Icebreaker 05 Race Report

The inevitable happened again.  Many hours of work during January, February, and March… But still, not many hours of sleep for me leading up to the Icebreaker.  Jimmy Smith,  Jon Chmura, and Wayne Wildermuth pitched in many hours to help me finish off the car. 

We really took our time getting some projects done right.  I am sure the hard work will pay off as the season progresses.

 Many sources are talking of our team entering our Thompson Modified later this season.  I signed up for a number, and was hopeful of finding a car owner to partner up with this year.  I have no leads on this happening anytime soon.  I have not ordered a car and quite frankly do not have anywhere close to the funds to do so.  I would love to have the chance to try this division at some point. Maybe Someday I will be able to move into this division if I choose to sell my Sportsman stuff, or get a ride driving someone else’s car.  Time will tell.

 Saturday AM (about 1:30 that is) the car went on the trailer.  After packing up the rest of the stuff, I was in bed near 3 am.  In an annual right of spring, I drew poorly for starting position. We just didn’t get the car sorted out that well during practice.  Loose condition similar to how the car acted at the world series…Hmmm

 We started 13th in our heat.  Was blocked by Mr. super wide for several laps and only made it to 5th.  Sunday we found a bad wheel bearing and replaced the shocks which really helped the car. In the feature event we made our way from 10th to 5th without a scratch on either side, and ended with a solid finish to start off the year.

 Todd Ceravolo’s weekend was a struggle.  With me on the head set, he was making his way forward in the heat race.  I was concentrating on helping him in heavy traffic and set up to pass Bo when …. Bo cut left and Todd could not dodge him.  I did not see a car that had spun and was sitting up against the wall. I think the car surprised Bo as well.   No caution flag, and no warning from me, got Todd’s weekend off to a poor start.

 With heavy damage to the car, Rick and the guys set out with hopes of being ready by Sunday.  Delays with other Saturday qualifying gave a bit of extra time.  With seconds to spare, they had the car rolling for Saturday’s feature.  Todd managed to come from the back of the field to finish 11th.  Sunday’s feature ended with wheel to wheel contact with another car and some heated tempers.  Hard to keep your cool with that much effort down the drain so quickly.  No-one is perfect.  With cooler heads, the next race will be a better one.

Mystic Missile Racing report

With Jerry Marquis at the wheel, many new bodies helping in the pits, and some new job duties for many of us, the #4 team was looking forward to the challenge of Icebreaker weekend.

 Practice began with the 4 car looking stout.  Mid practice Jerry was following a car that suddenly put down some oil in turn 1.  Jerry slid up against the turn 2 wall and had square contact with both right side wheels.  The team gave everything a look over and found no major damage.

 Later in qualifying Jerry calmly put in the 11th best time. Not bad for his first time trial with the 4 car (and following a practice accident).

 Sunday feature time.  Radio troubles set in early for me before the race even started.  I attempted to switch to our back-up radio, and Jerry was on his own for at least 20 laps near the start of the race.  Radio troubles continued most of the race, sometimes he could hear me clearly, often times not.

 The car and Jerry meanwhile were headed to the front.  We pitted early, and the race was coming to us when some wheel to wheel contact broke a bracket on the rear end housing.  A weld repair in the infield got the car back out, but we lost many laps.

 Great potential for success was shown on Icebreaker weekend, and I look forward to the race at Stafford.

The following results are all UNOFFICIAL
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