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.
Tuesday, August 20, 2013
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.
Sunday, June 16, 2013
Friday Night 6-14-13
Friday night started early, as we rented the track for 2 hours prior to the race to try to sort out the #32. We lost the handling on the car in the past 3 races and just didn't have time in the practice sessions allotted prior to the race to sort it out. The track gates open at 5:30 pm and practice starts at 6:00 and is over at 7:15 all classes must practice, so you don't have much time to work out a problem. We were at the track for 3:00 and running test laps by 3:20. We had a list of several things we wanted to try (only got through half). The track was scalding hot when we first got on it 138.9 degrees. We shouldn't have even attempted to sort the car out with the track being that hot, but you can't wait until October--the season will be over. Our first set of 5 laps gave us a "fast"? time of 13.380, we came in adjusted, 13.400 wrong way, adjusted again--13.320, more adjustments-13.290, better but no cigar, adjusted again 13.220. In two hours of work we managed to shave off .160 of a second---huge still not where we need to be but closer. With that run our time had run out. A special thanks to Mr. Wayne (the track owner) who provided us a with transponder and personally read out all of our lap times over the PA system, so we had good feedback. At that point normal track practice started, and the track had cooled down to 106 degrees Connelly managed some times in the high teens--more like it. We qualified 6th not what we wanted, made another adjustment for the heat race, fueled the car and got to the grid for our heat.
Cars that were available to compete tonight were the #32 of Connelly Dubuisson, #44 Joseph McArdle, #53 of Jeremy Lundy, the #7 of Hunter Lewis, the #2 of Billy Elmore, the #2r of Skyler Fleming, the #66 of Andrew Johnson, the #96 of Robby Johnston, the #04 of Dawson Keener, the #33 of Dalton Chipley, a very fast field of cars.
Heat Race: We started 3rd in heat race number two, passed the #44, he took it back, passed the #53 and held onto it for a second place finish behind the #44, followed by the #53 the #04 and #33. Our times had much, improved also the track had cooled to 101 degrees.
Feature Race: The second place finish in our heat had given us the starting position of 4th in the feature, before the invert. Hunter Lewis #7 threw the big dice and threw a 3--inverting 3 cars, which left us still starting in 4th--outside second row. Connelly got a good start and by the end of lap one was in second place. Coming out of turn 4 to complete lap two the #2r pushed up got into our left side, he spun, Connelly was able to save it and restarted in 4th place, while the #2r had to go to the rear as he brought out the caution with his spin. We took the choose and had an opportunity to get in front of the #44 but waited a hundredth of a second too long and Joseph closed the door relegating us to 3rd. after some good close racing the #04 got into the back of the #66 and locked up his brakes causing him to spin. Through all of this Connelly was in third place behind the #7 and #44. Another choose with three cars going up on the outside, but they couldn't hold position on the outside and fell back. It was a close and very competitive race with all cars finishing on the lead lap. Top 5 finishers were #7, #44, #32, #53, #66. It was a very productive race for us as we shaved a quarter of a second off of our lap times--which is huge--got a third place finish, a check for $100 (which almost covers the gas for the truck) and a nice trophy. We have some minor damage to repair from the #53 getting into our rear bumper hard, but nothing that can't be fixed. Looking forward to the next race. Come on out and treat yourself to some very good racing.
Cars that were available to compete tonight were the #32 of Connelly Dubuisson, #44 Joseph McArdle, #53 of Jeremy Lundy, the #7 of Hunter Lewis, the #2 of Billy Elmore, the #2r of Skyler Fleming, the #66 of Andrew Johnson, the #96 of Robby Johnston, the #04 of Dawson Keener, the #33 of Dalton Chipley, a very fast field of cars.
Heat Race: We started 3rd in heat race number two, passed the #44, he took it back, passed the #53 and held onto it for a second place finish behind the #44, followed by the #53 the #04 and #33. Our times had much, improved also the track had cooled to 101 degrees.
Feature Race: The second place finish in our heat had given us the starting position of 4th in the feature, before the invert. Hunter Lewis #7 threw the big dice and threw a 3--inverting 3 cars, which left us still starting in 4th--outside second row. Connelly got a good start and by the end of lap one was in second place. Coming out of turn 4 to complete lap two the #2r pushed up got into our left side, he spun, Connelly was able to save it and restarted in 4th place, while the #2r had to go to the rear as he brought out the caution with his spin. We took the choose and had an opportunity to get in front of the #44 but waited a hundredth of a second too long and Joseph closed the door relegating us to 3rd. after some good close racing the #04 got into the back of the #66 and locked up his brakes causing him to spin. Through all of this Connelly was in third place behind the #7 and #44. Another choose with three cars going up on the outside, but they couldn't hold position on the outside and fell back. It was a close and very competitive race with all cars finishing on the lead lap. Top 5 finishers were #7, #44, #32, #53, #66. It was a very productive race for us as we shaved a quarter of a second off of our lap times--which is huge--got a third place finish, a check for $100 (which almost covers the gas for the truck) and a nice trophy. We have some minor damage to repair from the #53 getting into our rear bumper hard, but nothing that can't be fixed. Looking forward to the next race. Come on out and treat yourself to some very good racing.
Saturday, June 8, 2013
Memorial Day Classic--Race to Glory
For the past several years Sunny South Raceway has been hosting the Memorial Weekend Classic. It features the normal Friday night race program on Friday and a regional qualifier for the Bandoleros and Legends on Saturday night. This year the Tri-State competition (Alabama, Georgia, and Florida) was added for the Pro Challenge division, it was run on Saturday night as well. This event always provides good competition for the racers, and two races in one weekend. It also provides great spectator appeal as there are usually some out of town cars to challenge the local drivers.
FRIDAY NIGHT MAY 24 2013
The #32 team got to the track late, left home about 30 min. late which put us smack in the middle of the early leavers for the holiday weekend traffic, which cost us another 45 min. We arrived at the track got unloaded, got registered, went through "tech" and only got one practice session. The car was tight and we didn't have time to play with it. We were 2 tenths of a second off of our best time, and qualifying was coming up, oh well -- run whatcha brung!!!
Twelve Legends presented for competition tonight; the #83 of Joey Padgett, the # 54 of Clayton Green, both the #83 and #54 are very fast out of town cars, the #7 of Hunter Lewis, the #32 of Connelly Dubuisson, the #53 of Jeremy Lundy, the #2r of Skyler Fleming, the #44 of Joseph McArdle, the # 66 of Andrew Johnson, the # 99 , the #2 of Billy Elmore, Jr., the # 96 of Robbie Johnston, the # 94 of Bred West.
Qualifying: Connelly qualified fourth behind the #83,#7,#54, with the #53 behind Connelly in 5th.
Heat: That put us outside front row in heat #2 and with a tight racecar we just couldn't hold it down in the center of the corner and we wound up 4th in our heat which put us starting 8th out of 12 cars in the feature.
Feature: Starting that deep in the field with an ill handling racecar I told Connelly to just be careful, not to risk the car as the regionals were the next night, and try to pick up as many places as he could. He was able to pick up a couple of spots and wound up 6th in a fairly uneventful race. The top five were; The #7, the #83, the #44, the #2r with Connelly in 6th. Connelly had a shot at getting by the 2r in the closing laps, but did not force the issue and settled for 6th. The extra 3 points he would have gained were not worth the risk, besides we are not racing the 2r for points anyway. Now we need get ready for tomorrow.
SATURDAY NIGHT MAY 25, 2013
We stayed in Mobile Friday night, saved us a bunch of driving and gas expense as the motel was half the cost of gas for the round trip thanks to Joe McArdle negotiating a group rate at the LaQuinta inn. Plus it gave Connelly an hour and a half of study time--his Spanish exam was Monday and he needed to pass (got an 88 which passed him for the year--hooray). Back to racing, we got to the track early as we pushed checkout time to 1pm., got to the track around 2, which gave us time to nut and bolt the car and we were ready when the track opened for practice, the track temp was 134degrees when we first went out to practice. We adjusted on the car and adjusted on the car even changed a spring, got it a little better, but it still wasn't perfect and with the field of cars we had you better be perfect or close to it if you want to run with them. Cars that presented today were the # 83 of Joey Padgett, the # 54 of Clayton Green, the # 7 of Hunter Lewis, the # 44 of Joseph McArdle, the # 32 of Connelly Dubuisson, the # 66 of Andrew Johnson, the # 94 of Brad West, the # 96 of Robbie Johnston, the
# 33 of Dalton Chipley, the # 2 of Billy Elmore, Jr. that tonight was driven by Tucker Yance.
Since tonight's program is the regional qualifier, it will be run a little differently. There will be qualifying, no heat races will be necessary as there are not more cars than the feature can fit on the track so all qualifiers will transfer to the feature. The regional qualifier guarantees the winner in each class a starting spot in the National Championship race, so if you are planning to go to the nationals it is great to have a guaranteed starting spot when you leave home.
Qualifying: Qualifying order was # 83, # 54, # 7, # 44, #32, #66, # 94, # 96, # 33, # 2
Regional Qualifier Feature: This race is a 35 lap race, compared to Friday night's and the normal Friday night program of 20 laps. So tire management was going to be crucial, if you severely overheat your right rear tire you are done, so you have to run fast enough to be close yet not abuse your right rear tire. After one false start (Joey Padgett took off on the "one to go" flag instead of the green and the field had to be reset). There was some very close racing in the early stages, wasn't much attention being paid to tire management. Joey Padgett lead from the start and really wasn't challenged, the #7, #54 and #44 swapped second/third/fourth a couple of times. Connelly settled in to 5th place and maintained. The # 44 of Joseph McArdle's tires finally "came in" late in the race and he passed the #54 for second, the #7 fell to 4th -- he had apparently got the right rear tire so hot he looked like he had a flat he was so loose. Connelly closed up to within about 3 car lengths--thought we might be able to get by, but with 3 laps to go a caution came out for the spin of # 94 allowing every body's tires to cool off a little and we just couldn't get by. The # 44 laid down some really fast lap times in the closing stages of the race but just couldn't get by Padgett, finally settling for second. The top 5 were #83 Joey Padgett, #44 Joseph McArdle, #54 Clayton Green, #7 Hunter Lewis, and #32 Connelly Dubuisson. Although Connelly finished in fifth position, he was the first car in the Semi Pro division to finish, and if they score his finish the way they have in previous years, he will be the Semi Pro Regional Champion. We will have to wait and see. All in all it was not too bad of a weekend for us, we gained some points, had a fair run against some very strong competition and learned a lot about what changes don't work when dealing with a tight racecar on a hot track. We will go over the car with a fine tooth comb get back to our base setup and stage a comeback
FRIDAY NIGHT MAY 24 2013
The #32 team got to the track late, left home about 30 min. late which put us smack in the middle of the early leavers for the holiday weekend traffic, which cost us another 45 min. We arrived at the track got unloaded, got registered, went through "tech" and only got one practice session. The car was tight and we didn't have time to play with it. We were 2 tenths of a second off of our best time, and qualifying was coming up, oh well -- run whatcha brung!!!
Twelve Legends presented for competition tonight; the #83 of Joey Padgett, the # 54 of Clayton Green, both the #83 and #54 are very fast out of town cars, the #7 of Hunter Lewis, the #32 of Connelly Dubuisson, the #53 of Jeremy Lundy, the #2r of Skyler Fleming, the #44 of Joseph McArdle, the # 66 of Andrew Johnson, the # 99 , the #2 of Billy Elmore, Jr., the # 96 of Robbie Johnston, the # 94 of Bred West.
Qualifying: Connelly qualified fourth behind the #83,#7,#54, with the #53 behind Connelly in 5th.
Heat: That put us outside front row in heat #2 and with a tight racecar we just couldn't hold it down in the center of the corner and we wound up 4th in our heat which put us starting 8th out of 12 cars in the feature.
Feature: Starting that deep in the field with an ill handling racecar I told Connelly to just be careful, not to risk the car as the regionals were the next night, and try to pick up as many places as he could. He was able to pick up a couple of spots and wound up 6th in a fairly uneventful race. The top five were; The #7, the #83, the #44, the #2r with Connelly in 6th. Connelly had a shot at getting by the 2r in the closing laps, but did not force the issue and settled for 6th. The extra 3 points he would have gained were not worth the risk, besides we are not racing the 2r for points anyway. Now we need get ready for tomorrow.
SATURDAY NIGHT MAY 25, 2013
We stayed in Mobile Friday night, saved us a bunch of driving and gas expense as the motel was half the cost of gas for the round trip thanks to Joe McArdle negotiating a group rate at the LaQuinta inn. Plus it gave Connelly an hour and a half of study time--his Spanish exam was Monday and he needed to pass (got an 88 which passed him for the year--hooray). Back to racing, we got to the track early as we pushed checkout time to 1pm., got to the track around 2, which gave us time to nut and bolt the car and we were ready when the track opened for practice, the track temp was 134degrees when we first went out to practice. We adjusted on the car and adjusted on the car even changed a spring, got it a little better, but it still wasn't perfect and with the field of cars we had you better be perfect or close to it if you want to run with them. Cars that presented today were the # 83 of Joey Padgett, the # 54 of Clayton Green, the # 7 of Hunter Lewis, the # 44 of Joseph McArdle, the # 32 of Connelly Dubuisson, the # 66 of Andrew Johnson, the # 94 of Brad West, the # 96 of Robbie Johnston, the
# 33 of Dalton Chipley, the # 2 of Billy Elmore, Jr. that tonight was driven by Tucker Yance.
Since tonight's program is the regional qualifier, it will be run a little differently. There will be qualifying, no heat races will be necessary as there are not more cars than the feature can fit on the track so all qualifiers will transfer to the feature. The regional qualifier guarantees the winner in each class a starting spot in the National Championship race, so if you are planning to go to the nationals it is great to have a guaranteed starting spot when you leave home.
Qualifying: Qualifying order was # 83, # 54, # 7, # 44, #32, #66, # 94, # 96, # 33, # 2
Regional Qualifier Feature: This race is a 35 lap race, compared to Friday night's and the normal Friday night program of 20 laps. So tire management was going to be crucial, if you severely overheat your right rear tire you are done, so you have to run fast enough to be close yet not abuse your right rear tire. After one false start (Joey Padgett took off on the "one to go" flag instead of the green and the field had to be reset). There was some very close racing in the early stages, wasn't much attention being paid to tire management. Joey Padgett lead from the start and really wasn't challenged, the #7, #54 and #44 swapped second/third/fourth a couple of times. Connelly settled in to 5th place and maintained. The # 44 of Joseph McArdle's tires finally "came in" late in the race and he passed the #54 for second, the #7 fell to 4th -- he had apparently got the right rear tire so hot he looked like he had a flat he was so loose. Connelly closed up to within about 3 car lengths--thought we might be able to get by, but with 3 laps to go a caution came out for the spin of # 94 allowing every body's tires to cool off a little and we just couldn't get by. The # 44 laid down some really fast lap times in the closing stages of the race but just couldn't get by Padgett, finally settling for second. The top 5 were #83 Joey Padgett, #44 Joseph McArdle, #54 Clayton Green, #7 Hunter Lewis, and #32 Connelly Dubuisson. Although Connelly finished in fifth position, he was the first car in the Semi Pro division to finish, and if they score his finish the way they have in previous years, he will be the Semi Pro Regional Champion. We will have to wait and see. All in all it was not too bad of a weekend for us, we gained some points, had a fair run against some very strong competition and learned a lot about what changes don't work when dealing with a tight racecar on a hot track. We will go over the car with a fine tooth comb get back to our base setup and stage a comeback
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