3-Day Weekend Turns into a Long Week
As we prepared to travel to Lakeport
speedway on memorial weekend, I knew this racetrack was going to be challenging. Driving
the moterhome with the car in tow, we snaked our way through the mountains and into the
track. There were 29 legends cars that showed for the three-day show. Fridays practice was
good, making adjustments and getting use to the track took some time. In Friday’s
qualifying session I managed to get the lap times in the 14.4s. When I talked to Fred, on
the phone he said those are some good lap times. After qualifying I found myself to be 14th
overall. I started the main event in 14th place, ran 20 laps and brought the
car home in good shape. I was just biding my time and learning the track layout.
Saturday
morning we cleaned up the cars, checked the fluids, changed the tires and got ready for
the Memorial Day weekend parade that is done every year. We were towed behind a truck
through town then at the end we untied the ropes and drove the cars back through town to
the racetrack, very exciting. Saturdays practice was still all about learning the track
and making the car handle better. We practiced a lot on Saturday, running over 50 laps or
better. After second round qualifying on Saturday, I then realized we were in trouble our
qualifying time was not good enough to make the main event for Saturdays 30 lap feature.
We had to run the semi main, staring from the pole with Patty and Keith side by side a few
positions back. I held the lead for a few
laps then the car started to get tight and push in the corners and that’s one thing
you don’t want at this track. This allowed 3 cars to get by me, at the end of the
20-lap race I finished 4th but this meant I had to run the semi on Sunday to
have a chance to transfer to the A-main.
After
taking the car back to the pits we ran back to the stands to watch Fred run the main
event. Fred had qualified for the pole and really likes this racetrack so when they waved
the green flag he was gone. The race its self was kind of boring with Fred out front in
cruse control and the rest of the field flowing except for the number two car of Kavert
witch was coming on the outside. The question was could he catch and pass Fred before they
ran out of laps. With only a hand full of laps left Kavert shot to the out side of Fred
and the race was on. They stayed side by side for a few laps with the two car inching
ahead. On the last lap Fred put it in hard on the bottom trying to get the lead back and
spun out finishing last. This meant Fred would have to start last in Sunday’s INEX
Spring Nationals 40 lap feature main event.
Sunday
morning after the hotcakes and sausages were eaten, Dave Sullivan and I made sure the car
was ready to go for Sunday’s events. With the help of Fred we put the car on the
scales, weighed and checked the measurements. They were different so we made a drastic
change by setting up the car somewhat close to my brother in-laws. In practice that afternoon the car was a hair
loose, just the opposite of what it had been all weekend. I knew that the track was going
to tighten up so I decided to leave it the way it was. With practice laps before the start
of the b-main the car was good, I felt I could have a shot at transferring to the main
event. As I lined up in 4th place, on the outside of Jack Humphrey, with Keith
and Patty a few rows back. I knew I had to get to the bottom grove right away. As they
dropped the green flag and we headed off into turn 1, the second place car misted a shift
and made contact with third place car, I quickly headed to the outside to avoid being part
of the wreck, boy was I wrong. I was almost clear, then I felt a bang and all I could see
was asphalt and concrete. When things finely came to a halt my car laid against the
retaining wall drivers side in, unable to get out of the car I knew my night of racing was
over. As I waited for the track crew pull the car off the wall and I took a quick look
around and there was Keith in the infield with severe damage and only three wheels, Jack
had only two wheels, but Patty had managed to miss the wreck and was able to continue, The
track left all the wrecked cars in center and started the race. After 17 or 18 laps The
leaders consisting of two masters Kelly Martin and Donny Stone and a semi pro Jack Stone
were just about to lap Patty, who was running a great race and managing to keep her car
right on the bottom of the race track, Kelly got by clean, Jack running on the outside was
using Patty as a pick when Donny hit her right rear tire launching himself into Jack and
then the wall, with only a lap or two left the track elected end the race and got ready
for the main event.
With
the #3 #8 #09 on the trailer Fred in the #55 was the last hope for Clement Racing to make
a mark at the INEX Spring Nationals. After Saturday nights spin Fred had to start in the
back but was quickly on the move to the front after running both inside and outside he put
on a great show as he was one of only a few cars that was able to make a move on the
slippery track he finished seventh after a hard fought battle with some of the toughest
compaction on the west coast.
After
getting home at 4am Monday morning we slept to around noon before we were able to get
unloaded. We took the #3 car completely apart down to the bare frame. It was obvious that
the frame was bent after everything was apart. Using a 4 and a 10 ton porta-power, jack
stands, a bunch of levels, a cheep come along from harbor freight and with a few tricks my
father-in-law knows we managed to straighten the frame. With that done we put the motor
and the rear axel housing back in, reassembled the body and suspension and scaled it by
Friday evening.
David Ball
#3