A Fresh Season, New Tires, and Lots of Rain.
Tuesday - April - 2023
Our season started at Port Royal Speedway on Sunday March 5th. It was a crisp, cool 50* day. But the sun was shining and that’s all that mattered. We started with an absolutely horrible pill draw. 55 out of 60, which lined us up dead last in heat 3. We passed a few cars to finish 7th but still had to run the B-Main. They were taking 6 and we finished comfortably in 3rd to transfer through. We were into the top 20 after starting 23rd, but I pulled into the infield as we started getting lapped. I simply wanted to make sure I was out of the leaders way. We were credited with a DNF in 21st.
The following month was filled with standard Pennsylvania March weather. It was cold, it was snowing, and when it was warmer, that snow turned into tons of rain. We didn’t hit the track again until April 1st.
The weather on April 1st was actually pretty bad. It rained in the morning, and it was going to rain around race time too. Not just is the rain a factor, but there were some extremely strong winds coming into the area as well and we didn’t want to be travelling when they hit. Port Royal Speedway moved the start time up to 1pm. These daytime shows usually lead to rubber down racetracks, so we expected that as we got to the track. I made the feature redraw by finishing 3rd in the heat race, then started on the pole and finished 7th in the main event. One of our best Port Royal runs in recent years.
The weekend of April 7th-8th finally provided us with a solid weather outlook. We attended a practice session at Lernerville Speedway on April 7th to help dial in these new rear tires. Then went to Port Royal again for a regular $5000 to win show. I made a horrible setup mistake in the heat race which dropped us from 5th to 7th. I was required to run the B-Main and we transferred out of there with the final spot. We lined up dead last, 24th, in the A-Main field and went on a charge. We were passing cars left and right, trying to stay in front of the leaders. We got to 17th, got lapped by the leaders and settled for 18th. This run gave us all a boost of confidence to know we made the car better by feature time and that we could finally pass racecars on a real slick track.
By now, the weekend of April 14th-15th has already cancelled due to weather, and we are preparing to start our Lernerville regular season this next upcoming Friday, April 21st. I’m excited to get back into the swing of things here in Western PA. I enjoy racing at these tracks and representing in front of our hometown sponsors!
Thank you Ferguson Heating and AC, Fence by Maintenance Service, Chernega Construction, Red Robin Gourmet Burgers, Johnny Carpet, JD Byrider Monroeville, Stanford’s Glass Service, Townsend Gas and Oil, MAHLE Pistons, Deep Well Services, Worthington Industries, Showtime Designs, Rheem, Advance Auto Parts, DMI Racing, Fluid Film, Smith Titanium, Bell Racing, Alpinestars, INDY Race Parts, TBM Brakes, BMRS Hoses, Kinser Air Filters, KING Racing Products, Dr. Neff Eye Care Center, “FAST” Andy Cygan, and the rest of my marketing partners for the continued support!
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