A convoy of 5 passenger vehicles, 28 people and 2 haulers loaded with the #82 as well as the #44 of Steve Laking met in the early morning hours to depart for the long journey south to Motordrome Speedway, just south of Pittsburgh in Smithton Pennsylvania. Most of the crew arrived in plenty of time to check into the motel and then arrive at the track for the evenings practice session at 6:00pm. Steve Laking’s hauler and the Spira vehicle cut it a little close as they made a wrong turn and got a little lost but managed to make it to the track in time for practice.The #82 Lucas Oil Ford went out for the first practice and after accumulating many leaves and debris on the front grill causing an overheating concern, Jason returned to the pits where he notified the crew of a loose condition. The crew started with an anti-roll bar adjustment and then changed shocks, springs and finally tires to tighten up the car on corner exit.
The adjustments made during the 5 practice sessions did improve on the cars handling a little, however the crew would have to come up with something overnight to allow Jason to get on the throttle harder in the centre of the corner at the very fast and bumpy race track. Steve Laking in the #44x had the opposite problem as he was fighting a push condition in his Spira Fire Protection Chevy.
After a good breakfast, the Shaw crew returned to the speedway for a practice session prior to qualifying through heat races that would set the starting order of the 100 lap feature that evening. Despite many changes thrown at the car to tighten it up, the car did not react and the loose condition remained. Prior to the evenings race, the Shaw Team, Steve Laking and Gary Elliot brought two bicycles to the track to be given away to two lucky children as part of Gary Elliott’s 40th Anniversary Celebration..
Jason lined up the Del Metals Ford in the pole position for the 12 lap heat race, inside the #98. After taking the green flag, the #98 got a good run on the outside, passing Jason and putting him into second, closely followed by the #44(not Steve Laking). The #44 and #21 moved past Jason on the second lap, putting him into 4th as the #98 pulled well ahead of the field. Jason fought hard with the #69 in a battle for 4th and as the #98 went unchallenged to take the checkered flag, the #69 got ahead of the #82 by half a car length to put Jason 5th.
Jason informed the crew that “we are in trouble” with the setup as the loose condition was still very much alive in the car and they would have to keep trying to tighten up the car prior to the 100 lap feature.
Within minutes of lining up for the100 lap feature, Dave Meades found a faulty right rear shock that could have been the culprit of the loose condition. Dave Bell, quickly replaced the shock and the Spira Ford lined up 14th, behind the #44x of Steve Laking.
Both driver and crew were eager to see how the car was going to handle as the green flag was given to the field. Before a lap could be completed the #44 went hard into the wall exiting turn 4 just in front of the two Guelph cars. Jason slowed and headed low on the track, however as Steve hammered on the brakes, he came down the track and made contact with the right side of the #82 sending him into the wall. The contact on the left front wheel broke a strut mount from the frame, ending the night for the #82 before it got started.
Steve Laking received minor damage to the left front of the #44x that was repaired in the pits and Steve re-entered the field at the back of the pack for a complete restart.11 laps later, Steve was making a move on the #20 car when the #20 got loose coming out of turn 4 and suddenly hit the brakes causing Steve to spin down the front stretch to avoid him and hard into the inside wall.
The contact was so violent that the car was severely damaged and cracked the concrete wall, ending the night for the 44x as well. The well planned trip for both teams was a bitter, season ending disappointment and after patching Steve’s car enough to get it in the trailer, the team had a few beverages back at the motel before the long drive back to Guelph the following day.
Gary Elliott in the #36 had rear end problems that also ended their night in the pits. The balance of the race ended in a battle between two local cars with the #98 taking the checkered flag with only 15 cars remaining out of the 28 car field.
The experience, although without a good result was a good one and now that the team has a taste of the fast ½ mile track, they may try their luck again next year. Next up for the Shaw Team is to break down the car and refresh it for next year as well as help Steve Laking with the huge project of repairing his car over the winter. The Shaw team would like to send out a special thank you to the friends, families and sponsors that attended the event south of the border.
From Ken Spira
No comments:
Post a Comment