Open Wheel Modified Results:          Heat WINNER!!
   We started the evening with everything exactly the same as we ended with last week. We had only two laps the first practice session as they had scheduled the late model and modified sessions back to back.  We lost time on the track getting out of one car and in the other.  
   When we asked if they could adjust the practice schedule, track officials made changes and gave us extra time for the next session.  Our practice tires are getting too worn even for practice, making the car very loose, but we still managed a lap under track record in the second session.  
   The luck of the draw was with us and we got the pole position in the second heat.  With  race tires on and a small adjustment to the chassis, we took the green and led to the finish in the eight lap sprint. Winner's circle pictures will be coming soon.  There's not enough good things to say about the engine Dave Vaseleniuck builds! 
   In the feature, we started 16th in the 19 car field, still a result of the four week average rule.  By the tenth lap there were at least three cautions involving us.  The first resulted when the car behind booted us in the turn and we ended 98% in the infield in the second or third lap.  
   Unfortunately they didn't throw the caution. We didn't like sitting in that compromising position for another 17-18 laps.  There was still a lot of racing left.  We had to find our own space to get back on the track and when it came, the tires dug into the sand, slowing our return to asphalt.  We ended up just behind the leaders.  
   The next caution was several laps later, only this time we were the middle of a car sandwich.  Unfortunately the driver ahead of us took exception to our being forced into him. 
   The third caution resulted when he drove the car behind us into our car getting us sideways.   Then he tried to drive through us pushing our car up the back stretch and turning it completely around into oncoming traffic.  Rumor is that he received a fine before leaving the track. There is a lot of damage to the rear end and side of the modified, as one side of the car launched airborne during the wreck.  We haven't assessed the full extent yet, but we'll be buying replacement parts and getting things straightened for sure.   
   We finished 17th.   Maybe the madness of a double points night was a part of all the craziness?  From the top of the heap to the bottom in one night.....that's racing! 

Late Model Results:  
   The car is fighting us every step and this month was no exception.  We began working on the engine after the last race and were still working on it up until 2pm on race day.  We've been so focused on getting it running well we haven't been able to worry much about the set up. It handles OK, but could be better if we spent some time on it.  
   When we got on the track, we heard a miss in the engine that wasn't  noticeable in the shop. We tuned and tweaked all night, but didn't see much improvement.  But we were determined to do our best with what we had.
   We still managed to qualify 13th out of 16 cars, about a second behind the top qualifier.  However, after taking the green flag for the race, we decided to retired the car after a dozen laps as the miss seemed to be getting worse. We didn't want to take the chance of ruining the engine just for track time, since we knew we weren't competitive.
   We only have a couple weeks to work before the next late model race, but now we have to repair the modified.  That impacts how much time we spend on the late model, since we are dividing our time between two cars.  Officially we finished 15th of the16 cars there, so I guess we can at least say we weren't last.  It was quite a roller coaster ride at the races last night!
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