Friday night started the same as the other Fridays since school started, pick Connelly up from Brother Martin at 3:10 and get on the road to SSR. We made a safe and uneventful trip to Grand Bay and arrived at the track after filling up the truck for the return trip at about 5:15. We had plenty of time since we did not have to break in tires. Went through the usual ritual, unloading, registering, getting through tech and finally getting on the track for a couple of test laps. The car was good even with the track temp of 109 degrees. We put the fans on the engine and when the track had cooled off a little went out for another quick test run and laid down a lap in the 13.05 range, so we parked it until qualifying.
THE COMPETITORS: Tonight we had on hand the usual cars, #7 Hunter Lewis, #44 Joseph McArdle #32 Connelly, #66 Andrew Johnston, #94 Brad West, #96 Robbie Johnson, and from Monroe La the #96A (I don't have his name).
QUALIFYING: In qualifying Connelly laid down a fast lap of 13.085, good enough for the pole, #66 was second with a 13.129, #7 was third at a 13.159, #44 fourth at a 13.280, #94 fifth at a 13.439, #96 at a 13.603, #96A at a 13.651. A good close field for tonight's race.
HEAT RACE: In the heat Connelly started on the pole as his qualifying called for followed by the rest of the field in the order noted above. Connelly led for the first six laps when the #66 spun in turn 4 bringing out a caution. Connelly didn't need that as he had a lead of about three car lengths over the #7 and was in a good rhythm. A couple of cars took the "choose" Connelly held on to the lead for a couple of laps then got a little high coming off of turn 2 allowing the #7 to get under him and he got by, in the process #44 got by also and we were now in third. Coming to the checker flag the #44 broke his right rear trailing arm and spun and crashed hard into the back straightaway wall doing significant damage. We wound up second behind the #7 followed by the #66, #94, #96A. The #96 experienced a mechanical problem before the start and did not start.
FEATURE RACE: Hunter Lewis threw the big dice for the invert and rolled a six, meaning that he would start 6th, we would start 5th, the #66 would start 4th, the #96A third, the #94 second, and the #44 on the pole. As a result of his crash in the heat race the #44 was unable to answer the call to post and the entire inside line just moved up one position. Giving us the third starting spot. Coming out of turn two on the first lap the #94 got real loose and almost spun, Connelly checked up and got nailed in the rear by the #7 pushing Connelly into the infield, the whole field got slowed down, and Connelly just drove through the infield to turn 4 where he got back on the track, no harm no foul. Since they did not complete a lap a complete re-start was ordered. By the end of the second lap Connelly had taken the lead and held on with the #7 never more than a couple of lengths back. At just about halfway the #96A spun bringing out the caution. A couple of cars took the "choose" and after the restart the #7 was glued to our rear bumper. Connelly got up out of the groove coming out of turn 2 and the #7 got by, Connelly stayed right on his bumper for a couple of laps and re-passed the #7 again leading for a couple of laps and the #7 got back by for the lead. Connelly tried to pass back and got hung on the outside and ran a complete lap on the outside of the #7 at one point getting almost by but he had overheated his right rear tire being on the outside for that long and coming to the white flag he almost spun and fell from second to fourth, which is where he finished. Finishing order was #7, #66, #94, #32, #96 and #96A. It was a great race from a spectator's point of view. Connelly passed the #96A once for the lead, passed the #7 three times for the lead, unfortunately the #7 passed us once more than we passed him. If we had finished second it wouldn't have been too bad, but this was a double points race and by loosing those two positions with one lap to go cost us 12 points. The spectators definitely got their $10 worth tonight. I guess we just got Friday the 13th ed. We will just have to get em next time. Looking forward to 9-27 already, only that race and the big weekend of Oct 4th and 5th left in the 2013 racing season, so come on out and treat yourself to some exceptional racing.
Wednesday, September 25, 2013
Tuesday, September 17, 2013
August 30, 2013
Since school has begun we have had to pick up Connelly at Brother Martin High School which isn't bad as it is on the way to the track. We left school at around 3:10 and arrived at Sunny South Raceway slightly after 5pm, got to our pit area, unloaded, got the car registered, went through tech and got ready to go on the track. We didn't have to break in tires as our newest set was just about ready, but we did put one heat cycle on the new tires just to let them know we still loved them, It was good not to have to thrash to do tires and get the car ready, it was a lot more low key.
The cars available tonight were: the #7 of Hunter Lewis, the #44 of Joseph McArdle, the #32 of Connelly Dubuisson, the #66 of Andrew Johnston, The #04 of Dawson Keener, the #96 of Robbie Johnson, the #94 of Brad West. Unfortunately the #96 burned up his wiring harness in his last practice session and couldn't get it fixed in time to compete tonight, leaving us only 6 cars to race.
QUALIFYING: Connelly overdrove the car in his three lap qualifying session, it is easy to do, but the fast way around is smooth, smooth, smooth. He wound up third behind the #7 at a 13.095, the #44 at a 13.124 the #32 at a 13.125, and the #66 was fourth at a 13.277.
HEAT RACE: Connelly started third behind the #7, the #44, with the #66 to Connelly's outside in fourth starting position. At the start Connelly was able to keep the #44 to the outside and make the pass for 2nd by the end of lap 2, the # 44 was able to pass us back by the end of lap 4, where they raced #7,1st, #44 2nd, #32 3rd #04 4th with the #66 5th followed by the #94 in 6th. Connelly mustered up a run for second and by the end of lap 7 had taken 2nd place, which is where he finished. The finishing order is the same as above with the exception of Connelly being 2nd, a good entertaining race.
FEATURE RACE: Hunter Lewis driver of the #7 was called upon to throw the big dice to determine the invert for the feature, he threw a 5 which put him starting 5th, Connelly 4th, the #44 third, the #04 second and the #66 on the pole. Fourth starting position is as tough as it gets, you are behind several cars, on the outside, you will probably have to fall back to last to get to the inside where you can race, but it is part of learning how to compete successfully. We took the start and fell back to 5th, but by the end of lap 2 was back to 4th, by the end of lap 7 was up to third, by the end of lap9 had gotten by the #44 and was in second place. Shortly after halfway a caution came out for the spin of the #04, This was probably good for us as it let our right rear tire cool down a bit, upon the restart the #66 took the "choose" which let him go up to outside front row. After two laps he was back to fourth, Connelly and the #7 raced nose to tail for several laps and going down the back straightaway with two laps to go got by the #7 for the lead, however coming out of turn four he got a little loose and wiggled slightly, but it was enough for the #7 to get back by us, we just didn't have enough laps left to mount another charge to the front, and we finished second, followed by the #44, #66, #94 and the #04. Not the finish Connelly hoped for, but we learned a lot about ourselves tonight. First of all we can start deep in the field in an outside starting position and get to the lead, we need to learn how to protect that lead and not overdrive turn 4 and be able to hold on for the win. We did have a good points night and we need to continue doing so. We are looking forward to the next race---Friday the 13--I am not superstitious, but I have my lucky socks ready.
The cars available tonight were: the #7 of Hunter Lewis, the #44 of Joseph McArdle, the #32 of Connelly Dubuisson, the #66 of Andrew Johnston, The #04 of Dawson Keener, the #96 of Robbie Johnson, the #94 of Brad West. Unfortunately the #96 burned up his wiring harness in his last practice session and couldn't get it fixed in time to compete tonight, leaving us only 6 cars to race.
QUALIFYING: Connelly overdrove the car in his three lap qualifying session, it is easy to do, but the fast way around is smooth, smooth, smooth. He wound up third behind the #7 at a 13.095, the #44 at a 13.124 the #32 at a 13.125, and the #66 was fourth at a 13.277.
HEAT RACE: Connelly started third behind the #7, the #44, with the #66 to Connelly's outside in fourth starting position. At the start Connelly was able to keep the #44 to the outside and make the pass for 2nd by the end of lap 2, the # 44 was able to pass us back by the end of lap 4, where they raced #7,1st, #44 2nd, #32 3rd #04 4th with the #66 5th followed by the #94 in 6th. Connelly mustered up a run for second and by the end of lap 7 had taken 2nd place, which is where he finished. The finishing order is the same as above with the exception of Connelly being 2nd, a good entertaining race.
FEATURE RACE: Hunter Lewis driver of the #7 was called upon to throw the big dice to determine the invert for the feature, he threw a 5 which put him starting 5th, Connelly 4th, the #44 third, the #04 second and the #66 on the pole. Fourth starting position is as tough as it gets, you are behind several cars, on the outside, you will probably have to fall back to last to get to the inside where you can race, but it is part of learning how to compete successfully. We took the start and fell back to 5th, but by the end of lap 2 was back to 4th, by the end of lap 7 was up to third, by the end of lap9 had gotten by the #44 and was in second place. Shortly after halfway a caution came out for the spin of the #04, This was probably good for us as it let our right rear tire cool down a bit, upon the restart the #66 took the "choose" which let him go up to outside front row. After two laps he was back to fourth, Connelly and the #7 raced nose to tail for several laps and going down the back straightaway with two laps to go got by the #7 for the lead, however coming out of turn four he got a little loose and wiggled slightly, but it was enough for the #7 to get back by us, we just didn't have enough laps left to mount another charge to the front, and we finished second, followed by the #44, #66, #94 and the #04. Not the finish Connelly hoped for, but we learned a lot about ourselves tonight. First of all we can start deep in the field in an outside starting position and get to the lead, we need to learn how to protect that lead and not overdrive turn 4 and be able to hold on for the win. We did have a good points night and we need to continue doing so. We are looking forward to the next race---Friday the 13--I am not superstitious, but I have my lucky socks ready.
Tuesday, August 20, 2013
August 16, 2013
We had to leave from Brother Martin High School at 3:06 as Connelly had begun school yesterday. We ran through a couple of pretty good rain showers en-route, but when we arrived at the track it was dry, I was hoping it would stay that way as there were rain showers in the area. We got to the track moments before the gates opened, got to our pit stall, unloaded the car, got it registered and went through tech. This time we checked ride height, we were legal, but too close for comfort so we raised the car up 1/8 of an inch. (Always better to check your "stuff" with the official gages because that is what you will be checked with after the race), we even checked the overall width with the tech man's width gage, and we were OK. So on to the track to test. The car handled OK but not quite there, Connelly made a slight adjustment and the car was "there".
There were 7 cars competing tonight, the #32 of Connelly Dubuisson, the #44 of Joseph McArdle, the #7 of Hunter Lewis, the #66 of Andrew Johnston, the #94 of Brad West, the #04 of Dawson Keener, and the #96 of Robbie Johnson. A very good and competitive field of cars.
QUALIFYING: The cars were sent out in groups of 4 for qualifying, we were in the second group-only three in the last group for their 3 lap qualifying run, Connelly overdrove the first 2 laps with times in the 13.2's, got his concentration back for his third lap and posted a 13.125 to win the pole for the second straight race. The qualifying order was #32, #7, #44, #66, #04, #96, and #94. the #32 had a 13.125, the #7 had a 13.136 and the #44 had a 13.145 the top 3 qualifiers were separated by only two one hundredths of a second. That was extremely close and should make for a really exciting race.
HEAT RACE: Connelly started on the pole with the #7 to his outside with the #44 in 3rd and #66 4th, the #04 and #96 made up the third row with the #94 in 7th position. Connelly got a good start came out of turns 1 & 2 clean and lead down the backstretch and went into turns 3 & 4 with the lead, in the apex of turns 3 & 4 the #44 and #7 got together slightly, neither car spun but they both got "out of shape" which caused the #66 to check up to avoid a big wreck, all three cars were OK but that gave Connelly the chance to get away and have some breathing room. There was some good racing throughout the field, as the #96 was able to get by the #66 for 4th, the #66 almost took it back at the finish line but the #96 held on by about 1/2 a car length with the #04 challenging both of them in the far inside lane. They were almost 3 abreast at the finish line. All in all a very entertaining and well contested race. The finishing order was #32, #7, #44, #96, #66, #04, #94. It should be noted that the drivers of the #32, #44, #96, and #04 are all 16 years old. They are handling these race cars in such a professional manner it is almost scary. The Legend cars are among the most difficult race cars to drive, they have a short wheelbase 73" have a HP to weight ratio of 9.25 pounds per HP. they have a narrow wheelbase 60" and run on street tires--no slick racing tires here, and no anti sway bar. I find it remarkable that they do as well as they do. Connelly has been racing Legends since he was 13 as was the #44 I find that almost unbelievable. The #44 won the track championship at 14 with Connelly finishing in 3rd place that year. Great for all of these young drivers. The track motto is "training tomorrow's champions today" so true. We have had some really bad luck lately--overdrawn at the racing luck bank-- as Darrel Waltrup says, but finally we got a break. Before our feature race was to begin it started raining and we lost the track at about 11:00 pm no time to dry it out so the race was declared by the officials as over and prize money and positions awarded by heat race finish. This was our third heat race win without a feature victory we have had 6 class, (semi pro) wins but no overall wins so far. This was our first overall victory of the season, we would liked to have won it on the track, but these things are so hard to win and we have worked so hard, we will take it and be thankful. The next race is Aug 30 we will be there with renewed vigor.
There were 7 cars competing tonight, the #32 of Connelly Dubuisson, the #44 of Joseph McArdle, the #7 of Hunter Lewis, the #66 of Andrew Johnston, the #94 of Brad West, the #04 of Dawson Keener, and the #96 of Robbie Johnson. A very good and competitive field of cars.
QUALIFYING: The cars were sent out in groups of 4 for qualifying, we were in the second group-only three in the last group for their 3 lap qualifying run, Connelly overdrove the first 2 laps with times in the 13.2's, got his concentration back for his third lap and posted a 13.125 to win the pole for the second straight race. The qualifying order was #32, #7, #44, #66, #04, #96, and #94. the #32 had a 13.125, the #7 had a 13.136 and the #44 had a 13.145 the top 3 qualifiers were separated by only two one hundredths of a second. That was extremely close and should make for a really exciting race.
HEAT RACE: Connelly started on the pole with the #7 to his outside with the #44 in 3rd and #66 4th, the #04 and #96 made up the third row with the #94 in 7th position. Connelly got a good start came out of turns 1 & 2 clean and lead down the backstretch and went into turns 3 & 4 with the lead, in the apex of turns 3 & 4 the #44 and #7 got together slightly, neither car spun but they both got "out of shape" which caused the #66 to check up to avoid a big wreck, all three cars were OK but that gave Connelly the chance to get away and have some breathing room. There was some good racing throughout the field, as the #96 was able to get by the #66 for 4th, the #66 almost took it back at the finish line but the #96 held on by about 1/2 a car length with the #04 challenging both of them in the far inside lane. They were almost 3 abreast at the finish line. All in all a very entertaining and well contested race. The finishing order was #32, #7, #44, #96, #66, #04, #94. It should be noted that the drivers of the #32, #44, #96, and #04 are all 16 years old. They are handling these race cars in such a professional manner it is almost scary. The Legend cars are among the most difficult race cars to drive, they have a short wheelbase 73" have a HP to weight ratio of 9.25 pounds per HP. they have a narrow wheelbase 60" and run on street tires--no slick racing tires here, and no anti sway bar. I find it remarkable that they do as well as they do. Connelly has been racing Legends since he was 13 as was the #44 I find that almost unbelievable. The #44 won the track championship at 14 with Connelly finishing in 3rd place that year. Great for all of these young drivers. The track motto is "training tomorrow's champions today" so true. We have had some really bad luck lately--overdrawn at the racing luck bank-- as Darrel Waltrup says, but finally we got a break. Before our feature race was to begin it started raining and we lost the track at about 11:00 pm no time to dry it out so the race was declared by the officials as over and prize money and positions awarded by heat race finish. This was our third heat race win without a feature victory we have had 6 class, (semi pro) wins but no overall wins so far. This was our first overall victory of the season, we would liked to have won it on the track, but these things are so hard to win and we have worked so hard, we will take it and be thankful. The next race is Aug 30 we will be there with renewed vigor.
Monday, August 19, 2013
August 2, 2013
After the race of July 19 and all of the mis-steps that the #32 took, we brought the car home and went through it with a fine tooth comb. We found that both the camber and the toe had been knocked out. We completely went through the brake system on all four corners and serviced the entire system, we found that we were quite low on brake fluid, so we took care of all of that and bled the system and deemed the brakes ready. We then scaled the car and got all of our setup numbers right and felt the car was as good as we could make it. We left early as we still had to make sure the setup was there and yes, we still had tires to break in--this would be our 3rd try to get that set of tires ready--but you know what they say, the third time is the charm.
We got to the track before the gates were open so we were the third car in, got to our pit stall unloaded the car, got it registered, went through tech and was in the "grid" when the track was opened for practice. Connelly went out got some heat in the tires we were going to race and then "busted" it for about 5 laps. The car was wicked fast, it rolled through the corners perfectly was neutral coming off and perfect going into the turns, so we came in and put on "them tires". It looked like we were finally going to get them broken in as we still had over an hour of practice time left. Well we finally got them done, refueled put our race tires back on and did a quick check over and went to the drivers meeting.
The cars on hand tonight were the #32 of Connelly Dubuisson, the #66 of Andrew Johnston, the #7 of Hunter Lewis, the #44 of Joseph McArdle, the #96 of Robbie Johnson, the #04 of Dawson Keener, the #29 of Blake Gaither, and the #94 of Brad West.
QUALIFYING: We had a good qualifying run posted a 13.09 to win the pole position, followed by #66, #7, #44, #96, #04, #29, and the #94 who did not post a time (arrived late).
HEAT RACE: By virtue of Connelly winning the pole position he got to start on the inside of the front row with the #7 to his outside with the rest of the field assuming their qualifying positions. Connelly got a really good start and lead from start to finish winning by about 5 car lengths, the #7 was second followed by #66, #44, #04, #96, #94, and the #29. Connelly threw the big dice to determine the invert and he threw a 1 meaning there would be no invert, all cars would start in the positions they finished the heat race. Very unusual!!!
FEATURE RACE: The track came up with a new wrinkle, they offered either car on the front row the opportunity to go to the rear of the pack for an extra hundred dollars in prize money. Well Hunter Lewis in the #7 took the bet and went to the rear so he was starting the race with $100 in his pocket. Connelly got a really good start and lead for the first half of the race, he was in a good rhythm was driving a good steady race, had a fair lead of about 3 car lengths when the #29 spun coming out of turn 4 at the halfway point. We got another good restart when on the next lap the #04 and #96 got together spinning the #04, another restart. Connelly got a fair restart but the #44 was closer to him than before the spins, Connelly then overdrove turn 1 and 2 slid up the track slightly but just enough for the #44 to get by and the #7 took advantage and got by too. Connelly drove really hard and got back by the #7 and got close to the #44 but just couldn't pull off the win so he had to settle for second. He was really disappointed but the worst was yet to come, in tech it was determined that we were 1/32 of and inch below the minimum ride height on the left front and we were disqualified. Connelly drove the car around the parking lot and got measured again and the car passed, but the disqualification stood. It was generally felt that we damaged the internal valve in that shock when we "wheel hopped" the #7 the race prior. We seldom check ride heights as we set them with a good margin for error and they have never been an issue in over a year--you can bet the farm we will check them from now on. The biggest effect was that we went from leading the points for track championship in the Semi-Pro division by 68 points to being behind by 12. As car owner and crew chief it is my responsibility to make sure the car is legal, I have a rule book and know what they are so I take full responsibility. Oh well live and learn, now we will just have to get the lead back. We are already looking forward to the next race on Aug 16, did I say August??? man the season is almost over. Only 5 races left if they can get in the rainout date of July 5.
We got to the track before the gates were open so we were the third car in, got to our pit stall unloaded the car, got it registered, went through tech and was in the "grid" when the track was opened for practice. Connelly went out got some heat in the tires we were going to race and then "busted" it for about 5 laps. The car was wicked fast, it rolled through the corners perfectly was neutral coming off and perfect going into the turns, so we came in and put on "them tires". It looked like we were finally going to get them broken in as we still had over an hour of practice time left. Well we finally got them done, refueled put our race tires back on and did a quick check over and went to the drivers meeting.
The cars on hand tonight were the #32 of Connelly Dubuisson, the #66 of Andrew Johnston, the #7 of Hunter Lewis, the #44 of Joseph McArdle, the #96 of Robbie Johnson, the #04 of Dawson Keener, the #29 of Blake Gaither, and the #94 of Brad West.
QUALIFYING: We had a good qualifying run posted a 13.09 to win the pole position, followed by #66, #7, #44, #96, #04, #29, and the #94 who did not post a time (arrived late).
HEAT RACE: By virtue of Connelly winning the pole position he got to start on the inside of the front row with the #7 to his outside with the rest of the field assuming their qualifying positions. Connelly got a really good start and lead from start to finish winning by about 5 car lengths, the #7 was second followed by #66, #44, #04, #96, #94, and the #29. Connelly threw the big dice to determine the invert and he threw a 1 meaning there would be no invert, all cars would start in the positions they finished the heat race. Very unusual!!!
FEATURE RACE: The track came up with a new wrinkle, they offered either car on the front row the opportunity to go to the rear of the pack for an extra hundred dollars in prize money. Well Hunter Lewis in the #7 took the bet and went to the rear so he was starting the race with $100 in his pocket. Connelly got a really good start and lead for the first half of the race, he was in a good rhythm was driving a good steady race, had a fair lead of about 3 car lengths when the #29 spun coming out of turn 4 at the halfway point. We got another good restart when on the next lap the #04 and #96 got together spinning the #04, another restart. Connelly got a fair restart but the #44 was closer to him than before the spins, Connelly then overdrove turn 1 and 2 slid up the track slightly but just enough for the #44 to get by and the #7 took advantage and got by too. Connelly drove really hard and got back by the #7 and got close to the #44 but just couldn't pull off the win so he had to settle for second. He was really disappointed but the worst was yet to come, in tech it was determined that we were 1/32 of and inch below the minimum ride height on the left front and we were disqualified. Connelly drove the car around the parking lot and got measured again and the car passed, but the disqualification stood. It was generally felt that we damaged the internal valve in that shock when we "wheel hopped" the #7 the race prior. We seldom check ride heights as we set them with a good margin for error and they have never been an issue in over a year--you can bet the farm we will check them from now on. The biggest effect was that we went from leading the points for track championship in the Semi-Pro division by 68 points to being behind by 12. As car owner and crew chief it is my responsibility to make sure the car is legal, I have a rule book and know what they are so I take full responsibility. Oh well live and learn, now we will just have to get the lead back. We are already looking forward to the next race on Aug 16, did I say August??? man the season is almost over. Only 5 races left if they can get in the rainout date of July 5.
Sunday, August 18, 2013
July 19,2013
Friday July 19 found us at the track a little early as we had some tires that needed breaking in, it seems like we are always breaking in tires, but with only an hour and 15 minutes of practice you just don't have enough time to test your race setup and break in tires, about the best you can hope for is to get a couple of test runs on your setup and maybe one or two tire heat cycles in the tires before practice is over so it takes at least two race days to break in tires if you are lucky. We got registered, went through tech and were in the grid waiting for the track to be opened for practice when it starts raining. We lost over an hour and a half drying the track and only got one practice session in for our race setup, we were able to run the new tires for several laps while drying the track but I do not know how much heat we got into the tires on a cold half wet track. We got the track dry and began qualifying.
There were six cars on hand for tonight's event: the #7 of Hunter Lewis, the #44 of Joseph McArdle, the #66 of Andrew Johnson, the #32 of Connelly Dubuisson, the #04 of Dawson Keener, the #96 of Robbie Johnston.
QUALIFYING: The track had a lot of grip in it and the pole was won by the #7 with a blistering 12.998, Connelly was second with a 13.090, third was the #66, fourth was #44, fifth the #04, and sixth the #96.
HEAT RACE: The heat race went off without a hitch with the cars finishing pretty much in the same order that they qualified. Hunter (#7) threw a 5 with the big dice which inverted the top 5 for the feature.
FEATURE RACE: With the 5 car invert the #04 was on the pole, the #44 outside front row, #66 inside second row, Connelly #32 outside second row, #7 inside 3rd row, with #96 outside row three. It was only three days away from the full moon, but the effect was there. On lap 3 while passing the #66 Connelly and he got together, spinning the #66, Connelly managed to save his car and was able to hold position on restart while the #66 had to go to the rear as his spin brought out the caution. On lap 5 the #7 and #44 got together right in front of Connelly and Connelly had no place to go and "wheel hopped" the #7 knocking out our "toe" and changing the left side camber. This affected the handling of the car and we were just not as good after that. A few laps later the #44 spun right in front of Connelly, who narrowly missed him. Now we are in third behind the #04 and #7. The #7 got by the #04 and Connelly was in the process of making the pass for second going into turn 3 his right front brake locked up and he almost hit the wall--back to last place. On the last lap the #66 dove under the #04 and they collided and stuck together coming to a stop 100 feet before the finish line, Connelly drove under them for a 4th place finish. With us going to the rear on 3 occasions and cars taking the "choose" Connelly made 10 passes--there were only six cars in the race--he passed the #66 4 times. What a crazy race, but with all that went on we were very lucky to come away with a 4th place finish. We will go home and go through the suspension with a fine tooth comb and get our handling back and try to win one of these things. Looking forward to the next race.
There were six cars on hand for tonight's event: the #7 of Hunter Lewis, the #44 of Joseph McArdle, the #66 of Andrew Johnson, the #32 of Connelly Dubuisson, the #04 of Dawson Keener, the #96 of Robbie Johnston.
QUALIFYING: The track had a lot of grip in it and the pole was won by the #7 with a blistering 12.998, Connelly was second with a 13.090, third was the #66, fourth was #44, fifth the #04, and sixth the #96.
HEAT RACE: The heat race went off without a hitch with the cars finishing pretty much in the same order that they qualified. Hunter (#7) threw a 5 with the big dice which inverted the top 5 for the feature.
FEATURE RACE: With the 5 car invert the #04 was on the pole, the #44 outside front row, #66 inside second row, Connelly #32 outside second row, #7 inside 3rd row, with #96 outside row three. It was only three days away from the full moon, but the effect was there. On lap 3 while passing the #66 Connelly and he got together, spinning the #66, Connelly managed to save his car and was able to hold position on restart while the #66 had to go to the rear as his spin brought out the caution. On lap 5 the #7 and #44 got together right in front of Connelly and Connelly had no place to go and "wheel hopped" the #7 knocking out our "toe" and changing the left side camber. This affected the handling of the car and we were just not as good after that. A few laps later the #44 spun right in front of Connelly, who narrowly missed him. Now we are in third behind the #04 and #7. The #7 got by the #04 and Connelly was in the process of making the pass for second going into turn 3 his right front brake locked up and he almost hit the wall--back to last place. On the last lap the #66 dove under the #04 and they collided and stuck together coming to a stop 100 feet before the finish line, Connelly drove under them for a 4th place finish. With us going to the rear on 3 occasions and cars taking the "choose" Connelly made 10 passes--there were only six cars in the race--he passed the #66 4 times. What a crazy race, but with all that went on we were very lucky to come away with a 4th place finish. We will go home and go through the suspension with a fine tooth comb and get our handling back and try to win one of these things. Looking forward to the next race.
July 5, 2013
As suspected the race scheduled for July 5, was rained out, it will be rescheduled for sometime in September. First rainout of the season.
Thursday, July 4, 2013
Friday Night June 28, 2013
Friday night found the #32 team at the pit gate just a few moments after opening, we had to be on time as we had a set of tires to break in. The Federal tires that the Legends are required to run are street tires and there is a releasing agent sprayed into the mold at the manufacturing process. It becomes part of the outer layer of the tread of the tire and the tire doesn't have its true grip until it is worn off. Even though we "cut" the tires you need to get this releasing agent worn off the tires before they perform. It usually takes 3 or 4 heat cycles to get a new tire right, so we had to put at least 2 heat cycles (10 laps) each, with complete cooling between each, and two more cycles before the next race before they would be ready to race on. We got two heat cycles on the new tires, then practiced the set we were going to race on, and they were good. Connelly turned a lap in that final practice of 13.09-- not too shabby. We couldn't improve much on that so we got ready for qualifying.
There were 10 cars on hand for tonight's event they were #44 Joseph McArdle, #7 Hunter Lewis, #32 Connelly Dubuisson, #66 Andrew Johnston, #96 Robbie Johnson, #2 Billy Elmore, Jr., #33 Dalton Chipley, #04 Dawson Keener, #94 Brad West, and the #99
Qualifying: In qualifying we only got 3 laps (used to be 6) and it seems like Connelly overdrove the car in qualifying giving him the 4th spot at a 13.21 after turning a 13.09 in practice. Qualifying results are: #7, #44, #66, #32, #04, #96, #2, #33, with the #94 and #99 not posting times. So the starting order was set. Connelly would start from the outside front row in the second heat race.
Heat Race: In our heat race we started outside of Joseph McArdle #44 on the front row with the #96 in third, #33 in fourth and the #99 in fifth. A really good race ensued with Connelly right on Joseph's back bumper for the first 4 or so laps. Connelly finally got past Joseph for the lead but before completing one lap at that position a caution came out and Connelly by rule had to give the spot back. They both raced very hard for the remaining laps but Connelly just couldn't get back by Joseph. They were never more than a car length apart for the remainder of the heat. Final finishing order was #44, #32, #99, #96, #33. The car felt right so we left it alone, put fuel in it, and let the engine cool under the fans.
Feature Race: Hunter threw the big dice and rolled a 3 meaning we would retain our 4th starting position outside second row, with the three car invert #66 would start on pole, with #44 outside front row, #7 in third and #32 outside of him in fourth, followed by #04, #99, #94, #96, and the #33.
Connelly got a good start and got by Joseph in the #44 who got hung on the outside, and settled down in 3rd., ran that way for the first half of the race behind the #7 and right on the #66's tail. Joseph got into a duel with the #99 for several laps which slowed him down. Connelly just couldn't get by the #66, if he had, he could have put some distance between him and the #66 and given him a cushion for when Joseph got past the #66. With Connelly fighting the #66 Joseph closed up on the #32 and got past us. Connelly promptly returned the favor and passed him back, Joseph put a masterful "slide job" on us and re-took third. Joseph set up the #66 nicely and passed him, Connelly tried to follow him through and it seemed like the #66 "came down" on him in the apex of turn 3 almost forcing us into the infield allowing the #66 to keep 3rd place and also allowing the #99 to get by for fourth relegating us to 5th, all this taking place while coming to the white flag (one lap to go). Connelly did not have his best race, he needs to be able to make a pass when it is there and not wait on the prefect situation. All in all not too bad of a night, even though it was a double points night and we lost some points, we were able to roll the car on the trailer and live to race another day without having to repair major damage.
We are looking forward to next Friday the 5th of July however a major rain event is forecast, hope for the best we will be there if they race.
There were 10 cars on hand for tonight's event they were #44 Joseph McArdle, #7 Hunter Lewis, #32 Connelly Dubuisson, #66 Andrew Johnston, #96 Robbie Johnson, #2 Billy Elmore, Jr., #33 Dalton Chipley, #04 Dawson Keener, #94 Brad West, and the #99
Qualifying: In qualifying we only got 3 laps (used to be 6) and it seems like Connelly overdrove the car in qualifying giving him the 4th spot at a 13.21 after turning a 13.09 in practice. Qualifying results are: #7, #44, #66, #32, #04, #96, #2, #33, with the #94 and #99 not posting times. So the starting order was set. Connelly would start from the outside front row in the second heat race.
Heat Race: In our heat race we started outside of Joseph McArdle #44 on the front row with the #96 in third, #33 in fourth and the #99 in fifth. A really good race ensued with Connelly right on Joseph's back bumper for the first 4 or so laps. Connelly finally got past Joseph for the lead but before completing one lap at that position a caution came out and Connelly by rule had to give the spot back. They both raced very hard for the remaining laps but Connelly just couldn't get back by Joseph. They were never more than a car length apart for the remainder of the heat. Final finishing order was #44, #32, #99, #96, #33. The car felt right so we left it alone, put fuel in it, and let the engine cool under the fans.
Feature Race: Hunter threw the big dice and rolled a 3 meaning we would retain our 4th starting position outside second row, with the three car invert #66 would start on pole, with #44 outside front row, #7 in third and #32 outside of him in fourth, followed by #04, #99, #94, #96, and the #33.
Connelly got a good start and got by Joseph in the #44 who got hung on the outside, and settled down in 3rd., ran that way for the first half of the race behind the #7 and right on the #66's tail. Joseph got into a duel with the #99 for several laps which slowed him down. Connelly just couldn't get by the #66, if he had, he could have put some distance between him and the #66 and given him a cushion for when Joseph got past the #66. With Connelly fighting the #66 Joseph closed up on the #32 and got past us. Connelly promptly returned the favor and passed him back, Joseph put a masterful "slide job" on us and re-took third. Joseph set up the #66 nicely and passed him, Connelly tried to follow him through and it seemed like the #66 "came down" on him in the apex of turn 3 almost forcing us into the infield allowing the #66 to keep 3rd place and also allowing the #99 to get by for fourth relegating us to 5th, all this taking place while coming to the white flag (one lap to go). Connelly did not have his best race, he needs to be able to make a pass when it is there and not wait on the prefect situation. All in all not too bad of a night, even though it was a double points night and we lost some points, we were able to roll the car on the trailer and live to race another day without having to repair major damage.
We are looking forward to next Friday the 5th of July however a major rain event is forecast, hope for the best we will be there if they race.
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