July 28th 40 lap Race Report:

The racing week began with a major tear down of the engine following the July 21st race.  My crew (Jon, Jimmy, and Wayne) had handled most of the work while
I was Spotting for Todd Ceravolo's first win of the season.

Then over the weekend a trip with the camper to Beech Ridge Speedway.  Beech Ridge is a quirky little track that has no walls in the corners.  I was in attendance to lend a hand to the Mystic Missile #4 Modified Tour Team.  We chased the car during practice a bit (springs, shocks, many adjustments...) but remained fast all day.  Qualified 3rd, redrew 3rd, took the lead early, and Jerry Marquis cruised to his first win behind the wheel of Bob and Joan Garbarino's mighty modified.

 

By the time I returned Jon had already begun prepping the engine parts for reassembly.  Monday evening we put it all back together.  Tuesday Jimmy and I finished up the engine work and fired it off.  Then attempted to straighten a spindle....(we are still searching hard for some spindles!!!!)

 

Wednesday as I was about to begin work on the car....Thunder storm knocked out the power.  I still had much to do... first working by candle light, then I fired off the generator and worked by a couple of drop lights.  A first time wrench in the works for me.  One more way to limit my sleep.  Power would remain out until 5:30 am.  Yikes.

 

We headed to the track feeling good about all but the Right front spindle that just isn't perfect.  Car was very fast in the first practice...we were ready and sat out practice for the heat race.  Heat race was a thriller dicing with Scott and Glenn as we stayed in a bunch the entire way.

 

the 40 lap feature:

 

We started 11th with Scott Sundeen, Myself, and Glenn Boss right in line.  My crew had the car on rails and I was able to grab each opening as they came. I believe we had a first lap touch of bumpers as we came up to speed...but then not a single touch of metal the rest of the race!  By lap 9 I was able to slip past the 66 car for the lead when he bobbled in turn 2.

 

Once getting a significant chunk of asphalt between our car and 2nd place...yes, I did hit the old cruise button and back off on the  throttle a bit.  I figured I save some of that Pettit Steam for later on when the cautions flew...  By lap 20 I couldn't spot 2nd place car easily.  As we lapped many cars, the race certainly had that "go all the way" feel to it.  I kept slowing down gradually until I spotted Keith in the rear view.  It was an odd feel to the car when trying to drive at 90% in the corners.  That made me a bit "uncomfortable"  (see upcoming bulletins about some team changes). With about 5 to go I picked up the pace to maintain my safe cushion over Keith D.

 

40 Laps of green flag racing.  Pretty cool by me.  We picked up our 4th win of the season.  Career win #36.

 

We intend to keep the pressure on....Scott and Glenn will have to continue to have great finishes to keep us at bay.

 

Hello all,
 

We won the 40 lap race (double normal distance) Thursday eve. at Thompson.
 

Really cool. There were no cautions at all.  We have won 4 out of ten races so far this season.

 

Jimmy, Jon, and Wayne helped me have the best car in the field by far!

 

cheers

Larry

 

Press Release:

In the Limited Sportsman division Larry Barnett of Ledyard, CT wired the field in the 40-lap extra-distance race that went green-to-checker. Barnett had worked his way into the lead and proceeded to run away from the field. Keith DeSanctis came on strong late to take over the second position from Scott Sundeen. Glenn Boss ran quietly inside the top ten until the final few laps of the event to take over fourth position over Ken Bamford.

The following results are all UNOFFICIAL
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