The open show at Chowcilla
After a year of working on the dirt car when we had time and replacing almost every thing from the seat back it was ready for the track again. But the track wasn't ready and they postponed it a week, that was OK with me because it gave us time to take it to the car show at the Need For Speed in Lockford.
Paul, my crew chief for this car, couldn't get off and neither could my mother so that left just me and my dad for the three day show.
Thursday morning we loaded up and took off for Chowcilla but not before going by to show Oz, the painter at Miracle Auto Painting on West Lane, the finished product, after all how many dirt cars have a Pearl red over gloss black paint job.
It rained on us all the way to the track and when we pulled in there was standing water everywhere. They took our money and assigned us one of the dryer pit spots. I had just got out of the truck when I spotted Steve Bryent and Matt Jones, a couple of the pure stock drivers from Stockton, they had brought Steve's pure stock with them so we slid him into the pit next to us. We had just barley got the cars unloaded when they started calling for us to pack the track, and pack the track, and pack the track, this went on all afternoon. I packed as long as I could but with the track that wet and the car that low we ended up filling the bell housing with mud almost wreaking the little triple disk clutch and jammed the starter.
After a couple of hours of removing, scraping and replacing we got the motor started and managed to get out for a set of hot laps before we lined up to qualify. My qualifying performance was not what I had hoped for but at least I didn't wreak the car. Steve on the other hand was fourth fast qualifier in his division and made the A main for Saturdays big show.
After the trophy presentations for fast times the track sported all ninety teams, that were there to pack and qualify, to an all you could eat BBQ and believe me there were a lot of hungry hungry guys in line two and three or in my dads case four times. After we ate and stood around and shot the bull for an hour or so then we had Matt and Steve drop us off at the motel before they drove back to Stockton.
Day two the sun was up and so were we after breakfast, the boys picked us up and it was back to the track and all that mud on the cars from the night before. We got right to work scraping and washing and spraying baby oil on every part of the car we could reach so much in fact that when I started it the smoke was so bad I wasn't sure they would let on the track. After a few laps it burnt off and the car didn't feel to bad and I said to myself with the sun and the heat the track should slick up a little and come to me, boy was I wrong.
I lined up for the heat race in 9th position and finished 7th, the track never came to me. I though the track would be better for our setup the next day and decided not to make any big changes.
After our heat we watched a lot of racing while we were waiting for Steve's race. It was getting cold by the time he lined up in a good starting position pole on the outside, but after a few laps he spun the leader. The officials were quick to do there job and introduced him to the back of the pack. He found it real rough going from back there but managed to beat his way back to finish 3rd with finders bent and a door draging in the mud.
After the races were over we went back to the motel and ate sandwiches, gave Matt and Steve a spot on the floor turned up the heater and got a good nights rest.
Day Three we went to breakfast then off to the track for many fun filled hours of scraping and washing the mud off the car. My dad is a fanatic about having a clean car and he won't let me quit until its show room clean. Let us face it the car is beautiful and shinny and all that, but it's still just a race car that runs in the mud.
After we got the car race ready I took a walk through the pits and saw that at least a hundred more cars had come in sense Thursday and a lot of them were out of Dirt Works and there were even a bunch of Extreme cars. These are the new cars from back east and lift their left front wheel off the ground a foot or two every time they hit the throttle makes for some real interesting racing. Maybe it's time for us to finish the Flexy Flyer we have in the jig at my dad's house for the last 2 years.
When I got back to the car it was time for our race, my dad was excited, nobody likes to watch me drive the dirt more than him. As I sat on the front stretch waiting for them to call my name and for the new load of baby oil to burn off I formulated my plan for the first few laps. There had been motor blown in the race just before ours and left oil all over turn four except for a narrow path in the middle. I knew if I could hit that path just right I should come out with lead and guess what it worked. I had the lead on the first lap but on the second the car got a little pushy and I hit the oil sliding me towards the wall and allowing a car to get under me. I grabbed the brake knob and turned in more rear brake to stop the push. This went well and I road second until a yellow flag came out. On the restart I was on the outside, not the preferred line this allowed three other cars to get under me before I could get back down. I staid In fifth until another yellow flag flew. On this restart the guy on inside hit the oil and then hit me. I managed to keep it out of the wall but stayed in the same position as we got a yellow in the next lap for a spun car. I was still OK though because they were transferring six cars to the next main event and it was getting close to the end of the race. With about three laps to go I heard my dad on the radio telling me that yellow was out again but I should OK because I was on the inside and still had a transfer spot. We lined up again and I was feeling very confident, after all I was on the inside, the preferred line. As we got the green flag the guy on the out side of me hit the oil then bounced off the wall and back across the track in to my right sidebars sending us both up the track towards the wall. I did some pretty fancy driving to stay out of the fence but two cars got by leaving me finish seventh one car out of the transfer.
Other than my finishing position and the fact that I missed the transfer this was a good race and I feel I got every thing out of the car that I could, and had a lot of fun plus a bonus I didn't wreck the car. Remember that if you have to win to have fun then auto racing probably isn't for you.
After a long wait and a lot of races it came time for Steve's race where he started 12th. He spun early in the going and lost a lap. It was all down hill from there as he was in several other altercations before pulling it into the pits calling it an evening, he still had a smile in his face.
After the races were over we loaded up the cars and headed for home.
Fred #58 Modified