After last weekend's wreck, we left the car with the McArdles to try and repair the damage and get us to the point that Connelly would be safe and at least close to where we were before the accident. We arrived at the track early, about 4:30 as we had to re-assemble the body work, go through tech inspection and shake the car down before the race. When he finally got on the track he was very loose, but with the track temp over 115 degrees it was to be expected. We put one round in and that brought it to just "fast loose" we felt that when the track cooled down the car would "come to us". It did. Brian McArdle did an outstanding job getting the car ready, he really knows his stuff.
I drew the inside second row as starting position for the heat race, when the pole sitter decided to "tag" the field for the start (he was driving a car he had never driven before and didn't want to start up front in a strange car). That moved Connelly up to the pole. He took the start and lead wire to wire for his first on track victory. He drove a beautiful race. As a result of winning his heat he got to throw the big dice to see how many cars would be inverted. He threw a 5 meaning he would now start fifth in the feature.
In the feature we ran in the top 5 or 6 for 3/4 of the race. Connelly got passed, then passed back and was running a very strong race when he spun in the back stretch (one of the stinger cars had blown an engine in the race before us and oiled the track down) I believe he hit a bit of oil that remained, no one touched him, it just jumped out from under him. He worked his way back up through a few cars, making a pass for 6th position in the last turn. A finish of 6th in a field of 13 considering the spin on lap 14 was a pretty good result, and when coupled with the heat race win, I was estatic. Looking forward to next Saturday already.
Monday, August 22, 2011
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Saturday Night Aug 13, 2011
We had worked on the car all day Friday trying to loosen it up and thought that we had it.
When we got to pre race tech we found that the ride hight was too low, so back to work on that, then the good 'ole SSR thunderstorm hit. We took refuge in the parts room to work on ride hight, got that squared away as the rain stopped, track drying began. We then presented the car to the tech inspector and was approved, however our "cross" was a little higer than we were looking for. We had a new set of right sides on and when the track was dried Connelly went out and announced that the car was "perfect". The tires probablly had a lot to do with it.
In the Heat Race I pulled #51 chip which put us starting last. A new driver chose to tag the field and that moved us up one spot. We ran a very respectful 4 th out of 9 cars, and was pushing the top 2 at the end. The #44 was the class of the field and we didn't have anything for him.
In the Feature we started outside second row and got passed by two before we could get to the bottom, (I have never seen anyone make the outside work at SSR). Connelly made a pass or two and was contesting for 4th, just about had the pass made when the car he was racing lost it spun right into him and he nailed him. Connelly went directly to the pits as we had instructed him to do so we could make sure that the car was safe. Upon inspection we found that the bumper was trashed and the "toe" was knocked out but we couldn't find much else wrong. The race had been red flagged, so we were able to get back out without losing a lap, we did have to start last because we had worked on the car. Upon restart we wound up picking up one spot from the new driver who had started last, he could have passed us but he had been instructed not to by his crew chief (father). When I asked Connellyhow the car handled in those last 4 laps his response was "it was evil". We got Brian and Mr. Joe to look at it and we have a couple of bent front suspension parts, so we left the car with them to get us ready for next Sat. Only 3 more races left.
The # 4, the other car involved in the crash wasn't so lucky. His car had to be removed from the track on the low boy trailer. His entire left front suspension was destroyed. Broke off the lollypop, broke the shock off, bent the upper A frame, lower A frame, fender was total loss, and God knows what else. The car will probably have to be clipped before it can be raced again. The driver of the #4 took responsibility for the crash and was very apologetic, which I appreciated. He helped us take the front body work off of our car, really nice guy. When we went over to look at his damage I was shocked to see how bad it was. He said, "I guess I got what I deserved". To which I responded, "no one deserves this". All in all a stressful night. But we did get the "tight" out of it and Connelly was really driving it and raeally looked good out there. Lets hope that the handling will still be there when it is ready to run again.
When we got to pre race tech we found that the ride hight was too low, so back to work on that, then the good 'ole SSR thunderstorm hit. We took refuge in the parts room to work on ride hight, got that squared away as the rain stopped, track drying began. We then presented the car to the tech inspector and was approved, however our "cross" was a little higer than we were looking for. We had a new set of right sides on and when the track was dried Connelly went out and announced that the car was "perfect". The tires probablly had a lot to do with it.
In the Heat Race I pulled #51 chip which put us starting last. A new driver chose to tag the field and that moved us up one spot. We ran a very respectful 4 th out of 9 cars, and was pushing the top 2 at the end. The #44 was the class of the field and we didn't have anything for him.
In the Feature we started outside second row and got passed by two before we could get to the bottom, (I have never seen anyone make the outside work at SSR). Connelly made a pass or two and was contesting for 4th, just about had the pass made when the car he was racing lost it spun right into him and he nailed him. Connelly went directly to the pits as we had instructed him to do so we could make sure that the car was safe. Upon inspection we found that the bumper was trashed and the "toe" was knocked out but we couldn't find much else wrong. The race had been red flagged, so we were able to get back out without losing a lap, we did have to start last because we had worked on the car. Upon restart we wound up picking up one spot from the new driver who had started last, he could have passed us but he had been instructed not to by his crew chief (father). When I asked Connellyhow the car handled in those last 4 laps his response was "it was evil". We got Brian and Mr. Joe to look at it and we have a couple of bent front suspension parts, so we left the car with them to get us ready for next Sat. Only 3 more races left.
The # 4, the other car involved in the crash wasn't so lucky. His car had to be removed from the track on the low boy trailer. His entire left front suspension was destroyed. Broke off the lollypop, broke the shock off, bent the upper A frame, lower A frame, fender was total loss, and God knows what else. The car will probably have to be clipped before it can be raced again. The driver of the #4 took responsibility for the crash and was very apologetic, which I appreciated. He helped us take the front body work off of our car, really nice guy. When we went over to look at his damage I was shocked to see how bad it was. He said, "I guess I got what I deserved". To which I responded, "no one deserves this". All in all a stressful night. But we did get the "tight" out of it and Connelly was really driving it and raeally looked good out there. Lets hope that the handling will still be there when it is ready to run again.
Saturday Night August 6 2011
Saturday night Aug 6th found the 32 crew at SSR ready to go. Connelly had spent the week since the last race with the McArdles. Four days going to racing at and returning from the "million", then another 3 days with Joe, Brian and Joseph. We were looking forward to seeing him. We made a couple of adjustments to the car, but we are having trouble getting the "tight" out of it. He had an uneventful Heat race finishing 5 th out of 9 cars, and in the Feature he got a 4th in class YL/SP. We made good gains in the points as two cars that were close to us didn't show up for the race. You don't like to gain like that but they could have been there if they had chosen to do so. Already looking forward to next Saturday night.
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Saturday Night July 30th 2011
After waiting for six weeks between races and having the July 16th race rain out, Connelly had already gone into racing withdrawals and it was fixing to go South from there. As we pulled out of the driveway in Metairie, LA it was raining, Connelly said he was racing even if he had to go to rain tires. We arrived at Sunny South Raceway around 5:30 the sun was out but we drove through a rain shower about 3 miles from the track. Got lucky, it didn't hit SSR. At registration I let Betty pull the chip for starting position, she drew 8th out of 11 cars, said she was sorry and will let the drawing to me or Connelly.
In practice the car was "snappy loose" out of two and four, which ment it was probably tight and when he hit the throttle at the transition out of the banked turns onto the flatter straights it would snap loose on him. He was turning some pretty good lap times so we let it alone. In the heat race he got loose coming out of two, got into another car and a third car spun so we restarted in 10th. Connelly worked his way back up to 8th which is where he would start the feature race. We took a half turn out of the left rear hoping that would help the tight and solve that "snappy loose" condition, it worked. For the feature, I told him to feel the car out for at least a couple of laps before leaning on it, which he did. He then proceeded to drive the best race of his brief legend career. He started passing cars and worked his way through the field, with about 4 or 5 to go we got a caution and he restarted 4th. Made a nice pass for third and was pushing the front 2 at the end. He crossed the finish line in third place but was first in the Young Lyons/Semi Pro division, and after one of the top two failed post race inspection Connelly was awarded the first place trophy and points for YL/SP and a second place check for the overall second place finish. This was Connelly's first cash prize money and first Legends WIN. The goal he set for himself before the season was to get at least one win and finish in the top 3 in YL/SP points. He is halfway to achieving that goal.
Many of our friends in the pits an grandstand all said that he "drove the wheels off" of that car.
He looked like he had just gotten out of the shower he was so wet from sweat, and he said "I drove my butt off and I think I got everything out of the car", which I agree he did. All and all a very good outing, this was Connelly's breakout race.
Due to the rescheduling of the two rainout races we will be racing for the next 4 consecutive Saturdays. Connelly is at Charlotte,NC as I write this with the McArdles for the big $100,000 race he is helping pit crew for them. Good luck to them.
In practice the car was "snappy loose" out of two and four, which ment it was probably tight and when he hit the throttle at the transition out of the banked turns onto the flatter straights it would snap loose on him. He was turning some pretty good lap times so we let it alone. In the heat race he got loose coming out of two, got into another car and a third car spun so we restarted in 10th. Connelly worked his way back up to 8th which is where he would start the feature race. We took a half turn out of the left rear hoping that would help the tight and solve that "snappy loose" condition, it worked. For the feature, I told him to feel the car out for at least a couple of laps before leaning on it, which he did. He then proceeded to drive the best race of his brief legend career. He started passing cars and worked his way through the field, with about 4 or 5 to go we got a caution and he restarted 4th. Made a nice pass for third and was pushing the front 2 at the end. He crossed the finish line in third place but was first in the Young Lyons/Semi Pro division, and after one of the top two failed post race inspection Connelly was awarded the first place trophy and points for YL/SP and a second place check for the overall second place finish. This was Connelly's first cash prize money and first Legends WIN. The goal he set for himself before the season was to get at least one win and finish in the top 3 in YL/SP points. He is halfway to achieving that goal.
Many of our friends in the pits an grandstand all said that he "drove the wheels off" of that car.
He looked like he had just gotten out of the shower he was so wet from sweat, and he said "I drove my butt off and I think I got everything out of the car", which I agree he did. All and all a very good outing, this was Connelly's breakout race.
Due to the rescheduling of the two rainout races we will be racing for the next 4 consecutive Saturdays. Connelly is at Charlotte,NC as I write this with the McArdles for the big $100,000 race he is helping pit crew for them. Good luck to them.
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Double Points Night Saturday 6-18-11
Saturday 6-18-11 found the DMS 32 team at our home away from home Sunny South Raceway. It was a scalding hot day, temps in the high 90's with accompanying humidity, however a fairly nice breeze came up as it got closer to dark which made it bearable. There were a fair number of legends on hand (Father's day weekend). We had 6 Young Lyons/Semi Pro and also 6 Pro/Masters. They ran the heat races by classes, but combined classes for the feature. Connelly drew inside second row as his heat starting position. At the start of the heat he missed a shift and fell back, then got loose coming out of turn 2 on the second lap got passed and was running in 5 th position. You could throw a blanket over the 2nd through 5 th place cars. They were all about the same speed. Coming out of turn 4 for the checkerd flag the #14 got into the #44jr with both spinning giving Connelly the third place finish in the heat. He ran some very respectable times in competition with his fastest lap being a 13.55 but all were very consistant in the mid 13.5's and low 13.6's.
Feature race: New wrinkle, the winner of the heat race throws a huge 3 foot cube foam rubber dice off of the tower stairs with the resulting number thrown being the number of cars inverted at the start of the feature. As a result of the dice throw they inverted 5 putting Connelly on the outside pole with a swarm of screaming hornets on his rear bumper. He was somewhat apprehensive, but I told him sooner or later he would have to start up there and if he ever wanted to do the "choose" the same situation would present itself. He got frieght trained on the inside by almost the entire field, ran a good race with fairly good times and even made a pass or two. He said that he was so concerned about the cars behind him he didn't look out of his front winshield for the first 3 laps. He was "mirror driving" his little butt off. He did come home with a 1st place troophy for the Young Lyons/Semi Pro class. I don't know how that happened because he finished toward the back of the pack, but we didn't ask NO QUESTIONS!!!!!!! All in all a very successful outing and he brought the car home in one piece. He tells me that he needs to be loosened up a little bit, so we will give that a try. If he ain't sliding through the turns he ain't happy. We'll see how happy he is after the next race on July 16.
Feature race: New wrinkle, the winner of the heat race throws a huge 3 foot cube foam rubber dice off of the tower stairs with the resulting number thrown being the number of cars inverted at the start of the feature. As a result of the dice throw they inverted 5 putting Connelly on the outside pole with a swarm of screaming hornets on his rear bumper. He was somewhat apprehensive, but I told him sooner or later he would have to start up there and if he ever wanted to do the "choose" the same situation would present itself. He got frieght trained on the inside by almost the entire field, ran a good race with fairly good times and even made a pass or two. He said that he was so concerned about the cars behind him he didn't look out of his front winshield for the first 3 laps. He was "mirror driving" his little butt off. He did come home with a 1st place troophy for the Young Lyons/Semi Pro class. I don't know how that happened because he finished toward the back of the pack, but we didn't ask NO QUESTIONS!!!!!!! All in all a very successful outing and he brought the car home in one piece. He tells me that he needs to be loosened up a little bit, so we will give that a try. If he ain't sliding through the turns he ain't happy. We'll see how happy he is after the next race on July 16.
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Memorial Day Race To Glory, and Regional Qualifier
On Memorial Day weekend Sunny South Raceway hosted its 6th annual Race to Glory and Legends Regional Qualifier. The Friday the 27th was the standard format ie. heat then feature program for all classes. On Saturday night the 28 we had timed qualifying for all classes with 20 lap features for the Bandoleros, Stingers and Pro-Challenge with a 40 lap feature for the Legends. There was a good field of really fast cars on hand to challenge SSR's 1/4 mile banked oval. There were 21 Legend cars available. For Friday's program they ran the Semi-Pro and Young Lyons separately as a class (13 YL/SP) and (8 Pro/ Masters). There were cars from Charlotte, Florida, Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia, Nevada and I believe one from Texas. Additionaly we had our friends The Massaro family fron Gadsden, AL; Tommy, Traci, the upcoming driver Ryan and his brother (whose name escapes me at this late hour) on hand.
These were to be Connelly's third and fourth legend race, and he had never qualified on time before. His qualifying time was OK a 13.74 which he was not pleased with, but all in all it was a fair lap and gave him the 17 th starting position out of 21 cars for the 40 lap race on Saturday.
On Friday he drew fourth starting position for the heat got to third, then got snookered on a restart and fell to fourth which is where he finished. He had a fairly good feature passed a few cars, then had them take the "choose" and go up to the front and he would have to pass them again. He wound up 9th in the feature out of 13 cars.
On Saturday, I told him to stay in touch with the pack for the first 20 laps than try to make some passes in the second half of the race. He did that and stayed out of trouble. At around the 3/4 point in the race our friend Ryan Massaro got together with the white #91 (Ryan's car is the black and white#91) with the white #91 going for a two flip ride, landing on its wheels against the back wall just about destroying the white #91, fortunately no one was injured. There were a couple of other incidents that required a red flag situation, but no injuries only burised pride.
Connelly wound up finishing 12th. He did get lapped but he managed to lap at least one car that was still running at the end. Man, they had some strong cars there. The winning car came out of Charlote with one of the Plot brothers winning and his brother second. Local driver Cody Logan was third. All in all it was a very good experience for Connelly and the #32 team. Liked to worked me to death. Had to break two sets of tires, we had the hood blow off in practice, I think Connelly forgot to put the front hood pin in, had to repair that. Also in practice had a weld break on the muffler it came off but we were able to retrieve it and Cliff Osmer found a 110 v mig welder and welded the tab back on with the help of Tommy Massaro. I used the old racing fix of two loops of bailing wire to insure that the muffler stayen in place, it worked and we came home with our muffler. As mentioned before Connelly got a lot of "seat time" and I got a lot of practice fixing stuff, and we brought the car home in one piece, all in all a good weekend.
Thursday, May 12, 2011
Second Legend Race 5-7-2011
Saturday night was Connelly's seccond legend race. There were 13 cars on hand for the competition with some very strong contenders. Connelly drew third starting position for the heat, the fourth starting position car got slightly ahead of him going into turn one (got to work on those starts) and came down on him and slowed (another rookie driver, bad combination) and Connelly got into him and spun him--complete restart. On the restart he got a better start and after two laps, coming out of turn two Con was completely alongside another car, they got together and we cut two holes in the right front the size of quarters, so much for the heat race.
In the feature we started last with a mis-matched set of tires, the car was so tight he had to hold about 15 degrees of left wheel in it going down the straightaway. He did manage a couple of passes in spite of the handling woes and gained a lot of experience on how to drive a tight race car. All in all a good learning experience. New tires are on their way. Looking forward to the next race.
In the feature we started last with a mis-matched set of tires, the car was so tight he had to hold about 15 degrees of left wheel in it going down the straightaway. He did manage a couple of passes in spite of the handling woes and gained a lot of experience on how to drive a tight race car. All in all a good learning experience. New tires are on their way. Looking forward to the next race.
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