Springport Motor Speedway-WOMS
Results
Springport Motor Speedway, Springport, MI (3/8 mile paved)
Qualified: 9th (15.56)
Heat: Started-2nd, Finished-5th
Feature: Started-1st, Finished-10th
Well, it was our last trip up to Springport of the season, and after our last visit there, we were
looking to do quite well. In the first hot laps session, it was apparent we were a little off. The
car had a pretty big push entering the turns. After the making some adjustments, the car felt great
during the second practice session. Our times were back to where we were before, and I just needed to
get used to the new line we were trying. In qualifying though, something pretty strange happened.
The car picked-up a HUGE push in the center of the turn when I was not on the throttle or the brakes.
The front-end just had no grip. We were able to muster a 9th place time though. For the heat, we
started on the outside of the front row. I was able to get a pretty good start, but the car still
wanted to push in the center. I think we led the first lap, but got passed coming off of the 2nd
turn. It took a couple laps for us to get shuffled back to fifth where we ended up. For the feature,
we started on the pole after one car scratched. We changed about 5 different things on the car trying
to make it better since we really didn't have anything to lose. The front-end pushed in the center of 1
and 2 again, so I knew we were in trouble. I had been shuffled back to 5th when the caution for a
spun car 4 laps into the race. Off that restart, I just could not keep the car low, but I was able to
battle on the high-side of the track. I elected to try and drop in behind the other guy though since
it was early in the race. On the 8th lap, the cautiong came out for another spin. So, on the restart
I decided I'd try something different. I went to the high-line in 1 and 2, and was able to keep the
speed up through the turns. In 3 and 4, I was able to get the 6th position back. That's where I
pretty much rode as the laps wound down. The car was tight up there, but I was able to keep a
constant arc through the turns so I didn't lose as much speed. Well, with six laps to go, I was going
into 1 when the engine just shut-off. I wasn't sure what it was....possibly driveline or worse, it
blew-up. We got it back to the pits and nothing huge stood out at us that broke. So, we ended up
being scored 10th for our feature finish. We found yesterday, that a wire in the magneto had broken,
so all spark was lost to the engine. Either way, a pretty easy fix, and we should be all ready for
our next race on the 29th! We only have 4 races left this season, so hopefully we'll see some of you
at the track! We'll be at Mansfield on Aug. 10th, back to Spartan on Aug. 24, then Grand Rapids the
last week-end of Sept.
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