August 6th, Kalamazoo Speedway
Results
Kalamazoo Speedway, Kalamazoo, MI (3/8 mile paved)
Qualified: 10th (12.574)
Heat: Started-4th, Finished-1st
Feature: Started-10th, Finished-11th
We travelled to Kalamazoo Speedway for our second show there this year, and had a pretty good night. We
did a lot of research and engineering work over the past week after the near handling disaster at Calhoun
County on July 30th. All of the hard work definitely paid off. Our first hot laps session we put a
spring set-up on close to what we had last time. The car was a tick off so we made some adjustments and
laid down the 5th fastest lap during practice. When qualifying came around, I made a little mistake and
the motor didn't quite seem in top shape either, but we put in a solid time. In fact, the 7th to 11th
qualifiers were within .07 seconds of each other. Our qualifying time gave us 4th starting position
for our heat. Unfortunately, our friend from Walbridge, Kent McCloskey, lost a seal and oiled the
track down prior to the start. We had a little bit of a red flag period so they could get everything
cleaned up. The track wasn't in the best of shape when we started, but it was raceable. At the drop
of the green, we were being pretty careful due to the track conditions. A few laps in, I knew
everything would be ok though. Dave Troyer jumped out to an early lead, and I was able to stay with
him. When his car picked up a push half-way through the race though, I was able to pass him coming
off the second turn. The car handled pretty good from there on out, and we were able to bring home
our first victory in midget competition! We didn't make any changes for the feature, and found out to
be a little bit of a mistake. The car was great for the eight lap heat, but we ended up blistering
the right-rear tire in the feature. Almost everyone did though, even the winner Haley Barnett. I
have to congragulate her as well on her first midget win! They're pretty much in the same boat as us
just her dad and her out there having fun. We ended up coming home 11th in the feature, and lucky we
didn't blow the right-rear. Our next race in September 4th at the Angola Speedway in Angola, IN.
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