Denny Hamlin Short Track Showdown

David Climbing In To His Hot Rod

Denny Hamlin Short Track Showdown

Richmond International Raceway

4/26/12    

David was invited to the Denny Hamlin Short Track Showdown, but before we get in to the story of the event we must thank everyone who helped us get there. David had put together a fundraising drive to help us get there and it was quite successful.

 All of our sponsors and the following is a list of fans and friends all contributed to help us participate in this star studded event.

Sponsors

 Circle K/On The Run Stores, Redline Power Rush, GazZu Energy, Hunt Brothers Pizza, Sheehy Auto Stores, Everitt Equipment, Carvers NAPA, County Line Fuel, The Lawrence Family, Xtreme Graphics, Dave’s Real Country, Austin Legends, Yorkshire Resturant, Potomac Records, JWS Cycles and Race To Volunteer Lake Jackson Fire Company.

Fans and Friends

Eric Jones, Chief Davis (Race To Volunteer Lake Jackson Fire Dept.), Scott Wintermute, Jason Griscavage, Sandy Miller, Jake Moon, Patt Reid, Tanya Bittenmaster, Richard Miller, Joey Fahler, Dawn Baker-Rafferty, Tom Dearstine, Samantha Thompson, Kasey Stephens, Christina Marko, Thorir Thorison, Mom/Deb Polenz, Grandma, Carl Leckner, Martin Fischer, Jimmy Sofer, Dewayu Citarasmi, Mark Gratton, Olivia Cartier, Fred Isle, Ronnie Valdez, Adam, Harold Blake,Gary Hohman, Rusty Tozar, Craig, Joe Skelton, Dan Fleming, Nicole Fish, Cousin Jeff, Anthony Lambert, Carlos, Cathy Eberhart, Jennifer Shaulis, Wallace Crowley, Krista Elyse, Jordan Walker, Brooke Loko, John Nguyen, Larry O Donnahue, Brian Downey (Freedom Behind the Wheel), Matt Priscott, Matt and Patricia Ridgeway

A special thank you to:

Joe and Keely Murphy, Moon Racing, Robert Bruce Racing and Dan Fleming (Extreme Graphics). Crew Cheif Wes Burton

This deal was put together in less then three weeks and we only had six days to get the car ready, David did an awesome job both fundraising and driving the car.

 Thank You To All Of You!  We Could Never Have Done This Out Your Help!

Also check out our video page for the in car camera action!!!!!! Pretty Darn Cool!!!!!!

It Didn't Look Good Early

 We arrived at the track about 7am Thursday, the track was soaked and it was raining pretty steadily. The forecast looked bad, with rain predicted to be on and off all day and possibly clearing up by 6 or 7 in the evening. About 11am it let up enough to put the jet dryers out on the track. 

Jet Dryers Going Full Force

 All activities such as the drivers meeting and other preparations went on schedule with the hope of getting practice and qualifying in. The rain did let up and things started to dry out, the sky stayed overcast but activity on pit road started to be evident.

Things Looked Better As Each Hour Passed

Finally the track dried out and we were able to start getting practice in. We hit the track for the first time and the car had a misfire in the engine, not the way we wanted to start the day. On the first lap of practice there was a wreck involving 2 cars, the officials put out the red flag which allowed us to work on the car without losing too much practice time.

Making The Repairs To Correct The Mis-Fire

Once the repairs were made David headed back out on the track. He made a few laps and we came in for some adjustments to help the car handle better, this went on through out the first round of practice and when the round ended we were 23rd quickest. There was a 20 minute break then we went back out for more practice. The adjustments we made paid off and David shot up to 10th quickest and all was looking good. As the practice went on we made many adjustments trying to find more speed. That doesn’t always work and by the end of the 2nd round we were 20th quickest over all. After the 2nd practice we put the car back to the way it was for the start of the practice and got ready for qualifying.

David On The Jumbo-Tron

Heading Out To Qualify

 They lined us up by practice speeds for qualifying (slowest to fastest) David went out 18th.  As our luck goes sometimes, the misfire came back and we struggled to make it through qualifying and with the engine problem David timed in 33rd quickest. We were hoping that the coincidence of the 33 car qualifying 33rd would pay off. Once we fixed the misfire the NASCAR officials sent us to the back of the field and we started 35th. 

David and Tony Talking Before The National Anthem

The Race

On the start of the race we decided to hang back to see what would happen and it paid off right away. Going through turn 1 and 2 there was a wreck near mid pack and because we laid back, David was able to miss it.

On the restart we laid back a little again and once things sorted out a little, David started working forward. Just a few laps in and David was complaining that the car wouldn’t turn coming off the corner. That left him just trying to stay close to the back of the pack and made it real hard to pass. As the race went on Tony Stewart was the leader and was coming up to put David a lap down, and lucky for us, there was another caution. We had David shoot into the pits quick to make some adjustments. This put us to the back of the field again but we were hoping that we made the car drive off the turns better. On the restart the adjustments helped and David was able to start to drive forward, he was able to make a few passes and the car felt better to him. Then on lap 50 they had a scheduled break for everyone to make adjustments and put tires on the cars. We were sitting 30th at the break and were hopeful that the adjustments we made would help.

On the restart it was clear that we made the right changes, David was able to make several passes and got up to 21st, one car chopped him off going in to turn one and he lost a couple spots, but was racing door handle to door handle for the last few laps and had some real good racing going on. At the end he ended up 24th. While it’s a decent finish considering all the adversity and for his first time there and racing against the best in the business, we are a little disappointed in the outcome. That’s how it is in racing, no matter how well you do you always want to do better. All in all we put this deal together in less then 3 weeks and had 6 days to work on the car and get it ready for this event, so we will take our finish and look forward for the next big event to go after it again.

Pit Stop For Adjustments and Tires

Hangin On Pit Road