car, nut and bolt it and check everything for today's race.  The weather was threatening and I wasn't entirely sure we would be able to get the race in.  We got in a practice session and the times were just fair, but every one else said the same thing, oh well we all have to race on the same track.  We had the drivers meeting and qualifying was set for 3:30.  At 3:29 it started to rain, the track got respectfully wet, Mr. Wayne got out his tractor with attached blower, and in about 30-40 minutes the track was ready.  We got qualifying in and guess what--more rain-- got the track dried and started heat racing, more rain, more track drying.  Finally got finished with the rain and started racing.

QUALIFYING:   The cars available for today's racing in order of qualifying were the #44 Brian McArdle on pole 12.977, #32 Connelly Dubuisson 2nd, we had some brake issues and I think it got into Connelly's head, #96 Robbie Johnston 3rd, #44jr. Joseph McArdle 4th, #14 Conner Okrzesik 5th, #10 Chad Robinson 6th, #94 Brad West 7th, #15 Dustin Harvison 8th, #6 Fred Laing 9th, #114 Michael Beasley 10th, #01 Treyce Capers 11th, #30 William Wilson 12th, #5 Brandon Slater 13th, and #38 Jayme Corry.  Again another strong field of cars the first 5 are all within a quarter of a second of each other.  Should be a good race.

HEAT RACE: We were in the second heat due to our qualifying time, but we were starting on the pole.  Got a  good start and led from start to finish without incident, a good shakedown.  The car felt better, the track had cooled down a little and had a little more grip, and I think Connelly got the brake issue out of his head. (somewhat)  Finishing order for top 5: #32, #44jr., #14, #10, #30.

FEATURE RACE:  As the winner of the first heat, Brian #44 had to roll the invert dice, he rolled a 6 putting him on the outside of row 3 with Connelly to his inside.  The race started just fine with Connelly getting a good start, after one lap he was up to 3rd, after the second lap Brian got by and he was 4th, by lap 5 he was back to 3rd behind Brian who was second with Joseph on the lead.  They rode like this for a few  laps, which I found strange because Brian can and will pass Joseph at a moment's notice.  At the crossed flags (halfway) Connelly said, "enough of this, it is time to go" and he passed Brian and Joseph.  Brian immediately passed Joseph for second with Connelly now in the lead.  It appeared to me that Brian and Joseph were trying to set up something where Brian could stay in front of Connelly until the last lap and shoot ahead of Joseph at the finish and gain some extra points.  Who knows ?????? sounds like a plan that I would implement if we had a teammate.  Connelly ran in front of Brian for a couple of laps, and then while going into turn one Brian got into the back of Connelly and spun him out.  The race director, by rule sent them both to the rear.  Now we are restarting 12 out of 13 with 6 laps to go.  On the restart Connelly passed up one car #6 and coming out of turn 1 the #5 spun right in front of us and Connelly got into him--no big damage but the #6 then slammed into our left rear bumper bending the bumper and both rear frame horns.  Pretty hard impact, Connelly thought he was finished but the car was still raceable.  Because we did not complete a lap--complete restart--again starting 12th.  We began to pick off cars in front of us with Brian "in tow" we both moved up to a 6th place finish for Connelly  and 7th place finish for Brian.
The top five finishers were #44jr. with the win, #14 2nd, #96 3rd, #94 4th, and #10 5th.  Connelly said he was so mad he didn't know who to be mad at.  He finally cooled down and soon after we got home Brian texted Connelly and accepted responsibility for the accident.  The good news we didn't lose any points to Brian in fact we gained two.  However we did lose about $300  in prize money and points bonus.  Well such is racing,  if you can't stand the heat stay out of the kitchen, but if the kitchen is where you want to be you have to learn to deal with it.  We will have to go through several things on the car to get it back in top form for the next race on June 6th--we will be there if the good Lord allows us.

Saturday Night May 23, 2015 Regional Qualifier

Tonight is the Regional Qualifier.  What this is all about is if you are a Regional winner you are guaranteed a starting spot in the feature of the National Championship race, so if you go to the nationals and do not have a good qualifying run you still have a spot in the finals.  The car is more or less ready-we had to burn some midnight oil to get it ready as Connelly had to work in addition to all the graduating, but we got most of it done and got him and Graham graduated and are here at SSR for the regionals.  Want to just take a couple of deep breaths and relax for about a day or so, but not so fast we have a race today and tomorrow, so just "suck it up" and go for it.  We still had to put one heat cycle on our race tires for tonight, so no  time to waste.  Got the pits set up, got registered, went through tech, got on  the track got the tires finished and "busted them" for a couple of laps.  They felt good but the track temp was 134 degrees and we didn't learn much, but we are as ready as we can be.

QUALIFYING:  The participants in todays event are in qualifying order #32 Connelly Dubuisson at 12.923, #44 Brian McArdle 2nd, #44jr. Joseph McArdle 3rd, #94 Brad West 4th, #96 Robbie Johnston 5th, #8 Donovan Ponder 6th, #14 Conner Okrezesik 7th, #10 Chad Robinson 8th, #01 Treyce Capers 9th, #15 Dustin Harvison 10th, #30 William Wilson 11th, #18 Devin Corry 12th, # 5 Brandon Slater13th, #114 Michael Beasley 14th, #6 Fred Laing 15th.  A very competitive group, the top 5 are all within a quarter of a second of each other.

HEAT RACE:  There was a slight departure from the usual regional qualifier format.  This year we will have heat races and a dice throw for invert positions, in years past we just had  qualifying and race the feature, no big deal you just "dance with who brung ya".  Connelly started on the pole in his  heat race as a result of his qualifying time, he pretty much led every lap and went on to win his heat.  The top 5 were #32, #44jr.,#96, #14, #30.  Now go get ready for the feature, the Regional Qualifier.  As a result of winning the first heat Connelly had to the roll the invert dice, so he put the fans on the engine to cool it down and went to throw the dice-- he threw a 1, which kept him on the pole, no invert for the feature.  He checked the car over thoroughly and felt that everything was as good as he could make it then sat down and rested.

REGIONAL QUALIFIER:   It was an impressive sight, 15 cars in the parade lap for the feature, getting ready for 35 laps of intense racing.  Connelly got a good start but an  early caution came out, "complete restart", did not complete one lap, restarted,  didn't get as good a start as the first time and Brian in the #44 snookered him and took the lead, after a couple of laps Connelly un-snookered himself on lap 5 and got under Brian and outside of Joseph to run 3 wide down the front straightaway--he was the meat in a McArdle sandwich, he took the lead and managed to increase his advantage to 3 or 4 car lengths which is where he ran for the first one third of the race.  Then another caution,  got another good restart, same drill, got out to about 3 or 4 car lengths  was able to maintain that until another caution.  At this point the race is about 2/3 complete.  Connelly got another good  restart and again was able to get about a 4 car length advantage over the #44 and held on for  the win.  A very impressive performance, won the regional qualifier, the $1,000 added prize money, a guaranteed spot in the finals of the national championship race in November, what a great day for the #32 team.  Got to get ready for tomorrow, the second half of the Memorial Day Classic, cant wait!!!!  The top 5 finishing order was #32 1st, #44 2nd, #8 who had a technical issue in post race inspection and was disqualified, moving the #14 up to 3rd, #96 4th, and #94 rounding out the top 5.

Saturday Night 5-16-15

Here we are at SSR the first time as a "Wanted Man"--- Bounty!!!! Got to our pits got set up registered and went through tech and got on the track as we had tires to break in.  Got that about half done and got our race tires on for tonight and went out for a few hot laps, the car was good, so we put it up until qualifying. 

QUALIFYING:  Tonight's participants, in order of qualifying #32 Connelly on pole at 12.904, #44 Brian McArdle 2nd, #44jr. Joseph McArdle  3rd, #96 Robbie Johnston 4th, #10 Chad Robinson 5th, #14 Conner Okrzesik 6th, #114 Michael Beasley 7th, #30 William Wilson 8th. #01 Treyce Capers 9th, #18 Corry Devin 10th, #15 Dustin Harvison 11th, #6 Fred Laing 12th, #5 Brandon Slater 13th,
#1 Wyatt Heffington 14th; a very strong field with the top 5 all being within three tenths of a second of each other.

HEAT RACE: Connelly was in the first heat race and sat on the pole as a result of his qualifying run.  He got a good start and led the entire race, had a good run.  The heat race was incident free with the top 5 finishers being #32, #44jr., #10, #114, #01.  All in all a good competitive race.

FEATURE RACE:  Connelly threw a 6 on the invert dice, relegating us to a 6th place start, on  the outside and in the middle of the field, the task here is to get to the bottom where you can race and not get caught up in someone else's wreck.  Connelly got a good clean start and by the end of lap one was in 4th place, by end of lap 3 was second, by end of lap 7 had the lead.  Connelly and the #44 were very close with Connelly never more than 3 or 4 lengths ahead of Brian in the #44.  As the race progressed they began to overtake and lap slower cars.  We lost about 2 lengths lapping the #6, letting Brian  get too close, then while trying to lap the #5 with two laps to go he didn't heed the "move over" flag holding us up and forcing us to go to the outside of him, he then came up giving Brian racing room at the bottom and Brian being the expert driver that he is took full advantage and got the lead.  Connelly got to Brian's back bumper but with only two laps to go was not able to get by and finished second, giving Brian the $100 bounty.  A tough way to lose when you had a winning car.  The top 5 finishers were the #44, #32, #44jr. #14, #96.  We will just have to get ready for next race the Regional Qualifier on the 23 of May.  Going to be tough and we have one grandson  graduating from 8th grade on Thursday, Connelly graduating from Brother Martin High school on Friday and I have an all day appointment in Mississippi all day Wednesday--not much time to work on the car.

Wednesday, May 13, 2015

WANTED!!!!!!!!!!!!

This afternoon I pulled up the track website and low and behold Connelly is a wanted man.  As a result of him winning all the races at SSR so far this season, a BOUNTY has been placed on Connelly and the #32 Legend.  If anyone can beat him fairly and  cleanly that driver will win an additional $100, if no one wins the first week it increases to $200 in week two, and then to $300 in week three, if Connelly continues to win, and  no one claims the money after week three then Connelly gets the #300.  So pull up the face book page off of the sunnysouthraceway.org website and check it out.  Now we have a bulls eye on our back---good problem to have.

Thursday, May 7, 2015

Saturday Night May 2, 2015

Well here it is race night again and we are in line at the pit gate, about 10 minutes past opening time as we have a lot to do--break in a new set of right side tires.  We got unloaded, set up our pit area, got registered and went through tech and  were the first car in line to go onto the track.  As planned we were the first car on the track got one good heat cycle on the new tires, cooled  them down with water and got right back in line to go out again, got another good heat cycle on them then went to cool the engine down.  Got that accomplished got back in line to go out again but another car blew off an oil line and oiled down turns 3 and 4 and the whole front straightaway along with turn 1, what a mess.  It took a half hour to clean up but an oil down of that magnitude will impact the track for the rest of the night.  We went back out under a yellow/green light with about 7 other cars--go about half throttle and be careful, which everyone did and let that count for another heat cycle.  Finally got the last heat cycle in and got ready to qualify.

Cars available tonight were the #32 Connelly Dubuisson, #44 Brian McArdle, #44jr. Joseph McArdle, #10 Chad Robinson, #94 Brad West, #96 Robbie Johnston, #14 Connor Okrzesik, #114 Michael Beassley, #15 Dustin Harvison, #6 Fred Laing, #18 Devin Corry, #30 William Wilson, and #01 Treyce Capers; a very strong and respectable field of competitors.

QUALIFYING:  we had an early qualifying run and Connelly felt he had made a couple of mistakes which he did, and that we wouldn't have that good of a time, however with all of that we were still able to post a 12.974 which was good enough for the pole.  Other qualifiers were
 #44-13.058, #44jr-13.144,#10-13.155, #94-13.181, #96-13.289, #14-13.314, #114-13.396,
#15-13.462,#6- 13.518, #18-13.586,#30-13.797, #01-13.923.  I feel the oil down of the track contributed to the slower times--we usually have at least 2 or 3 cars in the 12 second bracket.  Even so the first 5 cars were within 2 tenths of a second of each other, good competitive field.

HEAT RACE: In our heat Connelly started on the pole due to our qualifying run, Joseph McArdle in the #44jr. started 2nd. with #94 of Brad West third, #14 Conner Okrzesik fourth, #15 Dustin Harvison fifth, #18 Devin Corry sixth, and #01 Treyce Capers.
Connelly got a good start from the pole and was able to lead all of the laps to win the heat race, Joseph McArdle finished second with #14 Conner Okrzesik rounding out the top three.

FEATURE RACE:  Connelly rolled the big dice after the heat and rolled a 6 meaning that the cars scheduled to start in positions 1 through 6 would invert, the car scheduled to start 6th would now start first and the car scheduled to start on  the pole--Connelly--would now start 6th, a  tough starting spot-back in traffic and on the outside.  It would be tough to get to the bottom and then get to the front.  I told Connelly in our pre race talk just be patient, drive your race and above all else have fun.
He got a good start and was able to  get to the bottom after turn 2 got to 4th by end of lap 1, then to third and by turn 3 of lap 3 and was passing the #10 for second.  Connelly was clearly under the #10, but they got together #10 left front wheel contacted our right rear tire and the #10 lost his entire LF wheel, it rolled down the entire front straightaway and across  the infield.  Connelly's RR fender was knocked loose and was flapping like a beach towel in the breeze.  The race went into a red flag situation, all cars stopped.  We had to rip the remains of the fender off the car so he might be able to continue racing.  The #10 didn't fair as well as he had to be taken off on the roll-back.  I went down to check on the car (he stopped at the entrance to the pits) the RR wheel was bent in slightly but it  was holding air, Connelly wanted me to change it, we had another RR but it was an older tire and wouldn't match up with the brand new RF on the car, so I opted to stay pat, "better devil you know" Connelly was so mad he needed help getting belted back in.  Mr. Joe who was running the pit  gate told him, "son chill, - chill you  got a fast car just go out there and drive it".  Connelly would have to start last 12 out of 12 because we had worked on the car which automatically sends you to the rear.   As the red flag was replaced by the yellow the cars started rolling Connelly waited until  they were well into turn three and he got on the backstretch and blasted it to see if it would handle, it seemed to be alright. At the restart he passed two  cars before lap was completed, another caution-complete restart, back to last.  Another restart still last, passed two in lap 1 got another in lap 2 and another in lap 3, gradually worked our way up to 6th when another caution came out.  We took the choose which put us in 4th place but on the outside.  He got a good restart got to third in one lap then passed Joseph for second and began to chase down Brian who had the lead.  He got right to Brian's rear bumper when another caution came out, two cars took the choose so we now had Brian in front of us with two cars to our outside.  After the restart Connelly was able to get by Brian for the lead, then Brian pulled a great "crossover move" which he is famous for and got by Connelly, who then returned the favor with a "crossover move" of his own, only to be followed by another one by Brian and another one by Connelly.  It was fantastic to watch it was like a ballet on wheels.  Another caution came out with 2 laps to go, Connelly was able to hang on to the lead for the final two laps to win the race.  From last to first in 16 laps, it  was truly on of the best races that Connelly has ever driven, I know it was one of the most entertaining and the fans got their money's worth. The top five finishing order were 1st Connelly Dubuisson #32, second Brian McArdle #44, third Joseph McArdle #44jr., fourth Robbie Johnston #96, fifth Conner Okrzesik #14. 

I looked at the video of the incident with the #10 a number of times and I don't think there was anything intentional on either drivers part--as Richard Petty used to say "just one of those racing things" With all of that, we now need to go through the car with a fine tooth comb to make sure nothing is bent, need to replace a fender and be ready for the 16 of May oh by the way Connelly has final exams for his senior year of high school all next week.  We will be ready I hope, looking forward to the 16 of May.