4th of July Weekend: We Just Couldn't Keep the Fuse Lit

As mentioned previously, we changed our racing plans and tried again to shake down the Yellow #50 at Spencer on Friday. We bought our way in to the "almost started" 35 lap feature from two weeks ago and started from the back. Terry drove a good race avoiding almost all of the excitement and finished in a comfortable 8^th place. The car was ready for some minor adjustments (except for the skyward pointing front bumper) and with some great crew work, we had time to watch Kris Hillegeer take down his second heat win of the season. It's good to see our friend continuing to improve.

We rolled out for the heat but did not complete a lap as a competitor bumped Terry hard a couple times resulting in Terry crashing hard in to the back stretch wall head on. Terry was OK but almost every part that bolts to the front frame rail and tires was broken or bent. There was no way to repair that much damage and we were done for the night.

Later that evening, back at the shop, we unloaded the remains of the #50 and reloaded the #5 for our trip to Chemung the next day. Mean while, Terry's nephew Doug Gavette called to say his MicroSprint had been crashed hard at Thunder Mountain. He and his Dad would need lot of help the next morning as the suspension received lots of damage. Even the aluminum head and valve cover had been broken in the violent crash. With a lot of hands on "creative" fabrication and several phone calls to ask for favors, the sprinter was on its way to completion as we pulled out of the driveway for Chemung.

Chemung would be a mix of progress and missed opportunity as we tried some different set ups, improving each time. However, during the 75 lap feature all the competitors would be stunned as Bobby Osgood, coming back from a few weeks off due to a broken motor, would start in the back then proceed to hand all of us a butt whooping we won't soon forget. We were definitely satisfied with our 6^th place finish, our best to date. But being a lap down just took something away from our accomplishments. During the night's regular 40 lap event, we made a couple of big adjustments that put us in a good position to repeat our best results. With 4 laps to go, Terry would make a gutsy move under Tim Gullo that unintentionally involved new friend and fellow competitor Ed Weber, who normally runs Holland and DTRP. Restarting in the back we settled in for a 7^th place finish.

The good news is we have learned a bunch more, know what we need to do next, and will be even more competitive when we return in August for the next 75 lap event.

The team will try to rebuild the #50 and if successful, we will bring both SST Modifieds to Spencer for the Whelen Modified show this coming Saturday (rain date Sunday). See you there!