Off weekend

August 1, 2011 - On my off weekend I went to Little T speedway to help a friend of mine, Richie Morocco, race his quarter midget. On this weekend Richie was racing both Saturday night and Sunday afternoon. He was also only driving 1 car instead of his normal 2.

On Saturday when I was waiting for Richie's race I got involved with a rookie name Derek Gluchacki. Later to find out I would also assist with him for the weekend. During Derek's race I noticed that he drove a really good line and was smooth. Talking to his dad Joe (also a rookie handler), I informed him we did not need to change the setup much to make the car better for Derek. The next morning I went and found Derek's father to help him work on Derek's car, because Richie was all set for the day's time trials. For time trials I decided to keep Derek's car the same, which was a great move. Derek got fast time. Then we moved to Richie's time trial. Richie also got fast time in his division, Senior Honda.

After the great time trial efforts, we moved on to the heat races. Derek and Richie both had to start in the back in there heat races. It didn't stop either of them. With the slight change I made to Derek's car before the heat race to loosen it up little it was great. He came from last to first and never looked back. In Richie's heat race he had a battle to the checker flag. Richie only had 5 laps to come from the back because the race was shortened because of a exceeding time limit placed on the race. That didn't slow riche down from winning it though. After winning the heat races I decided to keep Derek's car the same for the feature and after talking it over with Richie's dad we did the same to Richie's car because it was so fast.

The first feature was Derek's. Derek started right where he did in the heat race. Coming thru the field from last and leading the race. With 3 to go Derek was involved in a wreck with a lap car, with bad judgment on Derek's part. Derek actually got his spot back but could not hold it due to bent front end. It was all good. Now we are on to Richie's feature. Richie started in last and slowly moved up the field. On a restart with 5 to go Richie's muffler feel off but he stayed on the track. On the last lap he made a pass for the win but the yellow was displayed sending it back to a green white checkered. This was a good thing for Richie because without his muffler it's a disqualification. We brought Richie into the pits and put a new muffler on and ended up 7th in the race. Even thou we didn't win the feature races we made big strides on making Richie's car better, and helping Derek's dad Joe get a better feel on how to change the car. I also had a bunch of fun and that's what it was all about when I go back to the track I started.

Next week I will finally be back racing again at Waterford Speedbowl. I have a bunch of friend in the area coming to see me race. Hopefully I will have good news next time.