Epic
Ventures Motorsports at The 2012 US Open
Our team and
driver approached this US Open with both
optimism and a hunger for victory. Everyone
agreed that we would ride the momentum of a
Super Stock Championship and very
competitive runs with our RoC Modified and
bring both our cars to Dunn Tire Raceway
Park (DTRP). The #89 Super Stock would
continue to be driven by Terry as we had our
eye on winning the Dave London Memorial. All
we needed was a little luck (not much) and
we could contend for the win in the 100 Lap
RoC race.
Friday was a
day owned by Mother Nature: cool, wet,
sunny, cloudy, rain, pause, rain, day one
cancelled. Back at the campsite the hot
water felt good, the campfire was warm as
are the friendships and we readied ourselves
for what we knew would be a marathon day
two.
Saturday
started at 10:00AM and we would return to
the camp around 1:00AM. In between we would
practice the #89 and the #50 and Terry
wasn’t happy with either car. The Super
Stock qualifying heat came first and the car
was still not handling well but it became
clear that the #89 was just sprung too stiff
and we now knew what to do for the main
event. After a few other classes ran their
events it was time for the Modified heats.
Terry was starting back in a pack of fast
cars. Just before the start, Andy Pelko had
the misfortune of a flat tire while sitting
in the line-up shoot. When the green flag
flew the first three laps saw lots of action
and Terry was able to thread the needle
(there may have been a bump involved) and
secured a 3rd place finish and a
chance at the redraw. Terry would end up
drawing #7, inside row 4, based on the other
draws – not a bad place to start.
It was now a
long wait as we watched several features,
the sun set, and temperatures dropped like a
rock in to the 50’s. Our plans for the
evening had us relocating our pit stall for
the modified race while having another pit
ready in case the Super Stock would need
service. The second last event was the 50
Lap Dave London Memorial. Terry and the #89
tribute car would start mid pack. As the
first few laps clicked off and the tires
warmed up, Terry advanced through the pack
and when a couple cautions sent some leaders
to the pits for adjustments, Terry found
himself battling for 4th place.
That would be our high water mark because as
the race continued, the tire stagger grew
too much and the car eventually became evil
loose. Terry hung on, fought hard on each
restart and kept other drivers at bay for a
7th place finish.
With tired
arms, Terry brought the #89 pitside, slugged
down a G2, a quick smoke, then switched his
mind over to the next challenge and slid in
to the #50 and strapped in for another 100
laps of on the edge racing. The cold track
surface and the hard tires were likely to
make the first few laps of the modified main
an edge of the seat experience.
Unfortunately that would be too true when
#14 of Doug Reaume would hop the wheel of #5
Kyle Ebersole (who was avoiding another car)
sending the #14 very hard in to the turn 4
wall. An immediate red flag was thrown and
track personnel arrived on the scene finding
Doug shook-up but ok thanks to great driver
safety equipment. Future restarts would be
single file to avoid further mayhem. Racing
resumed for 22 laps when a spin slowed the
pace and a few teams pitted. Terry was
cruising in 5th place and the
team was discussing the possibility of a
“no pit” strategy (which a couple teams
would try).
Suddenly on
lap 36, while hauling down the back straight
the left rear hub would shatter from
accumulated stress sending the wheel down
the track and the car in to a spinning
shower of sparks. Our US Open was now over
leaving us all with a lot of “what could
have been” thoughts. Terry would win the
“hard luck” award which no driver wants
but does appreciate to help offset the costs
of racing.
RoC
US Open Full Write-up
DTRP
US Open All Class Feature Write-up
Our cold and
tired team repaired the mod, loaded up the
two car operation and headed back to the
campsite for dinner and some storytelling,
story fabricating and story exaggerating got
bolder as the night got longer. With good
friends you celebrate the victories and
commiserate on the tough nights.
Our final
race of the season will be the rescheduled
Spencer Speedway NY Super Stock 50 on Friday
September 28th along with four
other classes to close out our season. Hope
to see you there.