On
Saturday, August 11, we got the opportunity to
return to Brighton Speedway, again driving the
Turford Racing #29 car. This turned out
to be a night full of emotions.
The
car owner, Daryl Turford, could not be at
Brighton Speedway for this event because he
was attending a memorial ball game for a good
friend of his who passed away a year ago.
I never had a chance to meet Greg, but he had
to be a special person to have such an
influence on Daryl. As it turned out
August 11, 2007 also happens to be the
anniversary of my fathers passing.
As
the second day of a SOS double header weekend,
the day started off with a relatively quiet
drive from Ohsweken Speedway to Brighton,
Ontario through Toronto. We made good
time. When we got to Brighton we had
time to set up camp and a relaxing bite to eat
before the battle of the night would bring.
We
returned the car to a base setup, went
out for hot laps and the car felt quite
comfortable. We made some small
adjustments for the heat race. I started
3rd in the heat race and waged a great battle
with Derek Jonathon for all 8 laps.
Derek ended up winning the war. I threw
everything I had at him, but came up just
short finishing 2nd.
By
finishing second in the heat, we were tagged
to start pole for the dash. Pete Turford
and I talked it over and we decided to use the
dash for a test for the feature, so we dropped
to the rear and ran the slowest possible dash
that I could. The dashes have been
notorious for drivers getting in over their
head and crashing for as little as $20.
I coasted for awhile, then ran a couple of hot
laps and then coasted some more. The few
short laps that we had we decided to tighten
the car up a bit more for what was going to be
one of the driest tracks all year.
I
started the feature on the outside front row,
with hopes of getting a good start.
Again Derek Jonathon was starting on the pole.
I tried to out race him on the high line, but
a lack of grip stopped any thoughts of forward
progression. I lost a couple of spots
and was placed at the third position for the
restart. The jump of the green flag,
Kevin Job flew past me, dropping me to forth.
On the very next lap, Kevin dove low entering
turn 1 passing Derek Jonathon and Bobby
Crawford at the same time. I thought it
looked like a great idea and followed him
right through. Kevin's new car was
hooked and flying. I was doing my best
to even keep it in sight. As the race
progressed on and Kevin got into lap traffic,
I actually started to gain on him, but it
would have taken a small miracle to pass him.
At the checkers we were scored 2nd place.
Our
whole team was completely thrilled with the
finish of the feature. Second is a
personal best for myself and it is also a high
mark for Pete and Daryl as well. After
the run we had at South Buxton, we knew how
good the car was and how quickly Pete, Daryl
and I have gelled together. It gave us
all great satisfaction to back it up with such
a strong run this week.
As
it stands right now, it looks like I will be
back in the car for the Labour Day Classic at
Brighton. To say the least, we are
optimistic about our chances. It would
be a great honour to be able to give Pete and
Daryl their first win at such a prestigious
event.
See
ya at the races.
