New # 2

Our first trip to Sunset was exciting. We shared the weekend with the Super Late model cars. They have the biggest engines and tires in Ontario for short track racing. They were posting times in the 14.5 second range. All the time adding Hoosier rubber to the tracks outside line. They use the same compound as our cars and the track was very sticky. We were fast in our heat race, and you could throw a blanket over the top 5 for the entire feature race. We were sideways, up high, down low and the car was great everywhere on the track. So were the guys in front of us. Our older set of tires worked well against those who had a new set on. we finished 5th in one of the most fun races I have been in.

On our second date back to Sunset we shared the weekend with the Ontario Sportsman series. These guys also use the same tire compound as our cars. This time the track was a slippery as I have ever seen it. Second in the heat race all over the car in front. we started our feature after the OSS cars were ion the track. It was a mess. They did 100 laps and only had 7 cars running at the end of the race. As soon as I pulled on the track, all I could smell was old gear oil, motor oil and the dreaded blown motor smell. I knew the track was slippery, but this was like driving on an icy road. Good news is we made some adjustments to the car to make it stick in the turns better. We over adjusted and I am glad we did. The car worked really well on the slippery track. We passed some cars on the outside (very hard to do at Sunset)and then drove it in the corners really deep to pass on the inside. One lap I passed 4 cars, 2 outside and 2 inside. The top 3 broke away from the pack until a caution came out for a huge wreck. 2 cars nose to nose on the back straightaway. Both drivers were OK, but their cars were a mess. We tried on the remaining laps to get past the leader, but no luck. At the finish we were on the outside at his door. A couple more laps and I might have got the win.
we are moving up the points nicely and sit 8 points out of the championship lead with half the season remaining. 2 big races at my home track Flamboro are up next. I Hope to take a win or 2 and the points lead by mid August.
See you at Flamboro July 23.

Much better at Varney

The smallest track we race is Varney. The high Banked oval produces great racing lines but it makes it difficult to pass. For the first time in Pro Challenge we ran Twin 25 lap features. 25 before the intermission and 25 after. We started 3rd last in the field of cars and worked really hard to make up some ground. At the end of 25 laps we were in 3rd place. A few quick adjustments to the car during the break made it much better on corner entry. We started 3rd and made a pass around the outside to get 2nd spot. From there we pressured the leader and tried several attempts to get by. The driver in front did a great job, making no mistakes and driving a line I could not get past.
This was a much greater finish for our team and we were one of 3 cars to post lap times in the 13 second range all night.
Maybe this spare motor is pretty good after all.
Up next 2 trips to Sunset Speedway.