Elliott Racing: Flamboro July 5 Report

Elliott Racing: Quaker State Team Has Strong Performance
“Top Five Finish A Good Sign” // Race #11

Though the season has had moments showing strong performance in 08’, none was as obvious as the feature event at Flamboro Speedway on July 5th.

Arriving early, the team had plenty of time to get the car through Tech and make a set of warm ups to shake both the car and driver down. Forty years seems to indicate that warm ups wouldn’t be necessary, but from the drivers point of view, it is important to have at least one set to make sure all systems are working properly.

It was decided during the week to make a fairly significant chassis change by replacing the front springs to a softer rating, that would allow the car to stick better in the corners.  Though a simple process, it came with some tedious adjustments that had the team going back and forth to the Tech garage to check ride heights and weight distribution.  Finally after the fourth adjustment the car was done, but unfortunately, so was warm ups. 

Missing hot laps was not a big deal. The crew, were confident the car was ready.  In the heat starting 4th, some hectic moves, by the competition, put us on alert.  There were no incidents, though tip toeing through this race seemed to be the best plan of attack.  At the checker we crossed the line in 5th, not a great finish, but the top five qualified us for the main event in the 4th starting spot.

During intermission we took the car on the track to make a presentation for the weekly bike draw.  Saturday’s bike was donated by, Timber Green Landscaping.  The little girl was shy and speechless, having her picture taken a few feet from the Quaker State Monte Carlo with her beautiful new bike.

In the feature we started 4th outside.  Within a lap the 3rd place car had knocked the pole sitter out of the way, right in front of us.  As we tried going under we were tagged and spun around.  That early caution gave us plenty of time to stage a comeback.  For the next few laps we caught and ran in a pack of 5 cars battling for 5th back.  Suddenly the leader of the race was hit and spun out causing the top 5 cars all to get involved in that wreck.  We were able to get by without incident.  Restarting 5th gave us god track position and we kept pace with the four in front. Our car handled excellent, much better than any night in 08’.  We followed Jason Shaw #82 who tried many times to find away by the 3rd place car but did not get an opportunity to make a pass.  The result was us finishing a very good 5th and for the second week in a row with no damage.

This week-end Flamboro is hosting the second race in the Grisdale Triple Crown series.  Races start at 6:30 p.m.

Pictures
1)....were taken on the front chute of the bike winner...courtesy Leanne Ruelens
2).... a pit shot of the crew adjusting the sway bar
3)...action in turn one and two #52 is Scott Lyons, #10 Shane Gowan and #56 Jeff Stewart

Please get back to me if you need tickets for July 26th.  We are giving away 5 bikes that night as well as our 40th Anniversary souvnenir program (3000 or more). The Late Model feature will be 40 laps.