Post Race Update May 24, 2014 – Sunset/Flamboro Speedways

Samantha, Jake and Billy headed north to Sunset Speedway where they had plenty of the newly printed hero cards from Jeff at Infinite Image of Guelph as well as various treats for the fans that would mingle with the drivers and their cars on the race track prior to the start of the evening’s main events, for the popular fan appreciation night as Scotty headed south to Flamboro Speedway.

Flamboro: Scotts #44 had a push in the centre of the corners during the two practice sessions that was corrected with adjustments to the sway bar and the left rear and by the time practice was over, the car was good entering the corner, still tight in the centre but was now loose on exit. A stagger adjustment was made before the heat race, where Scott started 3rd and despite the car getting loose as the race went on, he was still able to hold off the #37 and the #50 to finish 3rd,behind the #13 &#71.

After adding a spring rubber to the left rear, Scott lined up 3rd for the feature, where he was able to take over the lead on the first lap and held on until lap 10 but the car was getting very loose exiting the corners, which let the #13 & #71 pass on the bottom. Scott was running 3rd until lap 20, when the 50 car was able to get a run on the inside of his now ill handling car. Scott was sitting comfortably in 4th, and was able to ride out the last 5 laps of the race and all in all, it was a good day for Scott as he made gains throughout the day by adjusting the car and experiencing the results will certainly benefit him as the season progresses.

Sunset: Samantha and crew had their hands full throughout the practice sessions which included two spring changes and a sway bar adjustment, to rid the car of a loose condition that prevented her from getting on the throttle in the centre of the corners as Jake was dealing with a small push condition that was cured with air pressure adjustments and Billy was pretty happy with his car with no adjustments required.

Thirty five cars were in attendance to battle for just 28 starting positions in the 25 lap feature event and the field was broken down into four heat races to determine the starters. Billy was in the 2nd heat where he started forth and finished 1st with a very good handling car, Samantha and Jake were in the 3rd heat, where Sam started 6th and Jake 9th. Sam continued with the loose condition entering
the corner, however moved up to finish 2nd as Jake gained one position to finish 8th. Jake would go into the last chance race, where he started 6th and finished 3rd to get into the feature and both Sam and Billy were guaranteed a spot in the feature as they lined up for the dash for cash with Billy 2nd and Samantha 6th. Billy would take the win for his second of the night and Samantha finished 7th.

As the temperature dropped off considerably from a very warm day, the drivers from the dash for cash drew numbers for their starting positions and Samantha lined up to start 6th, followed by Jake in 7th and Billy in 9th. Several early cautions mixed up the order of the field and by lap 5, Billy was side by side with Samantha for 3rd as Jake fell back to 12th. Billy was on the move with a very good handling car and took over the lead on lap eight from the #35. A caution came out on lap ten with Billy still out front followed by the #35, who was his obvious competition for the win, Samantha was right with the leaders in 4th and Jake was 13th. On lap 15, the #35 put Billy back to 2nd and the two put on a side my side and nose to tail run through the remainder of the 25 lap feature.

With five laps remaining, Billy took the lead back and despite some contact through the final laps as the two front runners squeezed through lapped traffic, Billy kept his momentum and earned his first feature win of the season and third of the night. Samantha had a great run and finished a very strong 4th as Jake continued to gain valuable experience as the youngest driver at the track with an 11th place finish for the 12 year old.

Next up for the Spira Team will see Scott with a rare weekend off as Billy, Jake and Samantha enter their first double header weekend of the season. The first event starts at Sunset Speedway on Saturday May 31st where the pits open at 2:00 and racing begins at 6:00pm and then off to the larger 1⁄2 mile track at Kawartha Speedway the following day where the pits open at 9:00am, the main gates at 11:00am and racing begins at 2:30pm.