Irwindale 2008 Race Reports

Race 5 May 31, 2008

The #99 team made a strong comeback in race five. We were fastest in practice and after qualifying 6,5,3 and 2 in the first four races, we put it on the POLE in race 5 with the fastest qualifying time. The fate of the invert wheel was now in the drivers hands and he succesfully roled a two allowing us to start from the front row. Things got a little dicey in turn one while rubbing fenders with #9 Cantrel again. Coming off of turn two we battled for the lead with Cantrell the entire race and ended up in second place at the checkered flag. All in all the #99 seems to be pretty balanced and making improvements every race. have to give a special thanks to Bowden Development Inc. for the funding and support to get us where we are today.

Race 4 May 17, 2008

There was plenty of drama in race 4 on May 17th. We did not even get in a lap in the morning practice when the dip stick popped out on the track and the #99 almost lost it in our own oil. We cleaned up the truck and ran second quick in practice and then qualified second for the race. The field was inverted six trucks so we started from the fifth position. We quickly moved up to third position and fought hard and clean for second most of the race. On lap 31, as you have heard here before, "everything went up in smoke". Things got a little tight in the battle for second place while we were running three wide. Contact was made and both right side tires on the #99 went flat, ending the night. Conner Cantrell, #9, who caused the wreck and profited with the win, got some good in-car video of the incident and posted it on U-Tube. See the link below: fast forward about 3/4 into the video. We have gathered it all back together to be in top form this Saturday, May 31st, to give it another run. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VC-frlIvdzk&eurl=http://www.connorcantrell.com/index.htm

Race 3 April 25 2008

April 25th Race 3 Back to the podium. The #99 ran third quick in practice qualified third an put it back on the podium with a third place finish. There was plenty of drama in the race and the driver nearly lost it lighting up the rear tires in an oil spill on a restart. The team was excited about getting back on the podium, and are hoping to carry the momentum and capture that elusive first win. We will be back to the track Saturday May 17th

Race 2 April 12 2008

Race two potential podium goes up in smoke with 4 laps to go. The #99 ran second quick in practice and qualified sixth. In the main event we methodically moved up to second place by lap 30 and made a couple of attempts, three wide for the lead. On lap 36 all hopes of what seemed like a sure podium went up in smoke when we were tapped from behind and spun out. Keeping the truck off the wall was not enough when 23 other trucks tried to squeeze by. The truck was hit twice more, damaging the radiator and ending the night with a 15th place finish. The photographer got the painful play by play in the link below. www.toddcameron.com/race2wreck.ppt (be patient, takes a few seconds to load) The #99 has been repaired, patched, and repainted again. This Saturday, April 26th is race number three for Todd and the #99-Crew. Also on tap for Saturday are the Southwest Tour, Late Models, Pintos, and Pure Stocks.

Race 1 March 22 2008

March 22 2008, opening night, went fairly well. The truck handled well in the practice sessions, running 19.9 laps, which placed us 2nd among the 25 contenders. Another 19.9 in qualifying placed us 5th on the grid. We ran in sixth the entire night, as the power steering gremlins from 2007 re-appeared. The driver man-handled the car throughout an all green 35 lap main event and salvaged a sixth place finish. The entire steering column has been replaced, and the truck has been prepared to race at the front. In other news, the Grand Inn in Covina has joined on as a returning sponsor in 2008. Welcome back, Gary!