What an exciting, disappointing, nerve wracking, frustrating 2 weeks. Our team continued to search for the missing handle on the #5 SST Modified. The 75 lap Weekly Modified special had Terry starting near the rear because of points handicapping as we don't run the same class each week. At the green flag the high powered car spun the wheels and caused havoc to Terry and those behind him as he spun on the front straight (I bet the video is exciting to watch). Restarting from the rear, Terry's night would begin to look like all that could be looked for is a mid pack showing, but once again Terry's driving talent took a 12th place car and brought it home to a 5th place finish (although with some wear and tear that needs attention before we return). Clearly that finish was more due to Terry than the car. Another piece of good news was the return of Jody London driving the SST #89 to a worthy 13th place out of 22 cars. We can now start working on the handling of Jody's ride and watch him continue moving forward.

The following week was the fantastic Fan Appreciation Night at Spencer with half price admission combined with the twin 25 lap Touring Mod show features plus a regular show plus the Antique racers. The crowd was huge, the weather was hot and unknown to us, soon so would be our team. This evening would be the first main event for the #50 ROC Modified piloted by Terry and we had Kris Hillegeer in Terry's #11. Terry took advantage of some wheel banging between Buck Catalano and Tony Hanbury and stole the lead at about mid way. Terry would extend his lead but a caution with 5 laps to go changed everything. A rough driving penalty moved the second place car back two spots which put Hanbury on Terry's rear bumper. For 4 laps Terry fought hard to hold off Tony who made several outside attempts. On the last lap hard contact was made going in to the first turn resulting in Terry recovering from a spin but bouncing through the infield and recording a 10th place finish while Tony received a 2 spot rough driving penalty and a 3rd place finish. The "heat" rose as the teams conducted minor car maintenance on the front straight and words were exchanged between crews, drivers and officials. In the end, cooler heads prevailed as there still was the 2nd feature to be run. Mixed in to all this excitement was Kris Hillegeer's 8th place finish in his Rookie debut! Nothing short of fantastic although not so surprising a result. He's that smooth.

In the second 25 lap event Terry started 9th and he quickly moved up through the field. By lap 20 (which was really 55 laps of total wear and tear) all competitors were fighting worn out tires and here is where Terry's skills showed again. He muscled the #50 in to 3rd place giving Buck plenty of trouble as Buck worked over the leader Hanbury. At the checkers it was Hanbury, Buck trying the outside and Terry under Buck as they crossed the checkers. Man I can't wait to check out the DVD of these races. The fans loved the show and we walked away knowing that our day to shine is coming soon. Also, Kris had another great run finishing 10th. We agreed his two top 10 finishes in these high powered Modifieds was a night most would relish and the smile on his face showed it.

A quick note on this night of "musical chairs", Terry drove our #50, Kris drove Terry's #11 and Kris' brother Ryan drove his #18 Super Six and was able to take the win. Click on one of the Spencer web site links throughout this site for results and more write ups. Ryan's drive was exciting to watch, ask anyone that was there.

My final thoughts: when a lead car gets "taken out" there should be no way the perpetrator should take home a better finish. I have attended races in PA and VA that have instituted rules where the leader is given back their position, the offender is sent to the rear as if a caution had come out, and the conclusion is a "Green, White, Checker" to allow a finish under competitive conditions for the fans. Spencer's decision makers claimed to be "consistent" in their ruling (same penalty as applied earlier in the event) however, when it involves the lead car on the last lap there is no way to recover unlike when it occurs during an event, which makes a huge difference and there are other track owners who agree. The results are not under appeal or protest; we just hope management considers a different approach in the future. Our team will move forward and we will be back to race some more.

We continue to look to make the #5 SST Mod a more competitive ride for Terry and we will be back this week to see how our next efforts fair. See you all soon.