Spira Racing – Post Race Update #32 September 18, 2014 Sunset Speedway

Billy, Jake and Samantha arrived at Sunset Speedway for the Plowing Match Special that was a 50 lap invitational held on a rare Thursday night. A total of 53 cars from throughout the province had arrived at the track to qualify for the 28 starting positions for the event that had grown in size due to the promotional efforts of Spenser Lewis Promotions, who had brought on many sponsors that boosted the overall purse for the event.

All three cars were handling very well during the practice sessions as no changes were made in the shop since the previous Saturday night at the track. The format would consist of four, 10 lap heat races that would transfer the top four in each into the main event with the balance then going to a B and C-main event to qualify the 28 starting cars. The top cars in the C-main would join those that went directly to the B-main and then the top 12 out of the B-main would joint the top 16 heat qualifiers in the main event.

Jake was the only car from the Spira-Gunk team that started in the first heat race, where he started 11th and moved up to finish 6th, putting him into the B-main. Billy and Samantha were both in the second heat race, where Billy started 6th and Samantha 9th. At the half way point, Billy moved into the lead as Samantha moved into 4th where they would both run to the end and qualify for the main event. Jake lined up 9th for the 16 lap B-main event where he would have to finish in the top 12 to move onto the 50 lap feature. Jake moved up to 4th by the half way point and then ran side by side with the #37 on the final lap, edging by to take 3rd at the end of the race.

With all three cars qualified for the feature, Billy lined up in the pole position, Samantha 14th and Jake 19th. The #35 moved by Billy on the 1st lap to take over the lead up front as Samantha moved up to 10th and Jake 15th before the first caution on the 2nd lap for a car that spun on the track. Apparently, young Jake made contact with the car that spun, so he was sent to the back of the field for the restart with Billy 2nd and Sam 10th. On the 10th lap, the #35 had moved well ahead of the field as Billy continued in 2nd with the #89 on his bumper, Samantha in 8th and Jake started his move forward as he took over 23rd from his restart in 28th. The #64 moved by Billy, putting him 3rd just prior to the caution that came out on lap 21 for Samantha who slowed on the track with two flat rear tires. Sam was running three wide, got squeezed from both sides and the contact flattened both rear tires by popping them off their seal to the rims. Heading to the pits under caution, the crew removed both tires and sent Samantha on her way to rejoin the field as the last car on the lead lap in 17th. As the race continued with Billy still in 3rd and Jake in 18th, Samantha struggled with a very loose car that was extremely hard to control. As they approached the half way mark, the #64 slowed with unknown mechanical problems, temporarily moving Billy into 2nd, before the #89 moved by putting Billy back to 3rd within a lap. With 10 laps to go, the #35 continued up front as Billy ran on the bumper of the #89 in a battle for 2nd. Lapped traffic played a big roll in the final laps as Billy’s only chance of getting by the #89 was foiled by lapped cars that were running side by side for position. Billy would finish 3rd as Jake gained 13 positions throughout the race after being sent to the back to finish 15th and Sam finish behind him in 16th with a very loose handling race car.