And on the last day, it Rained

Dino Rossi for Governor Big Track Night Canceled

Sep 20, 2008, 13:01 For Immediate Release Evergreen Speedway – Fairgrounds Monroe Saturday 1:00pm The Dino Rossi for Governor Big Track Championship race night has been canceled due to inclement weather conditions.  The NASCAR Whelen All American Series Speedway Chevrolet Super Stock Championship race will be rescheduled for Saturday September 27th.   It will join the rest of the NASCAR Whelen All American Series classes on their respective championship races that evening which is fan appreciation night.  They will still compete on the .646 mile oval; however the event has now been scheduled for 75 laps.  Please visit www.evergreenspeedway.com as more information about this event is posted this coming week.  The September 27th Championship night is sure to be the most exciting event of the 2008 season and all classes with the exception of the Speedway Chevrolet Super Stocks will run rain or shine. The ASA Aero Exhaust Northwest Tour race will not be rescheduled.  A press release will be forthcoming with more detailed information from ASA officials.

Last race of the year this weekend!

Just wanted to put out a short blurb to remind you all that tomorrow is the last race of the season for us at Evergreen Speedway for 2008.

Come on out and watch 250 laps of late model racing with ourselves and the ASA NW Tour.

 

Schedule of Events (Tentative)

Saturday September 20th, 2008

Evergreen Speedway – Fairgrounds Monroe

“Dino Rossi for Governor NW Big Track Championship Night”

 

 

 

Back Gates Open                                              Noon

 

ASA Practice                                                       2:30-3:00

Super Stock Practice                                            3:05-3:35

ASA Practice                                                       3:40-4:10

Super Stock Practice                                            4:15-4:45

 

 

* Mandatory        Drivers Meeting                         5:00

 

 

Front Gates Open                                             5:00

 

 

Qualifying (ASA, SS)                                           5:20

 

Autograph Session (Tables by Victory Stage)       6:20

 

Opening Ceremonies                                            6:55

 

Grid Super Stocks                                               7:05

Green Flag                                                           7:15

 

K-9 Demonstration                                               8:30

 

Grid ASA Tour                                                    8:40

Green Flag                                                           8:50

 

Copyright © 2006 Evergreen Speedway, All Rights Reserved, 

See you there!

It's so Satisfying!

This is the slogan of Snickers... it also explains this weekend for us...

As you know, the car got wrecked pretty good two weeks ago. Scott and I spent many late hours working to get the hot rod put back together. In fact, we were still finishing things up Saturday morning right up until we loaded the car into the trailer.

During practice, the car was Ok, but certainly not what we considered "fast." Adjustments were made, pizza was eaten and many cigarettes were smoked trying to figure out what to do. Finally, we came to a decision and went with the "Go big or go home" theory. Lap 1 of Qualifying Scott almost put it in the wall due to this, but the second lap he knew what the car was going to do and bettered our best Q lap of the year on the 5/8's by 6/10ths of a second.

We were pretty happy until the 00 went out and ran a lap that left all of our jaws hanging. Man, Naima and his crew sure do have the big track figured out... I should go get one of those spy cameras and get some speed secrets from them!

We ended up starting 15th out of 18 cars. Not horrible considering that we started the previous big track races last. The car was allright, but we got lapped around lap 30 or so, which isnt too odd considering that the entire field was lapped on the last race we had on this track. Around lap 65, there was a wreck and caution which bunched the field back up. A few laps after the restart, we started moving forward... quickly. Scott simply said that it felt like he was driving a different car after that caution. He was putting it wherever he felt like it, passing with relative ease and driving away, catching the next car in line and making another pass.

The car was still tight in, loose off, but it sure didnt look it as Scott battled for positions, moving forward most of the time! The track cut the race short by 10 laps, which we didnt like as we felt we could have moved up another position in those laps. In the end, we finished 7th, 1 lap down. 5 cars finished on the lead lap and we were on the back bumper of the 6th place car at the checkered flag.

I got back down the the pits and it was a very happy place. We really felt that had we been able to stay on the lead lap early, we could have been right there battling for the top 5. It really made all that work we put in worth it to perform as well as we did. Another thing we were happy about is that every change we made to the car, we made ourselves, without asking for help from anyone. This is a big step for our young Late Model team. We know that we have a long ways to go as far as knowledge, but it sure felt good to make decisions about the car and have them actually work!

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank Fred Hall at Speedway Performance for his help over the break in straightening out the frame, Kelly and Karen Mann for helping us out with a lightly used spindle and Rob Touchette for the offer of any parts we might have needed. You all are the best!

Also, we want to give a shout out to Chris Preston #28. Scott and Chris battled away for what seemed like half the race, trading spots and racing hard, never once so much as trading a gram of paint. As tough as it is to be the spotter and never really getting to watch the races, I really enjoyed the show that Chris and Scott put on. Thanks for the great race Chris!

Well, this is it... the last race of the season is this Saturday. The Northwest Big Track championship night with ourselves and the ASA NW Tour on the 5/8's mile oval. Come on out and catch some great racing action as there will certainly be some fireworks as the track championship is coming right down the wire with the 00 of Naima Lang holding a slim 6 point lead over current Champ John Zaretzke in the 51 car.

Also, Team LaCross would like to say congratulations to the 00 Lang Autosports team for winning the NASCAR Washington State Championship last weekend. Way to go guys... you worked hard all year and it paid off big time!

The Highs and Lows

 

Well, what can I say... it was a very unusual day Saturday...

The Highs - We were FAST!  We didn't get a qualifying time due to one of the lows listed below and had to start at the back of the 18 car field in both 50 lap races, but it didn't matter... we really hit the set up at long last and LaCrash drove it like he stole it!

Race 1 - After spending several laps trying to get around a car that is normally very fast, but had a new driver in it, we finally got by and took off towards the front. By the end of the race, we had caught up to the battle being waged for positions 4-8 and ended up finishing 8th. Not too bad all things considered.

Race 2 - Yup, you guessed it, we started at the back again. The results were far different this time however, as by lap 20 we had climbed up to 6th and were looking for more. Unfortunately, we had a bad restart after a caution on lap 21 and slipped back to 8th. Scott settled in and we knew we would move back forward until lap 23... (continued below)

The Lows - Bad luck, bad parts...

Pre-race - Well, to say the day was a mechanical struggle would be playing it down a little. As soon as we unloaded from the trailer we started having clutch problems. the throwout bearing had come apart and as soon as Scott stepped on the clutch, it spewed fluid everywhere. To make a long story short, I had the tranny in and out of the car 3 times, trying different repairs to no avail. That's when JZ came over and told us, "just disconnect it and run without it!" Which we did and boy am I glad about it! We did miss our qualifying window though, which kind of stunk. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank the good folks at Jerico for building one heck of a transmission. Gotta love those guys!

Race 2 continued - So on Lap 23, the 11 and 2 car had been beating and banging on each other for a couple of laps when finally the straw broke. From what I could tell, the 11 was trying to pass the 2 coming out of turn 4 and got way loose, sliding up into the 2 and sending him spinning towards the infield. This was a great opportunity to pickup a few spots and since the top side of the track was wide open, we gunned it out of 4 and went wide.

Have you ever seen Days of Thunder? Remember the scene where Cole goes high to avoid the wreck at Daytona and suddenly there is a car directly in front of him? Bingo... Just as Scott was passing the start/finish line at full throttle, the 11 decided to hit the 2 again (I'm not sure what the heck he was thinking at that point) and spun him back up the track, directly in front of us. There was nowhere for Scott to go but into the 2 car then into the wall... hard. The 11 continued for a while longer before wrecking himself out, but ourselves and the 2 car were done for the night, basically due to someone else's wreckless driving style.

As you can see by the pictures, not a pretty site. This is what happens when guys try to race beyond either their own capabilities or the capabilities of their equipment.... They not only wreck themselves, but wreck other cars that had nothing to do with it. One simple thing could have kept this from happening... Patience. Patience is something that some drivers are sorely lacking these days. They see guys like Kyle Busch on TV pushing and shoving their way to the front and figure that they should drive like that too. Wait 1 more lap to make the pass, put yourself in position to do it cleanly and we all finish the night with smiles on our faces and everyones car in one piece. 

Well I have news for you... Busch has dozens of cars and millions of dollars behind him to fix what he wrecks... perhaps you have the budget to go out and wreck your own car (actually, it wasn't even your own car... it was a rental deal... I'm sure the owner enjoyed seeing the mess you brought back to him on Sunday), but I don't have the budget to fix what you destroy on mine.

I digress... We have great friends and teammates that are already stepping up to the plate to help us get the Old Hot Rod cobbled back together... Hopefully the parts bill wont be too much, the frame damage minimal and the hours to fix it efficient.

Next race: Saturday, September 13th "Washington State Championship Night" on the big 5/8's oval with the ASA.NSRA Sprint cars...