May 14,  2011

April 30, 2011

Two weeks between races seems like an eternity.  Race weekend arrived and the Richardson Auto Glass#55 Chevrolet was almost ready to race.  Friday night practice laps helped to fine tune the car to do battle. Upon check in Saturday , Brad pulled the second starting position for the heat race.  The ten lap heat race went off without any incidents and saw the #55  finish in the same position it started, second.
The 40 lap feature race here at Houston Motorsports Park had Brad's Chevrolet start on the outside of the front row.  The start was hard and fast with the field tightly bunched for the first few laps.  Brad eventually settled into the second spot.  Green flag racing went on till the half way point, then the yellows started flying caused by problems further back in the pack.  On one of the restarts, Brad was able to get to the front of the pack to lead a couple of laps before being passed by the pole sitter.  The last 10 laps saw four restarts with the #55 falling back into the second spot each time.  Brad finished the race in second  spot, same position he finished last race.  We'll get 'em next race.

April 16, 2011

After many hours of work and many new parts, the Richardson Auto Glass #55 Chevrolet Impala was ready to race.  Well, that was what we thought.  Brad practiced the car, but it was still a little off the pace.  The team systematically went through  everything.  Minor problems with the brakes were repaired which helped the handling quite a bit.  A carburetor change did the trick.  The car was ready to mix it up.
The team had set the car up for long runs, so Brad did not qualify up front.  The #55 rolled off from the eighth spot for the 40 lap feature event at Houston Motorsports Park. 

Everything was clean and green for almost half the race.  Brad was picking off the competitors,  systematically and safely passing them one by one.  The first yellow flag flew for a spin in turn one.  The field set up for the restart with Brad in the fourth position.  It was a good thing he restarted toward front because all the beating and banging started in earnest behind him.  Yellows breed yellows.  One wreck happened on the front stretch just as the leaders were coming around to lap them.  Brad got a small piece of that wreck putting a white stripe down the right side of the car.  No real damage,  just a stripe.  The last restart, five laps remaining, Brad had the #55 on the inside of the second row.  He dropped to third, and quickly ran down the second place car.  With two laps to go he made the pass in turn two and set his sights on the leader.  Brad had run out of laps, and had to settle for a second place finish.

March 12, 2011

Spring has finally sprung.  Warm weather and racing are such a good fit.  The #55 Chevrolet unloaded from the transporter with lingering battle scars from last race.  The team battled with brake problems all day.  They finally cleared it up right before the start of the heat races.
Brad started on the pole for the first heat race.  The car was just a bit off the pace, since all prior work was to get the brakes working properly, instead of the handling.  His fourth place finish in the heat put him in the forth row - inside, for the feature.
Houston Motorsports Park had the feature set for 75 laps tonight.  The drop of the green flag saw good clean side by side racing.  The cars stayed side by side for many laps without incident.  Single car spins and part failures brought out  most of the yellow flags.  Unfortunately for  Brad's Chevrolet,  a part failure caused him to come to the pits, not to return. 

February 26, 2011

Rubbin' is Rasin'.... We've all heard it and seen it for years.  This weekend was no exception.  The #55 Chevrolet Impala unloaded pretty close to race trim.  There are always minor issues to deal with to get through the tech inspection. NASCAR Whelen series officials are serious about what they do.  After final practice, Brad was 5th quickest of the field.
The 10 lap heat race went off with Brad starting in the 7th spot.  When the race ended he had dropped one spot back to 8th.  Back to the pits for a debriefing with his crew chief before any final adjustments are made.
The 50 lap feature race went off without a hitch with everybody coming up to speed with a minimum of rubbin'.  Brad started in the 8th position. The first yellow flew at lap 23 for a spin in turn one.  Yellow again at lap 26 for another spin.  The race was held under the red flag for an oil cleanup around the entire track on lap 29.  When the green flew again the rubbin' began in earnest.  Yellow quickly again on lap 31 when Brad's #55 tangled with another car resulting a spin.  The restart saw Brad get tangled in a turn one crash which ended the night for his Chevrolet Impala.

February 12, 2011

New Series and New Car to start off the 2011 Season.  This was the first time Brad brought the Chevrolet Impala to this track.  Friday practice had some changes to the car that definitely made it faster.  Saturday's practice made it into a real contender.  Brad started the Richardson Auto Glass Chevrolet fourth in the heat race.  Good clean ten lap race with everyone bringing home a clean racecar.  Brad lost two positions and finished the heat sixth.  More changes before the feature were needed to find some more speed.

The feature saw a bit more rubbing and shoving than was in the heat race.  (I won't say it.)  Brad had a sixth place starting position in a race tightly matched cars.  Moving forward was not an easy task on this 3/8 mile, high banked, two groove asphalt oval short track.  The race was slowed by one caution flag for a single car spin.  After the restart Brad was able to move up one position and finish in the fifth position.

A post race inspection showed one corner the car too low.  A coil-over failure had dropped the nose into the no-go zone.  The 55 car was DQ'd for the event.  On to next race.