World Series Recap
After receiving good news regarding the power plant on the #81 car, the team was optimistic heading into their 12th World Series of Speedway Racing. Here's how they both fared:
#4 Mini- Brent and the team did a lot of sitting around on Friday due to the weather, however they did draw 10th, which for the amount of cars entered, was a good draw. Saturday was more of the same as Brent went out for a few practices, felt the car was ok and parked it until heat races were announced. The Mini's did not get heats, so the #4 was to sit idle for close to 5 hours before the feature. Since nobody drew higher than 8th, Brent would start 3rd. He quickly chased the 50 into 2nd, but as soon as the tires started to heat up, it started to lose grip, and Brent began backsliding. He leveled out in 5th place, which was a good finish for how bad the car gave up by the end of the race. In the end, Brent drove the car into the trailer in one piece and the off-season prep will be made much easier.
#81 Sportsman- During the week off, the team pulled the engine to see what went wrong on the last Thursday night race. What they found was relieving, the transmission suffered a catastrophic failure, showering parts into the clutch assembly. One of the pieces was flung out of the bellhousing into the engine oil filter, causing a puncture. They changed the transmission and loaded the car back up. Jesse drew 4th on the rainy friday, a good draw and an opportunity to finally break the World Series drought. The Sportsman division had enough cars to necessitate heat races, and with the draw, Jesse started from the pole in the second heat. Jesse had a stout car and ran away to the heat win, putting him 2nd on the starting grid. In the caution-plagued feature, Jesse eventually would take the lead for much of the first half of the race. While battling for the lead, he would make contact with the wall, which hurt the front end. Towards the end of the race, the handles began to fade from the damage and he slid back to 3rd when it was all said and done. The team really wanted to end that drought, but they know that they have a fast car and they have some changes coming for next season.
#4 Mini- Brent and the team did a lot of sitting around on Friday due to the weather, however they did draw 10th, which for the amount of cars entered, was a good draw. Saturday was more of the same as Brent went out for a few practices, felt the car was ok and parked it until heat races were announced. The Mini's did not get heats, so the #4 was to sit idle for close to 5 hours before the feature. Since nobody drew higher than 8th, Brent would start 3rd. He quickly chased the 50 into 2nd, but as soon as the tires started to heat up, it started to lose grip, and Brent began backsliding. He leveled out in 5th place, which was a good finish for how bad the car gave up by the end of the race. In the end, Brent drove the car into the trailer in one piece and the off-season prep will be made much easier.
#81 Sportsman- During the week off, the team pulled the engine to see what went wrong on the last Thursday night race. What they found was relieving, the transmission suffered a catastrophic failure, showering parts into the clutch assembly. One of the pieces was flung out of the bellhousing into the engine oil filter, causing a puncture. They changed the transmission and loaded the car back up. Jesse drew 4th on the rainy friday, a good draw and an opportunity to finally break the World Series drought. The Sportsman division had enough cars to necessitate heat races, and with the draw, Jesse started from the pole in the second heat. Jesse had a stout car and ran away to the heat win, putting him 2nd on the starting grid. In the caution-plagued feature, Jesse eventually would take the lead for much of the first half of the race. While battling for the lead, he would make contact with the wall, which hurt the front end. Towards the end of the race, the handles began to fade from the damage and he slid back to 3rd when it was all said and done. The team really wanted to end that drought, but they know that they have a fast car and they have some changes coming for next season.
10/6 Recap
After a lengthy delay due to persistent rains (only on Thursdays, it seems) the team finally got a chance to finish out the season.
#4 Mini- Brent had a chance to move from 9th to 5th in points by the end of the night, but he wasn't concerned with his points. The focus was on driving a clean race and keeping himself in a good position. That paid off in the heat race as Brent started outside of a high qualifying spot and calmly made his way into 4th. He rode out the rest of the heat and started 4th in the feature. From the start, Brent pushed the #46 into contention for the lead for the first few laps. Through the rest of the feature, the handles started falling off on both cars and they started backsliding. Brent and the #16 made contact late in the race and Brent managed to hang on, but the damage was already done. Brent brought the car home in 8th, and managed to pick up a points position to 8th in the final rundown. All in all it was a good season, and something to build off for next year.
#81 Sportsman- Jesse and the #81 haven't made a lot of appearances this season, but when they have, it's been good every time it's hit the track. Before the practices started, 2011 Champion Moose Douton took the #81 to victory lane for his Championship pictures to show his appreciation for the use of the car when he won the extra distance 40-lap race earlier this year. Jesse started 9th in his heat and had to work hard to make it into an HQ spot. He got there, and was rewarded with a 9th place starting spot in feature. Jesse got back to work again and started picking off spots, but coming out of turn two early in the race the engine let go in spectacular fashion. It hasn't been a good past couple of seasons for motors with the #81, and to run a partial season and still have a motor let go is disheartening. However, it doesn't mean it's the end for the #81, it's going to be a long offseason, so we'll see what happens from now until the 2012 season.
#4 Mini- Brent had a chance to move from 9th to 5th in points by the end of the night, but he wasn't concerned with his points. The focus was on driving a clean race and keeping himself in a good position. That paid off in the heat race as Brent started outside of a high qualifying spot and calmly made his way into 4th. He rode out the rest of the heat and started 4th in the feature. From the start, Brent pushed the #46 into contention for the lead for the first few laps. Through the rest of the feature, the handles started falling off on both cars and they started backsliding. Brent and the #16 made contact late in the race and Brent managed to hang on, but the damage was already done. Brent brought the car home in 8th, and managed to pick up a points position to 8th in the final rundown. All in all it was a good season, and something to build off for next year.
#81 Sportsman- Jesse and the #81 haven't made a lot of appearances this season, but when they have, it's been good every time it's hit the track. Before the practices started, 2011 Champion Moose Douton took the #81 to victory lane for his Championship pictures to show his appreciation for the use of the car when he won the extra distance 40-lap race earlier this year. Jesse started 9th in his heat and had to work hard to make it into an HQ spot. He got there, and was rewarded with a 9th place starting spot in feature. Jesse got back to work again and started picking off spots, but coming out of turn two early in the race the engine let go in spectacular fashion. It hasn't been a good past couple of seasons for motors with the #81, and to run a partial season and still have a motor let go is disheartening. However, it doesn't mean it's the end for the #81, it's going to be a long offseason, so we'll see what happens from now until the 2012 season.
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