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Friday was not one of those nights you care to remember. After missing the setup terribly in the heat race and finishing 6th, we changed the car all around for the feature, it was way too stiff in the heat. The track was a lot drier than I had expected and the car was suffering from no grip, this bad finish started us 16th in the feature. I had prepared myself to take my time and work my way through the field as cautiously as possible. The track layout is bad for the reason as you exit the corners the guy on the bottom pushes up into your line; you either back out or get crashed. We were gaining several positions and then it happened, what I was trying to avoid, a wreck in front of me and as made a move to the outside someone tagged me from behind and another car wrecked onto my front end. This broke the right front spindle and took us out of competition for the night.
Saturday night found us at Sharon Speedway, we had a very close second place run in the heat race, I was unable to get the edge on the leader, this had to be a great race to watch we were door to door for almost eight laps. Feature we started 7th, we were moving good at first and then we kind of just rode, the tire I chose for the feature was a bit too soft, and would not grip when it got hot. This is something new to me; at Sharon Speedway we are now allowed to run any compound of tire that we choose, before we were mandated which compounds. We ended up finishing 6th, not as far up in the finish as I wanted, but it wasn’t wrecked.
Sunday was another rain out; the weather has taken a toll on racing in western Pa. This week we will be competing at our three home tracks. Hope everyone has a great 4th of July. Hope to see you at a track soon.
Later,
Del
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Weekend update for June 22nd |
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Started in the fifth position in the heat race Friday night, worked my way into fourth, but the car was not handling the way I wanted it to. The car was tight entering the corners, I had to throw the car through the corner, and this is not a fast way to get through the corners. We made several changes to the car for the feature, trying to loosen the car on entry, but trying not to make the car to free on throttle so we still had forward bite.
Winning last week’s feature started us in the twelfth starting spot in the feature this week. The car was great at the start of the race, we moved from twelfth to fourth in three laps. Around half way I had worked into third and was working Dave Murdick for second, about that time the car had settled the right rear torsion bar and the handling of the car was going away. I had a handful for the rest of the race, and ended up losing third on the last restart on lap 20. This was kind of disgusting when we had a very good car until half way, we are working on a way to fix the problems with torsion bars settling.
Saturday we were off the schedule at Sharon Speedway. We spent the afternoon working on the car and relaxing with the day off. We made all the changes for Tri-City Speedway where we would be racing on Sunday night. The rains moved in Sunday afternoon and Tri- City Speedway had to cancel.
This Friday, June 27th we will be racing at Raceway 7 in Ohio. This is the Lou Blaney tribute race. It’s in honor of Lou Blaney who is one of the greatest racers in the western PA / eastern OH region. Saturday we will be at Sharon Speedway and Sunday will find us at Tri-City Speedway, hopefully with clear skies.
Hope to see you all at a racetrack soon.
Later,
Del
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Weekend of June 15th update |
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Friday night started off with a close second place finish in our heat race at Lernerville Speedway after starting fourth. The Lottery draw for the feature had us starting third. The track was very much to my liking, slick from top to bottom. I took the lead with a pass through turns one and two in the middle of the track with the leader on the bottom. Once I assumed the lead I placed the car on the bottom of the track and raced there the rest of the event. The race was plagued with a great deal of cautions. We would race a lap or two then the caution flag would be back out.
The end result was our team picking up our first win of 2008. The car was working as perfect; it was one of those nights when it was a pleasure to drive. This was my first race with my new Infusion helmet from Bell, and it is a very comfortable helmet. It breathes so nicely and keeps me very comfortable. Also our newly designed springs from Hyperco did a great job; they give the car a lot of feel.
Saturday night was rained out at Sharon Speedway, The crew all went to dinner and called it an early night. I had a few new set-up ideas I wanted to try, but we will try them in two weeks, this coming week we are not on the schedule at Sharon Speedway.
Sunday was Tri-City Speedway; we started fifth in our heat and had the lead by lap four, and went on to win the eight lap heat race. The invert pill that was pulled by a fan in the stands was a number eight. This started us in the eight positions, I felt comfortable with the car and figured we could work our way forward. As the race started we were making our way towards the front, entering turn three on lap nine, I hooked the right rear tire in a hole that had developed. This settled the right rear torsion bar, which upset the set-up of the car. From that point on I was basically riding the rest of the race out. We ended up seventh, not what I had expected, but the torsion bar problem slowed our progress.
This week we will be at Lernerville Speedway on Friday night, starting 12th in the feature. Winning last week this is the best I can start. The track should be the way I like it , we will be fourth feature. Sunday will be back at Tri-City Speedway for a normal Sunday night racing event.
Friday June 27th we will be at Raceway Seven in Ohio. This is a special Lou Blaney Tribute race. We are looking forward to racing at Raceway Seven and honoring a true legend like Lou Blaney. I encourage everyone to attend if possible.
Later,
Del
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Weekend update for June 1st |
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After an unsuccessful Memorial Day weekend of racing involving one hard crash and a broken motor, we were planning for a better weekend for the weekend of May 30th and June 1st.
Friday night started out with a 4th spot starting position in the heat race. The car was entering the turns properly, but in the middle of the corner it would get tight and was hard to pass other cars. After the heat we had to redraw pills for our starting position, I drew a number 2, which started us on the outside pole. We went to work preparing the car to make it easier to work in traffic. We changed shocks and several other changes. We were running second until on a restart I had hard contact made to the rear bumper as I entered turn one, which sent me up the track and lost several spots. Using several restarts to my advantage I worked my way back to second from fifth. I had one last restart to try and take the lead from Brian Swartzlander, who had been running the cushion all night long. I stayed side by side with him as we raced down the front stretch, entering turn one it was slightly tight, I rubbed the right rear tire off the wall , but was not able to get ahead of him entering turn one. We stayed within striking distance, but I was unable to get by, so we took a good second place finish.
Saturday night we were off, Sunday was Tri-City Speedway; we prepared the car in the afternoon, and were ready to race. This was a night when luck was not on my side. We started forth in the heat race and on lap two entering turn one a competitor spun in front of me; I turned the car to avoid the wreck and was hit in the left rear wheel, which broke the rear panhard bar, tie rod and right front wheel. We had to be towed off.
Feature time we started last, after working and getting the car repaired, we took the green flag. As I left turn two running the outside, a competitor broke traction and slid up the track and went across my front end as I was passing him. This contact bent the left side radius rods and left front wheel. I was towed in again; we had already gone several laps down by the time the tire was changed, so we loaded up and headed home.
This coming week we will be competing at the three western PA tracks again. Hope to see you at a racetrack soon.
Later,
Del
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Rained out the whole weekend of May 18th |
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The old saying goes, “when it rains it pours” and that was the case for racing in Western PA this weekend. All three nights of big block modified racing were rained out. We had a great amount of rain come into the area and just linger all weekend.
The rained out weekend gives us extra time in the shop to prepare equipment for the longer runs we hope to have when the weather breaks. This coming weekend we will be racing at Lernerville Speedway, Friday, May 23rd, and Sharon Speedway, Saturday, May 24th. Then on Sunday, May 25th at Tri-City Speedway we open the Modified Tour Inc. season with the Dick Rankin Memorial. We won the event in 2004 and feel that it would be a great way to start out the 2008 Modified tour Inc season.
The Dirt track Channel will have the event live on the internet at, www.thedirttrackchannel.com . The live audio webcast, which is free of charge and registration, begins with the pre-race show at 7:45 p.m. I think this is great that The Dirt Track Channel is making this happen. They will also have several other Modified Tour events broadcast.
Later,
Del
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Weekend update for May 11th |
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The weekend of racing started at Lernerville Speedway on Friday, May, 9th. I started 9th in the first heat race; a very wet and single lane race track was hard to pass on. I was able to work the car into 6th position, far enough to get in the pill draw for the feature. We started the feature in the second position, before the event we were making changes to the car to handle the wet conditions.
The car was a handful all night long; I was able to salvage a 4th place finish. The car was not the best handling car I have had at Lernerville Speedway. The wet track conditions and constant threat of rain kept the track heavy all night. We made some good notes and have a few new ideas how to handle the track next time we encounter these conditions.
Saturday, onto Sharon Speedway, Kevin, Jason, Bud, and myself perform the maintenance on the 07 Bicknell racecar. We go over every part on the car and engine. As the boys were finishing maintenance, I started preparing tires for the evening’s completion. Tire prep consists of grinding, grooving and siping the tires.
The heat race we started 3rd and finished 3rd. The track was very loose and dusty and was hard to get the tires to grip on. We made several changes to the car for the feature; we started in the 4th position. I was working different lines around the track and finally got a comfortable line around the 3/8 mile racetrack. Lap 22 there was a caution and I had worked my way into second. On the restart I made a charge for the lead, as we entered turn three, the leader had almost stopped in the middle of turns three and four. I had to brake hard to avoid contact, I had lost the momentum, and I still tried all the lines to get around him, but had to settle for second.
Sunday nights evnt at Tri-City Speedway was rained out. This coming weekend we will be at the three western PA tracks. Hope to see everyone at a racetrack soon.
Later,
Del
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