June 4th Race Recap

A long week of work pays off with our best finish of the year. 

 Practice – After we arrived at the track we still had a little work to do to the car after the engine change during the week.  We wanted to make sure everything was tight and adjusted.  There were 2 practice sessions on Saturday afternoon, each a half-hour long.  Saturday’s weather was by far the hottest of the year, with temperatures in the upper 70’s and not a cloud in the sky.  And during the first practice, we quickly discovered that the hot track didn’t have as much grip as last week.  We were sliding the front tires going into the turns, but felt very good coming off the corners.  We made some small adjustments between practice sessions to help the entry, but it was hurting the exit.

 Qualifying – We were a couple tenths slower on the hotter track than last week with a time of 23.1; that put us 5^th quick out of the 9 cars there this week.

 Race #1 – We started 4^th, outside second row, and quickly fell to the back.  We got stuck on the outside and just couldn’t go forward.  For whatever reason, it takes a few laps for us to get going, whether it’s the car or the driver.  I think we fell all the way back to 8^th by lap 10.  Our car came in at the end of the race and we were able to finish 4^th.

 Race #2 – Between races, Ronnie and Mike wanted to make the car better, but I told them that there was nothing wrong with the car.  I felt that we were the fastest car on the track at the end of the first race and we would be fine in the second race as everyone had to run both races on the same set of tires.  I told them what the car was doing and Ronnie made one small adjustment.  And when I say small, I mean tiny.  I don’t think we were any faster during the second race, but everyone else was a little slower.  We started 5^th, and waited for the car to come in and move thru traffic for a 2^nd place finish, our best of the year.  By the time we moved into 2^nd place Naima Lang had a huge lead and, even though we were catching him, we didn’t have enough laps to catch him without help.

 The Top 10 in points for the Evergreen Speedway Super Late Models is updated and listed on the right side of this page.  Our next race isn’t until June 25^th, which will be round two of the Big West Series at Evergreen Speedway.

Engine

We're back in business.  We found an engine on Tuesday...put it in the car on Thursday and will be racing on Saturday.  Looks like the weather will be great for another twin 50 races on the big 5/8's mile track.

Points Standings Update

The points standings have been updated.  And after 5 races, Naima Lang is still the points leader.  Dan Moore moves up to second, followed by Tom Moriarity, me, and Travis Blackwood rounds out the top 5.  The complete top 10 is listed on the right side of this page.

May 28th Race Recap

Here is a recap of last Saturday.  Twin 50 lap races on the 5/8's mile track for the first "Big West" event.

Practice-

If you remember the last race, we were rained out but got to practice on the big track and the car was pushing on entry and good off.  During the off week, we made some minor adjustments to the set-up, and they helped, but a little too much.  We went out for practice this week and the car was good into the turn but was loose in the middle and off.  Between the 2 practice sessions, we backed off the adjustments we made during the week and found a happy middle ground.

 Qualifying-

Before we qualified, we made a rear-end gear change.  It paid off as we qualified faster than we ever have with what I believe was a 22.9 second lap.  (The problem with the pits at Evergreen is you can’t see the scoreboard or hear the announcers from there.  So it takes a while to learn how you qualified.  And even then, you heard it from a guy who heard it from a guy.)  That put us fourth quick out of the 14 cars there.

 Race #1

We started in the 4^th row for race #1.  There were a couple of early cautions in the first half of the race.  After the second caution we ran the outside line and briefly moved up to 3^rd while running side-by-side with the 39 car of Shane Harding before he was able to take back the position.  We settled into 4th place with the 00 car of Naima Lang close behind.  With about 18 laps to go in the 50 lap race, just as I passed the start/finish line, the engine grenades, tossing oil and debris down the rest of the front stretch and into turn 1.  Our day was done.

 Race #2

But wait, there’s more.  The 6 / 26 team had brought both cars to the track, but the driver of the #6 car, Fred Hall, got caught up in a project at work and didn’t make it to the track.  So, Michael Prudnick, the driver of the #26 car, told me to jump in the #6 car and start the race in it so we could get the points for starting the race.  So, I started and ran in the back of the back for about 20 laps.  A couple of cars dropped out ahead of us, so we didn’t finish last…

 Not sure what we are going to do about the motor.  But we just may make it out this weekend.  Stay tuned.

Here are some pics from last Saturday:

Touch-a-Truck Car Show, Monroe

Big West Rules

Evergreen Speedway has nailed down the rules for the Big West series of races.  Here they are in a nutshell: The crate motor cars must weigh a minimum of 2750 pounds. Crate motor cars with the “Wenatchee” Pro Shocks can weigh a minimum of 2650 pounds.  Any car not running a crate motor must install a restrictor plate with 1 inch diameter holes under the carburetor, and weigh a minimum of 2850 pounds.  No cars can run bump stops on their shocks.

 The Big West is a 7 race, 4 event series that consist of 3 double-headers and ends with a 125 lap race during the Evergreen State Fair.  All races are on the 5/8’s mile track with the first double-header this Saturday.

Rules

Even though we didn’t get to race on May 14^th, the day was productive as the racers got a chance to talk with Doug Hobbs about the rules for the 4-race “Big West” series that begins on May 28^th and continues on June 25^th, July 30^th and ends on August 27^th.  The “Big West” races combine the Evergreen Speedway Super Late Model crate motor cars with the more powerful cars from other tracks in the Northwest and Canada, some of which ran in the now defunct NASCAR Northwest Series.

 Even though last Saturday’s race was not part of the “Big West” series, it did combine both classes of cars and would be used to iron out the rules going forward.  Unfortunately, many of the racers didn’t know the rules until the last minute, and were unhappy with them when they found out what they were.  The 2 biggest issues were the weight of the cars and the number of tire allowed for the race.  Specifically, the crate motor cars could reduce the weight of their cars from what they typically run on a Saturday night.  And, all cars were allowed 6 new tires for this race, with a break near half way to change 2 tires.  This gives the big motor cars a huge advantage as they will eat up their tires and be in desperate need of fresh ones had there been no break in the race.

 To Doug’s credit, he took total blame for the lack of communication between himself and the race teams.  He listened to many suggestions on Saturday night about how we can have a competitive and successful Big West series.  We will see what they come up with.

Rain Out

We raced the rain and lost.  What started as a beautiful day on Saturday, quickly turned wet just as we were lining up to qualify.  The rain never let up and the Coca-Cola 125 will have to be rescheduled later this summer.

 We were able to get out for 3 practice sessions in the afternoon before the weather turned.  This was the first time we ran this new car on the bigger 5/8’s mile track at Evergreen Speedway.  The car was good on old tires, with a push in the middle of the turns.  That will give us something to work on until the next race on May 28^th, which is twin 50 lap races on the 5/8’s track.

Schedule

Here is what the rest of the season looks like for the Super Late Models at Evergreen Speedway.

May 14^th – Coca-Cola 125 on the 5/8’s

May 28^th – Twin 50’s on the 5/8’s (Big West race #1)

June 4^th – Twin 50’s on the 5/8’s

June 25^th – Twin 50’s on the 5/8’s (Big West race #2)

July 10^th – 100 laps on the 5/8’s

July 30^th – Twin 50’s on the 5/8’s (Big West race #3)

August 13^th – Twin 50’s on the 3/8’s

August 27^th – 125 laps on the 5/8’s (Big West race #4)

September 3^rd – 5/8’s

September 10^th – 50 laps on the 3/8’s

September 24^th – 100 laps on the 3/8’s

Next Up

Next up for the Super Late Models at Evergreen Speedway is racing on the 5/8's mile track for the Coca-Cola 125 Super Late Model Shootout on May 14th.  For the first time in a long time at Evergreen Speedway, the create motor Super Late Models will be running against late model cars with the more powerful "compression" motors.  In honor of  Coca-Cola's 125th anniversary, we will run 125 laps on the big 5/8’s mile track with the more powerful cars from around the Northwest.  This should be an interesting race as the big motor cars are heavier and have more horsepower, but will abuse their tires more.  A break at lap 60 for fresh right-side tires will help them, but the 65 lap dash to the finish should be long enough for the create-motor cars to take advantage of their lighter weight to reel in the other cars as they use up their tires.  Racing starts at 6 p.m. with the Street Stock and the Hornets also racing Saturday night.