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News Archives for 2002 Season
As
the season draws to a close Bob has an eye opening experience
and then some fun at the Nationals.
Friday
& Saturday, Oct. 4 & 5,2002-Potomac Speedway- Budds
Creek, Md
As many know we were in a scuffle on the backstretch @ Silver
Springs on Sept. 14th. With that incident our eyes were opened.
There are drivers out there that will intentionally take you
out of a race, even if it meant someone could get hurt. We've
cause our share of accidents, but that's what they were, accidents.
Driving in too hard, racing too hard, sticking your nose where
it doesn't belong but not intentional. After that incident,
our family decided we needed a break from Silver Springs competition
and pre-entered into the Street Stock Southern Maryland Nationals
@Potomac Speedway. We did later get a letter from Silver Springs
stating that we could not race there on Oct. 5, which we did
agree with.
So on with the action at Potomac Speedway. The Southern Maryland
Nationals brought some of the best cars from Hagerstown, Potomac,
Bedford, Virginia Motor Speedway, Lincoln, Winchester and
with us, Silver Springs Speedway. This major event brought
out 70 of the best Pure Stocks, Street Stocks & Thundercars
all racing against each other. All 70 cars had to time trial.
Our time was 19:73 which was good enough for 5th place out
of all 70 cars.
There was 8 heat races and 3 cars qualified from each heat.
We were in the 5th heat. We didn't get a good start at the
green but was able to pull off a 2nd place finish.
Before the start of the feature they brought all 30 cars that
made the feature on to the frontstretch. The track promoter
presented each driver with $100.00 bill. They also gave each
driver a contingency award.
Feature time...WOW...What a race. This was a 40 lap feature
with the top 30 cars. Major competition between much different
cars, some on racing tires, some were not, and some with a
lot more horsepower that our rules allow. Anyway, the track
was very dry, dusty and black...on lap 2 some close contact
broke out right front upper ball joint. So, Bobby brought
the car onto pit road where the guys tried to fix it but at
this point it was race an injured car. Bobby drove the car
with a major push. We finished the 40 laps but in 11th place.
There were a lot of fast cars and it was a great experience.
We were proud to represent Silver Springs Speedway and to
take all our sponsors with us to such a big event.
We want to thank all our sponsors, our fans, and especially
our crew for standing by us all year and for all of their
help. As we end the racing season and we look back, we are
proud of our accomplishments and all we've learned throughout
the year. We seen consistency is our weakness. We have a lot
to learn. Thanks again to all of our sponsors for the 2002
season !!!
Bob
changes his racing line and finds a win in the low groove!
Saturday,
Sept.7,2002 - Silver Springs Speedway- Tonight we started
9th in heat #1. We didn't qualify as well as we would have
liked but we finished 5th which at least qualified us for
the feature !!!! The track was still really heavy at heat
time and we just didn't set the car right. Anyway, since we
qualified we went on to guessing the feature set up.
Bobby started 11 th in the feature... he passed the #1 of
Larry Rorhbaugh for third place on about half way. With 10
more laps to go, Bobby passed the 4A of Randy Askey to get
second place and then had to set his sights on the #29 of
Gregg Foster. Foster was really fast...But Bobby passed him
on the restart on lap 13. Bobby found a low groove that worked
well for him tonight for passing. It was a great race for
the lead, because Foster never left our rear bumper !!! Close,
great, clean racing....But at the checkered flag... WE WON
OUR 2ND RACE OF THE SEASON !!!!! Just a quick Thank you to
WISE MOTORSPORTS, since with all the excitement of winning
Bobby forgot to say thanks in Victory Lane !!!
Charge
to the front, wrecked to the back, fight back to the front
and finishes 10th
Sat.
August 31, 2002 - Silver Springs Speedway- Tonight was FEATURE
FRENZY night. The track took the top 24 in points and they
were in the feature. Then they drew a ten car inversion, which
put us somehow in the 6th starting spot. Bobby went to the
outside early and moved up. By lap 4 Bobby was challenging
for the lead, but coming off turn four he got a nice tap,
tap, tap by a fellow driver which spun us out !! So in the
meantime we had to restart at the rear of the field. But then
someone blew a motor and put oil on the track...Bobby was
the last of 4 cars to run through that oil and get collected
in a pile up which brought out the red flag. We were the lucky
ones out of that bunch, with just some cosmetic damage. So
under the red our crew pulled the sheet metal off the tire
and we continued. It was a hard hit for the #78 of Nick Lorenzo,
the #29J of Jeff Haag, and the #21 of Roger Leaman. Thank
Goodness everyone came out ok !!!! All in all with the night,
we came back to finish 10th in the feature, but at least no
one was injured. It was a wild night of racing with a lot
of unhappy drivers! We guess we just go on to next week. The
season is coming to a close with just a few more races to
go!!!
Bob
has a so so finish at the Springs but makes a great comback
at Susquehanna Speedway!
Saturday,
August 17,2002- Red Lion Pa
Pre-Race Show !!!! The Scott family and Crew worked hard to
get the #47 car ready, after a rough week before, for the
Dealin' Dave Annual Car Show in Red Lion, Pa. Thanks to Dave
Lutz , owner of Dealin' Dave's Performance Parts, for having
us at his car show. We enjoy being there each year the car
is not demolished !!!! LOL!!!!
Saturday,
August 17, 2002- Silver Springs Speedway.
When we arrived at the track today it was raining pretty steady.
So they worked the track to get it ready for time trials.
We pulled pill #14 which put us in the first session of time
trials. The track was still kind of mushy so slower was better.
The #33 of Joe Whitely set the fast time. Unfortunately our
driver doesn't know slow !!! We time trialed 17th. So we started
18th in the feature. Bobby did good with his patience and
slowly worked his way up to 4th position by lap 36, but on
lap 36 Bobby tries to move up a little to give the #74 of
Randy Christine room to race and the back end of the car just
washes out from under him. He spins and takes the #33 of Joe
Whitely with him. Bobby and Joe continued but with only a
few laps remaining we finished 12th. As in the past few weeks,
Racing has the #47 team down in the dumps !!!!
Friday,
August 23,2002-Susquehanna Speedway
With not much motivation and a lot of moral support from Kirk
Wise, the #47 team pushed on from a disappointing 40 lap race
to prepare for AT&T night @ Susky. We were not confident
at all going into this race because we have never been on
this track before. Warm ups left Bobby pretty happy so we
left the car alone for the heat race. With a field of only
15 cars, there was only 2 heats we were in heat #1. We started
8th(last) position in the heat. Bobby jumped to the high side
and ran the car hard, by lap 2 he was in 4th position. Then
one lap later Bobby was in the lead !!!! With the 12T of Scott
Thunberg coming Bobby stretched his lead by about 6 car lengths
to take the heat win !!!!!!
Feature time put us on the pole with winning the heat. Starting
beside us was the #115 of Troy Miller and behind us was the
#12T of Scott Thunberg. These guys are regular racers at this
track and it showed tonight. Bobby lead the first 5-6 laps,
but at Susky they do a double file restart if it's under 10
laps. On lap 6 Bobby got a nudge (just racing) from the #115
of Troy Miller which put him over the cushion and eventually
our car was just too lose to hold off the #12T and the #115.
We just had to settle for 3rd and after the last few weeks
we were proud of it, even if we did start on the pole. This
was our first time at this track and our guys worked hard
after the 40 lapper,with not much motivation from us, to get
this car ready for AT&T wireless night at Susquehanna
Speedway.
Bob
feels the squeeze and comes out on the reciving end
Saturday,
August 3, 2002-Silver Spring Speedway. Bobby was in Heat #1
and started 9th. With this being the first qualifying heat
of the evening the track was heavy and greasy. Bobby got boxed
in behind some slower cars and just couldn't move without
driving over someone. He tried it high and low and with 3
cars wide in front of you there is now room to pass. Luckily
they were taking 6 cars because that's where we finished,
6th !!!
The feature put us in the 16th starting position. Bobby knew
patience was going to be the key, but other drivers thought
that 3 wide on lap 2 was the key. Making it 3 wide on the
frontstretch was way too early for a 20 lap race. With the
#29 of Greg Foster coming in on the outside and the #78 of
Nick Lorenzo on the inside, Bobby was sandwiched in the middle.
The #78 came up just enough to touch our right front wheel
and send us up in to the #29 of Foster. Sparks flew with us
and the #29 getting into the wall. The race stayed green but
til we got the tire changed and got Bobby back out he was
3 laps down. With things all bent up on the car, Bobby finished
a disappointing 23rd place.
On a happier note ****Congratulations to our fellow "Felton
Driver", Chad Trout and the 7c crew on there win at Lincoln
Speedway on Sat. Aug 3rd!!!! We know how much that team needed
a good finish...almost as bad as the #47 team does. You can
have your rotten luck back...We don't want it !! LOL!!!
A
flat keeps the lid on a good finish
Saturday,
July 27.2002 As in the last few weeks, again the top 15
were locked in to the feature tonight. So we waited around
all night to race our feature at the end of the night. We
started 14th with a lot of good cars in front of us...Bobby
had worked his way into the 11th spot, by lap 6, when a
car lost it and came up into his wheel, flattening the tire.
We quickly got the tire changed and put him back on the
track but then he had to start in the back of a 24 car field.
The car just didn't handle well enough to come back up throught
the pack. When the checkered flag fell we took a 16th place
finish and go on to Lincoln tonight and pray for a better
finish !!!!
Bob
cruises to a 4th place finish on Silver Spring's 50th Birthday
The Silver
Springs 50th Anniversary Celebration brought out a massive crowd
of race fans. There was a lot of past and present champions along
with winners on hand. It was a great night to honor all of the dedicated
racers who have kept Silver Springs Speedway alive and made it possible
for us to race there today. We would like to send out a special
thanks to these drivers.
Now on to racing! On all divisions, the top 14 in points were locked
into the feature. With us being second in points and the invert,
we started eleventh in the feature. The rest of the field was divided
into a B-Main & C-Main to qualify. It was a different format
than we are used to, so for most of the night we watched. The track
was in pretty good condition, considering the Super Sportsmans'
50-lap feature and the Late Models' 20-lap feature were both before
our feature. When the green flag dropped for our feature, Bobby
started in a pack of around 10 good racers. He raced tight for about
16 laps and once he sorted his way out of that pack of cars, he
came out in sixth place. He continued to pass cars for another four
laps. At the checkered flag, Bobby passed the 64 of Stan Wanner
to earn a fourth place finish in the feature!
A
slick track prohibits passing but Bob still manages a Top 10 finish
Saturday July
13,2002 Silver Springs Speedway - The top 15 were locked in this week,
which with the invert put us 14 th in the starting position for the
feature. After a three division night the track was very dry and slick.
Bobby moved into the top 10 by about half-way but with the track condition
there was not much passing. With heavy pressure from the 12T of Scott
Thuneburg, Bobby passed as many cars as he could. He got held up by
some slower cars because there was pretty much a one groove track. When
the checkered flag fell we finished 8th place. Thanks for your patience
on the update this week for the Scott family took a well deserved VACATION!
Contact
causes damage and stifles a top 5 finish
New Bridgeville-7/6/02
Tonight we were locked into the feature, so there wasn't any heats ran.
We started 8th and by lap 4 was in the top 5. on lap 5-6 Bobby was chasing
the 4th place car when coming off turn 2 the car lost the left rear wheel.
We sheered all the studs off the axle !!!! We may have been tapped but it
was just racing. With that incident we finished 16th...oh well..We'll get
em next week. CONGRATULATIONS TO RANDY CHRISTINE JR. and his whole family
and crew on there 1st WIN !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Also , Way to go Pappy Scott
with his 13th place finish !!!!! He beat us this week !!!!!!
Bob
overcomes a heat race wreck and a 16th starting position in feature to WIN!!
New Bridgeville-7/1/02
Tonight we started 9th in Heat #4. On lap 3 the #8 of Rodney Clouser and
the #59X of Jeffery Senn get together on the frontstretch collecting us
with a head on hit into the #8 of Rodney Clouser. We had no where to go.
Since we did stop on the track, we already had to go to the rear, so we
brought the car in to check all tires and pull out sheet metal and sent
him back on the track. They were only taking 4 from each heat. Bobby said
the car shook the steering wheel so bad down the stretch that he could
barely hold on. But then on the final lap we scuffled through a spin on
turn 1-2 to get the final qualifying position (4th)!!!
With the car back in the pits after qualifying, the guys tore the whole
front end, suspension and the bumper off the car and went to work. They
had to replace the center link in the steering and break out the spare
bumper!!! They got the car as close as they could being at the track but
the steering was still not perfect. But it was going to have to do for
feature time !!!!
We started 16th in the feature. Bobby ran the bottom to slowly move up.
About lap 4-5 Bobby moved into the top 10. With the #15X of Art Schwartz
lifting in turns 3-4, We hit him so hard it lifted the back of his car.
( not sure what happened in front of him to make him lift ) On lap 7 we
moved into the top 5. After another caution we restarted 4th on lap 7.
Bobby tried low for several laps but couldn't make a move. As the laps
counted down, he knew he had to go. After tapping the #74 of Randy Christine
Jr., Bobby lifted and went to the high side to try to pass. He passes
Randy on the outside and then starts pressuring the 29J of Jeff Haag.
As he goes high to pass, The 29J spins out in turns 1-2. With one lap
to go Bobby had to just hold his line for the WIN, with Randy Christine
finishing 2nd!!
Bob
puts the power to the track - finishes 3rd!
New Bridgeville-6/22/02
We started 8th in the heat race...by the second lap Bobby moved in to fourth
place...He pressured the ZZ2 of Mike Arnold for 3rd place so hard that he
did hit the ZZ2 and then let up and waved him back in line. He spent the
rest of the race trying to find a spot to pass him clean but it wasn't meant
to be. We finished 4th which was enough to handicap us into the feature
line up.
It's "Feature Time"!!! We started 12th in the feature... Bobby
and the crew finally have the car back to being competitive after changing
the rear springs !!!! It took a few races but he was able to use his head
and slowly pick off cars tonight. By the halfway point ( Lap 10 ) Bobby
was in 3rd place. We had hoped with 10 laps to go he could move up, He raced
with the 1B of Paul Morgan for 10 laps but Paul was racing for the lead
with the 15X of Art Scwartz. At times it was 3 wide between the three of
them but when the checkered flag fell the win went to the 15X of Art Schwartz.
Paul Morgan finished 2nd and we finished 3rd !!!! It was exciting, clean
racing last night!!! Bobby and the crew needed a good finish after all the
work they've done to get the car set up again. Hat's off to the #47 Crew
!!!!
New
springs still need straightened out
New Bridgeville-6/17/02
The top 15 in points were locked into the feature in our division this week,
so there were only 2 consolation races. With the invert we started 13th.
We put new rear leaf springs in the car and are trying to get the car set
up again!!!! This week there just wasn't any forward bite...it would go
through the turns but it would just light up the tires coming off down the
front stretch. A 10th place finish, with an ill-handling car isn't too bad.
We'll have to take it and go on to next week. We'll try a few more things
this week and get the car on scales and hopefully have a better finish next
week.
Kid's
Night at Silver Springs Speedway
New Bridgeville-6/8/02
Tonight was all about the kids...There was a car show in the parking lot
from 4:30-6:00pm. They had all kinds of things for the kids to do at the
track and also a lot of cars for the show !!! Bobby spent an about 2 hours
lifting kids in and out of his car. (Be sure to check out our Kodak Moments
for some of the pictures of the kids in the car !) The kids walked away
with all the candy they needed for a night and lots of giveaways !!!
Now for the racing part of the evening...The good news is we won the heat
The bad news is the feature !!! But we started 8th in heat #4 and by lap
4 Bobby took the lead. With heavy pressure from the #77 of Brain Boughter
we were able to hold off for the 3rd heat win of the season!!!
The feature did not turn out as well, We started 11th . Bobby moved up place
by place through heavy traffic until he was up to 6th place. Bobby raced
several laps side by side, three-wide, with the #8 of Rodney Clouser and
the #21 of Roger Leaman. With only 3 laps to go, going into turn 3-4 Bobby
set his car early and comes down on the #8 of Rodney Clouser and he hit
the left rear quarter, which spun us out. It was just hard racing but with
the spin so late in the feature we only go back to a 17th place finish.
Lots
of fans + lots of sliding = Top 5
AT & T night,
Sat. June 1,2002 at Silver Spring Speedway. We took the car to the track
early to display in the front grandstands for the fans to look at. This
was a terrific start to the night because Bobby just loves to stick the
kids in the car. It is just as exciting for him as it is for them !!!!
Tonight there was no qualifying, We ran "Twin 20's", which was
2-20 lap features. The first feature was to all the odd numbers in points
and the second feature was to be all the even numbers in points. We started
12th in the second feature next to the #12T of Scott Thunberg. Bobby moved
into 8th place by lap 7 with the #12T on his bumper. The track went away
fast. Bobby said he could only use about half the throttle, otherwise he
would just light the tires up. It was the last race of the night and the
track was very black and slick. There just wasn't a whole lot of passing
being done in our feature. Bobby and the #12T raced hard and clean almost
the whole race...door to door and bumper to bumper !!!! Bobby passed cautiously
because there was a lot of cautions for spins because of the track condition.
A late race caution with one lap to go, gave Bobby enough edge to pass the
#33 of Joe Whitely at the line for a 5th place finish!!!!
Flats
and floods rule the weekend - there's always next week
Our feature this
week started with the top 15 in points locked in. So we played a little
in hot laps, Bobby took his dad's Monte Carlo out for warm ups, just to
see if it needed any adjustments. After some down time, in the feature we
started 13th with the invert. Bobby struggled making the decision of which
set up to run on the car...He finally chose one, THE WRONG ONE! The car
was so tight it just wanted to push to the wall on each turn. We ended up
with a flat left front tire. Even though we did get it changed the yellow
wasn't out long enough for us to get out without going 2 laps down. They
let us back out on the track with 2 laps down but only one lap left in the
feature, so our finish was 21st this week but on to Lincoln Speedway.
Hot laps didn't
tell us all we wanted to know so we left the set up that was in the car
for the heat. We started 9th in the heat with 6 to qualify and 5 to be handicapped.
This time the car was too loose! Bobby worked his way up to 5th place and
battled the #21 of Roger Leaman for 4th but couldn't get enough bite to
pass him clean so we settle for 5th place in the heat. Not long after the
heats were finished the skies opened up and poured down a soaking rain.
With a major thunderstorm the races were canceled. Lincoln Speedway is keeping
our heats in the books and on Sunday, July 28, 2002 we will join the Super
Sportsman, Limited Late Models and the 600cc Micros. They will run the consolation
race and the 15 lap feature on that date. Stay tuned for the conclusion.
Bobby
wins heat and finishes 8th despite an early race tangle
The track was in
good shape for a great night of racing but it went downhill from there.
We started 8th in the 3rd heat with 4 to qualify , 3 to handicap. Around
the 2nd lap Bobby moved into 4th place. At lap 4-5 Bobby took the lead to
WIN the heat but not with out rubbing some fenders ! Two laps into the feature
a hole open up between the 78 of Nick Lorenzo and the 80 of Weston Alleman
in turn 3 , Bobby stuck his nose in there and was pretty much past the #80
when apparently he caught the wheel of Weston Alleman with his door and
bent the #80's beadlock ! Other than that move that went 3 wide the rest
of the heat was pretty clean race.
We started 12th in the feature, after an hour rain delay, they work to get
the track back in shape to race. After one lap there was a single file restart
after a caution, we restarted about 11th place. A few laps into the race
brought out another caution with the 15X of Art Swartz spinning and collecting
the 1B of Paul Morgan and us ! We never stopped on the track so we got our
spot back for the restart but the damage was already done ! With sparks
flying from the right front we continued on. Bobby moved into 5th place
with about 5 laps to go, but after driving in turn 3 & 4 over his head
and slamming the #69 of George Eash, he lost some spots. Disgusted with
himself this week, Bobby settle for an 8th place finish and not to hit anymore
cars ! I guess drivers can have an off week too !
At the end of the night we ended up with an 8th place ,a tore up car and
a depressed driver but there's always next week to try again.
Patience
pays off big with a 3rd place finish
Now with 2 races
in the books we start our heats according to points, With this in mind,
It put us in the 11th starting position in a 14 car heat. Lap 1 was a careful,
slow go, But with a wild ride up the middle around laps 4-5 we were in 4th
place. With 4 laps to go, Bobby picked off a few more cars to finish 2nd
in our heat.
Feature Time - With the handicapping in the feature, we started 14th which
seemed like a LONG way from the front. The first few laps Bobby knew he
had to be patient. With the #29 of Gregg Foster on his rear bumper he knew
he had to get moving and start picking off cars. By Lap 4-5 we had moved
into 9th place and lap by lap we moved up. By lap 7 we were in 7th place.
And then by about lap 12-13 we moved into the top 5. Still climbing through
the field with one lap to go, Bobby passed the #21 of Rodger Leaman for
3rd place. He just didn't have enough time to really get to challenge the
#74 of Randy Christine for 2nd place. So when the checkered flag fell we
had came from 14th starting place to a 3rd place finish!
Our Congratulations to the #74 team of Randy Christine Jr. on his 2nd place
finish! Job well done, Randy !!!!
Bob pulls out
a 5th place finish at the Springs
New Bridgeville,
PA 4/20/02 - We started out the evening with some major rain showers
which changed the track for the night. It cleared up nicely but it made
racing in the heat a little slick.
With this being only our second race of the season, our heats were done
by pulling pills again. This week we pulled #15 so that put us starting
4th in the 3rd heat. Bobby took the lead on the first lap but didn't hold
it long. He slipped up in
turn 2 on lap 3 and when he did Rodney Clouser #8 car was right there. The
track was so slick from the rain that we settled for 2nd...We just couldn't
get the bite we needed to get by.
In the feature, just like last week, the top 3 in each heat pulled pills
for the start. This week out of 12 pills we pulled #12. With a lot of fast
cars in front of us, Bobby knew he'd have to take it easy for the first
lap or so until things sorted out. Bobby slowly started picking cars off,
one by one. With heavy pressure from Art Schwartz#15, we finally finished
5th. Between the track and our tires going away at the end of the race the
last few laps we just follow the leader. So we figured a top 5 finish was
better than a huge pile up!
Bob finishes
2nd in a wild Street Stock opener at Silver Spring!
New Bridgeville, PA-
Sat. April 6, 2002 was our season opener at Silver Spring Speedway. We started
out the night, wild in hot laps because the car handled perfectly! Bob pulled
pill #1 which sat us on the pole for the first heat. Bob won his heat by
getting the jump on Paul Morgan,#1B, at he green flag. Paul ran hard but
we held the line to take the heat win.
Feature time brought another session of pill pulling, the top 12 in the
heats had to pull pills for starting position. This time Bob pulled pill
# 6, which started us 6th in the feature, Morgan started 3rd. Bob tailed
Morgan through the first few laps to get through traffic, but for the last
15-16 laps Bob and Morgan pulled away with a race of their own. Bobby tried
the inside, then the outside, for numerous laps back and forth but the final
lap, last turn Bobby got under Morgan and bumped him. Bobby lifted enough
for Morgan to get straight and at the checker flag it was Paul Morgan who
took the win - we settled for an exciting 2nd place finish !!! Just good,
clean racing !!!
