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Photos BIO Mercer Raceway Park Sharon Speedway Tri-City Speedway Lernerville Raceway Oyler Photography C. Stivason Photography |
I spent the hot laps at the back of the pack, wondering if there was something wrong with the car, or if I'd really been away from the driving THAT long that I could no longer control my car. The car continued to pull to the outside of the track on every bend, and I felt like I was dragging a boat anchor behind me the entire set of laps. In the pits between the hot laps and the feature, we tore apart the wheels to find out what was slowing me down. We forgot the spacer when we put the wheels back together, and that was causing the drag. With the car reassembled properly, I started at the back of the pack for the feature, since I finished at the back during the heat race. I was able to make my way toward the front, when on lap 13, the caution came out and I heard the wrist pin in my engine crack. I limped the car around til the green came back out, but only made it another lap and a half- on the final fifteenth lap, a loud boom could be heard, immediately followed by heavy white smoke. I guess that's what happens when a connecting rod gets crunched inside the cylinder, huh? I coasted across the finish line in fourth place, with Jerry Batcher at my donkey. The best part of the day, though, happened on the way home. We pulled into a gas station close to home, and a good five minutes after Luke and Barry went into the gas station for something to drink, a cop knocked on my window. At 1:30am, he was bored and looking for someone to harrass, and he picked us. He said we had about four different violations; one of which was the blown dually tire that had just happened, and our stop at the gas station was as much to assess the damage as it was to quench our thirst. This local-yocal called for a DOT officer at 2am, (trust me, he was noticeably tickled to be called out in the middle of the night) who walked around our truck with the two race cars attached and said we were not going to need to be towed, and at best, we needed charged for a blown tire and burned out brake light in our towing light assembly. The local continued to attempt an argument, even after the DOT cop left, and seemed annoyed when I finally said, "Look, I'm not going to argue with you. Write the tickets you want to write and let me go. I'm getting tired." He even tried to write me a ticket for being tired, after that comment! We got away with a few fines and two less hours of sleep after his interaction with us. Put a bagde on the chest of some people,and they just can't handle the power. I'll have to keep you posted on the outcome of our unwarranted fines, which of course, we will fight. Meantime - looking forward to April 7 with a new motor. |
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