July 10th, 2007
Spencer
070607 The good, the bad, and the frustrating
The
EpicVentures team showed up with our main focus on
Terry Cheetham's effort in the 100 Lap ROC Modified
special. With the special series pitting in the
infield for better fan viewing, the #11 and #5 took
center stage. With the focus being the #11, we ran the
#5 "as is" from last week, and Terry managed
a fine 7th place finish in the SST main event (this
was the "good" part).
On the
#11 Modified, Terry showed his resourceful skills when
he determined a major chassis experiment was just not
getting the job done and quickly the team made
corrections. Terry successfully qualified out of the
heat race with this new set up. During the early laps
of the main event, the #11 was capable of running the
outside lane, a big advantage at this speedway.
Unfortunately, a lap 6 accident in front of him
resulted in terminal damage to the car (the bad part
of our evening). Luckily Terry was uninjured but the
damage was extensive.
Our
#50 and crew were stationed in the normal pit area,
separated from our teammate's advice and assistance.
That would turn out to have an impact on our results.
Practice and qualifying were increasingly frustrating
for driver Tom Fecteau as the car was very loose on
corner entry resulting in several spins. As the
evening wore on, the engine performance deteriorated,
which appeared carburetor related. And finally, the
transmission was getting harder and harder to shift
between gears. We received some help from fellow
competitor Phil Johnson and long time racer David
Catalano but we struggled diagnosing the causes.
Adjustments were made but things continued declining.
In the main event we ran conservatively hoping to take
advantage of other people's troubles but on lap 11,
the #50 spun out without causing any damage,
unfortunately the car would not restart or go in to
gear. Our night was over with a 20th place finish.
During
our weekly maintenance we discovered and repaired
several gremlins that had caused the frustrating #50
performance. So the #50 and #5 are ready for double
points night this coming Friday. The ROC modified is
also being repaired and will see action this week as
well. We thank you for your support and enthusiastic
words of encouragement. Be well and come see us pit
side after Friday's events.
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