Friday - February 6, 2009
(1:00) PRACTICE 1 -- Car felt really good. There were a bunch of cars on the track, so it was hard to get a clean lap. I did manage to get into the 18.4s (laptime-wise) though. The fastest time i've heard of today is a 18.35. While I was practicing, an oil line let go, and covered everything with oil and smoke. Thinking that the motor blew up, I pulled into the pits. We were relieved to find out it was JUST an oil line. The car was a little tight on corner exit, and it wasn't quite geared correctly (because we had to put a smaller rev limiter chip in the ignition). If we fix these two things, we should be very good shape. Keep checking back for more updates. - Austin(2:30) PRACTICE 2 -- We changed the rear-end gear for this practice. Unfortunately the crew put the gear in upside down. Therefor, it was maxed out coming out of the corners and wouldn't go down the straight. Oh well. We'll fix that and get ready for qualifying. - Austin
(6:00) QUALIFYING -- Slowed way down for some reason. I should have picked up 2 tenths in qualifying, but slowed down 2 tenths. Hopefully I am able to make up some spots on the track. - Austin
Qualifying results: 20th - Austin Kirkpatrick - 18.689
(12:30) RACE REPORT -- I started 20th, and got to 15th pretty quickly, then an oil line cut loose... the same line as in practice 1. So, the oil got on the tires, and I slid up into the guy on the outside of me. I saved it, and pulled it into the pits. One of the guys I was racing with (and I was way faster) finished in the top 10. If the oil line wouldn't have popped loose, I bet I could've finished 7th or better. Hopefully tomorrow will be better. - Austin
Saturday - February 7, 2009
(12:00) PRACTICE 1 -- The car felt really good, and we ran a 18.18. If I would have ran that time in qualifying yesterday, I would have qualified 3rd. Hopefully this is a sign of good things to come. - Austin
(1:30) PRACTICE 2 -- We put sticker tires on for this practice. Our main goal was to scuff the tires in. The 3 or 4 laps I ran were 18.30s and the car was tight because of the added grip of the new tires. We get one more practice, so we will make an adjustment and go back out. - Austin
(3:00) PRACTICE 3 -- We over adjusted the car just a little. We will back off that adjustment just a little for the race to meet a happy medium. We still went a 18:25 laptime. We are starting 20th for the race (again) so it should be interesting. - Austin
(9:30) RACE -- We started 20th, because that's where we finished last night (because of the broken oil line). We came through the field pretty quickly and wound up 10th. It is hard to make up alot of ground because the races are only 25 laps. The car was pretty tight, because the track got a lot cooler at night, which caused the car to shove the nose in the corners. If we had freed it up a little, there is no doubt in my mind we could have rolled by 2 or 3 more cars on the outside. I am happy with the top 10 finish, and I am glad we will be starting up closer to the front of the pack for Monday's race. - Austin
Sunday - February 8, 2009
Today is the "crate late models" day off. We will go to bed early tonight and get ready for the rest of the week. - Austin
P.S. Thanks Speed51 for putting my youtube video on your website!
Monday - February 9, 2009
(12:30) PRACTICE 1 -- Since the track was hot, it had less overall grip. We experimented with a few different lines around the corners and we were able to bust off a few 18.40s. No boddy out there was running very fast lap times. The car was lacking front grip, but we think it is just the track. - Austin
(1:30) PRACTICE 2 -- The track isn't as fast as it has been in previous days. I went a 18.40 again, after the adjustments. I feel like it is lacking grip everywhere, but that is because of the track, and the tires are pretty old. I really like the balance of this car though. I can ran on the bottom, and on the top lane, and still run the same times. This will come in handy in the race. - Austin
(11:00) RACE -- Started 10th, and got up to about 7th. Was passing the 6th place car, and he chopped down on me, causing me to spin out. There was no damage, but I had to go to the rear. I got back up 14th, then the officials called the race after 11 laps because there were so many wrecks. It was pretty much a disaster of a race, but oh well. At least my car wasn't one of the many cars that got scraped away by the tow truck. There is always tomorrow. - Austin
Tuesday - February 10th, 2009
(12:00) PRACTICE 1 -- We went an 18.50 in this practice. It feels loose getting in, and coming out of the corner. We also found something wrong with the RR suspension that would cause the inside edge of right rear tire to wear out quicker than normal. That is why it was loose, and why it got loose in the long run last night. - Austin
(1:30) PRACTICE 2 -- We went even slower this practice. All I could go was a 18.60. Since we are waiting for the part that will fix the right rear tire to get here, we just tried to make do for this last practice. I couldn't roll through the corners as fast because the car was skating the right rear tire. Also, these tires are used up, and the track is hot and greasy which doesn't help. The new part will get here by next practice, and we will put new tires on. So it should pick back up. - Austin
(8:30) RACE -- I started 11th, and finished 7th. It was a clean race for the most part. The outside lane was almost non-existant because there was so much speedy dry up there (to dry up oil from previous wrecks) causing it to have less grip. My car handled good right around the bottom, and I was able to pick off a few cars. Now we will be staring in the invert, and hopefully the winner of tonight's race will draw a 7. - Austin
Wednesday - February 11, 2009
(12:00) PRACTICE 1 -- The track was hot, and my tires were old. This resulted in some slow laptimes. The fastest time I was able to go was a high 18.6. The fastest time my dad saw was a 18.45, so it's not just me. We are going to throw some brand new tires on there for next practice, just so we can scuff them for the race. Make sure you watch the new youtube video. It is cool to see how much the tire flexes in the corners. - Austin
(2:00) PRACTICE 2 -- We found out that the right front steering rod was loose, and we found out that the brake pads were starting to fall apart. We tightened the rod, put on some new pads, and put on our new set of tires and went out to practice. I ran 3 laps on the bottom to make sure my brakes worked and then fired off 2 good laps. I went a 18.3 on my second lap, then I pulled it in, so I didn't waste any more of the tires. There was only one car out there that went any faster, and it wasn't by much. The track should pick up by race time (as it always does) so I should have a real good chance at getting a top 3 or maybe even a win. - Austin
(11:30) RACE -- During a few hotlaps I ran before the race started, I felt that the car was a little loose. ISo, I put some front brake in it, to try to help that. The car remained loose in the beginning stages of the race, and I got passed by a few cars. During the middle stages of the race, the car got better, and I was able to track down the cars ahead of me. Soon after I got there, the car started getting tight. This is because the front brakes were glowing red because they were so hot which caused the front tires to get hot, which caused the air pressure in those tires to rise. It was fast enough to stay with the cars in front of me, but not fast enough to pass any of them. Finished 8th (I think. I haven't checked the "official results" yet). At least we are still in the invert, and hopefully we will luck our way into a good starting spot tomorrow. - Austin
Thursday - February 12, 2009
(1:30) PRACTICE 1 -- The car felt really good. We probably had the oldest tires of anyone during this practice, but I still went a 18.4 laptime. The fastest time my dad got anybody at was a 18.3. - Austin
(3:30) PRACTICE 2 -- This practice, I ran 2 laps just to make sure the new tires felt good. They did, and I went a 18.3. The car had a good balance. - Austin
(11:00) RACE -- Austin is currently having computer problems and won't be able to give a run-down of the race, but he has finished 6th out of a total of 23.
Friday - February 13, 2009
PRACTICE -- Austin is still currently having trouble with his computer, but he reports that is not so with his late model - he has been having a real good practice for tonight's 50 lapper event.
QUALIFYING -- Austin has put the Ford Fusion sponsored by Sonny's on the pole for the race with a time with a 18.001! But because of a bad pill draw, he will have to start 7th out of 28 in the race.
RACE -- After being hit under the caution which caused RF damage to the number #11 Ford, Austin was able to rebound with a solid 3rd place finish. Here is the run down of the top 5:
1 Stephen Nasse
2 David Wagner
3 Austin Kirkpatrick
4 Brandon Johnson
5 Tommy Martins
Closing Thoughts
After a rough start to Speedweeks, I feel like our whole team came back strong at the end. I felt like if I wouldn't have gotten hit under caution, I would have won that last race. I would like to thank my Dad for all that he does for me. I would also like to thank Dave Pletcher for being my crew chief this week, Wayne Anderson for helping set my car up, Ronnie Enfinger for crewing for us all week, Ryan Blair (our newest crew member) for helping out, the rest of my family and friends for supporting me, and Matt Larmore for making and upkeeping my website (and updating when my computer crashed at the track.) This week was a great way to start the 2009 season, and hopefully is an indicator of the success we will have in our racing efforts. - Austin
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