32 trucks showed up for the "Race Truck Extravaganza". Our truck started off perfect in 1st practice, rolling the center perfectly. Qualifying was extremely close, we ran a 20.020, that lap would have been good for pole at a couple races this year, but everyone stepped up their game for the finale and it was good for 12th of the 32 truck field.

In the 100 lap Main Event, the truck started off perfect, ran 9th the first 20 or so laps, capped off with a 20 lap battle between us and Andrew Anderson who was hooked up in his #37 M.C. Erectors ford. After that battle the staggers grew and the truck got loose. About 60 caution filled laps, 3 missed wrecks, getting in oil and knocking the wall down later, we brought the #20 buildabucket.net chevy home in 10th to cap off our rookie season
 
 
Went into this race with a slightly different setup, trying to get rid of the push-loose condition we've been fighting for the last 4 races. First practice we were 9th of 19, less than a tenth from top 5, and the truck was good so we sat out second practice.

In qualifying the truck was out of control loose, but still managed our best time of the season of a 20.271, but in the close field that was only good enough for 11th.

After a good start, going down the backstretch of lap 1 the 99 truck had contact with the 55 sending them both spinning, 99 shot up across the track right into our Left Rear tire, ripping the sidewall out of the tire and sending us for a long spin. With our team only being Jameson, Gordon and Jon (who was on the roof and couldn't help), we somehow made a quick pit stop. With Gordon running the 100 meter dash in record time, Jameson unbuckled, helped his dad lift the truck so they could jack it up, found an old tire, set it to pressure then hopped in and buckled back up. It was a long caution because we ripped the 99's rear end to pieces, so we got out right after they threw the green, without losing a lap.

After a caution that caught us back up, Jameson came on the radio guaranteeing a top 10, running 16th at the time. In the ensuing laps Jameson was the fastest truck on the track by over a tenth a lap, catching and passing someone seemingly every turn. After the 40 lap race we worked our way up to 9th, reeling in 5th 6th 7th and 8th when the checkerd flew. 
 
 
19 trucks showed up to make it one of the largest fields of the year. The day started off well, 6th quick in first practice, ahead of back to back Champion Pat Mintey Jr. and former Champion Ron Peterson. In qualifying the truck was extremely tight, but on a lap I thought would be good for last place was good for 11th of the 19.

In the Main Event the truck was to loose on the bottom at the start, so we got shuffled back, but worked our way back up through the field. running 12th, about to pass the two trucks ahead, we cut a RF tire and shot hard into the wall down the backstretch. Despite the flat tire, we brought it home 14th, but a lot to build off as we had an extremely fast truck.
 
 

It was very hot, track was greasy and lap times were high. This made getting the setup good a handful.

In first practice the truck was drivable loose on entry and through the center, but dirt tracking sideways on exit, we were 12th quick of 16 with a 20.641, but reigning champ, and points leader Pat Mintey Jr. was 11th at a 20.601 so we weren't far off. And in the second and final practice we got the truck handling perfect, shaved off a tenth and a half and jumped to 10th on the board.

In qualifying the truck was a little loose, ran a 20.31 which was only good for 12th in the very tight field.

For the main we expected the track to tighten up so we made no adjustments, but the track got slicker and we finished 13th with a very ill handling truck. Also we had to much rear stagger which was making me even more loose. We'll go back to the drawing boards and show up with a set that will hopefully race better next race.


 
 

Going into this race we had a brand new setup, and this was really more of a test session for us than a race. First practice the truck felt great, but the timing in the motor was slightly off so we weren't getting max performance. We also struggled in second practice with the same problem. Then in qualifying we thought we might have got it fixed, but it got even worse so we had to start last.

With some help from Mintey Racing, we got the problem fixed, and dominated the trophy dash, getting me my first ever win at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale.

Starting last in the main was a huge set back. The truck was perfect, but I just had to many trucks to pass and not enough time to do it. I was going to the front looking at a top 10 when the #84 truck door slammed me in middle of the straight away, which knocked in my toe and the truck never drove the same after that. But I managed a  12th place finish, and got the K1 Speed Hard Charger Award. I think if we could have started closer to the front I could have held it there, or improved, but it's good to know that the truck was great, and we'll be strong on the 27th.

 
No Title 06/26/2009