May 31, 2004 - USMTS
Steele County Fairgrounds - Owatonna, MN
2nd USMTS Feature of the Season Ends in Crash
After a disappointing showing at PJ on the 27th Larry & John decided to make some changes to the car's suspension before the Memorial Day USMTS Show. They worked Monday morning to put a Z-link suspension on the left rear of the car. The USMTS show would have 31 mods on hand, and we were looking forward to a good showing. The event slated for 3 PM would get underway late after some rain showers, and would also be interrupted on a few occasions for showers. The rear suspension change would prove to be a good call as despite the rain the track would be quite dry throughout the show. John would start 3rd in his heat and end up 5th, but the car ran pretty well overall, and John was getting the hang of the new suspension. The B feature had John starting 4th needing a top-5 to advance. Early on in the race John moved up into 2nd place and was challenging the race leader. On a restart John would actually make a pass for the lead before being called back for another caution. A long red-flag for an accident allowed John's tires to cool off and the car was never as good during the B. John was able to hold on to 4th place and get a transfer spot to the A Main. John started 20th of 24 cars in the 30 lap A Main, and would hold his ground early, being patient as the field sorted itself out. John patiently moved up to the 14th spot under green. When the caution flew around lap 10 we were excited for our prospects for the rest of the feature. But on the restart a car would get out of shape, and John would checkup giving up several positions ending up 19th in the running order, but right on the heels of early race leader Steve Wetzstein. John would be running right on the bumper of the pack again, but with about 15 laps remaining John would run out of racetrack getting pinned between the backstretch wall and the spun car of Brad McEwan ending his night. John would have no place to go as McEwan had spun into the wall just as John was making a move to the outside. John would get scored 20th, but the car was running great and we're anxious for our next outing. |
