BRIGHTON, Ont. – July 27, 2016 – A busy weekend saw Phil Potts and the Fowl Mood Race Team travel to three different racetracks on three consecutive nights. Potts turned in two top-5 results and finished in the top-10 all three nights.
The weekend started with a weekly race at Brighton Speedway where Potts drove from the ninth starting spot to a challenge for the lead over the final five laps in the Brighton Recycling/Vanderlaan/Indewey Excavating No.29 Mustang. Steve Baldwin led the race, while Potts stole second from Brandon Mowat late in the 30-lap main event. On the final corner, Potts drove to the bottom of the track and nearly stole his fourth win of the season, but settled for second by just 0.227 seconds.
“I didn’t have the car for Baldwin up high. He was good and so was Brandon (Mowat) up high. I could run them down, but once you get there, what are you going to do? They’re both where you need to be,” Potts said of his checkered flag pursuit.
“When I dove to the bottom, I couldn’t believe it actually stayed there and would turn and take off again. I didn’t have enough forward drive out of turn four (on the last lap) to catch Steve, and I’m not sure with a couple of laps if I would have done it. He was good.”
The second-place finish was a strong points night for Potts, who finished ahead of both his closest challengers, Charlie Sandercock and Mowat. Potts claimed the point lead by 15 markers as a result.
“As long as I can keep doing that, that’s the goal. Keep finishing races, keep running well without getting caught up in any trouble. You have to be so focused,” Potts said of his point lead with two months remaining in the season.
Following the successful run at Brighton, the team travelled west to Humberstone Speedway for round five of the 2016 Go Nuclear Late Model Series tour. After a second-place time trial effort in his group and a heat race win, Potts pulled the dreaded nine pill in the redraw, the worst position available.
Unfazed, Potts raced as high as fourth on the track, but settled for seventh when the car faded over the final 10 laps. The late race falloff was the result of racing the team’s Rocket Chassis car instead of the usual Longhorn, Potts concluded.
“Playing with two cars and the fact we’ve played exclusively with the Longhorn for the last four or five weeks, we forgot about a different shock setup,” Potts said. “We put the normal setup in the shocks and it was good, but faded off. When we sat down after, we knew exactly what we did.”
Regardless, the finish was Potts’ 17th top-10 finish in 18 starts this season. With a renewed focus, Potts recharged for Monday’s Northern Crate Nationals at Ohsweken Speedway, his second career visit to the big 3/8-mile oval with the Go Nuclear tour. Potts raced his way to third following a long battle with Chris Fleming. After falling back one position, he was embroiled in a tough battle for fourth with Brandon Mowat over the final two laps and missed out on a fourth-place finish by inches.
“We went back to our original shock setup, we just chose the wrong tire. That’s why it was good at the beginning and faded off. Running with (Chris) Fleming and (Brandon) Mowat was so much fun. Three cars were running in the corner together, all sliding around, and nobody got in to each other,” Potts said of his 14th top-five run this season.
“We took a soft left rear because I expected more cautions, but there wasn’t. I abused the left-rear soft tire pretty hard and I was pedaling it with five to go pretty bad,” Potts added regarding his tire selection.
The two top-five results certainly made for a successful weekend as the team brought both cars home just as they rolled off the trailer.
“We went home a happy team. Two cars, three races and I don’t have to do anything beside the normal maintenance. We didn’t tear up a single body, didn’t flatten a single tire or cause an ounce of damage to any of the cars,” Potts explained.
After the busy tripleheader weekend, Potts and the Fowl Mood Race Team return to a single-race weekend with a return date to Brighton as the point leader.
“Everything’s pretty calm now until September. It gets hectic. September is going to be a busy, busy month,” Potts explained.
For more information on the Saturday, July 30 event at Brighton Speedway, visit www.brightonspeedway.ca.
SEASON STATS
Phil Potts – 18 Starts: 3 Wins, 14 Top-5s, 17 Top-10s
FOWL MOOD MEDIA
Website: www.fowlmoodracing.ca
Facebook: facebook.com/FowlMoodRaceTeam
Twitter: @FowlMoodRacing.
The Fowl Mood Race Team’s 2016 season is supported by several dedicated corporate sponsors, including Vanderlaan Building Products, Brighton Recycling, Indewey Excavating and Crow Design.
Prepared By Clayton Johns Media (@cjohnsmedia)
Photo Attachment: Phil Potts drives his No.29 off turn two at Humberstone Speedway. (Ken Kelly photo).
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