Opening Night, 2011 Season at Sunny South Raceway

Saturday night March 5 was the scheduled opening of the 2011 season at Sunny South Raceway. We had a very successful open test date on 2-12-11 after which we changed the oil and filter, treated the motor to a new set of coils, spark plugs and wires. Connelly waxed the car to within an inch of its life, shined the chrome wheels, greased a lubricated everything that didn't move (he almost got me) but I got away. And guess what, Saturday brought a terrific line of thunder storms complete with very strong winds (up to 55 mph) along with a tornado in central Louisiana. We had over 3 inches of rain and the weather was in a word was awful. Joe McArdle cancelled the race as that line of storms was due to hit the track just about the time the gates were scheduled to open. So much for opening night 2011, Connelly was so dissapointed, you would have thought someone had stabbed him in the heart. The first race is now scheduled for 3-19-11. It is pretty obvious that the "weather god" was not a racer, but there will be other days. Looking forward to them.

Getting ready for 2011 season

We started around the first week in October tearing down the legend to paint and change a few things. We removed the body and all of the inside sheet metal with the exception of the floor. Connelly sanded down the entire chassis, roll cage, all of the tins and anything else that didn't move. He then primed and painted everything two coats of grey on chassis and roll cage. The tins he did in flat black. We had the body painted by Terry at Manhattan Collision center in Harvey, La. He did a fantastic job. We then replaced all of the nuts and bolts for all of the trailing arms and suspension parts. We then installed a new Richardson full containment seat complete with wrap around headrest. Then added a new set of Simpson seat belts before replacing all of the repainted sheet metal. Next the fuel tank went back in followed by the body, fenders, hood, grille and graphics. We had the graphics done by A.J. Fulgenzi of Victory Graphics out of Florida, www.victorygraphicsusa.com. We finished off the rebuild with a new set of tires on chrome rims. I am proud to report that Connelly did 90% of the work by himself, with some supervision and help by me. I think he did a fantastic job. The proof is in the pudding, or in this case the outcome of the job.

This past Saturday Feb. 12th, 2011 was open test day at Sunny South Raceway. Joe McArdle (the track manager) reported that we had 27 cars participate. We arrived around 10:30 went through safety tech and scaled the car, after adding 17 pounds of lead, the weight of the paint, new seat the car scaled almost perfect. With a full load of fuel we weighed 1324 pounds which gives us a comfortable fuel burnoff cushion. The cross and other numbers were almost perfect.

Connelly finally got on the track with the old tires to see if the car felt the same as when we ran it in September. It was close. We then put on the new tires, and proceeded to run them in. On the second 10 lap session on the new tires Con spun going into turn 3, I had put too much front brake in the car, he almost saved it he did a half spin then stopped on the grass and came back in.

We had a few issues; the ignition develloped a slight pop when it was cold, with the help of James Wilson (who we purchassed the car from) got that sorted out, I ordered a new set of red coils today. James helped us adjust the camber and toe and reset the brake bias and the car was almost perfect. We had Cody Logan who raced the car before we got it, take it out and shake it down and he reported it was good to go.

Connelly took the car back out for the final run of the day. He got 14 good laps in turning a fast lap of 13.66 on the1/4 mile banked oval. His fast lap of the day was 13.49. All in all a very successful outing for the opening of the 2011 season. Hope to have many more.

ONE CHAPTER ENDS, ANOTHER BEGINS

It is with great saddness that we report that the Red #32 Bandolero has been sold. It almost broke my heart to see it roll out of the driveway. Betty almost cried. It has been a really good car and Connelly learned how to drive a race car in it. Toward the end of the season we really got it dialed in and Connelly was able to drive it anywhere on the track and it would stick. I don't know how much his driving would have improved had we stayed in Bandolero racing for another year. So, we have moved on, and purchassed a Legend.

The car we got was Cody Logan's #88 backup car. We took delivery on the car on Saturday Sept. 25, 2010 at Sunny South Raceway and Connelly got in some serious practice. At first he was Bando driving, but after a lot of pointers from Mr. Joe and Brian he got the line better, his brake points and acceleration pionts started working, his times came down and he got more comfortable. When it was time to go I almost had to "pry" him out of the car. It was a great day. In keeping with the normal weather pattern for SSR it even tried to rain. We look forward to next season already and we only have six months to go.

The new paint scheme has yet to be fully determined, but we are leaning toward a glossy black with orange flames????

Post Season Thoughts

Well the racing at Sunny South Raceway is completed for the 2010 season. Connelly and the entire #32 team has been blessed with an extremely successful season. We won seven races (it would have been eight had Connelly gone through tech for race number seven in a timely fashon) and he had second place finishes in three other races. We won the Bandolero track championshiop by a wide margin of 154 points, which is two complete races. We will probably wind up second in total points for the Louisiana Bandoleros, the car that will probablly win will have 2 or 3 races more than we had. We will most likely finish in the top third of all the Bandoleros in the US with only 13 races to our credit (some cars have over 40). So with all things considered 2010 was almost a perfect season for us, and it was only our second season, with us competing in only 5 events in 2009. We couldn't have asked for more.

I and the entire #32 team would like to thank Joe McArdle and the entire staff at Sunny South Raceway for providing a great venue for racers young and old alike. The track is excellent in that it offers challenges to the crew chief in setting up the car, and the drivers to get the most out of what they have. SSR in truly a unique setting and we want the entire staff to know how much we appreciate their efforts. We are already looking forward to next year.

Sunny South Raceway Results 8-21-2010

Last Saturday was the last race of the season at SSR. It called for a unique fromat in that a double program was scheduled to make up the cancelled race from July 24th due to tropical storm Bonnie. We arrived at the track about 30 minutes late after having to deal with a blow out on the right trailer tire. We got that repaired with the help of the Motorist Assistance Patrol on I-10. The track was very hot, 113 degrees and somewhat loose. Connelly went out and I called him in after only 5 laps, he was sideways coming out of both turns 2 and 4. I didn't want to tear up the car at this point of the season, so I put a half turn of wedge in the left rear to tighten him up. He went back out and said he was too tight, so I took half of what I put in out. He then said he was OK. (should have left it alone as the track came to us and we probably would have been fine if I had given the track time to cool off).

We had a good field of 4 cars for this weekend's event, the #32, the # 39, the #55r, and the #18. Connelly drew the pole to start the first heat race, got a great start and led every lap. The finishing order for the heat was #32, #39, #18, #55r. Connelly reported being a little tight, but the track was still quite hot, but he was turning some dynamite times.

For the feature we started on the pole, followed by the #39, #18 and the #55r. Connelly got another great start and lead every lap. The finishing order was #32, #39, #18, #55r. After driving a great race Connelly made a mistake, instead of going directly to the technical inspector for post race inspection, he inadvertanly went back to the trailer area, where he realized his error and without turning the motor off went back to tech the car but it was too late the damage had been done, he had been disquilified. Connelly was crushed. He desperately wanted to win these last two events. I told him it was just one of those things and to get his game face on and go get the next heat and feature.

We re-registgered the car for the next event, drew third for starting position for the heat race. The program dragged on due to an oil spill in one of the legends races. It got late fast, the driver of the #55r (age 10) was falling asleep in the staging area and his father did not want him up front with the mad dash that was to come at the start with him being so tired, so he moved him to the rear of the field, which by rule moved the whole line up, which put Connelly on the pole again. Connelly got another great start and by halfway had half a straight a way lead. Connelly went on to win the heat by a large margin, folowed by the #18, #39 and #55r. In the second feature the #32 started on the pole due to the heat win, followed by the #18,#39, and #55r. Connelly nailed the start and proceeded to gain a large lead over the #39. The #18 blew another engine, his second of the year while running third and had to retire. He wound up 4th. Connelly went on to win by a large margin, with the #39 second and the #55r third, which guaranteed him the Bandolero Championship of Sunny South Raceway for the 2010 season.

Although we did not go home with the first place trophy for the first feature race, no one crossed the finish line ahead of us all night. We led all 46 laps run in competition Saturday night, but did not qualify for the first place trophy because we did not correctly present ourselves to the track inspector at the required time, even though the "inspection" was nothing more than a drive through. For the last feature of the night Connelly put a piece of tape on the dash board with the words "GO TO TECH" printed on it. I'll bet that he never misses tech again.

Connelly conducted himself in a very professional manner all season, we are proud that he raced everybody clean, was involved in only one minor incident, got spun by the #18, no harm no foul (he still got the win that night). All in all this could be considered a prefect season, 7 wins, 3 seconds out of 14 races

Sunny South Raceway Results 8-7-10

Saturday had finally arrived, Connelly was was going through racing withdrawls. We haven't raced since July 10th because tropical storm Bonnie cancelled the 7-24-10 race date. We arrived at the track at 5:00 pm and the rain arrived at 5:05. It rained one of those southern frog floaters for about an hour then another hour to dry the track. We finally got on the track for practice around 7 pm. Track was green as the rain had washed off all of the rubber put down from prior racing. Car was really good, wicked fast and handling great. Connelly's comment when he returned to the pits was,"don't touch it, it's perfect." He turned a 13.71 in practice.

Another top field of competitors were on hand; the #00, the #55r, the #18, the#39, and of cource us the #32. We drew the 4th starting position with the #39 on pole #00 outside front row, the #55r inside second row, the #32 outside row two, and the # 18 inside row three.

At the start of the heat race Connelly touched bumpers with the #00 and tired to "push" her past the #39, that didn't work so he dove to the inside and went form fourth to second in the first lap. It took him about four laps to get buy the #39 and take the lead and went on to win by about 8 to 10 car lengths. It was a very entertaining race with a couple of lead changes and some real close action. The finishing order for the heat was #32, #39, #18, #55r and #00.

In the feature Connelly started from the pole as a result of winning the heat followed by the #39, the #18, and the #55r, Raelyn Harris in the #00 did not start due to a mechanical problem. Connelly took the lead at the start but in lap #3 got loose and went up high in turns
1 & 2 letting the #39 get under him and take the lead. Connelly didn't panic he just got down to business and ran down the #39 and re took the lead, which he extended to a half straightaway before a spin by the #55r brought out a caution and closed the field up. Connelly got another good start and extended his lead to about 10 carlengths after a few laps of very close racing. These youngsters put on a very entertaining pair of races for the fans. Finishing order #32. #39, #18, #55r.

This was a very good points weekend and we extended our lead to 183 points, which almost locks up the track points championship for us ( we still have the "drop your two lowest points" races to deal with and we don't know how that will impact the final standings.) We'll just keep on racing.

Sunny South Race Results 7-24-10

Tropical storm Bonnie was the winner in all classes and all races on Saturday night. Track Manager Joe McArdle deferred to Bonnie and postponed. A reschedule will be announced shortly.