We had our test date last Saturday, got to see a lot of old friends including Mr Dan who I met on my first visit to SSR, he has followed Connelly's progress throughout his brief career, it was great seeing him again.
We had a busy agenda for the test session, new engine to break in, new tires to break in. Mr. Joe said that the engine was ready to go as we had it dynoed in Charlotte, but I am so cautious I broke it in again, when you spend that much money you want to be sure. In our first time on the track there were about 7 cars out with us, I told the other drivers we were going to be running about half speed and that we would stay out of their way, which we did. We got a break as there were no cars in the grid and we got 20 laps before the next class was up. We did two more 10 lap sets gradually increasing speed. The car handled great and the enging felt really strong. In the next set I told Connelly to increase his speed and push it a little. He turned some pretty good times, He even practiced a restart. The car really looked good on the track, very smooth. We ran the whole practice without the front fenders or hood or grille in order to maximize air flow to new engine. It still got very hot. We put a fan on it between sets to bring it down which it did. In the final set I told Connelly to run it, he got some really good times, although the track was cold, the ambient air temperture was around 50 degrees with a 20 mph wind, it was more than cool. All in all we had a very successful test and are looking forward to the 3rd of March to start the season.
We had some liquid on the top of the engine and some oil drops on the left rear fender and running board. I thought that the head bolts were leaking, so I called Mr. Joe Sun. morning all concerned. Mr Joe pointed out you were running too good to have an oil leak through the head bolts, you would be loosing compression. I was so paranoid about that new motor. Joe told me go out there and find your oil leak and you will be fine. The rear oil cooler line had worked about an eighth of a turn loose and there was just a slight drip, which accounted for the oil on the rear fender and running board. The liquid on the top of the engine was brake fluid, we had over filled the tank. Joe probablly thinks that I am a raving lunatic worrying about every little thing without checking it out first. O well that is what us neophites do. Again Joe sorry for being such a pest.
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Off Season Prep for 2012
The #32 team began preparing for the 2012 season in early fall. We tore the car down to the last nut and bolt, had the chassis clipped and powdercoated -gloss black. The old clip was out a bunch, 1/2 inch in on the right side and almost 3/4 inch up on the right side, probablly a result of three too close encounters with the #4. We just seemed to have an attraction to each other. We ordered a new engine from Mr. Joe which is now installed, changed all of the brake lines, put all new bolts in the controll arms, new steering collum (we had already replaced the steering box last August), changed all fluids. It took us forever to get the car scaled as the front clip was so far out that we had to go back to the measurements we took of the car when we first got it. We have it pretty close. It was a lot of work but the car looks good and we are waiting to get to the track on the 11th of Feb. The new engine sounds strong, we will see how strong. We are certainly looking forward to the 2012 season.
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Final Points Results
The final points have been tallied and Connelly has in fact finished third in the Young Lions points for the 2011 season at Sunny South Raceway. Even though he missed two races with one being a double points night he was able to race his way to third place. Eighteen cars posted finishes that earned points in the Young Lions division and another fourteen posted points in the Pro-Masters division. Since both divisions ran together this season Connelly was competing against some very experienced drivers. His goal at the beginning of the season was to win one race and finish third in points in this his first season in Legend Car racing. Fortunately he was able to accomplish both of his goals. This was supposed to be his learning season and learn he did. In his last race he was turning some very respectable times against some very tough competition. We are all very proud of him and we are already looking forward to next season.
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Saturday Night September 17, 2011--Last Race of Season
iThis past Saturday night found the #32 team at Sunny South Raceway for the final time this season. Since it was the last race of the year, a couple of new wrinkles were in store. First they were going to qualify the Legends and Bandoleros, it was also a double points race, which was good for us as we were trying to get into the top 3 in Young Lions points. We were 103 points behind, which would be too many to make up in one race, but because of the double points it was mathematically possible.
There was a very strong field of 15 cars on hand to contest the last race of the 2011 season. In addition to the usual strong contenders; Brian McArdle two time track champion and current track record holder, his son Joseph current points leader in Young Lions, Cody Logan current points leader in the pro division and last year's semi pro champion, the #53 who won the pole in qualifying with a blistering lap in the low 13.1's, Cody Karl currently in second place in points behind Joseph (-30 pionts back). The wild card in this mix was Joey Padget who we were chasing for third place in Young Lions was racing in Kentucky and was not competing. Also racing was the #4,#7,#59, #97, #8, #1 and of course the #32 of Connelly Dubuisson.
When we went on the track for practice, Connelly discovered the toe had been knocked out in our altercation with the #4 in the last race. We lost about 30 min of practice time fixing it. We got on the track and the car felt good to Connelly. He ran some respectable times. We wanted to try a set of tires that we had used earlier in the year as they appeared to have a better stagger than the ones we had been running. We got the tires changed and presented the car to the gate for a test run but the track had just closed to practice. I asked Connelly what he wanted to do about tires for qualifying, he said lets try the ones we had not practiced, bad decision. We had run a number of laps on the old tires in the low to mid 13.20's. In qualifying the car just wouldn't handle and we posted a 13.53 good enough for only 9th place out of 15 cars. You just can't leave .3 of a second on the table in qualifying. We started 5th out of 8 cars in our heat race, made two passes got to third, got passed back by Cody Logan and wound up 4th in the heat. We started in the 7th position out of 15 cars for the feature. Connelly drove a great race and worked his way up to 4th by lap 7, the red flag came out for an accident at that point and it took 15 min to clear the track. During the cleanup, an accidental fire extinguisher discharge by the safety vehicle put a huge amount of dry chemical on the track. They blew it off and ran a few hot laps to finish the job, and got back to racing. Several cars took the "choose" which relegated Connelly to 8th. He worked his way back up to 6th then got into a slow slide and went through the infield at the entrance to turn one and knocked the toe out again and the car quit handling. The slide began right where all of that dry chemical from the fire extinguisher was dropped, could be that contributed to the slide. Before the spin he had run a lap of 13.11 and after the best he could do was a 13.78. We wound up with an official finish of 9th. I did the math and it appears that we might have gotten 3rd place in Young Lions points since Joey Padget was not racing. We picked up 104 which would give us the lead for third by one point. Each driver will have to drop his lowest point race and I don't know what Joey's lowest race was, so the jury is still out.
From my prespective, the 2011 season was a great one for us. We began with a new class of car that I knew little about, and with a driver who was totally new to legend racing. These cars are a complete different animal than the old bandolero. The setup is totally different, but with the help of a lot of people were were able to learn a lot about the car. I brought Connelly along slowly at first, but he grew into the position of driver and by the end of the season was really doing well. We are already looking forward to next season.
There was a very strong field of 15 cars on hand to contest the last race of the 2011 season. In addition to the usual strong contenders; Brian McArdle two time track champion and current track record holder, his son Joseph current points leader in Young Lions, Cody Logan current points leader in the pro division and last year's semi pro champion, the #53 who won the pole in qualifying with a blistering lap in the low 13.1's, Cody Karl currently in second place in points behind Joseph (-30 pionts back). The wild card in this mix was Joey Padget who we were chasing for third place in Young Lions was racing in Kentucky and was not competing. Also racing was the #4,#7,#59, #97, #8, #1 and of course the #32 of Connelly Dubuisson.
When we went on the track for practice, Connelly discovered the toe had been knocked out in our altercation with the #4 in the last race. We lost about 30 min of practice time fixing it. We got on the track and the car felt good to Connelly. He ran some respectable times. We wanted to try a set of tires that we had used earlier in the year as they appeared to have a better stagger than the ones we had been running. We got the tires changed and presented the car to the gate for a test run but the track had just closed to practice. I asked Connelly what he wanted to do about tires for qualifying, he said lets try the ones we had not practiced, bad decision. We had run a number of laps on the old tires in the low to mid 13.20's. In qualifying the car just wouldn't handle and we posted a 13.53 good enough for only 9th place out of 15 cars. You just can't leave .3 of a second on the table in qualifying. We started 5th out of 8 cars in our heat race, made two passes got to third, got passed back by Cody Logan and wound up 4th in the heat. We started in the 7th position out of 15 cars for the feature. Connelly drove a great race and worked his way up to 4th by lap 7, the red flag came out for an accident at that point and it took 15 min to clear the track. During the cleanup, an accidental fire extinguisher discharge by the safety vehicle put a huge amount of dry chemical on the track. They blew it off and ran a few hot laps to finish the job, and got back to racing. Several cars took the "choose" which relegated Connelly to 8th. He worked his way back up to 6th then got into a slow slide and went through the infield at the entrance to turn one and knocked the toe out again and the car quit handling. The slide began right where all of that dry chemical from the fire extinguisher was dropped, could be that contributed to the slide. Before the spin he had run a lap of 13.11 and after the best he could do was a 13.78. We wound up with an official finish of 9th. I did the math and it appears that we might have gotten 3rd place in Young Lions points since Joey Padget was not racing. We picked up 104 which would give us the lead for third by one point. Each driver will have to drop his lowest point race and I don't know what Joey's lowest race was, so the jury is still out.
From my prespective, the 2011 season was a great one for us. We began with a new class of car that I knew little about, and with a driver who was totally new to legend racing. These cars are a complete different animal than the old bandolero. The setup is totally different, but with the help of a lot of people were were able to learn a lot about the car. I brought Connelly along slowly at first, but he grew into the position of driver and by the end of the season was really doing well. We are already looking forward to next season.
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Saturday August 27,2011
Saturday night found us at Sunny South Raceway with saddened hearts. My Mother and Connelly's Great Grandmother passed away, and we had just buried her on Thursday. She lived a full and complete life and at 94 1/2 was ready to join her maker. She was active and lucid to the very end but had fallen and fractured her hip the Saturday before and had to have surgury or be confined to a bed for the rest of her life, which she refused. We, in concert with her, chose the surgury and it resulted in her passing. We will all miss her greatly. This puts a lot of things in prospective.
THE RACING:
We had to replace the starter, which we killed when Connlly spun in last weekend's race, turned the engine backwards and that took care of the starter. He reported that the brakes were getting "soft" after last week's feature. Upon inspection I found that the left rear hard brake line had suffered from metal fatigue and fractured. So we replaced both and adjusted the brakes, now we hoped we had a car that would both start and stop.
During practice, the track was slick and everybody was loose, with the track temparature at 118.7 that was to be expected. We did not adjust the car as we felt the track would "come to us" once it cooled down. Which it did.
The field of cars that was on hand was very impressive. Brian McArdle (2 time track champion and track record holder) was there as was his son Joseph (current young lions points leader) with his new super strong '34 coupe. Joey Padgett (# 8 in the US in young lions points) Cody Logan (last year's track champion in young lions and current points leader in the Pro division) as well as the usual SSR participants. We felt like we were probablly a top 5 or 6 car.
In the heat race we faced Cody Logan and Joey Padgett, the #1, #4, and #59 for a first heat consisting of 6 cars. We started outside front row. Connelly got a good start and fell in behind Cody and ran second for about half the race when Joey Padgett got by sending us to 3rd which is where we finished.
In the feature 13 cars answered the starter's call. We started 5th due to the invert and settled in and ran in the top 5 or 6 for most of the race. With 3 laps to go while in 7 th place Connelly spun going into turn 3, his right rear brake locked up and sent him around (he put too much brake in the right rear when he adjusted the brakes) that relegated him to last place. After the re-start he passed one car and in the last turn coming to the checker flag he attempted to pass the # 4, got under him they got together and Connelly spun into the infield and finished last. It was just one of those "racing things" with two agressive drivers going for the same piece of "reale estate" while looking at the finish line. When Tucker Yance (the driver of the #4, and really nice guy)came down to our pits after the race to talk, I jokingly told him I would have to keep him and Connelly separated because they don't play well together. We knocked off the right rear fender so we will have to re attach it before the next race which will be on the 17 of September, it will be the last race of the season. Come on out and watch some really exciting racing.
THE RACING:
We had to replace the starter, which we killed when Connlly spun in last weekend's race, turned the engine backwards and that took care of the starter. He reported that the brakes were getting "soft" after last week's feature. Upon inspection I found that the left rear hard brake line had suffered from metal fatigue and fractured. So we replaced both and adjusted the brakes, now we hoped we had a car that would both start and stop.
During practice, the track was slick and everybody was loose, with the track temparature at 118.7 that was to be expected. We did not adjust the car as we felt the track would "come to us" once it cooled down. Which it did.
The field of cars that was on hand was very impressive. Brian McArdle (2 time track champion and track record holder) was there as was his son Joseph (current young lions points leader) with his new super strong '34 coupe. Joey Padgett (# 8 in the US in young lions points) Cody Logan (last year's track champion in young lions and current points leader in the Pro division) as well as the usual SSR participants. We felt like we were probablly a top 5 or 6 car.
In the heat race we faced Cody Logan and Joey Padgett, the #1, #4, and #59 for a first heat consisting of 6 cars. We started outside front row. Connelly got a good start and fell in behind Cody and ran second for about half the race when Joey Padgett got by sending us to 3rd which is where we finished.
In the feature 13 cars answered the starter's call. We started 5th due to the invert and settled in and ran in the top 5 or 6 for most of the race. With 3 laps to go while in 7 th place Connelly spun going into turn 3, his right rear brake locked up and sent him around (he put too much brake in the right rear when he adjusted the brakes) that relegated him to last place. After the re-start he passed one car and in the last turn coming to the checker flag he attempted to pass the # 4, got under him they got together and Connelly spun into the infield and finished last. It was just one of those "racing things" with two agressive drivers going for the same piece of "reale estate" while looking at the finish line. When Tucker Yance (the driver of the #4, and really nice guy)came down to our pits after the race to talk, I jokingly told him I would have to keep him and Connelly separated because they don't play well together. We knocked off the right rear fender so we will have to re attach it before the next race which will be on the 17 of September, it will be the last race of the season. Come on out and watch some really exciting racing.
Monday, August 22, 2011
Saturday Night August 20, 2011
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.
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.
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.
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