5/18/2009

We are well underway into the 2009 season.  With a few races under our belts on both cars we are looking forward to a fun season. 

We started the season off the weekend of April 17^th & 18^th at Winston Motor Speedway and I-96 Speedway with the crate car.  The crate motor stayed with the bulk of the UMP pack at Winston and gave us a decent first night out.  At I-96 Speedway  we surprised ourselves with a great 3^rd place finish right out of the box in the new NeSmith North Racing Series Crate program.

The mix of drivers in this new series makes it great to watch.  With the motors being equalized it brings the setup and driving techniques to the forefront.  It is great to see how we stack up to the rest under those conditions.

The weekend of April 24^th & 25^th brought the action of the “Player Hater 50” at Winston Motor Speedway.  This is always a fun event, and brings out some of the best regional talent.  This was also our first evening out with the “open” car, sponsored by A&A Manufacturing.  We had a great 3^rd place finish in the heat, even with having ignition/power system issues the entire race.  We unfortunately, only managed to get in a handful of laps in the feature due to the ignition/power system issues.  We were forced to pull in and take a DNF on our first night out with the open car.  However; we were excited about the performance of the new 2009 Lazer chassis.  The chassis reacted to the changes made to it and we couldn’t wait to get it out again after fixing the power issues.  Saturday, brought a rain-out at I-96 Speedway  and most other local tracks, so we enjoyed a rare day off.

May started off with our 2^nd Crate race at I-96 Speedway .  We missed the setup combination for the heat race and took a 7^th place finish.  The needed setup changes were decided and installed and then we rolled out to our 13^th place starting position.  By lap 12 we were in 8^th place as a caution came out for a spin on the front stretch.  The car was still a tick to tight for Jimmy's liking, however; he managed to make a few more passes during the remainder of the race to finish in the 5^th position.  Our second Crate series race was another success after passing from 13^th to 5^th.

We then traveled back to Winston Motor Speedway the following week, on May 8^th, with the “open” car, sponsored by A&A Manufacturing.  We had the ignition/power system issues fixed and were looking forward to a good night of racing to see what the car would do.  Unfortunately, the car was ill handling in the heat race.  After being kamikazied in the drivers door and ran off the track, by another driver on the last lap, the car limped under the flag for a last place finish in the heat.  After some setup deliberations the guys made their changes and headed out to start from the tail of the field in the A-main.  The car was night and day compared to the heat race and Jimmy managed to take it to an 11^th place finish from his 22^nd place starting position.  Another good night out passing and seeing what the setup changes did.

This brings us up to current, Saturday, May 16th; we ran our 3^rd NeSmith North Racing Series crate race at I-96 Speedway .  This show was a $2,000 to win double points night for all Late Models.  We were looking forward to seeing how we stacked up again last years NeSmith Champion Chip Brindle, from Georgia, and a couple of Indiana drivers up to compete.  We started the night off with a 4^th place finish in the heat race.  Unfortunately we were one position out of the redraw.  And, I want to take a minute to say I think the new redraw system for the Late Models is GREAT.  It brings a whole new level to the competition and shows the respect you need to have for your fellow drivers.  It also brings out old rivalries, which is fun too!  J    

We were looking forward to good things in the feature.  Jimmy started 11^th in the feature and had made it to 9^th, when he was hit in the driver’s door and spun in turn 3.  I was waiting for him to get turned back around and continue on….  However; he sat on the top of the turn for quite a while with the safety crew coming to the car.  He finally got the car turned and made his way back to the pits.  When he got out of the car he ripped his gloves off and was holding his hand in pain.  After surveying the damage quickly we realized he had been hit so hard in the LF that the tie rod was bent into a “U”, the wheel covers were peeled off of both of the left side wheels, and his fire extinguisher bracket broke sending it careening through the cockpit.  We aren’t sure if the fire extinguisher hit his hand after hitting him in the side of the leg, or if his hand got caught in the steering wheel.  Luckily we had a lot of hands on deck Saturday night and the guys asked him immediately, while I was running for the medic, if he wanted to get back out there.  He said he did, and the guys got to work on the car.  Lucky for us, unlucky for all of the cars involved, another caution came out as the field hit turn one on the restart, after our caution.  This caution brought out the red flag and stopped competition.  This bought us the needed time to replace the tie-rod, get Jimmy’s hand taped up, set the front end, and get a new tire on the LF.  The guys got the car back on the ground and got Jimmy out just as the field came out of 4 to take the green flag. 

At this time we didn’t know we had been scored a lap down.  We aren’t sure how that happened, but none of us want to be scorers so we take took their word on it.  Jimmy came from being ¾ of a lap behind the field to pulling up on the back of the field within a few laps.  He then set to putting on a show racing up to, what we thought was, 9^th place at the checkered flag from his restart position of 20th.  Due to being a lap down however; we got a 13^th place finish on paper, but had a blast showing what the car could do.  He came back in and took some aspirin right away for his hand and thanked all of the guys for their hard work to get him back out there.  We were bummed to find out he had been a lap down, but what do you do.  The scorers showed us their sheets and tried to explain it to us, and for that I would like to thank them for taking the time, we really appreciate it.  I would also like to thank the Medics on staff at I-96 for taping up the injury and reacting so quickly.  The car was great and we were happy with the performance.  We just wish we could have seen where we could have made it if we hadn’t been taken out early.

The Master, Rick Stout (55S) has now taken 2 wins in the crate series at I-96 Speedway  and his car owner Roger Wing (55W) has taken the other win, in the first 3 races of the new series.  They are proving they will be the team to beat this year.  They are two of the nicest guys you could ask to race with; it’s great to have them in the series.  I can’t wait to see what the rest of the year brings with this series.  It is proving to be a lot of fun so far this year.

We spent some time at the hospital this week and found out Jimmy did indeed break his thumb in the collision Saturday night.  His right hand is splinted and we are awaiting another appointment next week for the final verdict on the possible need for surgery.  However; for this weekend the doctors (and me) have taken him out of the car.  We will be putting Jimmy’s older brother, Steve, in the car this coming weekend (5/23) at I-96.  Luckily after this weekend we will have 2 weeks off from competition at I-96 Speedway , so that will allow Jimmy healing time.  We are hoping the doctor will remove the restrictions by that time.

Race safe, we’ll see ya at the track!

Gina