Update #2
Race: Florida Speedweeks
2/10/08 - 2/16/08
Track: Volusia & East Bay
By: Kenny Johnson, 19 Feb 2008
Track: Volusia & East Bay
By: Kenny Johnson, 19 Feb 2008
Our first race
night in Florida was Sunday, Feb. 10th at Volusia County Speedway.
They had 90 + cars. Tim Cooper drew us a good pill to start us 3rd
in our heat race. They were taking the top 2 out of the heat. We finished 2nd
and this started us 14th in the feature. Made our way to 8th
& was attempting to pass NASCAR racer Ken Schrader on the outside of turn
4. As we came down the front chute he was unaware that I was there and I ended
up with a left front flat tire. Came in the pits and got it changed and went to
the tail. Came from the tail back to finish 12th. We were happy with
the first night.
Night #2 wasn’t
as good. We got caught up in a wreck in our heat and had to go to the tail
& came back to 4th and the 3rd place car checked up
in front of me. I hit them and that spun me out, so I just went to the pits. We
were starting 8th in the B-main and I felt good about winning it to
put ourselves in the A-main. But this is where things turned bad. We entered
turn 1 and I saw a lane open on the bottom. I was wide open when the outside
pole sitter spun and attempted to do a 360 and came right down into us &
the outcome was not good. It did some major frame damage and body damage. At
first look I was ready to pack it in and head back north. But Tim Cooper, Sean
Schobelock and Tod Buckhalter felt that it could be fixed enough to continue
racing. So the next day we found a couple of trees and the guys pushed and pulled
and cut some tubing out and put some tubing in and before you know it, it was
ready to race. Tuesday night’s race was cancelled due to rain. So Wednesday we
headed to East Bay Raceway Park.
Our first race
there was on Thursday and things started off kind of rocky. Our hot lap
session, the car would not stay running, it was running out of fuel. Come to
find out, the force of the wreck caused the fuel pick up hose to go to the
front of the fuel cell and curl up. Got that fixed and in qualifying we spun the
left rear caliper and had no brakes. They were doing group qualifying and we
were 7th fastest. Started 7th in the heat and came up to
4th and was racing 1st, 2nd and 3rd.
It made for a really good race but we finished 4th and had to start
8th in the B-main. They were taking 4 and we finished 4th.
Started 23 rd and passed about 4 cars in the first couple of laps and the car
lost all electrical power and that knocked us out of the feature. As it turned
out we had a problem with the battery terminal which probably stemmed from the
wreck.
The next night we
were 5th fastest in our group and started 5th in our
heat. I could not go anywhere in our heat and we wound up finishing 7th.
This put us in the C-main and we finished 2nd. That put us in the
B-main staring 18th and they were taking 4. The race was set for 15
laps but on lap 6 there was wreck that took sometime to clean up, so they cut
the race back to 12 laps. We made it up to 5th and were right on the
4th place car when they threw the checkered. So we didn’t make the
A-main.
On Saturday they
line up all the races from the points of the first 2 nights. We were 24th
out of 94 cars. Started 3rd in the heat and finished 3rd.
Started 6th in the B-main and they were taking 4. For whatever
reason the car would not hook up at all & we fell backwards and I
eventually pulled off. So we did not make the big race. I’m not sure where the
car is set up wise after the wreck. Now that we are back I’ll have to get it up
on the set up stands and see how the car really is.
I’d like to thank
everyone that helped get us down there and also those that helped. The
Schilling Brothers was at Volusia for 3 days giving us a hand and keeping us
laughing! Also, Tod Buckhalter of Hassy Chassis, Tim Cooper and fellow racer
from Chillicothe, Sean Schobelock. Also giving a hand was former mod racer Rick
Logan and his crew member Dave.
On other news
from Florida a Mid Ohio Valley racer won the big show at East Bay, winning
$8,000. Louie Krushansky and Team #23 put WV on the map in Florida Speedweeks.
It was a great race to watch and helped make my trip worth while to see Louie
and his team in victory lane. It proves that our area has just as tough of
competition as anywhere.
Providing the car
checks out ok and we get everything back together we plan on going to Western
Kentucky Speedway on March 22nd for $6,000 to win.
Remember! To make
this work, support those that support us!
Thanks again for
your support,
KJ
