So Spencer rained out again. I was really looking forward to racing but I’m glad I didn’t have to deal with the swamp so it was a decent call.

Since they cancelled and Jason has been bugging me to go up, I swapped gears and tires and went to Evans Mills for the Doxtater memorial race. They had a great turnout and it was great to see some of the people I haven’t seen in a while. Dave Fetterly was there but fought handling issues all night. It’s always good to see Dave. He says he may come down to Spencer on the 28th. Jimmy Steffenhagen and Willie Strusz made the trip and said they had a great time and would be back. Steve Denner, Bobby Newman, and Matt Larivee made their return to The Mills from various directions. All tolled, there were 24 cars there. Not a bad turnout.

My night was up and down. I was wicked loose in hot laps and the car felt slow but everyone else seemed just as slow. It turned out I had flat left rear tire. I guess that’s what I get for dragging something out of the barn and not checking it. With a new tire on it the car was much more comfortable and I felt pretty good about the heat. I drew 5 on the way in so I was supposed to start on the front row outside of Dave. But, since he wasn’t happy with the car he decided to start scratch moving Steffenhagen and Newman up to 1st and 3rd. I tried to hold onto the outside on the start but just wasn’t comfortable enough and ended up pulling down into 3rd. After I over drove it into 3 Dave Arbes nudged me a little and took that spot but Newman blew a tire so I ended up 3rd.

I started the first feature 8th and despite getting a good start ended up finally getting to the bottom somewhere in the mid-teens. I settled in to let the field even out but a couple of laps in Doxtater decided he needed the spot in front of me and drove across my nose turning me around. Fortunately, only one car hit me and it was not a bad hit so I got going again. I ran down and passed a few cars and then got helped around again. This time the hit was worse and the whole nose got trashed. I pulled off but Jason’s guys said it looked OK so I went back out. I passed a few cars and another caution came out and I looked at the gauges and saw the temp getting close to 250 so I pulled it in. In the pits I found out the ducting was mangled and the fan was missing some blades. And the bumper mounts were torn off. So I straightened what I could and left the bumper off and went back out. I restarted 22nd or something and was having a great time going through the field when I checked up to miss the 11th place car and got turned. The temp gauge was at 250 again so I pulled off again with 3 to go and got credited with 19th.

I was feeling a little dejected when I got out of the car but the more I calmed down, the more I realized how much fun I’d been having. I was passing cars on the inside and outside and was as quick as some of the top 10 with a bent car. And then I noticed that Jason had won the race. And then someone handed me two $50 bills for the random draws. So I wandered around waiting for the payout and had a nice time talking to everyone. All in all not a bad night.

I wish I could have seen the race. Jason started in the back of the first feature and worked his way up to second. I guess Chris Typhair was doing a great job until he got taken out by a lap car. I’m pretty sure I saw Steffenhagen leading at some point but obviously Jason got by and held off all challengers. I’m pretty excited for him. It couldn’t happen to a nicer guy. He texted me yesterday to say he still couldn’t believe he won a big race. I feel pretty good about the fact that it was in my old car too. I’m hoping for a repeat performance at Spencer on the 28th.

Meanwhile back in my shop… The carnage isn’t pretty. I’m not sure I’ll get everything fixed but it should be OK to race. The power steering is leaking like crazy and the nose is ugly but I’m not going to have time or the money to make it shiny. I’m going to leave the chassis pretty much like it was Saturday night and see how Spencer likes it. If it feels anything like it did I’m going to be pretty happy.

I have to be in Binghamton Saturday night so I’m thinking about taking the car down to Shangri-La 2. We’ll see how Friday goes first though.