Columbus Motor Speedway June 26th

Having only been to Columbus Motor Speedway once for the Main Event Finale last fall we wanted to use this first visit this year to build on the success we had then.  Columbus is a hard track to get hold of and one where the driver never gets the car straightened out, the car is always turning.  We had three times on the track for practice making changes but not getting the speed we wanted to see in this new race car.   By qualifying time we felt we would be fair but with several Columbus track regulars there it would be difficult to qualify up front.  The result of our efforts was a 10^th place qualifying position resulting in an outside 5^th row start, not the place you want to be at this track at the start.

As expected everyone kept it tight at the start and Drew fell back to 13^th before he could fall in line and settle in to race.  The car was real good and he passed three cars real quick going both high and low to get by them, then catching the lead pack quickly.  Now Drew was in heavy traffic among the fast cars making it difficult to pass.  At times there was heavy pressure from behind as well as Drew pressuring the cars ahead of him as he attempted to pass them.  With attrition and another couple of passes Drew finished the 75 lap race in 7^th place without a scratch on the car.  We learned a lot and will be better when we return for the second race there, the Main Event Finale on Sept 25^th and 26^th.

Midvale Speedway July 2nd

Midvale Speedway was our worst track last year, but was pretty decent the last time we were there this year as we had a 7^th place finish but had brake problems that we thought would be cured this time around but we could not find the speed we needed.   Midvale is a 3/8 mile track that has tight turns and then straightaways that one must drag race down then hit the brakes hard, do a tight turn and then do it again.  We just couldn’t get the car to rotate in the center of the corner.  By qualifying time we still didn’t have it right and had to settle for a 19^th starting position.  It would be a long day for Drew starting this far back in the field.

We made another adjustment or two and went out to race.  The car seemed much better as Drew started moving up through the field.  Lots of wrecks at this track and Drew was doing a great job avoiding them, then a crazy thing happened, or maybe it was intentional.  Under one of the many cautions the 212 car turned hard right into Drew and tore the right front fender extension completely off Drew’s car.  These cars are so aero sensitive that it upset the handling, and along with our brake problem that we seemed to not have resolved yet, Drew ended up finishing the race in 9^th place.    The right front tire blew on the very last lap between turns one and two, Drew saved it without loosing any positions on the track, drove the car through turns three and four with the right front on the rim to take the checkered flag.  Can you imagine blowing out a tire doing about 80 mph in the middle of a tight turn?  WOW, you talk about timing.  The brakes causing the front rotors to get red hot for the last ½ of the race (all 50 laps of the last ½ went green flag) heated up the wheel so much it melted the rubber valve stem out of the wheel.  We put steel ones in to keep this from happening but some how we missed two rubber ones and it just so happened that this critical right front had one.  Last year I think we averaged a 16^th place finish for the two races we ran at Midvale so an average finish of 8^th this year is an improvement.  Now we have to get some serious work done on the brakes!

Sandusky Speedway July 10^th

Sandusky is a flat ½ mile track with room to pass, but it has long straightaways that take lots of power and fairly tight corners where the car has to rotate well to maneuver the turn.  Consider this, run your car up to 130 mph then hit the brakes as hard as you can, turn hard left, mash the gas with your 600 or 700 horses under the hood, and then do it again!  We figured out some things we were doing wrong that kept the car from turning well last week at Midvale and they paid off here but we seemed to be off in the horsepower area compared to the fast guys in practice.  We put our biggest carburetor on the car but there seemed to be a sputter, most likely too big or too much jet.  It was used last on our ARCA 800 plus horsepower car so go figure, and we left our second largest carburetor at home, darn!!  We got the car handling good, Drew went out to qualify and ended up with a 13^th starting position which is at least an inside starting position.  We made a couple of tweak adjustments and waited for the race to begin.

The car started out strong, a little sputter from that over sized carb under acceleration the first lap or two but he held his 13^th place position.  The car was great and he passed cars outside, inside moving up to 9^th place, then caught the lead pack, sound familiar!  Now with the faster cars bunched up it became much harder to pass!  After about 15 hard laps the front brakes were again glowing red hot, our brake problem was still not solved.  Good thing this was only 75 laps!  There was not much more passing and through attrition Drew would move up to 5^th by the end.  He would be giving the 4^th place car heavy pressure but he was also getting heavy pressure fronm behind and the brakes were getting spongy.  Thanks to the #12 Don Harvey for not putting excess pressure on Drew and wrecking us.  It was a very good run, our first top five for the year and the good news was we had a car at the end that was faster than two or three of those ahead of us!!  But, those darn brakes are still acting up, getting the rotors red hot in front after about 10 to 15 laps of green flag running.  If that had been fixed and the smaller carburetor on Drew could have been in the mix for the win!

Thanks to all our sponsors, Aluma aluminum trailers, Elmer Schaeffer Amsoil dealer and Impact Racing Products.  Without your support we couldn’t be where we are today.  This top five finish should have moved Drew up a few spots in the points.  If we would not have had that motor problem and missed that first race at Angola we would have been in the top five in points by this time!  Our next race is the $20,000 to win Summer Sizzler at New Paris, Indiana on August 5^th.  Due to lack of sponsorship we were not able to run the Iowa ARCA 200 on July 10 and will also miss the Mansfield ARCA 200 on July 17.