This Saturday was my third Late Model Race and my first race at Watermelon Capital Speedway in the Late Model. We made a few changes to the car back at the shop and I headed down to Cordele with good confidence. When practice started I knew I wasn’t very good at all but I wasn’t too frustrated about it because I was trying to get to know the track. As practice went on we kept making changes to the car trying to get it more comfortable and driveable for me and we did do that. When qualifying rolled around my confidence was coming back because of how the car felt at the end of practice; even though the times weren’t very good at all. But I went out to qualify and picked up three or four tenths from where I practiced but that only placed me ninth in the lineup.
Once the race started I felt like the car was going to be good all night. It was pretty snug everywhere and I knew it would come to me as the night went on. Being as tight as I was there at the beginning with lower tire pressures it took my car about 5 laps to really come in. I started the race ninth and quickly got up to seventh and floated around there at about the halfway mark of the race. Then with about 20 laps to go I dropped my right rear tire off the track entering turn three and I went for a little spin. No harm, no fowl. I restarted back in the back and before I got to turn three of the first lap I was back to seventh. With about 15 laps left in the race we started having caution after caution. I stayed out of the trouble and found myself sitting in third place on the final restart. We took the green and getting down into turn one the car just wouldn’t turn. I lost two positions in the next lap and brought the car home to a solid 5th place finish. It wasn’t until I got into the pits that we found out I had a flat left front tire and it had been going down for about 15 laps. The car was bottoming out there at the end of the race so I knew something wasn’t right but it wasn’t so bad that the car wouldn’t handle so I wanted to stay out and finish in the top five. I have to thank the guys that helped me out down there: Uncle Bill, Ricky Turner, Jim Barfield, Allen Nolan, Carlos Gann, and Jeff Hanie. Also thanks to all of our contigency sponsors: Howe, Bosch, XRP, Circle Wheels, Mobile 1, Quarter Master, AFCO, Penske Shocks, Lincoln Electric, Racing Electronics, WIX Filters, The Decal Source, SWIFT Springs, Seymour Paints, VP Racing Fuels, Alpha Canvas Covers, Mechanix Wear, Butler Built Seats, Schroth Seatbelts, and Bell Helmets.
This Saturday was my first Pro Late Model race at Lanier National Speedway. It was a 60 lap local show that we ran to get my feet wet around other cars and being in a racing environment. We only got one 10 lap round of practice so it didn’t give us any time at all to make any changes on the car and try them. I was pretty tight there in that practice so when we came in we changed the left rear spring. Next up was qualifing and being my beginners luck I drew a 16 which had me the first car out to qualify. It was my first time qualifying in one of these cars so I wasn’t real sure what to expect but I felt like I layed down a respectable time of 14.21 seconds. When qualifying was all said and done I ended up third out of 12 cars. I fell from third to 5th on the start because I didn’t get a very good jump at the green but I held fifth and stayed right with the leaders. One of the top five cars started to fade and I picked that position up which put me to fourth before the caution came out. At the start of the race I had a little radio trouble and couldn’t hear anyone, including my spotter. After the first caution came out I got to fooling with the radio trying to fix it and it felt like I may have bumped the channel switch while trying to set the volume. But I got it fixed and could hear fine from then on. On that first restart I missed my shift from 2nd to 3rd gear and stacked everyone up behind me and cause a two car wreck. I got lucky I didn’t get caught up in it myself but I have to appologize to those guys for tearing up their cars. The race was red flagged for a little bit because they couldn’t get the two cars pulled apart but once they did it was back to green flag racing. On this restart I missed the shift again but got it back into gear fairly quick so I didn’t cause another accident. I slipped back to fifth because of the missed shift but quickly picked back up to fourth where I stayed for the rest of the race. I ran down the first 3 cars but once I got to the back of the third place car I was just too loose up off the corner to do anything with him. So I brought the car home in one piece to a fourth place finish. I’m proud of where I ended up but not so much how I ran because of my restarts. I have to thank everyone for coming up there and helping me and supporting: Uncle Bill, Jim, Jeffrey, Chase, my dad, and Casey. I also have to thank all of our contingency sponsors: AFCO, Alpha car covers, ARP bodies, Bowman bolts, Bosch, ButlerBuilt seats, Circle wheels, Gary Hess Designs, Howe, Lincoln Electric, Mechanix Wear, Mobile 1, Penske shocks, Quarter Master, Racing Electronics, Schroth Racing belts, Seymour paints, Swift springs, The Decal Source, VP Racing fuels, WIX filters, and Xtreme Racing Products.
Today was my first time in my Crate Late Model racecar and my first time in any racecar since January 31st. I have been hunting a Late Model car since Februaury and finally got one about a month ago. Since then I’ve been working to get it running so I could go test it and see how I fared in a full size car. We got to the track and unloaded and with the help from the guys at the shop we tuned her in to running some pretty good lap times. My first time out I was just trying to get used to the correct racing line and the feel of the car in general. My first time out on the track I guess I got a little too comfortable a little too quick and lost the back end of the car coming off of turn 4 at Lanier National Speedway and spun the thing out. I never touched or came close to the wall so I drove it back into the pits so the guys could look at it.
When I got back to the pits Jim told me to hop out and have Casey or Chase take me around the track to show me the line. Once I figured that out we came back to the car to find out that the rear end was leaking out of the overflow vent and it was getting all over the right rear tire which was probably part of the cause of me spinning the car out. The guys fixed the leak and I went back out to turn some more laps and after seeing the line I was slowly getting more and more comfortable in the seat. I was on a set of tires that had 100 laps on them just to get used to everything and when I got going I was running consistent 14.40’s and 50’s. After making a few adjustments on the car and figuring out what was comfortable to me we filled her up with gas and put a newer set of tires on it to see how I would run. Those newer tires made a big difference and I ran a handful of 14.20’s and a lot of 30’s. My first time in my Late Model car went pretty darn good and I cannot wait until my first race. I have to that all the guys at the shop for helping me on my car and getting that thing running: Uncle Bill, Aunt Cindy, Jim Barfield, Ricky Turner, Terry Roberts, Phil Seabolt, Jeffrey Lovell, Chase Elliott, and Casey Roderick. They were all a huge help and I couldn’t have done it without them. I’ve also got to thank all of our contingency sponsors for helping us out: Bell Helmets, Schroth Belts, ButlerBuilt Seats, Mechanix Wear, Oakley, Sherwin Williams, Lincoln Electric, Penske, Racing Electronics, Howe, Quarter Master, AFCO, Mobile 1, Circle Wheels, XRP, Bosch, Bowman, WIX Filters, The Decal Source, SWIFT Springs, Seymour, Alpha Car Covers, and VP Racing.
Saturday afternoon’s race was race 6 of the Legends Winter Series, and it was our final road course race of the season. I had a new set of tires cut and ready to go and was looking forward to a good run in the 91 machine, but I had a little trouble very early. We had just started qualifying and I had run about 5 laps until a caution came out and slowed us down. My car had been a little free everywhere on the track and I knew it was just because my tires hadn’t come in quite yet so I wasn’t goin 100% just yet. Right when we went back to the green flag in qualifying I had a good run through the S’s and down the backstretch. It was the next corner that was going to bite me. I had been loose through here especially since I started running and this time around it got me. I made my entry just fine but as soon as I hit the apex of the corner the back end started to come around. It was more of a skating towards the wall rather than just loosing the rear of the car so I stood in the gas and backsteered trying to keep it going straight. As soon as I turned back and got in the throttle the car caught and snapped on me back into the wall. It killed the right front and my day was over from there on. I was so upset because I had an awesome car; I could feel it. But lack of driving ability kept me out of the final road course race and I was not happy. Even though I only made a few laps in qualifying I still set the 6th fastest time but had to give it up because the car was just too badly damaged. But we’ll come back and get ‘em next weekend at Lanier where I have a great car. I have to thank my sponsors: Bill Elliott Driver Development, the Dawsonville Pool Room, VP Racing Fuels, Racing Electronics, Oakley, and Bell Helmets.
Our fifth race of the Winter Series was held at Lanier National Speedway where once again weather threatened the weekend, but we managed to get through it with a two-day-show. We unloaded for practice and I was feeling good about the car other than a little transmission issue I thought the car was having. But practice went great. I ran faster than I ever had at Lanier and turned some 15.70s and 15.80s. The next practice the car changed a little due to the track conditions but I didn’t mess with the car. I started my heat race in fourth but had a slower car starting in front of me. Well for the first two laps of the race I was stuck on the outside behind this guy and I pushed him for a solid two laps before finally getting a break and passing him. At this time I had fallen to fifth place and I was on the march back to the front. I was not being patient with anyone and when I got to the third place car I shoved him off into the corner a couple of times. The second time I got him a little loose and sent him up the track and drove under him. The first two cars were too far ahead to get to but I ran them down a significant amount and I knew I had an awesome car.
The main race got postponed until Sunday so we had to come back and start fresh. I started my main race in sixth position and I couldn’t get down on the start. I got shuffled a long way back and once I finally got to the bottom the caution came out. So I restarted on the bottom and on the restart there was a huge accident up front but I got through the carnage and found myself sitting in ninth place. That was where I restarted the race and I drove like a mad man trying to get back up front. I seemed to drive right by everyone until I got to fourth place because from there it was a chase to the front three. I did everything I could to catch those guys but they had too much distance on me to make a race out of it. I just about caught them coming to the checkered but I had to settle for fourth overall and third in the Pro divison. I have to thank everyone for helping out this weekend and my sponsors: the Bill Elliott Driver Development team, the Dawsonville Pool Room, VP Racing Fuels, Racing Electronics, Oakley, and Bell Helmets.
The fourth race of the Georgia Winter Series was held at Watermelon Capital Speedway in Cordele, GA on Saturday. I started out the day with a good car in practice and I knew it would only get better as the tires came in more and more. However I messed up by not going to draw in time for the heat races so I was playing catch up the whole afternoon. I had to start 7th in the second heat race and and got up to fourth before the checkered flag. In the main race I started 8th and on the start, before getting into turn one, I got to the bottom of the track. By lap 3 I was in sixth place and there I got stuck for a few laps behind one of my competitors. After racing with him for about 6 laps I cleared him and started driving away. I had a fast car and I knew it, however it took me too long to get around the other competitors. To add on top of that we had a caution free race which didn’t help me in catching the top four cars, which were a straightaway in front of me once I cleared the fifth place car. As the race went on I was catching the top four cars but ran out of laps. I had a fast car but my mistake at the beginning of the day by not drawing caused me to play catch up in every race. I firmly believe if I had drawn and gotten a decent starting position then I could have been up front contending with those guys but my I messed up. I have to thank everyone for helping out this weekend. Also I have to thank my sponsors: the Dawsonville Pool Room, VP Racing Fuels, Racing Electronics, Bell Helmets, Oakley, and the Bill Elliott Driver Development team.
This Saturday was our third race of the Georgia Winter Series and our first road race of the year. I absolutely love the road races because it’s something different and you have to be very consistent to be fast at them. I ran well last season on the road course so I felt very confident going into the first of three road races. We showed up at the track and got the cars unloaded for practice/qualifying. We had 45 minutes to set our fastest time to see where we would line up in our qualifying races. When I got on the track it took me about a lap or two to get back into the swing of things on turning left and right and up-shifting and down-shifting, but once I got back used to it I was hammer down. After qualifying was all said and done I wound up third on the speed charts. That qualifying effort secured me in the A-main race which ended up being a VERY good thing. After qualifying we had our driver’s meeting and my dad was going over the car and refueling it when he noticed something wrong with the rear end housing. The bracket for the pinion angle bar in the rear ended up bending which in turn bent the pinion angle bar itself and was binding everything up. So with that delimma on my hands we had to completely change out the whole rear end housing and only had three qualiying races to do it in. If it wasn’t for the AWESOME group of guys on the Bill Elliott Driver Development team and a few others there to help out then there would have been no way I would have raced Saturday. It was a definite thrash but in the end we got everything done and I went out for the A-main heat race. I ran the car hard without even thinking about just changing the rear end and finished one position behind where I started, fourth. After coming back into the pits it was just a short break to refuel and check the tire pressures before heading back out to the main event. In the main event I started in the fourth position. It was really only a four car race when it came down to it. My teammate, Chase Elliott, was a part of that top four so it was fun racing against him where I really started my racing career… back on the road course. This time it was just in a Legends car and not in a high performance kart. Well there wasn’t much passing between the four of us and we kind of checked out from the rest of the field. There a few laps in Chase was running in front of me and going into the 90 degree left-hander at the end of the back straightaway he slipped up and went off the track which moved me from fourth to third. Third place was where I stayed for the rest of the race and I ended up third overall and second in the Pro division. My teammate, Chase, did a heck of a job coming from way back in the pack after his mistake and finished a solid sixth place overall and second in his class as well. My finish brought me to second in the Georgia Winter Series points and first in the Winter Flurry points standings. Once again I have to give a HUGE thanks to everyone who helped on my car Saturday: my dad, Uncle Bill, Chase, Casey, Mitch, David, Doug, and one of my competitors Jeff Haney. It honestly wouldn’t have been possible without you guys. I also have to thank my sponsors: the Dawsonville Pool Room, VP Racing Fuels, Racing Electronics, Oakley, and Bell Helmets.
The second race of the Georgia Winter Series was held at Watermelon Capital Speedway. This race was supposed to be the third of the series but the race at Lanier on the prior weekend was cancelled due to rain. I unloaded to car and ran the first practice just as quick as everyone else. I never touched the car after practice and ran the heat race just how I unloaded it. I started my heat race in the third position and on the start before we made it to the backstretch I was in second position. The third place car got back by me and I couldn’t figure out how. My car felt great through the corners but I was having to play with the throttle just enough exiting the corner to where they would get me down the straightaways. I finished a close third in my heat race and when I got back into the pits I talked to Bill about what to do. I told him what the car was doing and told him what I thought I needed to do and he suggested the same thing. I started fifth in the main race with my new adjustment and on the start got to fourth. I was faster than the third place car but couldn’t find a way around him. A caution came out and I knew that would help me. They had the “choose” rule in effect there where on the restart you can pick the inside or outside to restart. I chose the outside and that had me restarting on the outside of the front row and I knew it was about to get good. Little did I know I had someone behind me who was more than a little impatient. Going off into turn one he must have never lifted because he sent me WAY up the track into some oil and dirt and I watched the whole field go by. There was a caution right after what happened and we then restarted again. I chose the outside once again to make up some positions and on the green flag the same guy that punted me put a guy into the wall at the flag stand on the front stretch. It happened right in front of me so I got on the brakes and was already moved down to the bottom of the track before the car ever hit the wall. Well we never got back to green flag racing after that because we just kept having caution after caution. We only got to race 12 laps and I was pretty upset. On the final restart we had a green-white-checkered finish and I passed about four cars on the final laps to bring the car home to a fifth place finish. It was a frustrating race because I knew I had a top three car at least but circumstances didn’t lead to that. I have the thank my dad, Uncle Bill, Chase, and Aunt Cindy for helping out and making this weekend possible. I also have to thank my sponsors: the Dawsonville Pool Room, VP Racing fuels, Racing Electronics, Oakley, and Bell Helmets.
This Friday night at the Thunder Ring at Atlanta Motor Speedway kicked off the Georgia Winter Series. It was our first time back at the 1/4 mile track at Atlanta in about a month and I knew it was going to take a few laps to get back into the swing of things. I started fifth in my heat race and wound up finishing second in an uneventful 8 laps. I was too patient in the heat race and didn’t do all that I could have early to gain another position or two. With the heat race finish I started the main in sixth place and on the start was able to get down to the bottom fairly quick and found myself running in fifth place. It was a caution free race and while myself and the sixth place guy were racing the top four were getting away a little bit. Once I was done with the sixth place guy I set my sights on the fourth place driver. He was about half a straightaway in front of me and I kept digging the entire race trying to catch him. Right when I caught the fourth place car my brakes starting going a little soft so I had to drive a little differently. I managed to get by him with one lap to go and the third place guy was just a couple car lengths in front of me but one lap just wasn’t enough to get it done. I had a good car but being too patient in the heat race came back to bite me. I definitely won’t be like that again because if you get burried in the field anywhere, especially at Atlanta, it’s hard to make up the spots. I want to thank Bill, Chase, Casey, David, my dad, and Cindy for helping out. Also I want to thank my sponsors: Oakley, Racing Electronics, the Dawsonville Pool Room, VP Racing fuels, and Bell Helmets.
The two day show in Anderson, SC started Saturday afternoon where we had practice and heat races. We unloaded the car on Saturday and were fast the first session out. I felt like the car could be better but I didn’t want to change anything just yet because I hadn’t been in the car in a month and figured it was maybe a little bit of my driving as well. As the practice sessions went on I decided to make a small change in the left rear to free the car up in the center of the corner hopeing it would fix my sideways drive up off. I tried that once and didn’t like it and went back to what was more comfortable and just as fast for the heat race. Heat races came around and I was starting 3 in the second heat. I knew I had a good car I just felt like I had to take care of my car so I could use it on Sunday for the main race. Well at the drop of the green flag I got racey and worked my way into the lead and lead a lap. The second place car turned under me coming off of turn four on lap 3 or 4 and the third place car followed him by. I stayed right with the two and watched them to see where I could beat them. I noticed the two started to get real racey and were getting close to wrecking each other so rather than risking tearing up my car in the heat race I stayed behind them knowing I had a good car for the main race on Sunday.
Race day came the next morning and we had a couple of practice sessions before the main race started. I figured something out in the last practice we had and I drove by the guy that was starting on the pole for the race so I was very confident in my car. The main race came and I was starting in sixth place. Right off the start things got tight but very fun. We were all racing close up front but it was a patient close. We gave each other room when we needed it and other times we didn’t. I slowly picked off the cars in front of me and worked my way up to second place by lap 14 or 15. I looked up in the mirror and noticed my teammate was tucked right in with me and I knew we were going for the front. I was behind the leader for about 1 or 2 laps trying to find his weak spot to open the door for myself and Chase. Going down into turn one on lap sixteen fate had other plans that day. We went down into the corner nose to tail and suddenly I felt a bump on my left rear. I stood in the gas trying to save the car but it was no match for the hit. I knew who had turned me but I knew there was no way he did it on purpose. Come to find out he was losing brakes during the race and they ended up going completely out on him right behind me. It’s just one of those racing deals that nobody can predict and nobody can do anything about. It didn’t tear up the car except the left rear fender but after bringing it into the pits and getting it looked at it just didn’t drive the same way after that. I had to start in the rear of the field for pitting but I drove back up and got around a few cars. It was definitely an upseting day knowing I had at winning car but it would have been good for the BEDD team to bring home a 1-2 finish. The car was awesome and I can’t wait to race again. I want to thank my dad, Terry, Jim, Chase, Casey, Cindy, and Sandy for helping out up there.
