June 12th, Toledo Speedway-AVSS
More details at the Toledo Speedway website!!
Results
Toledo Speedway, Toledo, OH (1/2 mile paved)
Qualified: 19th, 14.095 sec
Heat: Started-7th, Finished-8th
B-Main: Started-4th, Finished-3rd
Feature: Started-18th, Finished-20th
It's hard to belive that it's June, and it was only our 2nd time racing this year and the first time
for the sprint-car! We just could not miss the race the closest to home though. The show is billed
as "The Fastest Short-track Show in the World," and it definitely lived-up to that. Both classes
(Sprints & Super Modifieds) broke their respective track records with Jason Blonde of the Super
Sprints setting the overall track record with a blistering lap of 12.744 secs! Unforuntaley, we weren't
very close to that, but for the 4th time in the car, I was very happy with our speed. For the first
practice session, we had last year's tires on still, making the car very skittish, with limited grip.
Mostly, we used that time to get used the car again. The 2nd practice we put on new tires, and there
was plenty of grip. The car tended to be a little tight from the center out of the turns though.
During qualifying, I was able to find a little more speed though by getting back to the throttle
quicker. That really helped the car turn in the center, and not push the nose so much coming off. I
was concerned the car may have been bottoming-out on the left side though. So, for the heat we raised
the left-side of the car a little. Our qualifying time put us in the first heat with many of the
fastests cars....including the new track record holder. The top 5 finishers from the heat would
automatically go to the Feature, so starting 7th I would need to pass 2 cars. During the pace-laps for
the heat, I was starting to smell a lot of alcohol (our fuel) fumes in my helmet. I ended up having to
turn my helmet fan off because they became so strong. At the drop of the green, the car was not
handleing too well. The front-end didn't seemed to have any grip as the nose just slid through the
turns. Not even giving it more throttle at different points would help much. Thankfully, the race
was only 8 laps because after the race the tire temps showed the RF was getting extremely hot. We came
home 8th in the heat, so we had to run the B-Main or Last Chance race as it is sometimes called. It
would be our last chance to make the 30 lap Feature event. We made a few adjustments to try and get
the push out of the car. We started 4th in the B, so I had to be able to at least maintain that
position for 12 laps. After we started the car, I was still getting alcohol fumes, so again, I shut
off my fan. The car raced pretty well throughtout the race. It was back to being only a little tight
from the center of the turn off. But, about 6 or 7 laps in, the engine sputtered on me. I thought it
stalled for a second before picking back up again. Shortly after that, the 3rd place car blew his
motor, and under caution, my engine seemed to be running just fine. For the remaining 5 or 6 laps,
everything seemed to run just fine. The most important thing is we came home in 3rd place which
transferred us to the Feature. We were starting 18th out of 20, but first you have to be in it if
you have any chance to win it. We made a couple minor adjustments to try and get the front of the
car to grip more and added all the fuel we had left for the 30 laps. It was getting to be about
10pm, and the Mayflies were starting to come into the track. Luckily, there weren't all that many, so
the racing surface stayed cleared. Once again after we pushed off, I was getting a smell of alcohol,
and again, I shut the fan off. At the drop the green, the car kinda stuttered and the car behind me
was able to pass. I got back by him coming off of 2 though, and stayed right with the pack. The car
was handling a ton better, and I felt we would have a good run. On the 4th lap though, the engine
really started to stumble coming off the 2nd turn. It really started vibrate as it got into higher
RPM, and started to miss-fire as well. I thought maybe it was just a one time thing, but it did it on
the front-stretch too. I looked at the fuel-pressure gauge while going down the back-stretch, and it
wasn't even getting close to the pressure it needed. I decided to pull the car in instead of trying
to make it the rest of the race. So, after 6 laps our race was done, being credited with 20th place.
While we were loading the car, we didn't see anything sticking out as the problem, and we decided
then, we would not be going to Ft Wayne for the race on June 13th since it could be any number of
things. Saturday morning we really dug into the problem, and it appears a fuel-line fitting had
loosened-up causing the pressure in the fuel-system to drop and air to get in. That was the reason
I was smelling alcohol in the cock-pit too. We also found a couple water-system fittings loose.
Everything seems to be all tightened up now, but we'll probably be heading to Sandusky Speedway to
start the car during the week just to make sure. I have to thank everyone that was able to make it
out to Toledo to support us like Jason Steinhurst and Mr. and Mrs. Bud Chasteen! I'm thinking there
were a lot more of you there, but I either didn't see you directly or haven't talked to you to make
sure you did make it! I also have to thank those of you that came to the pits to help out, Dale Kremer,
Gary Patynko, and after the races Matt and Tammy Myers. It looks like we'll be racing the sprint-car again
June 27th in Plymouth, IN.
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