With a short week for pre-race prep we knew it would be a race just to get both cars loaded and ready for the track.
The #28 required very little work, after receiving a 7+ liter oil and filter change and once over, the car was ready for action. As for the #80 I spent the week waiting on another transmission filter to make sure that we had worked all the old dirt and gunk out. Unfortunately, it didn’t come in until Thursday morning and due to prior commitments wasn’t able to pick up the filter, but given how well everything worked last week felt confident it would be fine. So with a quick nut and bolt check and removing a vacuum line between the carburettor and the transmission I was also loaded up and ready to go.
Once arriving at the track both Doug and I headed to the fairgrounds with our cars for the Canada Day Celebrations including a driver Meet and Greet where we got a chance to see all of the fans who came to spend their day at the race track as well as handout plenty of pictures of our cars with the other dozen or so drivers in attendance. I choose to use the opportunity to ‘steal’ one of Doug’s ideas from when our family returned to racing, which was to give as many of our youngest race fans a reason to cheer for 3D Racing, by letting them sign the trunk lid of the #80. So if you have a young race fan in your home feel free to come and visit us in the pits after the races most weeks and we would be glad to had them to our roster of fans!
As for the racing action Friday, it was not what I would like to call successful, as Doug and I pulled on track for the heat race where I sat on pole and Doug had the outside of the first row, the transmission hiccup in the #80 that was solved last week returned and prevented the #80 from competing in both the heat and feature races. Between the races I tried reinstalling the vacuum line that I had removed but the issue persisted, which told me it was more than likely another clogged filter. As for the #28 there was some stout competition from out of town this week and Doug was able to stay near the front all race long and bring the car home in the 4th position without any new scratches. Come feature race time Doug started mid pack and early in the race was spun out off the nose of the #24T of Lyle Thompson, however despite the set back Doug was able to work his way back up to 9th to have a solid day.
While camping at the race track over the weekend can be alot of fun it can also limit the amount and kind of work that can be done on the cars. With no parts an nowhere to work on the #80 things looked grim for Saturday, luckily the racing community all has the same goal in mind, and that is to get cars on the track. With some help and with the biggest of thank yous to Richard Visser of Visser Auto I was able to pick up the new transmission filter and with shop space on loan from the #23 Midwest Modified of Carter and Al Kinnear I was able to get the new filter installed and have the #80 ready for Saturday night racing.
Once again Doug and I had a great draw and started the heat race on the front row, only this time we would take the green flag together. I was able to get a slightly better launch on the start and lead into turn 1 however within a couple laps dropped to third and spun out on the exit of two, where as Doug met the same fate in the middle of turn three and four. On the restart I was able to hold my ground until I spun again in the middle of turn three, but this time was able to keep the car moving and drove into the infield. Without mirrors or a spotter to help me merge back on track I chose to wait out the race from the best seat in the house, whereas Doug despite his early spin was able to stay on track and finish the heat race. In the feature we both started towards the rear of the pack with each of us having a different set of goals, mine to just gain some experience and stay out of trouble and Doug to eat up some of his points deficit to the leader. Right on the start I threw my plans out the window as I saw an opening coming out of turn two and choose to pounce on a group of four cars in front of me and although I was able to stick with them all for a lap or two between the blinding sun in turns three and four, the car developing a tight condition (where you turn the wheel and the car keeps going straight), and just general inexperience I spun a couple of times but was able to keep the car moving, and as a result fell to the back of the field where I took the time to try some different things behind the wheel and just learn whatever I could bringing the car home in 12th place. As for Doug he also had a moment and spun out early in the race but was able to keep the hammer down and race his way back up into the 10th position.
After the race as we went to collect our payout from the nights racing, we were given a nice surprise with being awarded 8th place for the #28 and 10th place for the #80. We found out two of the the top five finishers forgot/chose not to scale their cars after the race as is required by the rules, and they were both disqualified. After two days of family fun, racing and camping at the Emo Speedway, we will be back in the shop prepping both cars for another night of action this Saturday night, so come on out and show everyone who your favourite team is!
