Wednesday, January 1, 2014

2013 Race Season Review


Favorite Highlights from 2013

* Favorite race event
Valentine Speedway, Glenrock, WY- 1st Heat Race win in a 360 sprint event!
Heading into Glenrock Justin had high hopes for this short track being that it fits his driving style and equipment capabilities. He drew the inside pole position for his heat race and at the drop of the green flag Justin left everyone in the dust.

* Favorite race weekend
Justin making his first Lucas oil National tour “A” feature
Justin got out for hot laps and was happy with the car except the engine wasn’t running quite right. We got the issue figured out and prepared for the heat race. The pill draw placed Justin in the first heat, second row, inside. In his zeal to be back on the track, he spun his tires on the start but was able to still finish sixth which put him at the back of the A feature.
The main event started well but by lap two, another slid into the 05, pushing the car against the wall, bending the top wing severely to the left. This made the car extremely difficult to drive but he was able to hold string and bring home a 9th place finish. Justin’s words on handling the tweaked wing…”with the top wing bent, I had to man-handle the car to keep it off the wall while maintaining speed and position. It was an incredible workout and I felt like I went 100 laps!” The great night amped us up for the next race in Jetmore.

Justin had his sights set on qualifying for the A feature with the National Tour. We had a slight mishap in our hot lap session. As he was coming out of turn 4, the top wing posts snapped and the wing fell forward and completely blocked his vision. We quickly fixed the wing and he headed out for his heat race for 2nd row inside gaining the position needed for the transfer spot to the A main. 

  The main event started out with a bang when green flag was dropped, the cars roared into turn 1 and the middle of the pack turned into a 7 car pileup.  The 05 crew had a perfect view of Justin’s miraculous save. April says, “I was holding my breath, just praying that I’d see that bright green wing top when all of the sudden, we see the 05 do a Dukes of Hazard of the track edge, into the grass, drifting and gunning it around the side of the track to pop back up and gain several positions. It was heart racing and exciting to see him handle the car the professionally!”
Justin restarted in the 12th position and several laps later the track started to go dry-slick. With a combination of high winds and bad track conditions, I decided to pull off half way through to save our equipment. This turned out to be a great decision because there were many other red flags that could have collected the 05.

*Race Shop progress
Our new race shop has been finished and will make us more efficient in the seasons to come.

 *Race Rig Upgrade
We decided to upgrade from our previous rig as it was not working out as planned. We needed something stronger, more dependable and with more room. We are thrilled with our more efficient set up and have enjoyed a few race trips already. It can carry 3 cars, has a work area, living quarters and the semi can handle the load.

The rig has been christened with the name Redemption.



*Thank you to our sponsors
To God Be The Glory, IronWolf Designs, Dales Paint and Supply, Spotlight Website Design, AMP graphics
Special Thanks to our families and friends. We couldn't do this without you guys.
Patty (mom) & Hank Crew Chief Medlock
The Holder Family
Ruth and Alyn Wolf
Nick Medlock
...and a shout out to our anonymous sponsors!

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