04/18/2011
04/05/2011
09/30/2010
07/06/2010
The win streak is now 3, yet it's a season where "first" means more than just wins
We've been at this a long time, Scott and I. We have won championships, set track records and won a lot of races over the years. At some point, you have to ask yourself if there any things that you haven't done. Well, this season I am finding out that there are plenty.
This season marked the first time we have ever lost wheels two weeks in a row.
This season marks the first time we have lead the points in something other than a VW.
This season, we won 3 in a row for the first time.
Yup, 3 in a row... Quite an accomplishment considering the talented crop of drivers we race each and every week in cars that in reality, are much better than ours. I've said in the past that it takes a tremendous amount of hard work, dedication and luck to win once, let alone 4 times as we have so far this year. As for a streak like this, well, that still amazes me, 3 days after the latest victory. I would love to say that I knew all along that we could pull something like this off, but the fact is each week we go to the track with the plan of winning, but knowing that the odds are against it as there are always 9 or more other drivers with the same goal and desire.
Practice: The car was good, not great, but close enough where there were only a few changes that needed to be made.
Heat Race: There was quite a bit of dicing around and in the end, Scott drove a clean race, perhaps a little too polite though as we finished 3rd and went from 2 points up to tied for 1st.
Main event: Wow, what a race! We started at the rump of the 9 car field (love that invert) and as has been the case in the past few weeks, we made our way to the front quickly, in only two laps finding ourselves behind our Flowmaster teammates and championship contenders Fozzy and Kris. Within a few laps, Kris and Fozzy were duking it out hard, swapping the lead in front of us and Scott settled in about a car length behind them, waiting for his chance. It finally came in lap 10, When Fozzy slipped a little wide coming out of 4, Kris on his outside. Scott made his move down the inside and they came across the start finish line three abreast with Scott seizing the #1 spot on the low side. As they entered turn 1 , he was able to capitalize on the inside position and by the exit of 2 had established himself in the lead and there he stayed for the remaining laps, despite a late caution which gave me a nervous twitch as it eliminated the 10 car length lead we had established.
In the end, it was once again a Flowmaster 1-2-3 finish with Fozzy 2nd and Kris 3rd. Our point lead is now 4 with 6 races to go. A slim margin to be sure. Will we be able to pull it off? Well, you'll just have to stay tuned and follow along as we give it our best shot.
We are off this weekend, but if you're itching for some Mini Stock action, the Outlaw Mini Stocks are racing the 3/8 oval at South Sound Speedway in Tenino and the Formula D US drifting championship series is making it's yearly trip to Evergreen Speedway. Our next race is July 17th and we hope that you can make it out to support your favorite race team. It's been really cool to hear the cheers of the crowd get louder and louder each week and we appreciate all of your enthusiasm!
See you at the races...
06/29/2010
2 in a Row!
Mid Season championship night was Saturday and we were pumped up to take advantage of the warm weather, arriving at the track a very uncharacteristic 45 minutes early. Everyone was in good spirits as practice began and we spent the time helping out one of our classes rookie drivers. It was fun to watch her follow Scott around for a number of laps and then to see her work on running the line he had shown her as he followed her. Its very satisfying to be able to pass along our knowledge to the next generation of drivers, as one day we will hopefully watch them move up the ladder of success!
Having not pushed the car in practice, we weren't really sure what we had going into the heat race. We made a couple of minor tweaks and hoped for the best, which turned out to be a win in heat race #1. The points leader, Fozzy, was also in our heat race and finished 4th, so we were able to gain a few valuable points on him. In the 2nd heat, Kris also won, so going into the main event, Fozzy still held the lead with Scott and Kris tied for 2nd.
As the main event rolled around, we were starting 8th out of 9 cars, due to the full invert (based on points average) and our rule that the previous week's top three must start at the back, regardless of points average. We had 10 cars, but Nat got into the wall hard with another car and was unable to make it out for the main event. On the start, Scott was cautious, but aggressive and made his way into 2nd by lap 2. For the next 12 laps, we played follow the leader until on lap 14, he overcooked it into turn 1 and Scott easily took the lead on the low side with Kris in hot pursuit. for the next few laps, Kris was better going into the corner, but Scott was better coming off the corner. It went that way for a while, Kris gaining a couple car lengths in, Scott gaining a couple off.
Eventually, Scott was able to pull out to about an 8 car length lead and we came across the line 1st, Kris 2nd and Ryan Rasmussen in 3rd to complete the Podium finishers for the night. When the dust settled, we found that in addition to our 3rd win of the season, we had also taken over the championship points lead. With the top three cars within 5 points of each other and the season just past the halfway mark, it's anyone's game!
Next up, Armed Forces night at Evergreen Speedway on July 3rd, with the Super Late Models and Street Stocks on the big 5/8 mile oval, the Mini's on the 3/8 and Stingers on the Figure 8 track. And on Sunday July 4th, dont miss the annual fireworks extravaganza at Evergreen Speedway, which this year features the Demo Derby, School Buses, Boat races, roll over contest, Hornets, Renegade V8s, Bus jump, Suicide car explosion stunt and "The Beast" jet Dragster!
06/22/2010
Ahhhh, sweet redemption!
When you've had a run of bad juju like we have over the past few weeks, a good run goes a long way towards making the pain go away... a Win erases it. Consider the wheel failures erased!!
When we arrived at the track, the skies were threatening rain, so we hit the 1st practice session available to scuff in the new tire and test the set up changes we made. Scott said the car was free, so we made a wedge change and played with different items to help make the car better. (I later learned that we had turned the fastest lap of all the practices, so go figure!)
During the heat race, Scott broke out front and stayed there, winning it in fine style. He mentioned that the car was still pretty loose, so we made a few big adjustments and got ready to run the main event. (again, later I learned we were the fastest car in the heat race...)
In the Main, We started outside row 2 and once they waved off the first start, the second was a gem. Scott made a couple of quick moves and was in the lead by the time they hit turn 3. When they crossed the line to complete lap 1, we already had a 5 car length lead and eventually it stretched out to a full straightaway. By the end of the race, we were taking it easy on the tires and took the checkered flag having completed the clean sweep on the night. AFter the races, scott said that the car still felt loose, so we still have some work to do to get it dialed in, but that's what we do.. we keep tweaking until it's fast enough, which it never is of course! (Note: we were the fastest in the main event as well, so watch out if we get ol' tonya dialed in!)
Next up is Mid Season Championship night this Saturday, with all 5 NASCAR featured divisions racing!
Gates open at 5, racing at 7... be there or be square!
06/17/2010
SSDD... can you say, "Frustration?"
Same S***, Different Day - Or so the saying goes...
Race 5 of the season took place on June 5th. Now, after the wheel fiasco of the previous race, we did our due diligence and checked out every wheel and they all looked fine. We replaced the front rotors, cleaned Tonya up, put on a fancy new hood and were feeling pretty confident going into the night. After a 2nd place finish in the heat race (due to a questionable call from the tower on a restart) we made some adjustments and felt that we had a car that could run up front in the main.
Well, thats exactly what happened, Scott was able to get to the front quickly and as he made the pass to take the lead, the caution came out due to a crash on the back stretch. They went back to the last completed lap, which put us back into 2nd... No problem, right? Everything was going along fine on the restart and Scott looked to patiently move back into the lead when I saw him up in the grass on the backstretch and losing a couple of spots. At first I figured that he just got up there coming out of 2 a little hot and he was gathering it back up before getting back on the racing surface. Then I saw a tire bouncing along side the car. Scott confirmed my disgust as he told me the tire had come off, this time the right front.
This is what a wheel "should" look like...
This is what the right front looked like when I got back to the pits...
Notice anything strange here?
Anyhow, fortunately the track does not count yellow flag laps, so we were able to get a new tire bolted on and Scott came back out onto the track just as the leaders were entering turn 3 after the restart. He held them off for about 4 laps, hoping for a caution, but it was not to be. We let the leader by and dropped in behind him, now solidly in about 10th place, first car a lap down. As the laps clicked off, we were keeping pace with the leader and he began lapping cars, which in turn we then passed, picking up positions along the way. By the end of the race, we had gotten all the way back up to 4th! Not a bad position considering how bad the night started out.
I would be remiss if I didnt mention the kick ass work of everyone in the pits to get the tire changed and back out on the track... Geoff and Dennis you were great!
Next up, June 19th at Evergreen Speedway, It's Kid's Night/Fire Safety night featuring the Super Late Models, Street Stocks, Mini Stocks and Hornets. Also, the Guns N Hoses grudge match which pits the Police and Fire departments against one another in a special race!
Also, don't forget that Sunday is Father's day and what could be more fun than to bring Dad to the Rock Church Father's Day car and bike show at the Speedway. The show is free to come see, with hot rods, hot bikes, inflatables for the kids, food and best of all, Drag, Drift and Super Late Model racing demonstrations! If you have a car you would like to enter in the show, the fee is only ten bucks and you could win 500.00 for best of show and people's choice. If you've got a late model race car, why not come out and get some laps in as well. entry for the late models is 5 bucks a head, no car fee!!! Any motor, any shock, any tire(as long as they aren't new), just show up and race! 1 - 30 minute practice session and a 20 lap race, no prize money, no points, but SWEET trophies for 1-3 place.
Check out www.therockchurch.info/carshow/ for more info or check our facebook page!
See you at the races!
05/17/2010
You picked a fine time to leave me loose wheel...
Well, more to the point, Broken wheel... but I should start at the beginning.
It's been a trying couple of weeks... during the heat race week 3, we had a terrible motor stumble that was caused by moisture in the distributor cap, relegating us to a last place finish. We fixed it and ended up with a strong 3rd place run on horrible tires.
This week, Week 4, we were on a mission. No more bad stuff happening, we were going to kick some butt. And we did at the start, winning our heat race in fine fashion. The car was a little tight, so we spent our time between the heats and main working on the set up and boy howdy, did it show up in our performance come race time.
We started the main 8th and through a series of awesome moves, Scott took first place on lap 4. A caution on lap 7 led to a restart that put us back into 2nd, but by lap 14 we had the lead back and were looking great. we held a 1 to 2 car length lead on the 2nd place car, occasionally he would get right up to the bumper, but couldnt make the pass. Scott was driving his lines and I was confident we were going to win. Then on Lap 20, coming out of turn 4, I watched in horror as the left front wheel came shooting off of the car. Scott was able to swing the car wide off the track onto the 5/8 front stretch and avoid piling up himself and the other cars. When the car was brought back to the pits, the race was restarted and we went to inspecting what went wrong. I took one look at the car and noticed that all the lug nuts were still firmly attached and knew right away what happened. A look at the wheel confirmed my suspicions...
Eyup... Shredded... torn right off the car. Project for this week... replace chrome wheels... I hate those things anyways!
Our 8th place finish has placed us squarely in a 21 point hole, now 4th in the standings. Not insurmountable by any means, but we have our work cut out for us. Stay tuned to see what happens... Next race is June 5th... See you there!
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