Larry and his fans after our win
July 13th Race Report Win #3! '05 career win #35
Prep time for this event was challenged with a trip to
Jennerstown Speedway on the weekend (and a Wednesday show)
. What a neat track J/S is. Upon arriving, I noticed that
it was hard to find a single dent in any of the cars, from
any support division. Had they ever raced yet I
wondered???? While watching them race, I discovered they
had all realized that it is possible to race cleanly. When
a car gets inside another, the car would move up a few
feet...side by side racing--with no contact unless someone
actually made an oops... All about respect I guess. Must
be fun to go home and work on the car just to go faster each
week. Yes, there was a few accidents. But they were
accidents. Not Monahan style "monadents"
Our car preps benefited greatly from back-up parts prepped
over the winter. Tuesday night we found that our rear end
was bent slightly. We decided (Jimmy, Jon, and I) that we
would swap the entire drive train. So Jon and Jimmy did all
the work while I prepped everything else (including newer
tires on the car trailer---so relaxed were we I tell you).
By the end of the evening... the car was ready.
While heading to the track I had a feeling that to win
tonight we were going to have to out-do Glenn Boss...
3 new "American Racers" on the car this week. A rare treat,
but caused by several flats and cuts recently. We chased a
few minor measurements back and forth during the night.
Surprise... we ended back where we had been the prior
week, within a half turn of a jacking bolt.
The heat race we got passed by Glenn on lap one...but chased
him the rest of the way. Amazing that the #28 drove through
the leader (#38) dumping him to the infield, but incurred no
penalty.
The feature: We started 13th and quickly made our way
to 2nd. While trying to find a few inches to slip by
the Cates #26 we feared getting pounded by the #28. On approximately
lap 8 we had an inside run exiting turn 4 to pass Cates.
The #28 decided that 2 feet apart was enough of a gap for
him to fit through. He is proving to be an ass lately. He
rammed Cates and turned him into me. I found my self at
speed...on the lawn... with Cates into my passenger side
door.
I managed to keep her straight...and came out into turn one
with the lead. If the 28 had been ahead of me it would not
have been for long! Guaranteed! The 28 thankfully was on
the receiving end of his own work this time. Three cautions
later, (that he caused,) the track actually kicked him out
of the event. None too soon.
The rest of the night was great. The restart had Glenn and
I 1st and 2nd. A slippery track kept things challenging
(oil and water). We were able to ward off the challenges of
the mighty 3 car after several side by side laps. Once out
front, I was able to inch away each time. Two additional
cautions were followed by similar battles. Lots of fun.
We beat the best guy / team out there this time... Even
trimmed 2 points off his points lead. If we only had 50
races remaining ,that would be good enough.
Loudon Tour Mod notes: (Mystic Missile #4 Tour mod)
Just back from Loudon.... Jerry Marquis once again was our
teams strong suit. We missed on the set-up. Way too loose
to start the race. We needed to pit on the early side. A
very slow stop put Jerry down a lap. We received the "lucky
dog" award later in the race and worked our way back to an
8th place finish. Not a terrible finish... but miserable
way to get there. Jerry deserves so much better.
Next week for the tour is a return to Beach Ridge Maine. ( I
hope to drag the camper up and relax some...)
Till Thursday...
Larry