A quick race update from our ASCS race in Fayettville, North Carolina. The 'crew' made it to North Carolina on Friday afternoon about 5PM having made good time on our trip from Plant City. We meet friends that had moved to North Carolina from Colorado and we are all glad to spend time visiting and relaxing Friday evening and Saturday. Uncle Bill, Samantha, Allen and I headed to the track about 3 o'clock Saturday afternoon with a new found confidence in this team. We arrived at the track with a car that had just about every component on it gone through, tweaked and adjusted prior to getting to the track. I want to thank Mr. Collins, Tyler Godwin and uncle Bill for the countless hours put into this car in preparation of this weekends race.
Mr. Collins and Tyler are headed off to the keys for 2 weeks of fishing with family and friends, but we look forward to heading to North Florida to race with them in a few weeks. Sam draws a 21 in the pill draw which would normally be a decent pill, however all drivers seem to draw low numbers tonight. We start inside 3rd row in the first heat.
Sam runs a few hot laps and gets comfortable with the new set up fairly quickly. A quick phone call to Mr. Collins a few minor adjustments and Sam buzzes off to run her heat. The green flag drops and Sam works in heavy traffic, she is actually picking a line that isn't on the bottom. Is she moving from the depths of bottom feeding closer to the feeding depth of Sharks?
She runs hard but we continually spin the tires and winds up finishing 6th. I know this will put us starting deep in the field but I have confidence in our young driver. Another quick call to Mr. Collins, a few more adjustments, and Uncle Bill pushes Sam off for the A- Main.
We start 5th row outside. Samantha probably has the strongest start of her short Sprint car career. She powers on the start and at the end of the first lap she is challenging for 6th position. Turn 1, lap 3 she is pressing for 4th when a car ahead of her spins. She gets on the binders and loops the car to the outside, no contact but we obviously are going to restart in the rear of the field.
Restart is good, the car is working well and you see Samantha getting more comfortable and confident with every lap. She works hard and works back to 5th place. A late race caution and a throttle issues allows Gavin Thomas to slide by her in the last couple of laps giving Samantha 6th place finish.
We pack it all up and for once we get to sleep instead of drive all night to get home. We got to have breakfast with Allen, Laura and the boys and then head South for a ten-hour ride. Made it back to PC Sunday evening. All safe and nothing bent. A good way to end a race weekend. She worked hard with a very inexperienced crew and makes another good finish. Each time she is in this car, I can see drastic improvements and determination. Thanks to all that have help and contributed to making this team possible. There is so much more than racing here, it is about team, goals, and friendships. It is car preparation and then off to Georgia for two nights of racing.
Next up:
6/20/2008 Oglethorpe Speedway Park Savannah, GA
6/21/2008 Swainsboro Raceway Swainsboro, GA
Till then all be well.
Kimball Wetherington
Wetherington Tractor Service Racing
