May 27th, A Night to Remember
This past weekend at Sunset gave us racers the perfect weather and conditions to put on a great show. This weekend we had two 35 lap features, a lot of fans mentioning how amazing both the Pro Late Model shows were. I am sad we have to wait until June 24th to hit the track again, as this past weekend was one of the most fun times I have had in a racecar.
For qualifying we came 5th on the board, out of 14 cars in attendance. We were surely happy with this and in the first feature we started straight up.
Lap 1 caution for the 07 spinning, full restart. On lap 5 the 23, 07 and 69 had spun in turn 4, and again I would line up for the restart in 5th.
On this restart the 8 car made heavy contact with my rear bumper and pushed me up the track, we would drop a couple positions due to this, we would battle a few laps side by side until I made the pass on the outside.
I then made the pass underneath the 16 car to put myself into the 6th spot. Then started working on the 10 to pick up another spot after some good door to door racing.
Lap 19 would bring an upsetting wreck for the 46 of Zardo, him and the 94 got together on the front stretch, door to door, which sent him into the outside wall in corner 1. Thankfully he is okay, sadly we can't say the same for the racecar. Hoping to see that 46 on the race track again soon!
I would restart in the 3rd position, the 10 made a pass on me and in the same lap the 07 would bring out the caution with a spin. I’m not sure why or how as generally we go back a lap, but I was lined up in the 5th position for the restart.
10 to go, and I would choose to start on the outside line for the first time that race.
The 39 came off of turn 2 SLOW, I was told he accidentally hit the kill switch, he did get the car back going but slowing up the top line meant the 8 and 94 dove inside and now we were 3 wide. They made contact and spun. I would restart in 5th, but took the top line in 6th as the top was faster for me.
This race had a lot of great side by side racing and a lot of bumping and rubbing - but nothing we couldn't handle, just something we aren't used to as we haven't had fields this large in a few years!
We finished the race in 6th with a broken left rear shock mount, happy with our result! We got the car fixed up and thank you to Taylor Holdaway for your help!
The second feature only had an invert of 2, so we lined up 6th. There was a long green flag run for the first 20 laps. During this time we were put three wide on the top with the 16 and 82. I ran in 4th until the first caution came out.
The 48 and 39 car would wreck in front of us going down the backstretch in a big way, I know the 48 had some serious left rear body damage.
With 15 to go I would line up on the bottom of the front row, in second with the 10 leading. There were 2 quickie cautions back to back after this with one single car spin, and then the 23 with a broken rear end in turn 3.
Another restart with 13 to go, starting on the bottom again in 2nd. The limited late model is not near as competitive as the pro late models are when it comes to short run speed and firing off, so we did fall back a bit on most of these starts. 07 spun and brought out the caution.
Same line up for the final restart, and I would be passed by the 82 and finish the race in 3rd.
My team and I are so proud of our efforts in this division and as I said above- this past weekend was one of the best times I've had in a racecar.
With all of that being said, during post race tech for the 2nd race we were disqualified for an illegal carburetor. This was actually a spare carb I put on the car in 2021 after my original carb flooded, and this is the first time its been through tech inspection. Pretty disappointing for us, but we know the carb wasn't the reason for this incredible night - we'll be putting on our old one and heading back June 24th- to do it all again!
For qualifying we came 5th on the board, out of 14 cars in attendance. We were surely happy with this and in the first feature we started straight up.
Lap 1 caution for the 07 spinning, full restart. On lap 5 the 23, 07 and 69 had spun in turn 4, and again I would line up for the restart in 5th.
On this restart the 8 car made heavy contact with my rear bumper and pushed me up the track, we would drop a couple positions due to this, we would battle a few laps side by side until I made the pass on the outside.
I then made the pass underneath the 16 car to put myself into the 6th spot. Then started working on the 10 to pick up another spot after some good door to door racing.
Lap 19 would bring an upsetting wreck for the 46 of Zardo, him and the 94 got together on the front stretch, door to door, which sent him into the outside wall in corner 1. Thankfully he is okay, sadly we can't say the same for the racecar. Hoping to see that 46 on the race track again soon!
I would restart in the 3rd position, the 10 made a pass on me and in the same lap the 07 would bring out the caution with a spin. I’m not sure why or how as generally we go back a lap, but I was lined up in the 5th position for the restart.
10 to go, and I would choose to start on the outside line for the first time that race.
The 39 came off of turn 2 SLOW, I was told he accidentally hit the kill switch, he did get the car back going but slowing up the top line meant the 8 and 94 dove inside and now we were 3 wide. They made contact and spun. I would restart in 5th, but took the top line in 6th as the top was faster for me.
This race had a lot of great side by side racing and a lot of bumping and rubbing - but nothing we couldn't handle, just something we aren't used to as we haven't had fields this large in a few years!
We finished the race in 6th with a broken left rear shock mount, happy with our result! We got the car fixed up and thank you to Taylor Holdaway for your help!
The second feature only had an invert of 2, so we lined up 6th. There was a long green flag run for the first 20 laps. During this time we were put three wide on the top with the 16 and 82. I ran in 4th until the first caution came out.
The 48 and 39 car would wreck in front of us going down the backstretch in a big way, I know the 48 had some serious left rear body damage.
With 15 to go I would line up on the bottom of the front row, in second with the 10 leading. There were 2 quickie cautions back to back after this with one single car spin, and then the 23 with a broken rear end in turn 3.
Another restart with 13 to go, starting on the bottom again in 2nd. The limited late model is not near as competitive as the pro late models are when it comes to short run speed and firing off, so we did fall back a bit on most of these starts. 07 spun and brought out the caution.
Same line up for the final restart, and I would be passed by the 82 and finish the race in 3rd.
My team and I are so proud of our efforts in this division and as I said above- this past weekend was one of the best times I've had in a racecar.
With all of that being said, during post race tech for the 2nd race we were disqualified for an illegal carburetor. This was actually a spare carb I put on the car in 2021 after my original carb flooded, and this is the first time its been through tech inspection. Pretty disappointing for us, but we know the carb wasn't the reason for this incredible night - we'll be putting on our old one and heading back June 24th- to do it all again!
May 6th, Sunset Speedway Opener
A lot has changed since the last time I posted one of these write ups! I am realizing that I haven't updated my website since 2020, and that year I didn't even race.
My plan this year is to update my website each time I race alongside maybe getting back into my Youtube Channel a bit more with some track side updates.
May 6th was opening night for Sunset Speedway’s 2023 season, this year they have combined the Limited Late Models and the Pro Late Models for their regular nights of racing. This came as a shock to us, but a pleasant one as we were unsure what our options would be for the 2023 season as it was clear the number of Limited Late Models were quickly declining. A lot of which were replaced with Pro Late Models, converting to hot rods or just sitting.
There haven't been any rule changes to the Limited Late Model package so we are running our car the exact way it came off the track in 2022. In 2021 we competed without changes to our car in the Velocity 250 Pro Late Model race, we finished 6th in a great field of talent - so for this year I'm looking forward to racing with a great field.
This year there was rain both days we attempted to test, therefore we unloaded on opening night with 0 laps under our belt for the season. When we attempted to roll through tech we noticed the right rear tire didn't look right, we diagnosed some very minor suspension issues, fixed them up and got ready for practice.
Our car felt pretty good in both practice sessions, as far as qualifying goes we were not and will not be expecting much as the Limited should be more competitive during longer runs with the Pro’s. Out of 18 cars to take time (Awesome field by the way!) Saturday we qualified 13th.
In the first feature we rolled off 12th as Billy Zardo was ahead of us and dropped to the rear before the beginning of the race (I think he had to come down pit lane before the green). After the initial start we made a pass on the 23 car to put us up to 11th spot. On Lap 8 we were closing in and looking to make a pass on the 39 when we were spun by the 23 car. I came out of the spin with bumper/ right rear quarter damage, but the 23 car was not sent to the rear with me.
I restarted 16th, shortly after the green flag dropped, the 69 had some electrical issues which led to another caution on lap 8. With the choose cone rule in effect I was able to grab 2 spots on the restart and restart in the 14th position.
By lap 20 I had made my way up to the 12th position and that's where I would end the 35 lap feature.
I was pretty happy with how the car was handling, however the brakes were fading a little.
Between features we would change the brake pads in preparation for another 35 lap feature, which I love double features!
For the 2nd feature we would start where we finished, 12th and this feature would run green to checkered without any cautions. I finished 10th and our brakes were not up to par at all, even worse than the first feature.
Again I was really happy with the car's handling, it's just hard to really push and make moves with no brakes.
We know what we have to do for our next race on May 27th, and we’re excited to get back to it!
My plan this year is to update my website each time I race alongside maybe getting back into my Youtube Channel a bit more with some track side updates.
May 6th was opening night for Sunset Speedway’s 2023 season, this year they have combined the Limited Late Models and the Pro Late Models for their regular nights of racing. This came as a shock to us, but a pleasant one as we were unsure what our options would be for the 2023 season as it was clear the number of Limited Late Models were quickly declining. A lot of which were replaced with Pro Late Models, converting to hot rods or just sitting.
There haven't been any rule changes to the Limited Late Model package so we are running our car the exact way it came off the track in 2022. In 2021 we competed without changes to our car in the Velocity 250 Pro Late Model race, we finished 6th in a great field of talent - so for this year I'm looking forward to racing with a great field.
This year there was rain both days we attempted to test, therefore we unloaded on opening night with 0 laps under our belt for the season. When we attempted to roll through tech we noticed the right rear tire didn't look right, we diagnosed some very minor suspension issues, fixed them up and got ready for practice.
Our car felt pretty good in both practice sessions, as far as qualifying goes we were not and will not be expecting much as the Limited should be more competitive during longer runs with the Pro’s. Out of 18 cars to take time (Awesome field by the way!) Saturday we qualified 13th.
In the first feature we rolled off 12th as Billy Zardo was ahead of us and dropped to the rear before the beginning of the race (I think he had to come down pit lane before the green). After the initial start we made a pass on the 23 car to put us up to 11th spot. On Lap 8 we were closing in and looking to make a pass on the 39 when we were spun by the 23 car. I came out of the spin with bumper/ right rear quarter damage, but the 23 car was not sent to the rear with me.
I restarted 16th, shortly after the green flag dropped, the 69 had some electrical issues which led to another caution on lap 8. With the choose cone rule in effect I was able to grab 2 spots on the restart and restart in the 14th position.
By lap 20 I had made my way up to the 12th position and that's where I would end the 35 lap feature.
I was pretty happy with how the car was handling, however the brakes were fading a little.
Between features we would change the brake pads in preparation for another 35 lap feature, which I love double features!
For the 2nd feature we would start where we finished, 12th and this feature would run green to checkered without any cautions. I finished 10th and our brakes were not up to par at all, even worse than the first feature.
Again I was really happy with the car's handling, it's just hard to really push and make moves with no brakes.
We know what we have to do for our next race on May 27th, and we’re excited to get back to it!
