5-2-10 Joe Shear Classic
Well it’s been awhile since I updated my blog because of the break neck pace of the off-season. Some days I think that if I had fewer things to fix and update on the car in the off-season I would be a happier and richer man. One things is for sure is I would have significantly more money in my pocket, but I would probably be bored.
This off-season we took on an incredible undertaking of converting our Thunderstock car of last year into the ASA sportsman it is now. On the surface it sounds like such a simple task. It’s already a racecar how hard could it really be? Well this is by far the largest project undertaking of my and my father’s life. The pretty much the only thing that was left on the car was the frame and roll cage. Everything was stripped down, frame X’d, front and rear hoops installed, new fabricated body, manual transmission, interior tined off, new exhaust, updated front suspension, new paint, new vinyl, the list goes on. All of these things took place over the course of an off season which sacrificed well over 1000 hours of mine and my fathers free time that would normally have been spent together. I can’t thank my Dad, Heather, Lincoln, John, Todd, Jerry, Joe, and Scotty for the support that they have given in my quest to take on new challenges and gain some more experience at driving on bigger, faster, different tracks around the Midwest.
Joe Shear Classic:
When I first decided to compete in the entire ASA sportsman tour one of the tracks I was a little cautious and excited about was Madison International Speedway. A very fast ½ race track where you would be pushing over 100 mph before entering the corner. This is much higher rate of speed then I have raced at in the past and that I am used to. But after turning a few laps it was not nearly as intimidating as I thought it would be. The track is absolutely awesome and I can’t wait to come back in a few weeks. By the end of the 3rd practice we were turning very competitive times of 21.4 and I was having a blast. But when it came to qualifying we were actually only able to turn a 21.6 as I almost spun the car out coming out of turn one on my first qualifying lap. The car also was not handling the way I know it could. After a few adjustments I started on the pole for the 15 lap qualifier. I got out to an early lead for a few laps when I cut into turn 3 a little earlier when I should have this caused me to push up the race track and allow the #3 sportsman to get underneath me while the #6 followed close behind. I finished 3rd in my heat race. During the feature I started in the 3rd position directly behind the pole sitter when the green dropped I was freight trained on the outside and went from 3rd place all the way back to 9th.as the lead pack of cars pulled away from the field I worked my way up back up to the 6th position where I finished the race the 17 mile 35 lap race. What makes my 6th place finish even more interesting, is that I completed the last 4-5 laps with no breaks. About half way through the race I started loosing the pedal and toward the end of the race they were completely gone. Needless to say we will be fixing this problem before the next race.
To be honest I am pretty pleased with our performance over the weekend Madison is not an easy track to drive and it was the first time I have ever drove on the track. If we could take 6th place at every race I would be pretty happy. We still have a lot to learn on this ASA sportsman quest because It seems that we are about 3-4 tenths slower than the fastest Madison sportsman. Either way the next race is at Dells Raceway Park. I will keep you updated on our progress.
Aaron Cain #5
