Merry Christmas & Happy New Year 2012 from the Barnett Race Team

So much for a restful off season! It seems life has been at full throttle most of the time, lately. 

The World Series seems like a long time ago!  Since then, lots has happened:  

• I worked 75-hour work weeks the whole month of October, 
• survived another surgery in early November,
• dug a 90 foot trench in my backyard to run power to out to the barn,
• traveled to Mexico & scuba-dived,
• stripped the Mod & returned the engine to Jack Bateman,
• became a grandpa to little Audrey on the 16^th,
• and got several hours of sleep along the way.

Almost time to take a couple of days to enjoy Christmas with the Family!

On my "Wish List" for 2013:

•  race in all of the vMRS races, 
•  sell the sportsman car,
•  sell the SK engine, 
• Spot for Bobby Santos in the Tinio 44 Whelen races.

What will really happen? In reality, time constraints, the ability of my crew to fit racing into their busy schedules, and money limitations ensure that all of the above is not likely to happen.

So:

Plans for 2013. (subject to reality, of course!)

Whelen and vMRS schedules have been announced. Thompson schedule is still top secret.

1. I will be Spotting for Bobby Santos / Tinio 44 car. They hope to run entire Whelen schedule if all goes well.
2. Mod car. I spent a lot of moolah in 2012. I wish we could do the whole schedule, but highly unlikely this year.  I can probably do 10-12 races out of their 19 race schedule.  I am least likely to attend Monadnock, Stafford, and Canaan races. I plan to do the races where we can finish in the top 10, and drive hard enough to do so!
3. selling the Sportsman. No serious inquiries yet. Maybe I'll race it a few times in 2013.  
4. Selling the SK engine:   I've got one serious call, so far.  I might consider parting it out if it doesn't move soon.  
5. Sponsorship: I think we might do best on raising funds for the Mod by offering little donation / sponsorship deals. Lots of folks may help in small ways. Someone might buy us a tire, get their name placed as a donator on website, things that are simple and easy. The quest for large sponsors is a full time job, maybe it is just too hard fighting for money that does not exist.

Basically, I want to drive as much as money and time will allow (in the mod, or anything else)! 

Have a Happy Christmas everyone

Larry

Thompson Speedway "World Series" Report

The Valenti Modified Series was a late-season addition to the World Series line up. We decided to give it a shot with the modified, and for a while, I considered trying to get the sportsman car there also.  Eventually, common sense changed my mind on the sportsman car.

 

Preps for this event were a challenge (big surprise) as we had some damage to repair from the Seekonk race the week before. Meanwhile I was in week two of my outage night shift assignment. Hours were ramped up this week too…SO I leave home at 5pm and do not get home until 7:30 am. I tried to allow for two hours on the car each day, it wasn’t easy. The crew all pitched in, and then Rob C. and Jonny took on the big challenges. Jonny even prepped our (new-to-us) pit bull, finding a way to mount our normal tool box inside it (Rob and I had failed).

 

Race day: (Saturday the 13^th)

I managed to leave work early, allowing me the chance to get home, pack my stuff for the camper etc., load up the coolers, and arrive at the track near 6am. I turned over the keys to Rob C. And climbed into the camper. I managed to get about 2 hours worth of a nap in while the crew prepped the car for practice.

 

Next up: practice

Climbing into a mod on a cold morning, after logging 72 hours at work that week is tougher than you think. Another thing….Thompson is my home track, but just because I have 53 wins there in a sportsman car, it really means squat when it comes to driving a mod. It may even be a disadvantage! I know how everything should feel in a sportsman car, and it may just make it harder to crank up the speeds in a mod.

 

I hit the track, handling isn’t bad (a bit tight), but something under the hood (ok just above the hood actually) is really messed up. Our Proform carburetor is causing a major stumble. I was a bit sleepy, so we headed back out for one more round of practice. Yup, carb was the issue. We quickly (as in Jonny did it) bolted up our carburetor we originally used on our sportsman crate engine. Meanwhile Rob made a chassis adjustment, and we also figured we better scuff our new set of tires. Stumble off the corner solved, push went to a tad loose, but power on the straights was killed with the small carb.

 

The heat race:

Of all times….We had drawn the pole for our heat race. I think the 5 fastest cars were in our heat to boot. Jonny found a blown out power valve in our carburetor, so we bolted it back on thinking it would run much better. Meanwhile, I had run off to spot for Bobby Santos during his Whelen mod practice. We finally got back out on the track for our heat race. I decide to keep my pole start position knowing I had to finish 9^th or better and that 6 cars would not make the race. I nailed the throttle taking the green, even shifted very quickly, but the carburetor stumble was back in full glorious force. I was 4^th across the line, and 8^th by the end of lap one. I did manage to get the speed up enough to finish 9^th and make the race. Everyone on my crew told me that the talent behind me would be more than capable of finding a way around me if they needed to (and boy, did they need to!) and they were right. 

 

The feature:

Boy, was it cold! We were nearly frozen by the time our race was ready to start. It also turned out that the Sportsman division ran their race directly before the vMRS series, so I was really glad I left the sportsman car home (it was supposed to follow with two divisions in between). The race: I was holding my own, mostly due to borrowing a carburetor from my Uncle Dale Holdridge. Several times I lifted to avoid getting pinched into the wall coming off turn 4. We pitted for adjustments around lap 40.

 

At lap 50 we were up to 11 place, as a few cars fell out of the race, and several cars pitted. Around lap 50 the 53 car must have thought he cleared me off of turn two, he drifted into my left front wheel, and caused me to go careening off the back straight wall. Luckily, all the other cars avoided ramming into me as I landed and slid sideways down the back straight. (youtube vidios of the highlights coming soon) Our race day was done. Lots of broken parts.

 

We had already decided to skip the race at Lee before the Thompson race had even started. The accident ensured we did not change our mind. The Lee event can get a bit silly anyways. They try to fit a bit too much racing into a short window of track time. And my night shift assignment runs for another few weeks.

 

Future?????

After the dust settles from our challenging 2012 season, we will assess how much racing we can afford to do in 2013. 2012 did a serious bit of damage to the racing budget. We attempted to make 11 races in 2012. We may choose to do a limited schedule in 2013 also. We certainly have learned a lot this year, have started to aquire the needed tools and equipment. The results are sure to improve next season. My crew did a great job this year trying to make a rookie competitive with a limited budget.

 

Cheers,

Larry

Seekonk Speedway October 6, 2012

The vMRS series season is winding down.  Two races remain - next weekend at Thompson Speedway, and the following weekend at Lee USA Speedway.  LB plans to drive in both events, despite his work schedule, which has him working 12 1/2 hour days for the next month - with only Saturday nights off.

Several key crew members were unable to make the Seekonk race (Jonny, Amy, Alan & Marty) so LB was a little nervous how Bob would handle all the duties completely by himself.  Bob quickly recruited Ron, who has helped out in the shop and at the races when his busy firefighting and quarter-midget racing schedule allows.  Rob and Laurie Clorite came out of the woodwork (whoo hoo!!!!), thanks to LB's pleading.  Also, two Tinio crewmembers answered LB's call; Danny Gamache & Ron Hequist.  The Seekonk crew ended up larger than usual, as a result.  Bob Smith, Ron Smith, Rob Clorite, Danny Gamache, Ron Hequist, Linda Lianos Smith, Laurie Clorite and myself  (Kim) were in attendance on Saturday morning.

The duty board

Bob torquing the tires

LB hadn't raced the modified since Monadnock, which was about a month-and-a-half ago.  The car went out in practice session 1 and LB complained it was tight in the center.  A few minor adjustments and he went back out and the car had improved.  He logged 7th fastest time in practice out of 33 cars.

In heat race 1, LB started in fourth.  As LB describes it, "Our heat race start position was 4^th. Not terrible, but we started behind the 76 car on the outside row, something was wrong with the 76 car, and we were freight trained all the way to last place, was then able to make our way back to 8^th. To the consi we went, along with 14 other cars."  It was pretty painful watching LB out there on outside.  To coin a phrase, he was basically hung out to dry as there was no room on the inside to fall into line and he couldn't get the momentum going to pass anyone on the outside as he was right behind the 76.

LB in Heat Race 1.  Photo courtesy of Charlie White.  

Everyone was nervous for the consi.  Fifteen cars started and only four would make the transfer to the feature.  There were a lot of good cars in the consi.  Once again, LB started in fourth position, outside.  LB says, "I had to get the job done. The crew had worked too hard to not make the race. I ran hard and made the pass for third the hard way, on the outside! Next up I ran down the 79, and made the pass for 2^nd. With no pressure from behind, I went into tire saving mode. Kept close enough to Dave B. in the 82 car to ensure we made the race."  To say the crew and driver were ecstatic would be an understatement.

On to the feature.  Everyone had to painfully sit through a very long 100 lap Pro Stock race that went on and on and on and on.  Cautions came out every 3 to 5 laps.  The dark clouds started to roll in and everyone knew the Modified feature might not make it the full 100 laps.

I know you've been working 12 hour days but this is not the ideal time to take a nap.  Photo courtesy of Charlie White.  

LB says, "We knew that having to run the consi, and the tire sizes we had, were going to be tough on getting a good feature finish. We planned on riding for the first half of the race, pitting to swap tires (position on car), then trying to work our way forward from there. Around lap 40 we pitted. This is where our tire sizes that we had ended up with challenged us, our RS tires were not even close to the same size. After pitting, we also got collected up in an accident ahead of us, and banged the RF wheel pretty hard. We pitted again at lap 48 to inspect for damage and make adjustments. Soon after the restart the rains came. The race was called complete at Lap 53 of the planned 100 lap race. We got credit with finishing 17^th."

Despite the early rains which prevented LB from finding out whether the adjustments made would have allowed him to move forward, everyone was happy.  The car was in one piece, and LB got to log more seat time.  The crew really meshed & did an awesome job.  LB was really happy with the results & was very impressed with everyone's performance.  If he didn't say it enough at the race, THANK YOU to everyone who helped out.  You guys rock!

Update for 9-23-12:

Sportsman Car Race report for Sept 9^th at Thompson Speedway.

As we had planned, we chose to attend the UNOH event, which meant that we skipped the vMRS race at Waterford. Up to the last minute, I toyed with the idea of trying to do both races, glad I did not, as my head may have exploded!

Car preps dragged a bit longer than I hoped, and I brought my camper to the track Saturday AM, then came home to load the sportsman car to bring it to the track. Imagine if I had to drop off that car, then head home to pack up the modified?

Car was the best it had been all year in practice. Ran it once, and waited for the heat. Meanwhile I spotted for Bobby Santos for the tour mod stuff. In the heat we ran second to Sundeen. We ran away from the rest of the cars. My car was really good, his was just as good, if not better?

In the feature, my car transformed itself into a demon, or most likely the track conditions were way different. It slowly got better as the race went along. I finished 3^rd. Sadly,  many of the guys were into demo derby mode. Fenders rolled out to cut other guys tires etc. If I ran the place, they would be sent home for doing so. Race was pretty ugly. Surprisingly, many guys got flat tires. I am not a fan of guys running guys up into the marbles before the restart, and some turning even higher before the flagman. Scott did it to his best buddy the 7 car a couple of times. I just think that if you are the inside row on a restart, and you are 15 feet to the right of the groove before the green flys, then turn more to the right, something is wrong. Basically I did not have much fun running this race. The other 5 races I did this season were lots of fun.

Bobby Santos finished 2^nd in the North race. He did not do quite as well in the showdown race (9^th). Todd Ceravolo opted to go down to the Speedbowl and win the SK 150 lapper, driving Keith Rocco’s car.

vMRS race at Stafford Sept 14^th

As planned, we skipped this race also. This year has been pretty expensive getting the modified team started. Jonny, Bob, and Alan could not attend to help as crew members. It was best for me to stay home.

Loudon NH Race report:

I headed north early Friday the 21^st to play spotter for Bobby Santos (whelen Mod #44) and Dale Quarterley in his K&N #32 car. 

I love the red wheels on Dale Quarterley's #32 K&N Series car.  Wish my crew would let me do that again with my car. 

Both cars struggled a bit in practice. I had to drive back home Friday eve, then head back up in the early morning. I was hopeful both cars would be better. Bobby Santos was working his way towards the front during the mod race. Just after the silly half time / pit stop (Maybe the idea will grow on me eventually), something broke in the right front suspension and he was forced to park it. Rats.

Dale started 27^th. He was slowly working his way forward, but had his hands full with a quirky car. He did a masterful job working his way through some late race carnage, and brought home a 9^th place finish. Funny division this NASCAR version of boarding school for rich teams and rich kids. Funny listening to other spotters before practice started.  Some teams basically rent the car out so young drivers can audition their talents.  Many of the drivers are fresh out of high school.  Many spotters are paid babysitters for their drivers. “No Juan, you don’t need to turn on your helmet blower on the first lap of practice”. For Dale, my job is much easier and probably more entertaining. “Caution for a spin in turn 4. 73 laps completed” or “Square beside, on your quarter, clear, clear by one, clear by 3” etc. Dale would finish 9^th.

Kudos to Ray Parent who would win his first race on the ACT tour on its biggest stage Saturday at Loudon. Ray has built and supplied the body parts for my sportsman car for many years. 

Ray cruising out front, mid-race. 

Coming up:

I may travel to Dover Speedway to spot for Dale if work time off is possible. I would leave Wednesday night and return Friday night. (quals are Thursday the 27^th, race is Friday the 28^th) Car pool/ ride share would be great if possible. Anyone else going from CT area?

Larry Mac, Dale & Aiden at Dover last year.  

Saturday and Sunday ( 29^th and 30^th) the Whelen Mods will race at Stafford Speedway. I plan to go Spot for Bobby Santos in the 44 Tinio Mod.

October 6^th the vMRS series will be at Seekonk. This will be the next race for the 73 car. I will be working night shift which makes this event tricky. I am seeking some extra crew members to help coordinate things and fill in for missing crew members who will be at work. (close to the begging point!)

World Series at Thompson

Night shift schedule, and crew members possibly missing will make this event tough too. I will be spotting for Bobby Santos and Todd Ceravolo. I hope to race the vMRS car on Saturday, and if another trailer and enough help could be found, I may even race the sportsman car also. The sportsman car will have a heat race on Friday afternoon, and then have a 20 lap feature after the 75 lap vMRS feature on Saturday eve. Piece of cake. Right?

Lee Speedway vMRS race

I hope to arrange to be able to attend this race. Current work schedule has me working Friday night shift and Sunday night shift. Can we get the car to Lee? I had my best run of the season going at Lee earlier this year. I tangled with another car while trying to make the pass for the win on the last lap. I would love to have another shot at that one. Kim had promised to do a back flip from the stands if I won (as I was picking off cars late in the race). I will blame her for my aggressive attempt for the win. Never my fault, right!?

Cheers,

Larry

Schedule Update - 9/7/12

Due to 73 factors, including, but not limited to: money, crew help and weather, LB will be racing the Sportsman car at Thompson Speedway this Saturday and Sunday.  He will also be spotting for Todd Ceravolo and Bobby Santos at the race.

LB will not be racing with the modified at Waterford Speedbowl.  The next event LB will likely race the modified is at Seekonk Speedway on October 6th.  Stay tuned because things could change.

LB is always trying to get extra time behind the wheel.  Here he is at Mount Auburn Cemetery trying to race this poor soul into victory lane on 9/2/12.  

Thompson Sportsman Race - 8/31/12

Thursday night we returned one more time to Thompson Speedway with a few more tweaks having been made to the #73 Sportsman Car. After running about 5 laps in practice, I was confident that it was going to be a good night.

We started 9^th in the feature, took the lead on a restart on Lap 10. The Nat’s Racing engine sure is a stout piece. We were able to survive many restarts during the second half of the race, pulling ahead by turn one each and every time. Win #63 is in the books. Still offering the sportsman car for sale. $8000. For car minus engine. $8000 for engine only. $13,000 for the whole entire car.

This coming weekend I plan to race the sportsman car at Thompson and play spotter for Todd Ceravolo and Bobby Santos. I am also checking for the possibility of lining up help, money etc. to somehow pull a double double. Qualify the sportsman at Thompson, then beeline to Waterford to race the modified on Saturday, then return to Thompson to race on Sunday. Only a slight chance of this happening. (currently a logistical nightmare, short on money, short on crew members).

Cheers,

Larry

Monadnock Race–8/25/12

Here is LB’s update on last Saturday’s night’s race at Monadnock Speedway:

Crew duties for the day...

The day started out a bit rough as practice did not go well. Car was basically un-driveable. The hope was that RR tire was just shot. That is the downside of not being able to buy tires for practice. The upside is that if I had to buy tires for practice each week, I would never be able to afford to race at all.    

A rare moment when the driver is present, everyone is smiling, and there are no wrenches being thrown.  

In the heat race we got collected in an accident and suffered a flat left rear tire. We were able to change the tire, and still qualify for the event (24 cars made the show out of 31 cars). Getting the flat tire in the heat made adjustments for the feature a total crapshoot for us. We bought yet another tire to replace the flat, and had to guess on wedge adjustments, and what the stagger of rear tires would come to with the new tire. 

Book Beeotch and the driver discuss numbers while everyone else takes a break.  

In the feature, the car was not handling well right away, but I thought it would get better as the race went along. In hindsight, I believe the right rear tire may have had a slow leak. The car got tighter and tighter, I finally pitted for an adjustment. Soon after, I pitted again to swap the right side tires. The stagger had closed to 1”. The left rear tire was bigger than expected, and the right rear tire was smaller than it was at the start (it must have lost some air already).  

Jonny, Alan and Bob bleed the brakes before the feature. 

The car was better for a few laps, but then the red flag was thrown for an accident. After sitting for the red flag, the car again got really tight, and then I rolled the right front tire off the rim. I was towed in off the track, Bob, Jonny, and Alan again flew into action and got us back out just as the green flew.  

Brake Bleeding while Book Beeotch oversees the distribution of fluid. 

The car actually started coming in after a few laps, and was finally race-able. Too bad so many issues held us up for so long. Over the last 10 laps I was able to wheel the car a bit, passing several cars, finally passing Max Zachem (who had an injured car, but I still get a soda out of the deal) to finish 13^th.  

Linda and Bob

Upcoming races:  This could change, but money and help is a bit short, so I currently plan to skip the MRS races at both Stafford and Waterford. I hope I can manage to race the next two races with the Sportsman car at Thompson Speedway August 30^th, and then again on Sept. 8^th and 9^th. This will also allow me to keep my commitment to be spotter for Bobby Santos and Todd Ceravolo.    Selling the SK engine could get the MRS car back on the track sooner, but we most likely will choose to run about 2 more MRS races this season.

Alan in the driver's seat.  

Cheers,
Larry

Finished Second with Sportsman car 8-23-12

With yet another rain out last week for the Modified (seekonk event cancelled), we decided to race another time at Thompson Speedway.

This season there were several rule changes for the Sportsman cars. Minimum weight from 3100lbs to 3000lbs and Left Side weight % from 53% maximum to 55% maximum.

Our car was built and tuned for the old rules very well, it requires much more work to make the car perfect for the new set of rules.  In our first race back at Thompson this year, I only had time to remove 100lbs.  In each race since, we have tweaked things to get the proper balance as well.  Results have improved each race with finishes of 6th, 4th, 3rd, and then last night finishing 2nd.

We still have lots of work that could be done with helping us make the car even better.  Our Nat's engine has made our car wayyyyy faster down Thompson Speedways long straights, and last night we were very good in the corners as well. 

Jesse Gleason started ahead of us, he made it through a mess of spinning cars on lap one, then got out front on lap 4.  We made it through that mess also, but it took until lap 12 to get to second place from our 12th place starting position.  Jesse was a full straightaway ahead by then.  I closed the gap some, but we were so far apart neither of us had any reason to go at 100% speed.  Several cars had mechanical issues, and had leaked fluid etc.  Pushing the car to the limit would have been risky.

Next up for us is to race the modified car at Monadnock Speedway, I will consider racing again next week at Thompson, but not sure if work schedule will allow it.  We are also short of help to prep and race both cars in the same week.  Call it a maybe.  I would really like to get a win this year, and you can't win if you don't race.  Sounds as silly as the Lotto slogan doesn't it.

See everyone at Monadnock!

PS: We still have many tee shirts available.  Tee's $15 dollars, long sleeve $20.
Larry

Sportsman Race - Thompson Spdway 8/16/12

An update from Leadfoot after his 3rd place finish:

Thursday 8-16-12 we shook the cobwebs off the #73 Sportsman car at Thompson. I was amazed how rusty I was at going so slow (compared to a modified). After 3 very short rounds of practice, I was just starting to get reacquainted with driving the slower, higher, heavier, slow-or-no-response- handling of a sportsman car.

By feature time, I was ready to go for it out on the track.  I took the green in 10^th, behind all of the guys that have been running near the front of the races each week. Car was going pretty good, our Nat’s open rules engine seemed to gain on nearly everyone down the straights. Finished 3^rd.

Saturday the 18^th we will be heading to Seekonk with the Modified to hopefully run as quickly or maybe even better than our first trip to Seekonk.

Upcoming schedule…. We will be attempting to make every race on the vMRS, sprinkling in another race or two with the sportsman car, and I will be helping out with the Tinio 44 car on the whelen tour as Spotter.

Cheers,

Larry

Thompson Speedway Recap 7/29/12

Bob and Jonny listen to the engine, with Big John standing security.

LB's Recap of the Day:

Sunday July 29^th the MRS series raced at Thompson Speedway. 34 cars attended, heat races were cancelled due to a short rain shower delay.

We attempted to run practice session with our used tires from the monadnock race a few weeks ago. They had about 60 laps on them, but I had lots of rubber build up on them, and possibly flat spotted them on the lap 48 accident that race. The car had such a bad shake in the front end, I thought the tires were bad. We changed to a different set of used tires, shake remained. I hoped those tires were also bad in some way.

Jonny and Bob talk carburetors

We mounted the new set of tires, and were ready to run the heat race, when the shower passed through. Heat races cancelled. I started the race in 16^th position, and finally narrowed it down to two possible problems.  The shake was either caused by a sticking front left brake caliper and warped rotor, or an issue with the power steering servo. The condition made front brakes slow to react on corner entry, and then steering wheel shaked violently through the corner until the pads were pushed away far enough from the rotor. A single problem on the car, caused me to lift off the throttle early, and then fight a shaking steering wheel all the way through the corner.  Luckily the car balance was very close, we were able to pit for an adjustment that helped me in dealing with the brake issue some (a stagger change and some wedge).

 

Amy and dad John converse under threat of darkening skies.

The crew did a great job ( Jon, Amy, Bob, Big John, Marty, Kim, Jen, Victoria, Linda) helping me get the 16^th place finish in spite of the car issue. We also were without our Troyer expert Rob Clorite, and crew members Alan and Jimmy.

We will not be attending open wheel event at Seekonk(with our car), but should have car ready for each of the August vMRS races. We are always looking a for a bit more help on the crew, as current crew members cannot all attend each race.

I will also be helping as spotter at several events coming up, including Whelen Mod events with Bobby Santos at Stafford and Thompson.

The Barnett crew with their homemade carts, etc, amidst other more financially flush teams.  Gotta love this picture.

Link to the vMRS Points pages:
vMRS Owner's Points
vMRS Driver's Points

Howie Hodge's Chrome Horn Photos:
Amy, Jen, and Victoria
LB, Barrett, and Jordan
LB and Hinckley
LB and Pasteryak
LB, the 56 and Barrett
LB and the 55
GREAT shot of LB getting into the rear of another during the turn 4/frontstretch incident
Starting to make his way through the incident
Squeezing through...
Uh, this is starting to look bad....
Looks like if LB had been a little bit slower this could have been a whole lot worse...
And there he goes...

Busy Race Week

LB ran well at Monadnock.  He started 7th in the feature and all was quiet until lap 48 when he was involved in a minor accident that broke a tie rod - putting him out of the race.  Check out the in car camera from the feature here. Monadnock Feature Race

He is currently scrambling to prepare for the race at Canaan Fair Speedway this Saturday night.  This was a last minute addition to LB's schedule.  He has committed to spotting for Bobby Santos at Loudon earlier in the day.  Currently, LB doesn't plan to race at Seekonk on the 18th.  More updates on Monadnock to follow later......

I've never seen so many numbers on tires as I did at Monadnock on Saturday...

LB, Ron and Bob make final adjustments before the feature. 

Vote for Leadfoot's kitty cat in the Fantastic Feline Photo Contest

Vote for ME-EOW
Caster Barnett is a month short of her 16th year as Leadfoot's right hand bee-yotch - she deserves some kind of reward for that! Few women in LB's life have put up with him for that long.  After a drawn out custody battle, LB was forced to keep Caster in a divorce settlement. 
He's been trying to get rid of her ever since. 

After 16 years with her, he's almost able to tolerate her.  She says the feeling is mutual - and only at dinner time.  Vote for Miss Cassie B!

Lee USA Speedway Recap 6/29/12

LB had his best showing in the 73 modified this season at Lee USA Speedway. In his first visit to the 3/8th mile oval located in Lee, New Hampshire, he made significant progress in the car.  The most exciting part of the evening came on lap 98 when LB was making an attempt to overtake the race leader.  But I'm getting ahead of myself.  Highlights of the day: 

• LB had two excellent practices where he learned the track, posted his fastest time of 15.092 (6th fastest car in both practice sessions), and had no mechanical issues.
• Started 4th in his heat and finished 3rd.
• Started the feature in 7th position of 24 cars. 

On to the feature.  LB started out well and quickly realized his car was too loose.  He was experiencing left wheel hop, had to fight to keep it going straight, and went from 7th to a lap down over the course of the first 45 laps.  It's pretty discouraging when your car is not handling well enough, and you're going backwards way too fast. 

Thankfully, a caution came out and LB pulled into the pits where the crew made the necessary adjustments to get the car pointing forward.  Once he went back out and established that the modifications were working, he began moving forward. We were given the "lucky dog" for being the first car a lap down during a caution.

Near lap 85 another caution flew, and we pitted again.  Car was now a rocket ship compared to most everyone else.  We were now able to pass any car that gave us some room.

Fast forward to lap 90.  A major wreck involving several of the front runners red-flagged the race for several minutes.  Unfortunately, cousin Mike Holdridge (0) was unable to avoid being collected up in the incident and was unable to finish the race. 

Once the action continued, and dust from the wreck settled, not only was he on the lead lap, but he was in sixth position. 

The race restarted on Lap 90 and over the course of the next 8 laps, LB passed the 5th, 4th, 3rd, and 2nd place drivers, all without incident. 

On Lap 98, LB was heading for race leader Jeff Malave (3).  The car was awesome and while he was excited to have gotten up to where he was, he was never going to settle for just riding around to collect 2nd place when he knew his car was at that moment better than Malave's.  Heading down the front stretch he nosed up under Malave coming out of turn 4, and was up to his door by the start/ finish line.  By multiple accounts, Malave  turned left and chopped down on LB, which caused contact and both cars spun. 

Minor damage was done when LB hit the turn one wall, but to make matters worse, when LB restarted the car to take off, he came down the track too far and the 47 of Tim Jordan could not avoid him, causing damage to his car.  LB finished the race in 16th position - his highest of the season yet. 

The day ended on a bit of a sour note as Jordan was so mad at LB that there was a verbal sparring match in the pits.  LB was about to apologize for crossing in front of Jordan, but apparently he and his team didn't want to hear it.  Instead, they proceeded to let LB and his team know they were pretty much "Thompson Trash" (BIFF!!)  (and demonstrated so by dumping their trash directly behind our trailer) (POW!) and in so many words, let LB know that he was over his head in the "big leagues" (KAPOW!!!). 

To each his own, I guess, but we were all pretty surprised that one of our competitors was so NOT classy.  For the record, it was an accident LB takes full responsibility for.  LB suspects that he will cause fewer accidents this year than Jordon did last year.  LB stated that with his RF tire against the wall, he just gunned it too hard with the wheel cut too much trying to get going.  The 47 ran into us after the caution was out.

Front bumper unscathed

The only damage from the Malave contact - tire on tire rubbing

Right side Nerf bar damage from contact with the 47.

vMRS @ Seekonk June 9th



LB in the heat race where he placed 5th.  Photo courtesy of Charlie White. 

My apologies for the lack of timely information - June has been a crazy, busy month. 

Saturday, June 9th marked the first time that Larry visited the Cement Palace to drive.  He has told me countless times over the years how cool it would be to drive his Sportsman at Seekonk.  He got to take his new modified out on the track instead, and he had a blast driving there. 

In Practice session 1 - LB decided to take the advice of one of his racing mentors Mr Dale Quarterley, and push the car to the limit.....or beyond.  LB even warned us all before going out on the track that he would probably spin out.  This took approximately 1.73 laps, when he spun it out on the front stretch.  Whatever this little spin involved, it certainly blew out the cobwebs & whatever else was swirling up there in the grey matter. LB stated "Goal #1 achieved".  He posted 14th fastest time out of 29 cars. 

When he came back out in Practice Session 2 - he had the good fortune to be behind two of the best in the division - Dwight Jarvis and Les Hinckley.  He decided to try to keep up with these two.  This was some of the most fun I've had to date watching LB in the modified.  He kept up with Dwight and I think observed one of the best do what he does at Seekonk and probably knocked several practice sessions off the learning curve.  He ended up passing Hinckley on the back stretch, and posted fourth fastest times in practice 2 out of 28 cars.   

Photo courtesy of Charlie White

On to the heat race.  LB started eighth out of ten cars with top six to qualify.  He ended up in fifth spot with a first ever automatic transfer to the feature.  To say the whole team was excited was an understatement.  People were stopping me left and right, congratulating the team on this first ever achievement. 

Tyrone Hughes (LB's co-workers' son) wanted to take the 73 modified out on the racetrack, but settled for some performance driving at the Seekonk Grand Prix go cart track on Saturday.

If that wasn't exciting enough, LB transfered to the feature and started the race in SIXTH place.  That's when everything temporarily turned to crap.  In LB's words:

"One screw up cost us. It appears we pushed some water from the radiator into the overflow bottle when we were tuning the carburetor. We did that after the heat race. It only took 8 laps in the feature to get black flagged for leaking water from the overflow container.

We pulled off the track, let it cool down. We then were able to refill the radiator. Lost 29 laps, but then ran another 20 laps or so with no problems, and were easily able to catch up to guys at the back of the field after each restart. Our fastest lap was quicker than the fastest lap of the guy that finished 5^th in the 100 lap event."

Once LB knew the car was okay, he pulled off the track with about 25 laps to go to save the equipment (and not be in the way of those racing on the lead lap).  Seekonk was an overall success, despite the cooling system mistake that possibly cost him a decent run. 

Cousin Mike Holdridge, in the meantime, had a solid run, finishing 8th. 

It looks like the team will skip the Stafford Speedway race. Several crew members cannot attend, and with a tight budget, we cannot spread ourselves too thin. He is setting his sights on the Lee USA Speedway race on Friday, June 29th as his next event.  LB has stated that he really looks forward to the challenge of Lee Speedway, a place where smooth driving can be key to a good run.  LB will be trying to do as many races as possible on the VMRS tour, but keep up with our plans here, as we may need to skip an occasional race.

Leadfoot at his first modified signing session.  Photo courtesy of Denise Bass. 

HAPPY 50TH BIRTHDAY LB!

Leadfoot's friends and family gathered over the weekend to celebrate the BIG 5-0.  Here are some of the photo highlights.  His actual birthdate is today, May 29th.

"It's my 50th birthday but I'm partying like I'm 73"

LB got a new walker for his birthday. 

 LB's neice Molly sure knows how to make the cupcakes!!!

For more photos, visit LB's 50th Birthday pixs

Happy 50th LB!

Thompson Race Photos

Here are a some links to photos taken during the Thompson event. 

From Howie and Mary Hodge's collection at the Chrome Horn:
Heat Race Action:

73 & 9 cars

55, 9 & 73

73 & 2

Feature Race:

Mike Holdridge & LB

Accident that broke LB's right front

Ah, the look on LB's face says it all. 73 on the hook

Thompson Speedway Race Recap

Crewmen's legs sticking out everywhere as they work to replace the ring gear that broke during practice session one.

LB finally got to experience a vMRS race – even if only for 22 laps!  Here is his recap of the event.

PRE-RACE
Preps for this event included moving components for weight balance, many adjustments, and even building some shelves in the car trailer. With every event we continue to be better prepared.

PRACTICE SESSION I & II
Once at Thompson Speedway, we prepped for the first round of practice, I head out and give the car the shake down, all pretty decent. The car stalls again as I head towards the pits from the infield, I hit the starter switch, and crap, a tooth breaks on the ring gear.

After being pushed into the pits, another major project is under way. Jonny, Jimmy, Rob, and Alan begin pulling the transmission out of the car, while I head out in search of the needed Flywheel / ring gear. I find one from Jack Bateman (thanx Jack), and the crew makes the swap. We lose the rest of practice session, and part of the second session, but do make it back onto the track to make sure everything is OK.

HEAT RACE
Time to prep for the heat race, in which I must start on the outside pole. Why not there when I need to qualify to make a race???? With limited practice time, I decide to take it kinda easy the first couple of laps. I lose quite a few positions, but then settle in and run off the remaining laps.

SPOTTING FOR 16 SK MOD
After the heat race, I decide I can fit in a spotting task to help out friend Todd Ceravolo in his Sunoco Mod. I get a few looks as I head to the spotters area in my fire suit, but Todd would have a great run. Todd Starts 5^th, runs to the front quickly, and paces the field. Late in the race Ryan Preece is able to run with Todd, but can’t quite mount a serious bid for a pass. Heading down the back straight for the last time I tell Todd to go for one more quick half lap, Todd gasses his Pettit engine just a bit too much off of turn 4 and breaks the tires free a bit. 

Ryan appeared to be just trying to keep it really close, riding right behind Todd’s left rear corner, and when Todd bobbled, he could not avoid the contact that sent Todd to the grass. It sure didn’t look intentional to me. Spotters opinion….. Todd saved it to come in 5^th. It sure felt better to me than finishing 5^th a couple of times last year, when only 5 cars were running at any speed at all. The 16 car looked so much better than it did most of last year. 

FEATURE RACE
The features for all divisions dragged on quite a while. It seemed we sat in our cars for a week waiting. And then the “in car intros”. They are nice, but add to a long day. I just wanted to get this first race underway, I suppose. The race finally starts, I get a few “how do you do” nudges, but start to get the 73 going after a few laps. I started the race in 26^th, lost a few spots, then started gaining back a few. I was in 21^st at one point during one of many cautions. Soon after, I felt a few engine misses on the straights, then it was OK etc. then all of a sudden it just quits. One big backfire / boom through the exhaust while on the front straight. I manage to get to the bottom and roll towards the pits.
I cannot re-fire the car, and have no clue what happened. Jonny quickly spots the coil wire has fallen off, possibly had been bumped during the tranny removal work. He removes the panel, reconnects it, reinstalls the panel and I am off towards the track. I blend in and had only lost a lap (as they had just restarted the race). A lap or two later another caution. Even without the Aaron’s Sponsorship, I hear we are getting the lucky dog free lap back pass. I have no idea where to line up, we cannot hear the officials (if they even ever said where). When the race resumes, the big one happens up front. I had just firmly planted my lead foot to get all I could from my Jack’s Competition Engine and I tried like heck to get the car stopped. I could not get it wooooooed down before running into another car, as the entire track was blocked. Broken RF suspension. Our race day was over at Lap 22.

MIKE HOLDRIDGE GAINS 25 POSITIONS
We get towed to the infield, and grab our pom poms to cheers for cousin Mike in the mighty Holdridge number zero. Dale and Matt know how to turn a mean wrench. And Mike, sure can wheel a race car. Mike had had a flat tire at the start of the heat race, started way in the back, had had to dodge the wrecks, pitted a time or two, and still was running near the front by mid race. What a show he was putting on! He once again gets a 4^th place finish driving a damaged car. Nice work Mike , Dale, Matt, and Spotter John Cleary.

LOOKING AHEAD TO SEEKONK
We fully expect to have all the damaged parts replaced in time for Seekonk race on June 9^th. I feel that I am actually ready to race the car now, so do not be surprised if we run quite a bit better in the very near future.

THANK YOU TO….
Thanx to my Spotter Kim, crew members Jon, Amy, Rob, Jimmy, Laurie, Alan, and Jen for all the help and support. See everyone at Seekonk on the 9^th.

PS
See many of you this Friday at Stafford as I will be Spotting for Bobby Santos in the Tinio 44. Once the mod is repaired, we may finally get the sportsman car into the shop. A guest appearance at Thompson Speedway could soon follow. Send boxes of well wishes, sleep, money or race parts to our Moosup shop ASAP!
Larry

Barnett Racing proudly welcomes

East Providence Cycle

as Sponsor of the 73 Modified 

EP Cycle is a family-owned business located in East Providence, RI, stocked floor to ceiling with bicycles of all types, equipment, accessories, clothing and much more.  Stay tuned for more details about this new partnership!  Welcome - Foulkes Family to Barnett Racing!

East Providence Cycle
414 Warren Avenue
East Providence, RI
401-434-3838
www.eastprovidencecycle.com

Update from Leadfoot & new graphics

New hero cards by Denise Bass Photography & Design (front)

Leadfoot sent me this update to post to the blog after a long night of working the graveyard shift:

"Results, not excuses! I am a bit embarrassed by our team results so far, I could probably come up with 73 excuses if it mattered, but it doesn’t. Two race events, no race starts!

Updated modified logo

There are some good things to be proud of though:

We were 11^th quickest of 28 cars in practice at Waterford.We were running good lap times at Monadnock after making huge adjustments.

The car looks damn sharp!

We have accomplished a tremendous amount of work converting our car from an SK mod to a tour type mod. Quite frankly, it was a miracle we made it to Waterford at all.

We also have yet to have anything actually fail that would keep us from running. 

New Hero cards (back) designed by Denise Bass Photography & Design

What has happened is: a poor draw for start position, a little love tap that cost us the one position we needed to qualify, a broken spark plug, a gapless spark plug, a panhard bar bracket that slipped, a…..you get the idea!

Mostly, we are still trying to do some of the fine tuning adjustments that only time & money will allow us to get it done.

It has been a huge undertaking building the car, but also collecting the proper tools, equipment, parts, and setting up a car trailer and shop to service the needs of a tour type mod.

Updated Web Logo by Denise Bass Photography and Design

I have a lot to learn about driving a modified at tracks I have never been to. If I had a perfect car, learning to drive it would be that much easier. We will get there quicker than some may think, if money will allow us to do so, that is.

I am thankful for all of the work our crew has done so far, and we will show some results on the track soon. That I can promise.

Coming soon for the 73 team:

Possibly practice at Thompson May 10^th (if I can arrange with work schedule)
Race on Sunday May 20th
Possibly get the sportsman car back on the track either May 31^st, or June 7^th.

Cheers,

Larry