October 6th, Sandusky Speedway-AVSS
More details at the Sandusky Speedway website!!
Results
Sandusky Speedway, Sandusky, OH (1/2 mile paved)
Qualified: 20th, 16.123 secs.
Heat: Started-7th, Finished-7th
Well, our first race for the 2012 season was also our last one for the 2012 season. However, we were
very pleased with the results we were able to get! Through out the summer we had been practicing at
Sandusky Speedway in anticipation of the Auto-Value Bumper to Bumper Super Sprints (AVBBSS) race during
Sandusky Speedway's annual Cavalcade of Speed! As the race date got closer we really started to make
some gains on with the car with it finally starting to turn better. We wanted to get some more
practice in before the race week-end since there was supposed to be another open practice on October
5th; however, rain washed it out. The track was able to give the sprint-cars a special practice
Saturday morning though since it was the first time AVBBSS had been to the track. In those first two
practice sessions, the car felt pretty good. It was a little loose on enty, but then wanted to slide
the nose a little off of the turn. After they opened the pits to everyone, we were given two more
practice sessions before qualifying and racing our heat races. We attempted to make some adjustments
to the car, but they didn't seem to make much difference. Actually, the car was wanting to push the
nose worse coming off the turns, more than likely because the track was getting more rubber on it.
Before qualifying, we decided to seek some guidance from our fellow competitor, Jim Swain. He has a
car similar to ours, and due to some medical issues, he had someone else driving his car for the
week-end. He provided a base set-up for us to try to give the car more grip and drive better. We
were able to make the changes in time, but as we were pushing up to the line, Mark Pridemore, who was
helping us for the week-end, noticed a bolt was missing from the rear pan-hard bar! The bolt actually
was for a brace that prevents the bar from stretching or collapsing which causes the rear-end to bind.
Dad and Mark were able to get a new bolt in there before we had to go out though. Being strapped into
the car, I didn't know any of this was going on until after the qualifying run. The car handled much
better during qualifying. The engine did not run very well though. We thought it had to do with the
cold air temperatures, but come to find out, the fuel level was a little lower than what we had been
running. So, as the car entered the turn, the fuel sloshed away from the pick-up, and basically was
running the engine out of fuel. Because of that, we ended up qualifying 20th out of the 23 cars. Our
qualifying time placed us in the 3rd heat where we would be starting 7th. We made sure we added
plenty of fuel for the 8 laps, but didn't make too many other changes for the heat race. On the
start, a couple cars got together going into the 1st turn, but luckily I was able to miss the melee'
and everyone was able to continue. We had a complete re-start which went much better. Everyone was
able to fall in line and run all 8 laps. The car was handling much better and was only a little bit
tight from the center of the turn off. The engine didn't miss a beat either as we were able to stay
with the field the whole time, and actually had a couple of opportunities to get up to the 6th
position. However, since everyone was going to start the Feature on Sunday, it wasn't worth making a
bonzai move. With the heat races over, we were ready to come back on Sunday for the Feature. We were
able to talk with Jim Swain more, and he provided a couple more tips for the Feature. Sunday morning
we were given two more practices. We made a gear change and some changes to the tire pressures as
well. The car was getting faster and more comfortable, but there was still a tightness coming off the
turn. Talking with Jim, he suggested using more rear stagger, and even provided a tire so we could
get what he felt was needed.
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