Well Mother Nature won this past Saturday. Rained out!!!!!! Race will be made up in July.
Next race will be Saturday May 2, 2015 Can't wait.
Saturday, April 25, 2015
Saturday, April 11, 2015
Saturday Night April 4, 2015
Well here it is race night again and Betty and My 51st wedding anniversary, what an understanding woman and here we are at the pit gate ready to racing. (promised her a chicken sandwich as our anniversary dinner). Our last two race weekends were very successful to say the least, hoping for a three-peat. We got checked in, registered, teched and got on the track for a short practice. The track felt very slick and our times were not where we wanted them to be, but everyone else said the same thing so we just waited for the track to cool down. Connelly went out again shortly before practice ended, it had cooled down and gotten better.
We had a very strong group of cars in competition tonight, there were #32 Connelly Dubuisson,
#44 Brian McArdle, #14 Conner Okrzesik, #44jr. Joseph McArdle, #96 Robbie Johnston, #10 Chad Robinson, #01 Treyce Capers, #6 Fred Laing, #1 Michael Beasley, #5 Brandon Slater, #18 Devin Corry. A very good mix of drivers, should make for a very interesting race.
Qualifying:
The track had indeed cooled down and the times reflected that. Connelly got a really good lap and posted a pole position time of 12.928 seconds, second was #96 Robbie Johnston at 13.079 with Conner Okrzesik #14 at 13.092 third, #44 Brian McArdle fourth at 13.124, and Joseph McArdle #44jr. fifth at 13.209. A really close field with the top five separated by a tick over a quarter of a second, which equates to a little over one car length on the track. The rest of the qualifiers in order were not too far behind , #10 Chad Robinson, #01 Treyce Capers, #1 Michael Beasley, #5 Brandon Slater, #18 Devin Corry, #6 Fred Laing all posting times in the middle 13's.
Heat Race:
In our heat, Connelly had the pole, outside of him the #14 of Conner, #44 and 01 made up row two with the #5 and #6 making up row three. Connelly got a good start but there was a spin shortly after the start-- complete restart. We made another good start with Conner and Joseph in close pursuit. Connelly got about a 3 to 4 length lead over Conner and was able to hold the #14 off for the heat win. Treyce in the 01 was third followed by the #5, #44jr. and the #6. That #14 is really coming on, look for good things from Conner and the #14 team. Heat #2 was won by #96 Robbie Johnston, with #44 second, #10 third, #18 fourth, followed by #1.
Feature Race:
As the winner of heat # 1 Connelly threw the "big" dice to see how many cars would "invert" he threw a 2 meaning the first two starters would invert so Connelly would start on outside row 1 with #96 on the pole, row 2 #14 and #44, row 3 #01 and #10, row 4 #5 and #18, row 5 #44jr. and #1 with #6 on row 6.
At the start the #96 got loose and Connelly was able to get out front with the #44 and #14 right on our tail. On lap 3 the #18 had a suspension component fail bringing out a caution and forcing him to withdraw from the race. On the restart, again Connelly got a good start and got back out front with the #44 in second and #14 in third. On the third lap after the restart with the cars still all bunched up, in the middle of turn 4 someone in 4th or 5th position got loose and the whole field scattered like a covey of quail, there were cars going everywhere down the front straightaway. The drivers demonstrated extreme driving skills and there was no further contact and no spins. It was amazing to watch them all save their cars. That could have been one of those things where half the field was taken out. Again some really special driving. The race went caution free the rest of the way the #5, #6 and #1 were trading positions in the middle of the field, hey good racing is good racing whether it is for 1st position or 5th position it is still very entertaining. Connelly was able to hold on to first place and we won the feature, with #44 in second and #14 third, #44jr. in fourth and #96 rounding out the top 5. The finishing order for the rest of the field: #10 Chad, #01 Treyce, #6 Fred, #1 Michael, #5 Brandon and #18 Devin. Another great night for Connelly and the #32team, the "frog" has touched the "alligator" on the nose again and didn't get eaten. Folks, these cars are putting on some really good races. Come on out and treat yourself to a night of family fun and excitement. See you on the 21st.
We had a very strong group of cars in competition tonight, there were #32 Connelly Dubuisson,
#44 Brian McArdle, #14 Conner Okrzesik, #44jr. Joseph McArdle, #96 Robbie Johnston, #10 Chad Robinson, #01 Treyce Capers, #6 Fred Laing, #1 Michael Beasley, #5 Brandon Slater, #18 Devin Corry. A very good mix of drivers, should make for a very interesting race.
Qualifying:
The track had indeed cooled down and the times reflected that. Connelly got a really good lap and posted a pole position time of 12.928 seconds, second was #96 Robbie Johnston at 13.079 with Conner Okrzesik #14 at 13.092 third, #44 Brian McArdle fourth at 13.124, and Joseph McArdle #44jr. fifth at 13.209. A really close field with the top five separated by a tick over a quarter of a second, which equates to a little over one car length on the track. The rest of the qualifiers in order were not too far behind , #10 Chad Robinson, #01 Treyce Capers, #1 Michael Beasley, #5 Brandon Slater, #18 Devin Corry, #6 Fred Laing all posting times in the middle 13's.
Heat Race:
In our heat, Connelly had the pole, outside of him the #14 of Conner, #44 and 01 made up row two with the #5 and #6 making up row three. Connelly got a good start but there was a spin shortly after the start-- complete restart. We made another good start with Conner and Joseph in close pursuit. Connelly got about a 3 to 4 length lead over Conner and was able to hold the #14 off for the heat win. Treyce in the 01 was third followed by the #5, #44jr. and the #6. That #14 is really coming on, look for good things from Conner and the #14 team. Heat #2 was won by #96 Robbie Johnston, with #44 second, #10 third, #18 fourth, followed by #1.
Feature Race:
As the winner of heat # 1 Connelly threw the "big" dice to see how many cars would "invert" he threw a 2 meaning the first two starters would invert so Connelly would start on outside row 1 with #96 on the pole, row 2 #14 and #44, row 3 #01 and #10, row 4 #5 and #18, row 5 #44jr. and #1 with #6 on row 6.
At the start the #96 got loose and Connelly was able to get out front with the #44 and #14 right on our tail. On lap 3 the #18 had a suspension component fail bringing out a caution and forcing him to withdraw from the race. On the restart, again Connelly got a good start and got back out front with the #44 in second and #14 in third. On the third lap after the restart with the cars still all bunched up, in the middle of turn 4 someone in 4th or 5th position got loose and the whole field scattered like a covey of quail, there were cars going everywhere down the front straightaway. The drivers demonstrated extreme driving skills and there was no further contact and no spins. It was amazing to watch them all save their cars. That could have been one of those things where half the field was taken out. Again some really special driving. The race went caution free the rest of the way the #5, #6 and #1 were trading positions in the middle of the field, hey good racing is good racing whether it is for 1st position or 5th position it is still very entertaining. Connelly was able to hold on to first place and we won the feature, with #44 in second and #14 third, #44jr. in fourth and #96 rounding out the top 5. The finishing order for the rest of the field: #10 Chad, #01 Treyce, #6 Fred, #1 Michael, #5 Brandon and #18 Devin. Another great night for Connelly and the #32team, the "frog" has touched the "alligator" on the nose again and didn't get eaten. Folks, these cars are putting on some really good races. Come on out and treat yourself to a night of family fun and excitement. See you on the 21st.
Monday, March 30, 2015
Saturday Night 3-21-15
Here we are at the second race of 2015 season, we celebrated setting a new track record last race and winning both the heat and the feature race. It would be nice to be able to repeat, but you are racing
the McArdles and from sweet little Josie in her pink Bandolero (don't let her sweet smile and quiet demeanor fool you, she is a racer) to Brian and Joseph in their Legends, they are formidable competition. You might be able to outrun them now and then, but it is like a frog going up and touching an alligator on the nose, you might be able to pull it off now and then, but sooner or later the alligator (McArdle) is going to get you. As if that is not enough, you still have to deal with, Conner Okrzesik #14, Robbie Johnston #96, Fred Laing #6, Ernest Morris #3, Chad Robinson #10, Trace Capers #01, Devin Corry #18, Brandon Slater #5 and Connelly Dubuisson #32, plus throw in Brian McArdle #44, and Joseph McArdle #44jr. and you have your work cut out for you. All in all a very respectable field of cars, it will take a perfectly prepared car and a driver who has brought his "A" game to be able to win tonight.
In practice Connelly said the #32 just didn't feel very fast, I had forgotten to bring our in car electronic timer so we were relegated to the old hand held stop watch. With the hand held I had Connelly off of what we ran last race by one and a half tenths in practice. I timed some of the competition and no one was posting really good times, I think a combination of track conditions and air temp & humidity had everybody off by a few ticks. We checked over everything and all seemed OK so it was on to qualifying.
QUALIFYING:
Connelly won the pole with a 12.958 over a tenth slower than last race, Brian was second with a 13.131, Chad Robinson third with a 13.166, Joseph was fourth with a 13.167, one thousandth of a second out of third, and Robbie Johnston fifth with a 13.174. The top five separated by just a touch over 2 tenths of a second, pretty sporty.
HEAT RACE:
In the heat race Connelly started on the pole with Chad #10 outside, second row Robbie #96 inside and Treyce #01 outside, row three Ernest #3 inside and Brandon #5 outside. Connelly got a good start and led for the first 8 laps then a caution came out, with less than 3 laps to go, single file restart, again Connelly got a good start and led the green white checker run to the finish with Robbie and Chad in very hot pursuit. Finishing order #32, #96, #10, #01, #3, #5.
FEATURE RACE:
Connelly had to throw the big dice to determine the "invert" he rolled a 1 meaning no invert, starting positions determined by your heat race finish. Connelly started on the pole and since Brian had won his heat he started on the outside of the front row Robbie and Chad had the second row with Conner and Treyce covering the third row, the rest of the field was comprised of Fred, Everett, Devin and Brandon. Joseph had to tag (start last) due to him breaking a suspension component and not finishing the heat. He had to pull out a backup car for the feature, which had him starting last.
Connelly got a really good start from the pole and got about a 3 car length lead, then a couple of quick cautions on lap 2 and the subsequent restart, I thought "here we go again another caution plagued race"-- not so fast exhaust breath-- we ran the rest of the race, 18 laps under green. Connelly and Brian put on quite a show, with the lead never being more than a couple of car lengths, on about lap 5 or 6 Brian got a big run on us out of turn 2, got his right front wheel under our left rear, got loose had to correct and did a slight wheel hop--a big cloud of tire smoke erupted, both drivers displayed outstanding driving skills and neither lost control but could easily have wrecked. From that point on they were never more than 1 or 2 lengths apart. Some passing of lapped cars took place which tightened the front two up even more with Connelly prevailing at the checkered flag by about two car lengths. There was good racing throughout the entire field with multiple passes in the middle of the pack. It was a very entertaining race in all respects, except for the "wheel hop" which almost gave me a heart attack. Finishing order of the top five was Connelly in the #32, Brian McArdle #44 second, Conner Okrzesik #14 third, Joseph McArdle #44jr who had come through the field from 11th starting position to finish fourth, and Robbie Johnston #96 fifth. We had another sweep; won qualifying, heat race and feature. We touched the alligator on the nose again, and didn't get eaten. Next race is April 4, Betty and my 51st wedding anniversary. I told her that our anniversary dinner will be a chicken sandwich at the track snack bar--big spender right????? Come on out to Sunny South Raceway and treat yourself to some outstanding racing.
the McArdles and from sweet little Josie in her pink Bandolero (don't let her sweet smile and quiet demeanor fool you, she is a racer) to Brian and Joseph in their Legends, they are formidable competition. You might be able to outrun them now and then, but it is like a frog going up and touching an alligator on the nose, you might be able to pull it off now and then, but sooner or later the alligator (McArdle) is going to get you. As if that is not enough, you still have to deal with, Conner Okrzesik #14, Robbie Johnston #96, Fred Laing #6, Ernest Morris #3, Chad Robinson #10, Trace Capers #01, Devin Corry #18, Brandon Slater #5 and Connelly Dubuisson #32, plus throw in Brian McArdle #44, and Joseph McArdle #44jr. and you have your work cut out for you. All in all a very respectable field of cars, it will take a perfectly prepared car and a driver who has brought his "A" game to be able to win tonight.
In practice Connelly said the #32 just didn't feel very fast, I had forgotten to bring our in car electronic timer so we were relegated to the old hand held stop watch. With the hand held I had Connelly off of what we ran last race by one and a half tenths in practice. I timed some of the competition and no one was posting really good times, I think a combination of track conditions and air temp & humidity had everybody off by a few ticks. We checked over everything and all seemed OK so it was on to qualifying.
QUALIFYING:
Connelly won the pole with a 12.958 over a tenth slower than last race, Brian was second with a 13.131, Chad Robinson third with a 13.166, Joseph was fourth with a 13.167, one thousandth of a second out of third, and Robbie Johnston fifth with a 13.174. The top five separated by just a touch over 2 tenths of a second, pretty sporty.
HEAT RACE:
In the heat race Connelly started on the pole with Chad #10 outside, second row Robbie #96 inside and Treyce #01 outside, row three Ernest #3 inside and Brandon #5 outside. Connelly got a good start and led for the first 8 laps then a caution came out, with less than 3 laps to go, single file restart, again Connelly got a good start and led the green white checker run to the finish with Robbie and Chad in very hot pursuit. Finishing order #32, #96, #10, #01, #3, #5.
FEATURE RACE:
Connelly had to throw the big dice to determine the "invert" he rolled a 1 meaning no invert, starting positions determined by your heat race finish. Connelly started on the pole and since Brian had won his heat he started on the outside of the front row Robbie and Chad had the second row with Conner and Treyce covering the third row, the rest of the field was comprised of Fred, Everett, Devin and Brandon. Joseph had to tag (start last) due to him breaking a suspension component and not finishing the heat. He had to pull out a backup car for the feature, which had him starting last.
Connelly got a really good start from the pole and got about a 3 car length lead, then a couple of quick cautions on lap 2 and the subsequent restart, I thought "here we go again another caution plagued race"-- not so fast exhaust breath-- we ran the rest of the race, 18 laps under green. Connelly and Brian put on quite a show, with the lead never being more than a couple of car lengths, on about lap 5 or 6 Brian got a big run on us out of turn 2, got his right front wheel under our left rear, got loose had to correct and did a slight wheel hop--a big cloud of tire smoke erupted, both drivers displayed outstanding driving skills and neither lost control but could easily have wrecked. From that point on they were never more than 1 or 2 lengths apart. Some passing of lapped cars took place which tightened the front two up even more with Connelly prevailing at the checkered flag by about two car lengths. There was good racing throughout the entire field with multiple passes in the middle of the pack. It was a very entertaining race in all respects, except for the "wheel hop" which almost gave me a heart attack. Finishing order of the top five was Connelly in the #32, Brian McArdle #44 second, Conner Okrzesik #14 third, Joseph McArdle #44jr who had come through the field from 11th starting position to finish fourth, and Robbie Johnston #96 fifth. We had another sweep; won qualifying, heat race and feature. We touched the alligator on the nose again, and didn't get eaten. Next race is April 4, Betty and my 51st wedding anniversary. I told her that our anniversary dinner will be a chicken sandwich at the track snack bar--big spender right????? Come on out to Sunny South Raceway and treat yourself to some outstanding racing.
Wednesday, March 18, 2015
MARCH 7, 2015--OPENING NIGHT FOR 2015 SEASON
Well it has finally arrived, opening night of the 2015 racing season. It seems like the off season went by in a flash and before we knew it the 2015 season was here. It felt like we never got to do all of the things we wanted to do before the season started, but we got all of the important things done. Saturday morning Connelly was nut and bolting the car and waxing it before we loaded it up and tied it down. We made the 1 hour and 47 minute trip to SSR without incident (always the best kind) got to the track got into our new pit location very close to the flag stand where I usually watch the race (trying to save the old sciatic nerve) got unloaded, went through tech and registration, checked air pressure, fueled it up and got on the track. He made about half a dozen laps to get some heat in the tires and "busted it" for about 5 laps. Connelly got some really good times and he said the car felt great, so much so that he said "I am done". Well he lied, because right before the track closed for practice he went to Mr. Joe and asked "do I have enough time for one more pass?" He got his pass and the car was still good--why wouldn't it be we hadn't changed it or done anything to it.
We had a very good field of 12 cars tonight. We had a group of cars down from Monroe as well as the usual local competitors. Tonight's lineup was Robbie Johnston #96, Chad Robinson #10, Treyce Capers #01, Conner Okrzesik #14, Dalon More #99, Devin Corry #18,
Connelly Dubuisson #32, Joseph McArdle #44jr., Brian McArdle #44, Ronny Freeland #9, Chris Freeland #91, Fred Laing #6, all in all a very strong and competitive field of cars which included several seasoned veterans as well as some up and coming newer drivers.
QUALIFYING:
In an attempt to get the racing program completed at a reasonable hour, qualifying was held before the drivers meeting--a great idea which saved at least 15 or 20 min. In qualifying Connellly laid down the lap of his life posting a time of 12.840 seconds for the quarter mile which calculates to 70.093 mph. I wasn't sure at the time as I couldn't remember what the old track record was, but I went up to Mr. Joe at the post qualifying tech inspection and told him I thought that we might have broken the track record. Obviously we qualified on the pole with Brian McArdle second and Robbie Johnston third. When we got home and I pulled up the records on the track website and found that Connelly had indeed broken the track record set by Hunter Lewis last season at 12.869
HEAT RACES:
Because we had 12 cars in competition there were 2 heat races of 6 cars each. Connelly#32 won his heat followed by the #96, #14, #10, #99, and #18. In the second heat race Brian McArdle #44 won his heat followed by the #9, #44jr., #91, #01, #6.
FEARURE RACE:
In the feature we had a two car invert--Connelly threw a 2 on the big dice which inverted two cars putting Brian on the pole with Connelly outside of him, the #96, #9, #14, #44jr. #10, #91, #99, #01, #18, and the #6 completed the starting lineup, in that order. A case of "yellow fever" broke out from the start. The #14 had a terminal mechanical issue on the first lap--red flag-- then a series of minor spins and mishaps ensued bringing our a number of cautions. It took 11 laps to complete 3 green flag laps. The drivers just fought through and a sense of normalcy finally prevailed. I don't know whether it was an opening night thing-- just being rusty, or the cold track. At the start of the feature the track temp was 52 degrees--probably a combination of both. It took Connelly a few laps but he finally got by Brian in the #44 for the lead. Some really good racing was taking place all around the track, they were two wide and in some cases three wide, really good stuff, some of which probably contributed to the cautions. Connelly won the feature race for his first sweep of the season. The top five finishers were Connelly in the #32, Joseph McArdle in his #44jr. (he beat his dad) Brian Mcardle #44, Ronny Freeland #9, and rounding out the top 5 was Chad Robinson in the #10.
It was a weekend made in heaven for Connelly and the #32 team, Broke the track record, sat on the pole, won his heat race and the feature race and was able to roll the car back on the trailer, which is the most important thing. Looking forward to next race already. Come on out to SSR and treat yourself to some really great racing on March 21.
We had a very good field of 12 cars tonight. We had a group of cars down from Monroe as well as the usual local competitors. Tonight's lineup was Robbie Johnston #96, Chad Robinson #10, Treyce Capers #01, Conner Okrzesik #14, Dalon More #99, Devin Corry #18,
Connelly Dubuisson #32, Joseph McArdle #44jr., Brian McArdle #44, Ronny Freeland #9, Chris Freeland #91, Fred Laing #6, all in all a very strong and competitive field of cars which included several seasoned veterans as well as some up and coming newer drivers.
QUALIFYING:
In an attempt to get the racing program completed at a reasonable hour, qualifying was held before the drivers meeting--a great idea which saved at least 15 or 20 min. In qualifying Connellly laid down the lap of his life posting a time of 12.840 seconds for the quarter mile which calculates to 70.093 mph. I wasn't sure at the time as I couldn't remember what the old track record was, but I went up to Mr. Joe at the post qualifying tech inspection and told him I thought that we might have broken the track record. Obviously we qualified on the pole with Brian McArdle second and Robbie Johnston third. When we got home and I pulled up the records on the track website and found that Connelly had indeed broken the track record set by Hunter Lewis last season at 12.869
HEAT RACES:
Because we had 12 cars in competition there were 2 heat races of 6 cars each. Connelly#32 won his heat followed by the #96, #14, #10, #99, and #18. In the second heat race Brian McArdle #44 won his heat followed by the #9, #44jr., #91, #01, #6.
FEARURE RACE:
In the feature we had a two car invert--Connelly threw a 2 on the big dice which inverted two cars putting Brian on the pole with Connelly outside of him, the #96, #9, #14, #44jr. #10, #91, #99, #01, #18, and the #6 completed the starting lineup, in that order. A case of "yellow fever" broke out from the start. The #14 had a terminal mechanical issue on the first lap--red flag-- then a series of minor spins and mishaps ensued bringing our a number of cautions. It took 11 laps to complete 3 green flag laps. The drivers just fought through and a sense of normalcy finally prevailed. I don't know whether it was an opening night thing-- just being rusty, or the cold track. At the start of the feature the track temp was 52 degrees--probably a combination of both. It took Connelly a few laps but he finally got by Brian in the #44 for the lead. Some really good racing was taking place all around the track, they were two wide and in some cases three wide, really good stuff, some of which probably contributed to the cautions. Connelly won the feature race for his first sweep of the season. The top five finishers were Connelly in the #32, Joseph McArdle in his #44jr. (he beat his dad) Brian Mcardle #44, Ronny Freeland #9, and rounding out the top 5 was Chad Robinson in the #10.
It was a weekend made in heaven for Connelly and the #32 team, Broke the track record, sat on the pole, won his heat race and the feature race and was able to roll the car back on the trailer, which is the most important thing. Looking forward to next race already. Come on out to SSR and treat yourself to some really great racing on March 21.
Monday, March 16, 2015
THE 2015 RACING SEASON
Well the 2015 racing season is upon us, on Valentines day we had the open practice at SSR. The weather was perfect after a week of rain. It was great to be back at the track after being "gone" for the off season. We had some work to do --break in tires-- got that done. Ms. Debbie served some awesome chili and soft drinks I understand there were roses for the "sweethearts" but since Ms. Betty didn't come with us we didn't get a rose since I am not anybody's sweetheart, but that is what happens when you are old and ugly.
We got our tires broken in, visited with old friends and just had a very relaxing afternoon at the track. Connelly only ran it hard for a few laps and he was very satisfied with the car. He said it was really good and was looking forward to March 7 --opening day-- See you there on the 7th.
We got our tires broken in, visited with old friends and just had a very relaxing afternoon at the track. Connelly only ran it hard for a few laps and he was very satisfied with the car. He said it was really good and was looking forward to March 7 --opening day-- See you there on the 7th.
Thursday, October 30, 2014
2014 Season Wrap Up
Well the 2014 racing season is in the books and as we always do, it is time to look back and assess our performance. Our objectives at the start of the season were:
1. Win the track championship in the Pro Division--last year's performance dictated we move up.
2. Win at least 2 races.
3. To be competitive with consistent podium finishes.
4. To race everyone fairly without having to foul to pass.
5. To have Connelly grow his racing skills.
In order to give Connelly the best equipment we could we had our engine rebuilt, after the rebuild it dyno'ed real strong. We went through the chassis and replaced all of the trailing arm bolts, replaced the rear trailing arms out of an abundance of caution, and checked everything to within an inch of its life. We also ordered two new sets of tires. At the open test session in Feb. the car was very strong, and we felt like we had done all we could do in preparation for 2014. At the test session Hunter Lewis showed up with a "new" '34 Ford coupe. I recognized this car as one I had seen out of the Atlanta area and it was indeed a strong car. We thought that we had stepped up our game, but so did Hunter. In this game if you are standing still, you are going backwards.
The first race of the season had us running fourth for most of the race behind Brian, Joseph and Hunter, when Hunter got a little loose (he didn't quite have it dialed in to SSR yet) and we got by him right at the end for third, but it was obvious that he was going to be a force to be dealt with. The next several races saw Hunter in the #7 totally dominate the Pro division, so much so that I called our setup man and told him what was going on and we needed some more speed. He made a couple of suggestions which we implemented and we picked up a few hundredths of a second--good, but not good enough. Finally he suggested that we buy the sister car to Hunter's that was available as a roller and put our engine and seat in it, as we had this freshly rebuilt engine, and see what happens.
In the meantime Hunter had become so dominant that they put a bounty out on him. It was a three race deal where whoever could fairly beat him would get an extra $100 in the first race $200 if you beat him in the 2nd race of the bounty and $300 if you got him in the 3rd race, if nobody beats him in any of the three bounty races then Hunter got the $300.
We went with the Atlanta area coupe had our "stuff" put on it got it home had it painted put numbers on it and rented the track for a test session. The car was good, the next night was a race. We managed a very close third. The next race rained out which brought us to Aug 1st. That race was our break out race, we won the whole thing including the bounty. Our first win of the season. We then went on to win two more races for a total of three. Of the 16 races that were run at Sunny South Raceway we wound up with 3 first place, 3 seconds and 7 thirds, 13 podium finishes out of 16 races. Not bad!!!!
We also made a "road trip" to Monroe, La and raced at Revolution Raceway a 3/8 mile banked concrete oval track. We got a 6th (should have been a 4th) in the first race, a 5th in the second feature and a 3rd in the last race of the weekend (was right on the rear bumper of the second place car and moving up at the finish). As Connelly learned the track his speeds picked up considerably and we came home with a sense of accomplishment.
Achieving our goals:
1. We finished second in the championship by 35 points.
2. We won 3 races.
3. We were definitely competitive with 13 podium finishes of 16 races.
4. We raced everyone clean.
5. Connelly made tremendous gains in his racing skills.
If we could have another year like 2014 we would take it in a heartbeat. We are already looking forward to 2015, can't wait.
1. Win the track championship in the Pro Division--last year's performance dictated we move up.
2. Win at least 2 races.
3. To be competitive with consistent podium finishes.
4. To race everyone fairly without having to foul to pass.
5. To have Connelly grow his racing skills.
In order to give Connelly the best equipment we could we had our engine rebuilt, after the rebuild it dyno'ed real strong. We went through the chassis and replaced all of the trailing arm bolts, replaced the rear trailing arms out of an abundance of caution, and checked everything to within an inch of its life. We also ordered two new sets of tires. At the open test session in Feb. the car was very strong, and we felt like we had done all we could do in preparation for 2014. At the test session Hunter Lewis showed up with a "new" '34 Ford coupe. I recognized this car as one I had seen out of the Atlanta area and it was indeed a strong car. We thought that we had stepped up our game, but so did Hunter. In this game if you are standing still, you are going backwards.
The first race of the season had us running fourth for most of the race behind Brian, Joseph and Hunter, when Hunter got a little loose (he didn't quite have it dialed in to SSR yet) and we got by him right at the end for third, but it was obvious that he was going to be a force to be dealt with. The next several races saw Hunter in the #7 totally dominate the Pro division, so much so that I called our setup man and told him what was going on and we needed some more speed. He made a couple of suggestions which we implemented and we picked up a few hundredths of a second--good, but not good enough. Finally he suggested that we buy the sister car to Hunter's that was available as a roller and put our engine and seat in it, as we had this freshly rebuilt engine, and see what happens.
In the meantime Hunter had become so dominant that they put a bounty out on him. It was a three race deal where whoever could fairly beat him would get an extra $100 in the first race $200 if you beat him in the 2nd race of the bounty and $300 if you got him in the 3rd race, if nobody beats him in any of the three bounty races then Hunter got the $300.
We went with the Atlanta area coupe had our "stuff" put on it got it home had it painted put numbers on it and rented the track for a test session. The car was good, the next night was a race. We managed a very close third. The next race rained out which brought us to Aug 1st. That race was our break out race, we won the whole thing including the bounty. Our first win of the season. We then went on to win two more races for a total of three. Of the 16 races that were run at Sunny South Raceway we wound up with 3 first place, 3 seconds and 7 thirds, 13 podium finishes out of 16 races. Not bad!!!!
We also made a "road trip" to Monroe, La and raced at Revolution Raceway a 3/8 mile banked concrete oval track. We got a 6th (should have been a 4th) in the first race, a 5th in the second feature and a 3rd in the last race of the weekend (was right on the rear bumper of the second place car and moving up at the finish). As Connelly learned the track his speeds picked up considerably and we came home with a sense of accomplishment.
Achieving our goals:
1. We finished second in the championship by 35 points.
2. We won 3 races.
3. We were definitely competitive with 13 podium finishes of 16 races.
4. We raced everyone clean.
5. Connelly made tremendous gains in his racing skills.
If we could have another year like 2014 we would take it in a heartbeat. We are already looking forward to 2015, can't wait.
Tuesday, October 21, 2014
October 3rd and 4th--The last weekend of the 2014 Racing Season
October 4th.
After last night's performance by both car and driver, we will be hard pressed to repeat or come close to repeating. But it is our job to get the most out of both car and driver. We got to the track early at around 2:pm as the motel allowed us to check out at 1:pm. Connelly went over the car with a fine tooth comb, nut and bolted everything lubricated all the necessary areas, fueled the car and even put a coat of wax on it. During the night a front had come through and the temp was almost cool. Nothing to do now but to wait until the track opened for testing. After registering and going through tech we finally got on the track to practice, the car was good, Connelly said that it didn't quite have the grip that it had last night and maybe he would tighten it up a little, I told him "you touch that car I'll break both of your arms". The track temp was 77 degrees and cooling off all the time, by race time it will be perfect. We practiced one more time before qualifying and track had indeed "come to us" in practice we ran a 13.00. In the driver's meeting Mr. Joe reminded us that there would be double first place prize money if we could win tonight's feature--just a little added pressure.
Qualifying: There were 14 cars tonight mostly the same participants as last night. We went out and laid down a blistering lap of 12.892 a pick up of 5 hundredths of a second from last night--had to be that coat of wax?? Hunter #7 second with a 12.936 good for the pole on most nights, and Brian #44 with a 13.047 the top 5 were all within 3 tenths of a second with the top 10 within a half second.
Heat Race: Tonight's program called for the same format as last night, so we started on the pole for the heat. We got a good start but Brian snookered us on the first lap and we ran second to him for the first two laps, on lap three we got past him and led the remaining laps of the heat race. Top 5 in the heat was #32, #44, #44jr, #7 and #09 from Monroe. After Connelly's heat I wanted to watch the second heat so I just stayed in my spot under the flag stand, Connelly parked the car in our pits, put the fans on the engine to cool it down and joined me to watch the other heat. As he walked up he had a scowl on his face, I said man you should be smiling ear to ear after a race like that. His response was "I still have work to do." Very mature for someone who had just turned 18 two days earlier.
Feature Race: Again the heat race win gave us pole position for the feature, the early part of the feature was closely contested, we were able to lead the race through the halfway point, with Brian in the #44 right on our rear bumper, one slip by Connelly and he is around us. Joseph in the #44jr. and Hunter in the #7 are in hot pursuit with the #09 of Ronny Freeland from Monroe a close 5th. Then "yellow fever" hits, after running 2/3 of the race with just one early caution, we now were beset with a plague of cautions. Cautions bunch cars up and that is when "things happen" we would stretch it out a little, get a 3 or 4 car length lead then another caution, back to bumper to bumper with your competition right on your tail, stretch it out another couple of length then another caution. It starts becoming frustrating especially when you have led the whole race and with only a few laps left for the win. Will this race ever get over with??? I'm sitting there on my chair under the flag stand timing the laps with my hand held stop watch "managing the race" (mostly worrying) when I remember Mr. Joe's words at the driver's meeting about the double prize money if you could win both nights. It hadn't even crossed my mind until that last caution now the pressure really sets in, Mr. Joe's curse now start to work on me, now I am really worrying, fortunately the race goes green for the last 5 laps and we win it by about 6 or 8 lengths. Top 5 were #32, #44, #44jr, #09 and #7. After the race I asked Connelly if he was thinking about the double prize money and he said "the whole time, why do you think I was driving so hard?" Young kids, pressure don't mean squat to them. All in all a remarkable weekend, won two poles, two heat races, two features, ran our fastest lap ever, lead all but two laps of the 70 that were run, come away with two really nice trophies and $670 of Mr. Wayne's money, you really couldn't ask for more. Only 4 and a half months before we start all over.
October 3rd.
Well here it is the end of the 2014 racing season at Sunny South Raceway. It has been a long season, but it seems to have flown by. So that brings us the second annual "Dixie Clash" to be run Fri, Oct 3rd and Sat, Oct 4th. There were a couple of things that were changed for this race. First of all the Legends purse for Friday's race was increased by $200 to be spread over the first 3 finishing positions. Additionally if Friday night's Legends winner can also win Saturday night's race the first place prize money would be doubled, definitely sweetened the pot. Being the last race of the season they gave us a lot of racing, there would be normal qualifying then two 10 lap heat races with a 25 lap feature. The 7 fastest qualifiers would run the first heat and all the finishers would start on the inside row for the feature, the remaining 7 cars would run the second heat and all finishers would start the feature on the outside row, with no invert. We had 15 cars registered with several from Monroe that we had raced against a couple of weeks ago plus the normal contingent from SSR. One car from Texas on his way back from a race in Florida stayed over and was going to race with us, but blew his engine in practice and had to withdraw.
We got to the track got registered went through tech and got on the track. The car wasn't bad but the track was still hot,89 degrees. We made a slight chassis adjustment made one more practice run and logged a 12.970 lap, Connelly brought it in and let it rest up for qualifying. Connelly qualified on the pole at a 12.948 which was the fastest lap we turned this year. Hunter Lewis qualified second at a 12.958 only 1 one hundredth of a second behind. The rest of the field qualified as follows with the top 10 cars all within 3 tenths of a second of the pole third was #44jr. 4th #44, 5th #66, 6th #96, 7th #94, 8th #14, 9th #09, 10th #4, 11th #99, 12th #91, 13th #01, 14th #18, the entire field was within 3/4 of a second of the pole sitter. Pretty sporty!!!
Heat Race: Starting from the pole Connelly got a really good start and set sail. He led every lap and was followed by Brian in the #44 Joseph in the #44jr. and Hunter in the #7. Those three traded positions several times in the 10 laps and put on a good show. The top 5 in the heat were #32, #44, #7, #44jr, and the #94.
Feature Race: Connelly' win in the heat race would give him the pole position start in the feature. Again Connelly got a good start and led the first few laps followed closely by Brian in the #44, Hunter in the #7 with seldom more than one car length of daylight separating each car. They ran very close until a caution came out at about halfway. The same process played out, very close racing in the front of the pack until with two laps remaining another caution waived. Since there were less than 3 laps to go, there would be a single file restart--no choose. On the restart Brian was right on the rear bumper of Connelly's car with Hunter almost touching Brian's rear. Coming out of turn 2 they hooked bumpers with Brian's right front hooking inside of Connelly's left rear. The potential for a really serious wreck was at hand, however both drivers continued to "drive" their cars and somehow they got unhooked, Brian slowed slightly causing Hunter to swerve to avoid hitting him and causing him to almost hit the wall and fall back several spots. Connelly ran to the finish winning the feature with Brian #44 in second, Joseph #44jr. third Conner #14 in 4th, and Andrew #66 rounding out the top 5. What a phenomenal night!!! we sat on the pole with the fastest time we had ever run, won the heat race, won the feature and led every lap of competition, plus won first place money plus the bonus money, a trophy and first place points--what a night?? Can't wait until tomorrow night.
After last night's performance by both car and driver, we will be hard pressed to repeat or come close to repeating. But it is our job to get the most out of both car and driver. We got to the track early at around 2:pm as the motel allowed us to check out at 1:pm. Connelly went over the car with a fine tooth comb, nut and bolted everything lubricated all the necessary areas, fueled the car and even put a coat of wax on it. During the night a front had come through and the temp was almost cool. Nothing to do now but to wait until the track opened for testing. After registering and going through tech we finally got on the track to practice, the car was good, Connelly said that it didn't quite have the grip that it had last night and maybe he would tighten it up a little, I told him "you touch that car I'll break both of your arms". The track temp was 77 degrees and cooling off all the time, by race time it will be perfect. We practiced one more time before qualifying and track had indeed "come to us" in practice we ran a 13.00. In the driver's meeting Mr. Joe reminded us that there would be double first place prize money if we could win tonight's feature--just a little added pressure.
Qualifying: There were 14 cars tonight mostly the same participants as last night. We went out and laid down a blistering lap of 12.892 a pick up of 5 hundredths of a second from last night--had to be that coat of wax?? Hunter #7 second with a 12.936 good for the pole on most nights, and Brian #44 with a 13.047 the top 5 were all within 3 tenths of a second with the top 10 within a half second.
Heat Race: Tonight's program called for the same format as last night, so we started on the pole for the heat. We got a good start but Brian snookered us on the first lap and we ran second to him for the first two laps, on lap three we got past him and led the remaining laps of the heat race. Top 5 in the heat was #32, #44, #44jr, #7 and #09 from Monroe. After Connelly's heat I wanted to watch the second heat so I just stayed in my spot under the flag stand, Connelly parked the car in our pits, put the fans on the engine to cool it down and joined me to watch the other heat. As he walked up he had a scowl on his face, I said man you should be smiling ear to ear after a race like that. His response was "I still have work to do." Very mature for someone who had just turned 18 two days earlier.
Feature Race: Again the heat race win gave us pole position for the feature, the early part of the feature was closely contested, we were able to lead the race through the halfway point, with Brian in the #44 right on our rear bumper, one slip by Connelly and he is around us. Joseph in the #44jr. and Hunter in the #7 are in hot pursuit with the #09 of Ronny Freeland from Monroe a close 5th. Then "yellow fever" hits, after running 2/3 of the race with just one early caution, we now were beset with a plague of cautions. Cautions bunch cars up and that is when "things happen" we would stretch it out a little, get a 3 or 4 car length lead then another caution, back to bumper to bumper with your competition right on your tail, stretch it out another couple of length then another caution. It starts becoming frustrating especially when you have led the whole race and with only a few laps left for the win. Will this race ever get over with??? I'm sitting there on my chair under the flag stand timing the laps with my hand held stop watch "managing the race" (mostly worrying) when I remember Mr. Joe's words at the driver's meeting about the double prize money if you could win both nights. It hadn't even crossed my mind until that last caution now the pressure really sets in, Mr. Joe's curse now start to work on me, now I am really worrying, fortunately the race goes green for the last 5 laps and we win it by about 6 or 8 lengths. Top 5 were #32, #44, #44jr, #09 and #7. After the race I asked Connelly if he was thinking about the double prize money and he said "the whole time, why do you think I was driving so hard?" Young kids, pressure don't mean squat to them. All in all a remarkable weekend, won two poles, two heat races, two features, ran our fastest lap ever, lead all but two laps of the 70 that were run, come away with two really nice trophies and $670 of Mr. Wayne's money, you really couldn't ask for more. Only 4 and a half months before we start all over.
October 3rd.
Well here it is the end of the 2014 racing season at Sunny South Raceway. It has been a long season, but it seems to have flown by. So that brings us the second annual "Dixie Clash" to be run Fri, Oct 3rd and Sat, Oct 4th. There were a couple of things that were changed for this race. First of all the Legends purse for Friday's race was increased by $200 to be spread over the first 3 finishing positions. Additionally if Friday night's Legends winner can also win Saturday night's race the first place prize money would be doubled, definitely sweetened the pot. Being the last race of the season they gave us a lot of racing, there would be normal qualifying then two 10 lap heat races with a 25 lap feature. The 7 fastest qualifiers would run the first heat and all the finishers would start on the inside row for the feature, the remaining 7 cars would run the second heat and all finishers would start the feature on the outside row, with no invert. We had 15 cars registered with several from Monroe that we had raced against a couple of weeks ago plus the normal contingent from SSR. One car from Texas on his way back from a race in Florida stayed over and was going to race with us, but blew his engine in practice and had to withdraw.
We got to the track got registered went through tech and got on the track. The car wasn't bad but the track was still hot,89 degrees. We made a slight chassis adjustment made one more practice run and logged a 12.970 lap, Connelly brought it in and let it rest up for qualifying. Connelly qualified on the pole at a 12.948 which was the fastest lap we turned this year. Hunter Lewis qualified second at a 12.958 only 1 one hundredth of a second behind. The rest of the field qualified as follows with the top 10 cars all within 3 tenths of a second of the pole third was #44jr. 4th #44, 5th #66, 6th #96, 7th #94, 8th #14, 9th #09, 10th #4, 11th #99, 12th #91, 13th #01, 14th #18, the entire field was within 3/4 of a second of the pole sitter. Pretty sporty!!!
Heat Race: Starting from the pole Connelly got a really good start and set sail. He led every lap and was followed by Brian in the #44 Joseph in the #44jr. and Hunter in the #7. Those three traded positions several times in the 10 laps and put on a good show. The top 5 in the heat were #32, #44, #7, #44jr, and the #94.
Feature Race: Connelly' win in the heat race would give him the pole position start in the feature. Again Connelly got a good start and led the first few laps followed closely by Brian in the #44, Hunter in the #7 with seldom more than one car length of daylight separating each car. They ran very close until a caution came out at about halfway. The same process played out, very close racing in the front of the pack until with two laps remaining another caution waived. Since there were less than 3 laps to go, there would be a single file restart--no choose. On the restart Brian was right on the rear bumper of Connelly's car with Hunter almost touching Brian's rear. Coming out of turn 2 they hooked bumpers with Brian's right front hooking inside of Connelly's left rear. The potential for a really serious wreck was at hand, however both drivers continued to "drive" their cars and somehow they got unhooked, Brian slowed slightly causing Hunter to swerve to avoid hitting him and causing him to almost hit the wall and fall back several spots. Connelly ran to the finish winning the feature with Brian #44 in second, Joseph #44jr. third Conner #14 in 4th, and Andrew #66 rounding out the top 5. What a phenomenal night!!! we sat on the pole with the fastest time we had ever run, won the heat race, won the feature and led every lap of competition, plus won first place money plus the bonus money, a trophy and first place points--what a night?? Can't wait until tomorrow night.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
