April 13th-The first night didn't go so well. I ran three practice laps, two qualifying and started in the back (by choice) to take the greenflag and come into the pits. The new motor would not work. It was misfiring, no power, running hot, you name it. As of Monday, we have found that the new distributor was missing the ground wire. (someone at the factory forgot to install the $1.45 piece that cost me $54 for a new coil) We will be pursuing that issue with the manufacturer.
April 21th-Finally made a night out in racing. Qualified 24th out of 44 with a 23.430. Took 5th in the fast qualifying heat race and 10th in the B Feature out of 24. Not enough to make the A. We haven't quite got the car handling and I'm having some trouble with this manual steering box we have.
April 27th-We had the night off due to rain, sleet and yes, snow.
May 4th-Qualified 25th out of 45 with 23.509. Had some trouble in the heat race with a battery that was not charged up enought to race, so had to pull off in the pits. Started pole in the 26 car field of the semi-feature and finished a respectable 6th, with no problems handling or otherwise. It was good to finally run a race with no beginning-of-the-year bugs.
May 11th-Another night off due to rain and did I mention that it was only about 45 degrees out too?
May 18th-Qualified 26th out of 45 with a 23.438. Was involved in a yellow in the heat and sent to the back. Lead the semi feature for 2 1/2 laps until I ended up out of the groove and had to settle for 6th again.
May 25th-We tried a gear change and ended up qualifying 31st out of 46 with a 23.686. We went backwards. The heat race saw me finsh a dissapointing 9th, so we changed gears again for the B feature. Started 12th and finished 11th. Pretty disheartening night.
June 1th-Started out the night with a brand new defective waterpump and a leak in the powersteering pressure hose that wasn't discovered until qualifying. I qualified 38th out of 50 with a very slow 23.9. After changing the waterpump and fixing the powersteering, I went out and won my heat race. This is my first win on asphalt. The C feature was a DNF as the bearing on the right rear axel had slid up allowing the axle to slip out of the minispool and I had no locked rearend anymore. It was bittersweet night for me.
June 8thAnother night of frustration. Qualified 29 with a 23.6. I didn't finish the heat race because the power steering pump developed a leak again. We need new fittings. We took it all off and I drove the B feature without a powersteering pump. I finished 11th. It's been 3 weeks of frusteration. Hopefully, next week will get us back on track with a few changes and repairs.
June 15thAnother night of frustration. Qualified 34 with 23.838 out of 47. We totally missed the set-up for qualifying. Finshed 8th in the heat & discovered another broken water pump. We found another and changed it. I finished 12th in the B. Frustration still continues and it's hard to stay up-beat. We are trying a few more changes to try get the car to use the horsepower that is there and changing some things to try and stop the waterpump problems.
June 22thNo qualifying this week, so we started by points. Not good news for me. But, the chassis work we did over the week really "freed" the car up. It's the best it felt for 5 weeks. Finished 8th in the heat and 11th in B, though I spent the race in 9th and tried a last minute attempt to pass that lost me two spots. Oh well, maybe it will work next time.
June 29thQualified 31st with a 23.832. Broke again in the heat race. Power steering fittings, again!! Started 11th and finished a strong 8th in the B.
July 6thQualified 32nd with a 23.930 out of 40. Backwards again. Finished the heat in 6th. Started 13th and finished 11th in the B. Right rear brake cylinder developed a leak. It's becoming a very long season.
July 13thQualified 36th with a 23.807 out of 46. Ran 3 races tonight with a 10th, 3rd and 16th. We are very stuck as to why we have gone backwards for the last 6 weeks.
July 20thQualified 35TH with a 23.924 out of 44. Motor started to miss and vapor lock during the qualifiying and the heat race. It was the B feature by the time it was figured out. We have to more things to try yet that should take care of our suddenly going so slow. If not, I'm taking up lawn mower racing.
July 27thQualified 34TH with a 23.902 out of 42. Started 8th and took 5th in the heat and 5th in the C-feature.
Aug 3thQualified 30TH with a 23.663 out of 46. Changed springs this week and finally we are starting to get back up to speed. Finished 8th in the heat race and was running a good B-feature until I got caught up in a frot stretch mellee off of a restart and ended the night with a DNF.
Aug 10thDidn't qualify because the tow vehicle broke down on the way there and we didn't make it until just in time for the C-feature. Started 15th and finished 8th.
Aug 17thQualified 32nd with a 23.662 out of 47. I took 9th in heat and 15th in the B-feature. Getting back to closer to what we were but still don't have the right combination
Aug 24thQualified 37TH with a 23.802 out of 48. We were running late and had some car problems so I didn't get any practice for set-up for qualifying and that didn't go so well. I had put in a different cam and heads over the week in search of new motor combination, so we really aren't sure about how it is going to totally work for us. Started 11th in heat and made it to 7th and was working on 6th until we got a yellow and I ended up 8th. I was spun out with 3 lpas left in the C-feature.
