Cherry Raceway in Fife Lake, MI is a sweet, high-banked 3/8 mile track. We were under threat of a major thunderstorm the entire day. It never did materialize. Temperatures were in the high 70s, with a moderate breeze, which kindly blew the clay dust away from us. Gotta LOVE when that happens.
Having not driven the car at Merritt, Randy dropped from 10th to 15th in the points standings. With only one race left it'll be difficult to make that up, but it was a fun, fun, FUN night.
We had the wonderful fortune to pit next to Chuck Wilson (#31), a veteran driver from Ohio. His son, Chad, who worked with a World of Outlaws team last year, was there to pit for his dad. They shared some very helpful set-up information, which not only increased our bank of knowledge, but helped the car handle better.
Set-up is a major part of racing a sprint car on dirt. Stagger, tire pressure, the spacers on the rear axle, rear end gears, adjustment of the torsion bars all have an impact. Since each track is a little different, and on any given day the same track can be vastly different, it's important to begin to note what set-ups work where, and when.
So-o-o-o, we're in, like, kindergarten. But, what was awesome about being next to Chuck Wilson was that it was like having somebody with a degree in engineering giving the benefit of his wealth of knowledge. Dave, Mike, and Randy absorbing every bit, every word, every thought had a wonderful time. Rand made a decision to lose some air in the right rear, which turned out not to be the best call, but hey, sometimes you're "hooked-up", sometimes you aren't.
Next race is at Crystal. Crystal is the site of "the incident".