September 5th, Angola Speedway-HOSS
More details at the Angola Speedway website!!
Results
Angola Speedway, Angola, IN (3/8 mile paved)
Qualified: 12th (12.5 secs)
Heat: Started-3rd, Finished-6th
B-Main: Started-1st, Finished-1st
Feature: Started-12th, Finished-13th
Well, we made what has become our annual trip to Angola Speedway on Labor Day week-end. The weather
on Sunday was just about perfect for racing, mid-70s, partly sunny, and a light wind most of the day.
Our day on the track was anything but uneventful though. During the 1st practice session, the car
fired-off and paced fine, but when the green flag dropped it was spittin' and sputterin' most of the
way down the straights. I stayed out a couple of laps thinking it would clean-out, but no such luck.
Before any major damage was done, I pulled the car in so we could get working on it. The fuel pressure
wasn't staying constant, so we started with the fuel system. We changed the main fuel filter, and
checked the by-pass settings to make sure they were where we wanted them. After a couple other
adjustments to the car, we went out for our second practice session. Before they dropped the green
this time, I made sure everything was running right by flooring it down the back-stretch. Everything
was running just fine. When the track went green, the car was handling really well. I really didn't
want to wear the tires out too much though, so I just ran a couple of laps to break them in. For
qualifying, we were the 4th car out. The car was a little tight all around the track, but had a
pretty good push off the 4th turn. I was glad to get two solid laps in though, and ended up 12th out
of the 24 cars. With that many cars, that meant we had to finish in the top 5 to transfer to the
feature. Otherwise, it was to the B-Main. Our qualifying time put us in the 3rd heat, starting 3rd.
We put an older set of tires on, so we didn't wear out our qualifying/feature set. Since the heat
line-ups are inverted, I knew I had to get by the first 2 cars as quickly as possible. However,
coming to the green flag, I spun the tires and the car jumped loose. Because of the bad start, the 2
faster cars got by me, and I wasn't able to move up the one position. The car was just a little too
loose coming off the turns when getting back in the throttle. So, because of the 6th place finish, we
had to run the B-main. We didn't make many changes for the B, except put our newer set of tires on.
We started on the pole for the B-Main since we had the fastest time of the remaining cars. The start
of the race was very even, and I knew then that the car was much better than the heat. The car turned
in great, rolling onto the right-front, rotated well, and came off the turn straight. The first
couple laps we raced side-by-side with the outside pole-sitter. I was able to clear him though and
started to pull away. The race was slowed a couple times for some spins, but I was able to get good
restarts each time. The car handled great throughout the race which brought us our first sprint-car
race win! Our celebration was short-lived though because we had to get ready for the feature. We
started 12th in the feature, putting us on the outside. On the start, I tried to stay on the outside
to make up some ground staying in the throttle longer. On the second lap though, a couple cars got
together around 7th or 8th place. Next thing I know, I see a car in the dirt and flipping down the
back-stretch. The car ahead of me practically stopped, and I slammed on the brakes. I realized I
had to keep the car running though, so I jumped back in the throttle quick and followed the guy ahead
of me through the carnage. The race was red flagged for a little bit, but we made it through the
excitement without any harm. Everyone involved was also ok. You can see a YouTube video of the
action here. On the restart, I think the line-up was a
little messed up since a car that stopped in the accident started ahead of me, but it really didn't
matter because the car had a pretty big push coming off the turns. Throughout the rest of the race,
the car really didn't change much in handling. Not until the final 7 laps or so did the car start to
feel better. So, we ended up coming home 13th and learned what to do for feature set-up now. All in
all, we had a pretty successful and fun night. I have to thank Ryan Schimmoeller for coming along
and helping us out. We probably couldn't have gotten everything changed without you. Also, I have to
thank my relation from Michigan, Jeff, Debbie, Heather, Ed, and Pam, and some friends from back home
Barbara and her dad for coming out and giving us support. Thanks, and I hope we put a good show for
you guys! Well, with the pretty successful night we decided to end the season on a high-note.
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