 |
 | SEASON |
OUR 2004 SEASON
15: DELAWARE Race Night #15, September 04, 2004. [PHOTOS] [FULL RACE RESULTS] While tonight might have been frustrating, looking back the season went better than we dared to hope. We won 3 races including a Feature win, finished 9th in the season points, and we were in the running for the rookie of the year title all season. THANKS Uncle Don, Brian Cohoon, and the rest of the Team for all of the terriffic work that you did this year. Awesome! DELAWARE Race Night #15, August 20, 2004. From Delaware Speedway: "Kevin Bulmer, August 23, 2004. The Challenger Motor Freight Trucks will run two feature races on Friday, September 3, 2004. The first of two races will complete the program that was qualified back on Friday, July 30th. The other races rained out on Friday, August 20th will not be rescheduled."  14: DELAWARE Race Night #14, August 13, 2004. [FULL RACE RESULTS] The car was a puzzle in Practice, we expected it to be good and it was strange, hard to figure out. Uncle Don worked to make it better and our times were not bad but the car wasn't comfortable at all. Our Feature finish last week qualified us for our first Canusa "Eliminator" race, and I started in 6th place (the top 10 from the last Feature start in inverted order). I was in the middle of some quick cars but held on for 5 laps before being eliminated (passed) by #98. The car was OK but developing a familiar push coming off turns 2 and 4. I started 4th, on the outside, for my Heat race. I managed to get down to the inside row fairly early and finished in 3rd. That put me in 6th place, on the outside (again) for the Feature. On lap 1 there was a caution so we re-started the race. On that re-start lap #87 got sideways in front of me, I clipped him as I went by on the grass with #1 getting into the back of me. On the next re-start I was sent to the back of the pack (15th) while #1 was allowed to re-start up front. Frustrated I started to battle back to the front in a rough race. On about lap 8 or 9 #46 got sideways in front of us coming off turn 2, I clipped him also but continued. The car was still pushing off the turns but I kept working towards the top 10. Around lap 20 I was in the top ten heading into turn 3 when friend Darrell Lake (#77) got spun sideways in front of me. I went low to avoid him but just clipped his front end, shearing off his bumper. Surprisingly our car was OK and I pressed on, finishing in 7th place. All things considered this was a good finish on a rough night (there was lots of bumping and banging up front throughout the race). 13: DELAWARE Race Night #13, August 06, 2004. [FULL RACE RESULTS] During our break (no racing last week) Uncle Don worked hard to sort out problems that we had with our rear leaf springs. The car was still a bit tight in Practice but it improved with every session. We lined up 6th (of 8) for our Heat, and the car felt pretty good. We worked through traffic and into 2nd place by mid-race, then we concentrated on catching the leader (#33) who had built up a big lead. We caught up by the last lap but ran out of time and settled for 2nd place. The car felt really good so we didn't change a lot, trying to guess what impact a very cool evening would have on the track and our handling. We started the Feature on the outside (again) pole for the Feature, next to #33. He got a great jump at the start and we managed to get in behind him and settle into 2nd place. He (#33) was quicker this race and he started to pull away, while our car got tighter as the race wore on. Midway some faster cars caught up to us. We got banged pretty good several times but each time the drivers behind us allowed me to gather the car up without wrecking and I appreciated that. We raced hard to the finish, hanging in for 5th place, our second top ten finish in a row. We left the track feeling pretty good about the car and our racing tonight. 12: DELAWARE Race Night #12, July 23, 2004. [FULL RACE RESULTS] With the fuel cell fixed, a bad spark plug replaced, and a few suspension tweaks we were back, anxious to see how the car would be. It was a surprisingly cool night for July, and the car would not turn early in Practice. Uncle Don and the team worked hard to make adjustments and it was a bit more promising heading to our Heat. We started on the outside pole in Heat 3, the fast group of cars, yet again. Stuck outside we slipped back to 5th place where we settled in, happy that we could run with the pack for the whole race, gaining some great experience. That finish put us in 8th place, on the outside again for the Feature. Of course we got freight-trained back and tucked into 12th place on the inside groove as soon as we could. The car was still pushing some but we hung in and climbed back to 8th place by the end of the race, our 4th top ten finish of the season. Congrats to Darrell Lake who worked hard to finish in 5th place, his best finish this year and his 8th straight top ten run. 11: DELAWARE Race Night #11, July 16, 2004. [FULL RACE RESULTS] With some suspension changes and the bad brake caliper fixed we were anxious to get back to the track and see how the car wasworking. In Practice it was very tight so Uncle Don, Brian Cohoon, and the rest of the Team experimented, trying to make things better for racing. Once again we were gridded in the 3rd, fast group for our Heat race. We started on the outside pole and it didn't take too long to get freight-trained to the back. However, the handling was pretty good and we stayed with the lead pack, running some good lap times. We had a long break for the second King of the Hill event, so the Team made another suspension tweak. We started the Feature in 14th, on the outside. The race started well, the handling was great compared to what it was last week. However, suddenly the car started to bog down coming off the corners. We could power through the corner well, but we couldn't complete a pass coming off. We finished 13th, puzzled about our problem. In the pits we discovered that the pickup in our fuel cell had come loose, starving the car for fuel. Surprisingly, we don't feel as frustrated as last week because the handling seems very promising. We can't wait for next week. 10: DELAWARE Race Night #10, July 09, 2004. [FULL RACE RESULTS] When we headed to the track we knew it would be very difficult (and unlikely) that we could equal last time out. We tried a couple of suspension changes in Practice, our times were OK but the car didn't feel as good as it was last race. We adjusted for our Heat which had us on the pole for heat #3, the fast group of cars (Dave Lawrence, Jamie Ramsay, Ray Morneau, etc.). On lap 2 a car made it 3-wide coming in to turn 3, we didn't want to wreck our car (or someone else) so we backed right out of it and immediately fell to the back of the pack. The car was pushing a lot so we really couldn't come back and challenge for a position so we ended 6th. That put us in 13th place for the Feature. We made some adjustments after the heat race, but right from the pace lap something was very wrong with the car - it would not turn left. As the race wore on it got worse and by the end of the race I was exhausted trying to fight the wheel. I finished a disappointing 13th, but at least the car was in one piece. Later at the shop Uncle Don discovered a seized front right brake caliper which explains a lot of our problem in the Feature. Before racing started we received a very pleasant surprise from Mr. Dave Graham at Case 'N Drum Oil. Check it out! 9: DELAWARE Race Night #9, June 25, 2004. [PHOTOS] [FULL RACE RESULTS] Once again Uncle Don and the Team worked very hard to try and remove the 'push' that we've had all season and it felt like the effort paid off in Practice. We made a small change for our Heat race and, while we finished 2nd, the car wasn't as good so we returned the set-up to where it had been. We were fortunate to draw the pole position for the Feature, and hoped that we could nail down a good finish, maybe a top 10. The car felt great and we jumped into good lead right away. From lap 5 to about 10 we pulled away from #1 who had moved into 2nd place. Suddenly we received the 1/2 way sign and we still had a sizeable lead, so we just concentrated on hitting our marks lap after lap (later we learned that we had our best lap times of the season). Soon #1 was being challenged by #34 and #28, keeping all 3 of these very quick cars busy. When the 'five to go' sign came out we still had a pretty good lead, and I started thinking about winning the race. The car was starting to push a bit and I started looking in my mirror. I saw #1, who had broken free, coming on quickly. I had to bear down, forget his car, and hit my marks as best I could. With one lap to go I was so excited it was hard to concentrate. Number 1 got real close as we powered through turn 3-4, but I focused and crossed the finish line with about a one-car length lead. I honestly couldn't believe what had just happened - MY FIRST FEATURE WIN in Kendall Street Stock! Awesome! Tech inspection was a lot of work for the Team - Uncle Don, Brian Cohoon, and Brad Perkins had to remove our flywheel, clutch, transmission, and driveshaft while Dad ran tools back and forth from the trailer. THANKS TEAM FOR SUCH AN AWESOME EFFORT!Meanwhile, our friend Darrell Lake finished 8th, his fourth straight top 10 finish, so it was a pretty good night for ex-Junior racers. 8: DELAWARE Race Night #8, June 18, 2004. [FULL RACE RESULTS] The Team worked long and hard to try and remove the 'push' that has plagued us all season. In Practice the car was a bit better and we did have a couple of very good laps. We started 4th in the second Street Stock Heat, with a group of quick cars. The car was good and we passed a couple of cars to finish 2nd. The Team made a couple more adjustments for the Feature which came after a long delay for the season's first "King of the Hill" spectator event. We started 4th, on the outside and that's were we got hung out for 10 laps. We finally got down to the inside and settled in to 8th place. However, we got hit from behind by #87 and had to get out of the throttle to save the car in turn 2. That let 4 cars get by and the car was not good enough those positions back. We feel pretty frustrated with our finish since we had a top 10 car tonight, and if we were raced clean that's where we would have finished. 7: DELAWARE Race Night #7, June 11, 2004. [FULL RACE RESULTS] Uncle Don and the Team, with advice from Dave Lawrence's Team (thanks!), spent a lot of time trying to get our car to stop pushing coming out of the corners. With so many changes we took it a bit easy early in Practice, and the car did feel better. We started on the pole for our make-up Feature (for the rainout May 22nd) and while we fell back to finish 8th, we were encouraged that the car was able to race a bit. In our Heat race the car was even better, and we were able to move from 4th to 2nd in a quick race. We adjusted more for the Feature and started 4th. On the pace laps we got hit a couple of times by #1, then he drove through us at the start. We fell back to 7th or 8th and settled in. Late in the race #99 slowed high on the front straight, we tried to go under him, got tapped by #97 back into #99. We cut a tire and headed to the pits for a change. The Team was awesome, getting the tire changed in time for the restart. We climbed back from last to 12th by race end, but the car just wasn't as good as it had been. That's racin'. 6: DELAWARE Race Night #6, May 28, 2004. [PHOTOS] [FULL RACE RESULTS] Our car was a bit loose for a change in Practice, due to a lot of work by Uncle Don during the week and a green track after the flooding that took place last weekend. We started our Heat race on the outside pole, jumped into the lead right off the start, and went on to capture our second win of the season. We started the Feature on the pole, got passed by Darrell Lake and settled in to second place. The car got tighter as the race went on but we survived a couple of restarts and a brush with the turn 4 wall to end up 8th. We're pretty happy with a win plus a top-10 finish for our efforts tonight. (Later we found out that we had a broken right front shock which explains why the handling went away as the race wore on.) 5: DELAWARE Race Night #5, May 22, 2004. [PHOTOS] [FULL RACE RESULTS] The night started poorly when we lost our brakes in Practice, but Uncle Don got things fixed (with borrowed parts from Dave Lawrence) in time for our Heat race. We lined up on the outside front row, a bit apprehensive about how the brakes were going to work. We got decent start and moved around #46 (who raced us real clean) at the start of lap 2. We were able to hold of #4 for the balance of the race for our FIRST win in Street Stock.We were gridded on the pole for the Feature and we managed to stay there through a series of restarts as things were pretty rough behind us. Unfortunately a severe thunderstorm hit the track and the balance of our race was postponed until June 11th. 4: DELAWARE Race Night #4, May 14, 2004. [FULL RACE RESULTS] The car was very tight in Practice, still pushing coming off the turns. We tried several fixes, but in our Heat race we could do no better than 4th.This was the last week of 'rookies in the back', and we started 17th in the Feature. The car was a bit better and we started to make some progress. However, early in the race we went high in turn 4 to avoid a crash and found #99 blocking the track. Crunch! We crumpled a fender but the suspension felt OK so we pressed on, starting from the back again. We got some great experience racing in a pack of 4-5 cars, eventually finishing 14th, and in no fear of being lapped like we were last week. 3: DELAWARE Race Night #3, May 07, 2004. [FULL RACE RESULTS] The car was pretty good in Practice, but we were chasing a bit of a push coming off the turns. In our Heat race we fell back to last place after a poor start, then fought back to 3rd place (of 7) before being blocked repeatedly by the second place car. We started at the back in our Feature, and on lap 2 got hit pretty hard by #46 who was trying to avoid a spinning car. That made the car push real bad coming out of the turns. We fought our way through some traffic, getting lots of good door to door racing experience. Late in the race we saw the leader Dave Lawrence coming up from behind, so we moved up and over to let him by. That also let a couple of other cars by so we finished a disappointing 15th. However, Dave Lawrence came by our pit and thanked me for being aware of the leaders, and moving out of the racing line. 2: DELAWARE Race Night #2, April 23, 2004. [PHOTOS] [FULL RACE RESULTS] The Team really outdid themselves this time. After destroying the front clip (frame) last week Uncle Don was determined to make it back to the race track without missing a race. With awesome help from Brad Perkins, Brian Cohoon, Steve Baldock, Neil Richmond, and Stephen Richmond the car was finished a 4:30pm on race day. Unbelievable. It held together in Practice although we developed a problem with the throw-out bearing. In our Heat we played it cool and finished 4th. We started the Feature at the back, and again took it easy in order to get some seat time. The car developed a bad push as the race wore on but the throw out bearing held up and we managed to climb to 14th place by race end. It felt good to get a full 35 laps of racing tonight and it was nice to hear all the kudos that Uncle Don and the Team received for getting the car back together so quickly. 1: DELAWARE Race Night #1, April 16, 2004. [PHOTOS] [FULL RACE RESULTS] Well, after a lot of work and anticipation racing was here. In the second Practice session a sudden cloud burst caused a slide up into the turn 1 wall, doing some damage to the front right (body and suspension). Uncle Don, Brian Cohoon, and the Crew worked hard to make repairs in time for our Heat Race. On the caution lap we knew something was very wrong and on lap 2 we headed to the pits for more repairs. The Crew had things just right for the Feature. We started at the back of the pack and started to really get into a groove. The car felt good, too good. Instead of taking it easy and getting some valueable seat time I got a bit too racy. On lap 5 I got out of shape coming out of turn 2 and hit the inside wall hard. The car is really hurt and I feel bad for all of the work that I have created for Uncle Don and the rest of our Team. On a better note, friend Darrell Lake had a great night, finishing 9th in his first ever Street Stock Feature.  PREVIOUS SEASON RESULTS
|
