Racing Won’t Always Go Your Way

Racing is a sport that relies heavily on luck. Many times when you talk about bad luck in this sport, you say “It’s racing.” This weekend was proof of that for us. We finally had the opportunity to get to the track after months of hard work. The doors and quarter panels were brand new. We didn’t have graphics but we made the car look at least semi presentable. Everything was going fine until we got to the track.

We left for Selinsgrove Speedway on Saturday with hope and apprehension. Racing season was finally back and it was time to showcase all of that hard work. We got to the track, parked the truck and happily unloaded the car.

At the track — Unloading at Selinsgrove Speedway

The mood in the pits was really positive. It was one of the happiest starts to a night I can think of in recent memory. Then we took the track.

Immediately I knew the car was tight. It was extremely tight. Corner entry no longer existed, and I had to use the three wheel braking half way through the corner to get my car to rotate. We needed to make a change for the heat race, because I just felt slow in warm-ups. We made some changes to our shocks and prepared for the heat race as best we could.

In the heat race, I started sixth. Entering the first corner of the first lap, I could tell the problem hadn’t been fixed yet. I lost two spots and finished nearly last in the heat race. All the while, the right side of my car was dragging on the ground, and we lost our side skirting too. We have seemed to battle that a lot – the right side digging in to the ground.\

The Heats

Joe on track — Joe, on track for warm-ups. 📸 – Nigel Webster

When the car came off the track for heats, dad and I sat down and really thought about what changes we wanted to make. We consulted a pair of books we use to help us decide what to change. I ran out to the car and changed the shocks a bit on the left and right side to see if I could get more front end grip, then came back into the trailer to discuss more. A friend from Clinton County stopped by and we had a short conversation, when I heard the announcer call Limited Late Models up for their consolation race. I didn’t know if I was in this race, so I checked the Selinsgrove twitter page. Behold, my name was on the list to start sixth.

I ran, jumped into my car and frantically threw my belts on, then made it to the line-up area just moments before they set off. I was nervous about the car and I really had hoped that the changes I threw on last second helped, otherwise the whole weekend would be a waste of money. Nothing hurts worse than showing up to a track and not making the feature. As soon as the consolation race started, I felt the car out in the first corner. The front end seemed to stick a bit better, and I felt a bit more confident in the car. I passed two cars and finished 4th, which was a qualifying position. We made it, and the weekend wasn’t a waste.

I got out of the car and Dad and I went to work discussing more changes. I adjusted the front end shocks even further than I had before since what I did seemed to help a little bit. We also switched tires for ones that had more stagger. We also took a turn and a half out of the right rear to see if we could get the car to stop digging on the right front. Then came time to head out for the feature event.

The Feature

Damage — The damage on the side of the car after the race

I was starting 22nd, nearly the tail end of the field. The race was immediately marred by cautions. I don’t think we did two laps without a caution for about three cautions straight. After the third caution, we ran for another lap and a wreck happened at the end of the front stretch. I tried to shoot the middle, because there were cars spinning low and high. My car clipped a car on the outside and I snaked through the rest of the wreck. The red came out and I parked on the back stretch. It was at this time, when I looked over and saw Steve Campbell, the tech guy. I asked him if my car was OK to continue. He said no. As he walked around the side of the car I looked over and saw my spoiler sitting next to me on the decking of the car. I guess the damage was a lot worse than it seemed.

I drove the car off the track and into my pit box, hopped out and saw half my car ripped to shreds. The decking was everywhere and the right rear quarter panel was gone. It was ugly. The frame and suspension looked fine though. We decided to call it a night, because though the damage was cosmetic, I didn’t want to go back onto the track with half my car (and the spoiler) missing.

More Work

I’d been up until 1:00 A.M. nearly every night for around two weeks to see half of my work destroyed. That is the part that burns the most. I don’t think we have ever torn anything that big up so early in the season.

Hopefully this week we can get our car together and have it ready for Sunday, or possibly the following Friday. Back to the grind, and staying up extra late. Who needs sleep when you’ve got a race car anyway.

I have to thank the following sponsors for their support in getting us to the track on Saturday. Unfortunately they did not make it on the side of the car yet.

C&E Containers
Horizon Powder Coating
Rod Fry Trucking
PMF Industries
K&S Music
Cindy Bee Floral
Mechtly Commercial Door
Antiques and Moore

Here is the video recap from this weekend, if you missed it: