Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Saturday May 12, 2012
The old rain bug finally caught up with us on Saturday night. We had a run of five races with no rain, which is super good, and Saturday we had to pay the piper. Hopfully we got it out of the way and the Memorial Day weekend event will be good.
Monday, April 30, 2012
Saturday April 28,2012
Saturday night found the DMS 32 team arriving at Sunny South Raceway shortly after 5 PM. Although we left early enough we ran into construction on I 10 before the twin spans, it took us over an hour to go just 3 miles, I was fit to be tied as was Connelly. This would not give us the time we needed to properly set the car up. Before you knew it practice was over and we still had a few things we wanted to try, but we won last race with the car the way is was, so we'll give it a shot. The problem with that philosophy is BRIAN MCARDLE. He was to drive the #44jr, with Joseph his son driving the #44. When you go into McArdle "land" against Brian (4time track champion) and Joseph last year's champion and current point leader, you had better bring your "A" game and your best car, set up right. In addition to the two 44's the #7 of Hunter Lewis, the #55r of Ronnie Osmer, the #39 of Daniel Thompson, the #94 of Brad West, the #59 of Terry Myers, the #04 of Dawson Kenner, and last but not least the #32 of Connelly Dubuisson were in competition.
I was not comfortable that we had not done all that we could have done to have the car perfect. And against a field of this quailty???? Truth is, I don't know enough to get it perfect, so I guess I had it about as good as I could get it. In qualifying Brian McArdle in the #44jr sat on the pole with a 13.08, Joseph McArdle in the #44 was second with a 13.10, and Connelly was third with a 13.11. The top 3 cars only separated by .03 of a second. I thought to myself, we aren't too far off. In the heat race we started 3rd hung there for a while but Connelly had started the air pressures in the tires too high and when they built up we were too loose. The #7 got by for third and we wound up 4th.
During the intermission Brian threw the dice for the invert and rolled a 6 meaning that the first 6 cars would be inverted. We wound up starting 3rd, with the #55r on pole and the #94 on the outside row 1, the #7 outside of us in 4th, with Joseph in the #44 5th and Brian in the #44jr 6th, the #39 started 7th, the #04 8th with the #59 in 9th. Connelly got a good start and had the lead by the end of the first lap. He went on to lead the first five laps with Brian in the #44jr right on his rear bumper. I knew we were on borrowed time, Connelly was trying his best, but we just didn't have anything for the skill, experience and speed of the #44jr. He got by us and we got "freight trained" by the #7 with us now in 3rd. Connelly was pressing the #7 when he got into his rear bumper, and we almost lost it, and slowed a bit and Joseph shot by in the #44, in the next turn Joseph got into the #7 and spun him. Connelly went to the outside and just about had the accident cleared when the #7 came up toward the outside wall and hit us in the left rear tire cutting it down. Now we had a flat to deal with. I began running toward our pit area as Connelly left the track. When I got to our pit the car was up on the jack, the tire removed and about 6 people looking for the spare left rear. It was still in the bed of the pickup. For the last 3 races we had laid out our jack and spare tires in the pit area for just such a problem, but not tonight, so we had to thrash. Many thanks to our friends and competitors Cliff Osmer and his crew along with the #37 Bando crew as they changed the tire once I found it and had Connelly back on the track in 1 minute and 50 seconds. That ain't bad considering he had to drive all the way around the pits at very reduced speed. When he got back on track it was just in time to take the "choose" and he started outside second row in 4th. By the time he was able to get to the bottom where he could pass he was 5th, plus he wanted to feel the car out as we had mismatched set of tires on the car and had no idea of what the air pressure was on that replacement tire. He said the left rear was the only tire that had any grip, so it took some driving. He made a couple of nice passes, he was able to get by the #94 coming out of turn 4 and got the 39 coming out of turn 2, so now he is third again and angry. He was gaining ever so slightly on Joseph, don't know if he could have done anything with him if he had caught him. However he was really over driving the car in his attempt to catch Joseph and spun right in the middle of turn 3 and 4. Now back to the rear again. He took the "choose" and moved back up to the outside of row one, after the green flag he was able to manage to get to the bottom in third place and hold on to it to the finish although the #7 was literally on our rear bumper. Connelly wasn't handling well at all, but that new motor we got through Mr. Joe was making plenty of horse power to keep us in third place down the straightaways. At the finish we were about 5 to 6 car lengths behind Joseph, with Joseph another 5or 6 back from his father, Brian. The apple doesn't fall too far from the tree. Rounding out the field at the finish was the #39 in 5th, the #55r in 6th, the #04 in 7th, the #56in 8th with the #94 leaving the track with 4 to go. All in all a very eventful night. Connelly got some practice driving an ill handling race car, He got to lead a few laps while driving against some of the best drivers in the Southeast. In the end we just didn't have anything for the 44's and they just spanked us, but we are trying, and to be able to compete against and learn from drivers like the McArdles is truly special. We are already looking forward to the next race on May 12, come on out to SSR and treat yourself to some truly exciting racing
I was not comfortable that we had not done all that we could have done to have the car perfect. And against a field of this quailty???? Truth is, I don't know enough to get it perfect, so I guess I had it about as good as I could get it. In qualifying Brian McArdle in the #44jr sat on the pole with a 13.08, Joseph McArdle in the #44 was second with a 13.10, and Connelly was third with a 13.11. The top 3 cars only separated by .03 of a second. I thought to myself, we aren't too far off. In the heat race we started 3rd hung there for a while but Connelly had started the air pressures in the tires too high and when they built up we were too loose. The #7 got by for third and we wound up 4th.
During the intermission Brian threw the dice for the invert and rolled a 6 meaning that the first 6 cars would be inverted. We wound up starting 3rd, with the #55r on pole and the #94 on the outside row 1, the #7 outside of us in 4th, with Joseph in the #44 5th and Brian in the #44jr 6th, the #39 started 7th, the #04 8th with the #59 in 9th. Connelly got a good start and had the lead by the end of the first lap. He went on to lead the first five laps with Brian in the #44jr right on his rear bumper. I knew we were on borrowed time, Connelly was trying his best, but we just didn't have anything for the skill, experience and speed of the #44jr. He got by us and we got "freight trained" by the #7 with us now in 3rd. Connelly was pressing the #7 when he got into his rear bumper, and we almost lost it, and slowed a bit and Joseph shot by in the #44, in the next turn Joseph got into the #7 and spun him. Connelly went to the outside and just about had the accident cleared when the #7 came up toward the outside wall and hit us in the left rear tire cutting it down. Now we had a flat to deal with. I began running toward our pit area as Connelly left the track. When I got to our pit the car was up on the jack, the tire removed and about 6 people looking for the spare left rear. It was still in the bed of the pickup. For the last 3 races we had laid out our jack and spare tires in the pit area for just such a problem, but not tonight, so we had to thrash. Many thanks to our friends and competitors Cliff Osmer and his crew along with the #37 Bando crew as they changed the tire once I found it and had Connelly back on the track in 1 minute and 50 seconds. That ain't bad considering he had to drive all the way around the pits at very reduced speed. When he got back on track it was just in time to take the "choose" and he started outside second row in 4th. By the time he was able to get to the bottom where he could pass he was 5th, plus he wanted to feel the car out as we had mismatched set of tires on the car and had no idea of what the air pressure was on that replacement tire. He said the left rear was the only tire that had any grip, so it took some driving. He made a couple of nice passes, he was able to get by the #94 coming out of turn 4 and got the 39 coming out of turn 2, so now he is third again and angry. He was gaining ever so slightly on Joseph, don't know if he could have done anything with him if he had caught him. However he was really over driving the car in his attempt to catch Joseph and spun right in the middle of turn 3 and 4. Now back to the rear again. He took the "choose" and moved back up to the outside of row one, after the green flag he was able to manage to get to the bottom in third place and hold on to it to the finish although the #7 was literally on our rear bumper. Connelly wasn't handling well at all, but that new motor we got through Mr. Joe was making plenty of horse power to keep us in third place down the straightaways. At the finish we were about 5 to 6 car lengths behind Joseph, with Joseph another 5or 6 back from his father, Brian. The apple doesn't fall too far from the tree. Rounding out the field at the finish was the #39 in 5th, the #55r in 6th, the #04 in 7th, the #56in 8th with the #94 leaving the track with 4 to go. All in all a very eventful night. Connelly got some practice driving an ill handling race car, He got to lead a few laps while driving against some of the best drivers in the Southeast. In the end we just didn't have anything for the 44's and they just spanked us, but we are trying, and to be able to compete against and learn from drivers like the McArdles is truly special. We are already looking forward to the next race on May 12, come on out to SSR and treat yourself to some truly exciting racing
Monday, April 16, 2012
Saturday April 14, 2012
Well the moon, planets and all the stars finally aligned for what was to be our best Legends showing to date. We arrived at Sunny South Raceway just a few minutes after the track opened about 4:05, there were already quite a few cars in their pit stalls, although the track had not opened for practice. We got our pit passes, went to our pit stall, got set up, registered the car, went through tech and got on the track for some practice. We tried a few minor adjustments as the car was close and the track was at 108 degrees. We tried a couple of different setup combinations and finally settled on what we were going to run. Connelly went out and had a 13.05 on the hand held stop watch, but with that you can be off by as much as a half of a tenth. We had the set of carburators that had come with the new engine and we had never tried them, we still had a half hour of practice left so we decided to give it a try. Got them on and couldn't get them to idle, rushing too much. So now we are going back to the old carbs, couldn't get them to idle either---we just got flustered, so we pushed the car down to Joseph McArdle's pit and Joseph put the magic touch on them and got them right in about two minutes, Mr. Joe kept saying, "don't worry dude, we'll get you back out for a couple of passes" as practice was rapidly coming to a close. There were a couple of other cars that wanted one last shot before qualifying and we all got our chance. The car ran good, so we just checked the air pressures for qualifying.
We were in the third qualifying set and the track had cooled down somewhat and Connelly laid down a lap of 13.04 on the transponder, no finger error there. When Ms. Marcie came to the tech barn to post the times and the starting positions for the heat races, I was kidding with her and she said "quit complaining you got the pole". The next closest time was a 13.11 with the third qualifier at 13.17. Connelly's first pole!! At the driver's meeting they announced that this would be an inverted start race, you might know it our first pole and they are going to throw the big dice. What happens is that after the heat race the winner of the #1 heat race throws a three foot dice off of the scoring tower stairs, whatever number comes up that is how many cars are inverted for the start of the Feature Race.
The competitors for Saturday's Legends race were the usual; Joseph McArdle in the #44jr, #44 with Billy Elmore Jr. driving, #94 Brad West driving, #7 Hunter Lewis at the wheel, #39 with Daniel Thompson driving, #52 back for his first race this season With Cody Karl driving, #55r of Ronnie Osmer, #59 driven by the track chaplan Terry Myers, #04 driven by Dawson Kenner who finally got his ignition gremlin exorcised, #4 driven by Tucker Yance, #j8 driven by Alan Kirkfield, and of course Clonnelly Dubuisson driving his black and orange #32. A very impressive field by any standard.
In his heat race Connelly in #32 on the pole, with the #44jr on his outside followed by #52, the #55r, #j8, with the #04 in 6th. Connelly got a perfect start and got out front followed closely by #44jr. for the first half of the race the #32 and #44 were glued together, seldom separated by more than one car length, by about lap six Connelly began to stretch it out to about a 5 length lead which is where they finished with the #52 third followed by #55r, #04, #j8.
As the winner of the first heat, Connelly had to throw the big dice, he threw a "2" so the first two rows were inverted. So instead of starting on the pole he would start inside second row, with one of his best friends Joseph in the #44jr starting on the pole. So now the starting positions would be the opposite of the Heat Race. The outside row also inverted with the #4 front row and #94 second row outside. The rest of the field kept the starting positions they earned in the Heat Race. At the start Joseph got out front with Connelly passing the #4 for second with the #94 getting to third. They ran that way separated by only one or two car lengths with neither the #32 or the #44jr being able to gain any advantage. On lap 6 a caution came out for a spin by the #j8. On the restart Joseph left just the slightest gap on the inside and Connelly took full advantage shot through for the lead, with the #94 in third. Joseph and Connelly put on a fantastic show for the fans seldom being more than one or two car lengths apart. On one occasion the #94 got under Joseph and took second, Joseph executed a classisc "slide job" and took second back. Some really exciting racing for the fans. There was an extended red flag for the #j8 who got into the wall hard coming out of turn #4 knocking off his right front suspension, the wheel rolled all the way to turn two. That left 9 laps to go at the restart, Connelly was able to hold Joseph off for those 9 very hotly contested laps for his first Legend win. This was a case of two cars which, on that night, were very close in speed, with two equally skilled drivers that raced each other very close and very clean. Connelly stopped at the exit to the pits where Mr. Joe gave him the checkered flag and congratulated him, Connelly said, "man he is strong he almost broke my arm congratulating me". Connelly did the "Cajun Victory Lap" (wrong direction) and got a good round of applause. I am proud to be a part such a race and to be associated with such classy people as the McArdles. Thanks Mr. Joe for providing us with such a great venue. Come out next race on 4-28-12 and treat yourself to a night of great and exciting racing.
We were in the third qualifying set and the track had cooled down somewhat and Connelly laid down a lap of 13.04 on the transponder, no finger error there. When Ms. Marcie came to the tech barn to post the times and the starting positions for the heat races, I was kidding with her and she said "quit complaining you got the pole". The next closest time was a 13.11 with the third qualifier at 13.17. Connelly's first pole!! At the driver's meeting they announced that this would be an inverted start race, you might know it our first pole and they are going to throw the big dice. What happens is that after the heat race the winner of the #1 heat race throws a three foot dice off of the scoring tower stairs, whatever number comes up that is how many cars are inverted for the start of the Feature Race.
The competitors for Saturday's Legends race were the usual; Joseph McArdle in the #44jr, #44 with Billy Elmore Jr. driving, #94 Brad West driving, #7 Hunter Lewis at the wheel, #39 with Daniel Thompson driving, #52 back for his first race this season With Cody Karl driving, #55r of Ronnie Osmer, #59 driven by the track chaplan Terry Myers, #04 driven by Dawson Kenner who finally got his ignition gremlin exorcised, #4 driven by Tucker Yance, #j8 driven by Alan Kirkfield, and of course Clonnelly Dubuisson driving his black and orange #32. A very impressive field by any standard.
In his heat race Connelly in #32 on the pole, with the #44jr on his outside followed by #52, the #55r, #j8, with the #04 in 6th. Connelly got a perfect start and got out front followed closely by #44jr. for the first half of the race the #32 and #44 were glued together, seldom separated by more than one car length, by about lap six Connelly began to stretch it out to about a 5 length lead which is where they finished with the #52 third followed by #55r, #04, #j8.
As the winner of the first heat, Connelly had to throw the big dice, he threw a "2" so the first two rows were inverted. So instead of starting on the pole he would start inside second row, with one of his best friends Joseph in the #44jr starting on the pole. So now the starting positions would be the opposite of the Heat Race. The outside row also inverted with the #4 front row and #94 second row outside. The rest of the field kept the starting positions they earned in the Heat Race. At the start Joseph got out front with Connelly passing the #4 for second with the #94 getting to third. They ran that way separated by only one or two car lengths with neither the #32 or the #44jr being able to gain any advantage. On lap 6 a caution came out for a spin by the #j8. On the restart Joseph left just the slightest gap on the inside and Connelly took full advantage shot through for the lead, with the #94 in third. Joseph and Connelly put on a fantastic show for the fans seldom being more than one or two car lengths apart. On one occasion the #94 got under Joseph and took second, Joseph executed a classisc "slide job" and took second back. Some really exciting racing for the fans. There was an extended red flag for the #j8 who got into the wall hard coming out of turn #4 knocking off his right front suspension, the wheel rolled all the way to turn two. That left 9 laps to go at the restart, Connelly was able to hold Joseph off for those 9 very hotly contested laps for his first Legend win. This was a case of two cars which, on that night, were very close in speed, with two equally skilled drivers that raced each other very close and very clean. Connelly stopped at the exit to the pits where Mr. Joe gave him the checkered flag and congratulated him, Connelly said, "man he is strong he almost broke my arm congratulating me". Connelly did the "Cajun Victory Lap" (wrong direction) and got a good round of applause. I am proud to be a part such a race and to be associated with such classy people as the McArdles. Thanks Mr. Joe for providing us with such a great venue. Come out next race on 4-28-12 and treat yourself to a night of great and exciting racing.
Friday, April 6, 2012
Saturday March 31, 2012
Saturday night brought the 32 team to SSR early!! like 4:05, right after the gates opened. The Osmers #55r, pulled in 5 minutes after us, their comment was, "my God you know you are late when the Dubuisson's get here before you". The early arrival was good as it gave us time to get registered, go through tech and not have to rush like crazy. It also gave us time to sort the car out as we were pushing pretty bad last race. Couple of adjustments and the car settled down and handled much better. In qualifying Connelly posted a 13.124 which was good enough for 5th place out of 13 cars. The first five cars were seperated by only .04 of a second -- real tight. There were the usual competitors; the 7, 53, 44jr, 44, 59, 55r, 4, 39, 94, the 94 (yellow) 08, a new driver from Houston driving his fourth race in the #81 and of cource Connelly in the #32.
Connelly's 5th place qualifying earned him the inside of second row in his heat race. He was in the heat with the super fast #7 of Hunter Lewis and the #53 of Jeremy Lundy. He started 3rd and ran in that position for the whole 10 laps never being more than 2 or 3 car lengths behind the #53, which is where he finished. That finish earned him inside 3rd row for the feature.
Connelly got off to a fair start in the feature and settled down in 5th or 6th place for the first 7 or 8 laps, which was his plan, to save his "stuff" for the last 8 or 10 laps. Then it got rough for us. During a caution we lost our brakes, thank God it was during the caution, he came off and got out of the car forgetting to unplug the Raceiver, broke the wire to his earpieces, so now he will have no Raceiver if he gets back out. The race had now been red flaged trying to get the lineup straight, which gave us a couple of minutes to find the brake problem. We found it, the heim that connects the brake pedal to the master cylinder had the nut that secures it vibrate off, thus NO BRAKES. We found the heim and the rod that activetes the master cylinder put it back on, still no nut, one of the Bandolero owners had a compartmented box full of assorted nuts and bolts, within seconds we found the right one, got it secured, Connelly got buckled in and got back on track just as the red flag was lifted. Since he had come off the track and worked on the car he would have to start last. No problem at least we were back in the action although from 13th position. He made a couple of passes, took the "choose" on a couple of occasions and got up to 4th on one of the restarts. Then he and the 39 got together we got spun and hit in the driver's door. No serious damage. But guess what?? back to the rear of the field again. After working his way back up to 6th, he was trying to get past the #44, who was trying to get past the #94. Connelly was giving them plenty of room, but the #44 and #94 got together and wrecked, Connelly had no place to go and he plowed into the back of the #44 tearing off both front fenders, the bumper and grille were destroyed, the oil cooler was pushed back into the front of the engine. No suspension parts appeared to be damaged, we won't know until we scale the car this weekend. At this writing two new fenders, a new grille, bumper and oil cooler bracket have all been installed. We plan to scale and "nut and bolt" the car tomorrow and take the fenders off and get them to the paint shop on Monday and be ready for next Saturday night at SSR. Much of our misfortune could have been avoided had we checked the 1/4 nut that holds the brake m/c rod in place. You can bet that has already been added to our off weekend inspection protocol. All things considered, it could have been a lot worse. We tore up a couple of hundred dollars worth of parts, but Connelly just got his pride brused a little. If that brake heim had come off at full throttle we could have been in big trouble. But we were able to push the car into the trailer and it appears none the worse for wear, and we are already looking forward to next Saturday night at SSR. Come out and see some really good racing.
Connelly's 5th place qualifying earned him the inside of second row in his heat race. He was in the heat with the super fast #7 of Hunter Lewis and the #53 of Jeremy Lundy. He started 3rd and ran in that position for the whole 10 laps never being more than 2 or 3 car lengths behind the #53, which is where he finished. That finish earned him inside 3rd row for the feature.
Connelly got off to a fair start in the feature and settled down in 5th or 6th place for the first 7 or 8 laps, which was his plan, to save his "stuff" for the last 8 or 10 laps. Then it got rough for us. During a caution we lost our brakes, thank God it was during the caution, he came off and got out of the car forgetting to unplug the Raceiver, broke the wire to his earpieces, so now he will have no Raceiver if he gets back out. The race had now been red flaged trying to get the lineup straight, which gave us a couple of minutes to find the brake problem. We found it, the heim that connects the brake pedal to the master cylinder had the nut that secures it vibrate off, thus NO BRAKES. We found the heim and the rod that activetes the master cylinder put it back on, still no nut, one of the Bandolero owners had a compartmented box full of assorted nuts and bolts, within seconds we found the right one, got it secured, Connelly got buckled in and got back on track just as the red flag was lifted. Since he had come off the track and worked on the car he would have to start last. No problem at least we were back in the action although from 13th position. He made a couple of passes, took the "choose" on a couple of occasions and got up to 4th on one of the restarts. Then he and the 39 got together we got spun and hit in the driver's door. No serious damage. But guess what?? back to the rear of the field again. After working his way back up to 6th, he was trying to get past the #44, who was trying to get past the #94. Connelly was giving them plenty of room, but the #44 and #94 got together and wrecked, Connelly had no place to go and he plowed into the back of the #44 tearing off both front fenders, the bumper and grille were destroyed, the oil cooler was pushed back into the front of the engine. No suspension parts appeared to be damaged, we won't know until we scale the car this weekend. At this writing two new fenders, a new grille, bumper and oil cooler bracket have all been installed. We plan to scale and "nut and bolt" the car tomorrow and take the fenders off and get them to the paint shop on Monday and be ready for next Saturday night at SSR. Much of our misfortune could have been avoided had we checked the 1/4 nut that holds the brake m/c rod in place. You can bet that has already been added to our off weekend inspection protocol. All things considered, it could have been a lot worse. We tore up a couple of hundred dollars worth of parts, but Connelly just got his pride brused a little. If that brake heim had come off at full throttle we could have been in big trouble. But we were able to push the car into the trailer and it appears none the worse for wear, and we are already looking forward to next Saturday night at SSR. Come out and see some really good racing.
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Saturday March 17, 2012
Saturday afternoon found us running late getting to the track, Connelly's younger sister had a soccer game that we had to attend, by the time we got out of town we were an hour late. By the time we got to the track, got registered and teched we only had a little over a half hour of practice left. It wouldn't have been too bad, but the car that was handling so well last race went to junk on us. It just wouldn't roll through the center of the turns and was sliding the front end up the track. The track temp was 94o and we should have been loose. I made a slight adjustment which helped some, but we were still tight, made another adjustment, still tight, then practice ended. The track finally got the transponders in so we were able to qualify on time. Connelly laid down a pretty fair lap, 13.20 for a fourth starting spot out of 11 cars. As usual we had a very good field of cars. The very fast #53 of Jeremy Lundy, Both of the 44's the blue driven by Joseph McArdle, with Billy Elmore, Jr. in the silver car. In addition Joey Padget in his very quick #83, the always fast #7 of Hunter Lewis, of cource the #32 with Connelly Dubuisson doing the driving. The much improved #4 of Tucker Yance, along with the #39 of Daniel Thompson, the #55r of Ronnie Osmer, the #59 of Terry Myers, and Andrew Johnson driving the #66. A very strong field again this weekend. Connelly's fourth qualifying spot gave him the outside front row in his heat race, alongside of #83 of Joey Padgett. At the start Connelly was able to get to the bottom in a half a lap, then coming out of turn four got under the #83 they touched and Connelly got dead sideways (you could read his number from up the track) he was able to maintain 2nd position for a couple of laps then coming out of turn two spun, which put him last, since there were only three laps to go there was no "choose", in three laps he was able to work his way up to 3rd. Which gave him outsde of third row (6th) starting position in the feature race.
Eleven cars answered the call for the feature, after the start it took Connelly a full lap to get to the bottom of the track where he could race, by then he was 8th, he then worked his way back up to 5 th when he got into a long slide down the back stretch and lost 3 positions, worked his way back up to about 6th when the 55r and 66 got together and as a result of a case of mistaken identity by the race director, Connelly got sent to the back for causing the accident?? oh well, all this and the car is handling worse (the track is cooling off and getting tighter)--just what we didn't need. We get back to racing Connelly just completes a pass on the 39 for 5th and Joey Padget blows an oil line off his engine and oils the track down causing the silver #44 to spin right in front of Connelly leaving just a narrow lane between the car and the wall on the back straightaway, Connelly managed to squeeze through and not hit anything or anybody. Joey was finished for the night. After a lengthy cleanup delay we got back underway with a "green, white, checker" Connelly wound up finishing 6th. It could have been a lot worse, we put ourselves in position to get run over by the #4 on two occasions, Tucker skifully avoided us, and that squeeze between the silver #44 and the wall was too close for comfort. Considering we were dealing with an ill handling race car and several near misses, I was overjoyed to just be able to push the #32 back on the trailer in one piece. Oh well, we'll give it another try next race on the 31st. Come on out to Sunny South Raceway and treat yourself to some very exciting and action filled racing.
Eleven cars answered the call for the feature, after the start it took Connelly a full lap to get to the bottom of the track where he could race, by then he was 8th, he then worked his way back up to 5 th when he got into a long slide down the back stretch and lost 3 positions, worked his way back up to about 6th when the 55r and 66 got together and as a result of a case of mistaken identity by the race director, Connelly got sent to the back for causing the accident?? oh well, all this and the car is handling worse (the track is cooling off and getting tighter)--just what we didn't need. We get back to racing Connelly just completes a pass on the 39 for 5th and Joey Padget blows an oil line off his engine and oils the track down causing the silver #44 to spin right in front of Connelly leaving just a narrow lane between the car and the wall on the back straightaway, Connelly managed to squeeze through and not hit anything or anybody. Joey was finished for the night. After a lengthy cleanup delay we got back underway with a "green, white, checker" Connelly wound up finishing 6th. It could have been a lot worse, we put ourselves in position to get run over by the #4 on two occasions, Tucker skifully avoided us, and that squeeze between the silver #44 and the wall was too close for comfort. Considering we were dealing with an ill handling race car and several near misses, I was overjoyed to just be able to push the #32 back on the trailer in one piece. Oh well, we'll give it another try next race on the 31st. Come on out to Sunny South Raceway and treat yourself to some very exciting and action filled racing.
Monday, March 5, 2012
OPENING NIGHT 3-3-2012
This past Saturday night was opening night at Sunny South Raceway for the 2012 season. Everyone was really looking forward to the opening especially Connelly. He has worked hard getting his grades in order as well as working very hard getting the car ready. There have been a couple of private test sessions and one open test date and everyone was all tested and practiced out and ready to go RACING. There have been a couple of new entries in the Legends class in the Young Lions division. Ronnie Osmer has moved up from Bandoleros with his #55r and Daniel Thompson has also moved up from Bandoleros with his #39. We raced Bandoleros with them and they are both good competitors and great friends. We welcome them to the Legends class and look forward to racing with them both.
The field of 12 Legends that presented Saturday was a very strong one. In addition to Ronnie #55r, and #39, Jeremy Lundy #53 with his wicked fast '34 coupe, Joseph McArdle blue #44, (2011 Young Lions track champion), his dad Brian McArdle three time track champion in the Pro division in his silver 44jr coupe. Terry Myers with his '37 sedan #59 was sporting a new paint scheme, looks like gloss black that has been in the rain also he has a new engine, Obviously Connelly with his '37 sedan, new engine and all, Also competing was the #4 of Tucker Yance, the #7 of Hunter Lewis, who has a new motor and is super strong. The #66 is also a new driver here for his first race, the #04 whose name I do not have at this time (but I'll get it) and finally another Louisiana driver from Harahan, LA driving his #8 again I do not have his name.
HEAT RACE
We were not able to qualify this Saturday as the transponders did not arrive in time, hopefully they will be in for the next race. I drew the chip for starting position and drew a high number so we would start 5th out of 6 for our heat. The #39 who was scheduled to start ahead of us opted to start last (his first race) to try and get his "racing feet" under him before starting up in the middle of the pack, smart thing to do. That moved us up to starting 3rd as they just moved the whole line up. We were in the first heat with the #53, #44jr, #66, #4, #39 and Connelly in #32. At the start we were able to move up to second held it for a short time when Brian in the #44 got past us. We ran 3rd for a few laps behind the #53 and#44jr when Brian spun the #44jr right in front of Connelly, Brian being the professional driver he is locked the car down and gave Connelly a good lane to get buy without any contact. That brought out the caution, Brian took the "choose" which put Connelly back to third. After a couple of laps of hard racing the #39 got into the #4 and spun him, another caution. We again started 3rd., Brian made a great pass on the white flag lap for the win, the #53 finished second Connelly third with the #4 fourth followed by the #39 and #66. Connelly drove a good heat, fairly conservatively but he was in some fast company with the #44jr and the #53
FEATURE RACE
In the feature we started inside second row behind the #53, the blue #44 of Joseph McArdle outside pole, the #59 was outside of us with the #4 inside 3nd row, the #08 outside of the3rd row, with the #39 inside 4th row and the #55r outside 4th row, the#66 inside row 5 with the #7 outside of him. Brian McArdle wasn't feeling well after the heat race so he put a relief driver Billy Elmore in the #44jr for the feature which put him starting last. Connelly started third and finished third, but had to pass about twelve cars to do that. (The "choose" cone is put out after each caution except on the last three laps and allows all the drivers behind the leader move up to the outside of the 1st row, then the next car that "chooses" goes to the outside of the 2nd row and so on.) So when the caution comes out if you are in third place and do not "chosse" you are now in 5th place, however the outside is the long way around the track and the slower line, but the driver who was third and is now 5th has to pass all those outside cars again. There were a number of spins, some one car spins about three others that someone got spun by someone else, so there were a lot of "choosers". Connelly even got into the act. Going into turn one on one of the many restarts the #44jr came down on Connelly and they just barely touched and the #44jr went around, however it knocked Connelly's fender loose, I had to bring him in for repairs, before I got to him Cliff Osmer just snaped the fender back in place and Connelly got back out and didn't loose a lap, but now he is dead last. One lap after the restart Connelly had passed one car when the #39 spun and was black flagged (three spin rule) and withdrew. Connelly took the "choose" and went to the outside of the first row, by time he got to the bottom he was fourth behind the#53, the#7, and Joseph in the blue #44. Connelly got by Joseph in the #44 on a restart, I think Joseph missed a shift. Connelly was able to maintain his position and finish third. He almost got to second when the #7 thought the white flag was the checker and backed off, then realized his error and got back in it, Connelly got to the side of him and was third by less than a 1/2 car length. Joseph in the#44 was 4th, Billy Elmore in the #44jr was 5th with the #4 finishing 6th, the #08 was 7th, with the #59 came in 8th, and the #55r in 9th. After the race in the tech barn Billy Elmore showed what a class act he is when he came up to Connelly and accepted full responsibility for their little "get together" the mirrors in the #44jr were set for Brian and he just couldn't see. All in all a very eventful race, with several spins a couple of slight fender benders and some real good racing. I thought Connelly had a very good race, he got to race against the best drivers and equipment in the deep south and held his own, he is coming along and shows real promise. Our next race is at Sunny South on March 17. Come out to Grand Bay, AL and see some really good racing.
The field of 12 Legends that presented Saturday was a very strong one. In addition to Ronnie #55r, and #39, Jeremy Lundy #53 with his wicked fast '34 coupe, Joseph McArdle blue #44, (2011 Young Lions track champion), his dad Brian McArdle three time track champion in the Pro division in his silver 44jr coupe. Terry Myers with his '37 sedan #59 was sporting a new paint scheme, looks like gloss black that has been in the rain also he has a new engine, Obviously Connelly with his '37 sedan, new engine and all, Also competing was the #4 of Tucker Yance, the #7 of Hunter Lewis, who has a new motor and is super strong. The #66 is also a new driver here for his first race, the #04 whose name I do not have at this time (but I'll get it) and finally another Louisiana driver from Harahan, LA driving his #8 again I do not have his name.
HEAT RACE
We were not able to qualify this Saturday as the transponders did not arrive in time, hopefully they will be in for the next race. I drew the chip for starting position and drew a high number so we would start 5th out of 6 for our heat. The #39 who was scheduled to start ahead of us opted to start last (his first race) to try and get his "racing feet" under him before starting up in the middle of the pack, smart thing to do. That moved us up to starting 3rd as they just moved the whole line up. We were in the first heat with the #53, #44jr, #66, #4, #39 and Connelly in #32. At the start we were able to move up to second held it for a short time when Brian in the #44 got past us. We ran 3rd for a few laps behind the #53 and#44jr when Brian spun the #44jr right in front of Connelly, Brian being the professional driver he is locked the car down and gave Connelly a good lane to get buy without any contact. That brought out the caution, Brian took the "choose" which put Connelly back to third. After a couple of laps of hard racing the #39 got into the #4 and spun him, another caution. We again started 3rd., Brian made a great pass on the white flag lap for the win, the #53 finished second Connelly third with the #4 fourth followed by the #39 and #66. Connelly drove a good heat, fairly conservatively but he was in some fast company with the #44jr and the #53
FEATURE RACE
In the feature we started inside second row behind the #53, the blue #44 of Joseph McArdle outside pole, the #59 was outside of us with the #4 inside 3nd row, the #08 outside of the3rd row, with the #39 inside 4th row and the #55r outside 4th row, the#66 inside row 5 with the #7 outside of him. Brian McArdle wasn't feeling well after the heat race so he put a relief driver Billy Elmore in the #44jr for the feature which put him starting last. Connelly started third and finished third, but had to pass about twelve cars to do that. (The "choose" cone is put out after each caution except on the last three laps and allows all the drivers behind the leader move up to the outside of the 1st row, then the next car that "chooses" goes to the outside of the 2nd row and so on.) So when the caution comes out if you are in third place and do not "chosse" you are now in 5th place, however the outside is the long way around the track and the slower line, but the driver who was third and is now 5th has to pass all those outside cars again. There were a number of spins, some one car spins about three others that someone got spun by someone else, so there were a lot of "choosers". Connelly even got into the act. Going into turn one on one of the many restarts the #44jr came down on Connelly and they just barely touched and the #44jr went around, however it knocked Connelly's fender loose, I had to bring him in for repairs, before I got to him Cliff Osmer just snaped the fender back in place and Connelly got back out and didn't loose a lap, but now he is dead last. One lap after the restart Connelly had passed one car when the #39 spun and was black flagged (three spin rule) and withdrew. Connelly took the "choose" and went to the outside of the first row, by time he got to the bottom he was fourth behind the#53, the#7, and Joseph in the blue #44. Connelly got by Joseph in the #44 on a restart, I think Joseph missed a shift. Connelly was able to maintain his position and finish third. He almost got to second when the #7 thought the white flag was the checker and backed off, then realized his error and got back in it, Connelly got to the side of him and was third by less than a 1/2 car length. Joseph in the#44 was 4th, Billy Elmore in the #44jr was 5th with the #4 finishing 6th, the #08 was 7th, with the #59 came in 8th, and the #55r in 9th. After the race in the tech barn Billy Elmore showed what a class act he is when he came up to Connelly and accepted full responsibility for their little "get together" the mirrors in the #44jr were set for Brian and he just couldn't see. All in all a very eventful race, with several spins a couple of slight fender benders and some real good racing. I thought Connelly had a very good race, he got to race against the best drivers and equipment in the deep south and held his own, he is coming along and shows real promise. Our next race is at Sunny South on March 17. Come out to Grand Bay, AL and see some really good racing.
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Open Test Date SSR 2-11-12
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.
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.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
