August 9th, Mansfield Motor Sports Speedway-HOSS
Results
Mansfield Motor Sports Speedway, Mansfield, OH (1/2 mile paved)
Qualified: 14th, 14.824 sec
Heat: Started-7th, Finished-7th
Feature: Started-23rd, Finished-16th (Race called after 9 laps due to rain)
We FINALLY were able to get the sprint-car out on the track this week-end for some racing action! The
car raced very well, and was easy to make any adjustments we needed to. So, needless to say we were
pretty happy with how things went. In the first practice session, the car felt very stable and fast.
Especially since it was the first time we had the wing on it. We had to make some gearing adjustments
and the car was bottoming out a little going into the turn, so we had to make a couple changes for the
second practice. The changes helped knock the lap times down a little more. By the time qualifying
rolled around, I could keep the throttle down most of the time while just dragging the brake in the
turns, and was able to knock off almost a half-second off of the lap times. Considering this was the
first time in sprint-car, I elected to start on the tail of all our races. Mostly out of respect for
the other drivers since those guys are running for series points. Our heat was pretty uneventful. The
car had picked up a tight condition since we had first unloaded. The major problem was that the skies
were growing darker and darker as the threat of rain was creeping in. Knowing the weather was coming,
the show went into hurry-up mode. We were able to make a gear change and wedge adjustment before
having to be back on the track. The changes we made were HUGE though. The car handled great as I was
able to make-up positions from the tail. Mostly on the high-side of the track which can always be
kind of dicy. There was a caution about 6 laps in when a car spun in 1 and 2. On the re-start I was
able to pick-up a few more positions before the next caution came out on lap 9. A car had slowed to a
stop in 1 and 2. During that caution, the rain had started to fall in 3 and 4. We all took our cars
to the pits hoping the rain would blow through quickly. Unfortunately, the rain didn't stop and the
race had to be called. We were sitting in the 16th position at the time, but I'm not sure if that
will be our official finish. I was just happy we were able to make-up all those positions in just 9
laps! We still have some tweaking to do on the car, but I think it'll be fast no matter what. Well,
our next race will be this week-end, Aug. 16th. We'll be at Springport Speedway in Springport, MI
with the midget. I think we've learned a little something with the sprint-car that we'll be trying on
the midget too. We'll just have to see how things turn-out. I have to thank everyone that helped out
this week-end too: my dad, Dick Ross, and Rylee Stoner in the pits. Thanks to my sister and her
family for coming out and supporting us in the stands. I'm not sure if anyone else was able to make
it, but if you did, thanks as well!!
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