A Dream discovered in Daytona By-Rob Faiella Check out ALL our sections and features here!! There is plenty to keep you busy on our main page! This weekend, with special thanks to Montgomery Motorsports, I was given the opportunity to live out a childhood dream of mine. It didn't involve the twins that grew up down the street from me, or Drew Barrymore, but it was an incredible experience. As many of you know, I was scheduled to cover Speedweeks for another website and they were providing me with a full press pass and credentials. Unfortunately, last minute, the credentials were denied by Daytona Speedway. In the weeks leading up to this past weekend, I had been in contact with Scott Fetcho from the #27 ARCA team of Chase Montgomery. I was going to meet up with Scott and the guys at the track. I called Scott on Friday afternoon to let him know that I would not be going as my credentials didn't go through. To my surprise, Scott called me early Saturday morning and informed me that their team owner, Ray Montgomery, had gone to the ARCA credential booth and added my name to the list for their team. I was going to Daytona after all!! I got to Daytona in record time and met up with Scott and the guys. First, let me thank Ray for allowing me to be there. Then, thank you to Scott for asking Ray to have me there. And finally, thanks to the guys, Cheeseburger, Josh, Tony, Hunter, Kevin, Keith and Bob for making me feel at home. This was a huge weekend for these guys and I was honored to be a small part of it. By the time I got there, the car was pretty much race ready and all that was left was Happy Hour. I helped push the car around the garage area, to and from inspection, the gas pumps, and the garage stall. Other than that, I just stayed out of the way. I have been around race cars all my life and have had the honor of working on the Featherlite Modified Tour #21 team for many years. It was extremely difficult for me to just sit back and watch and not get in the way. I desperately wanted to work on the car. I took some time to watch the Winston Cup boys qualifying, and to take in the awesome sites of the track. I was basically still in awe from the moment I pulled into the track and drove through the tunnel and into the infield. It is truly an amazing sight and feeling. Happy Hour was cut short due to time constraints to allow the Goody's Dash Series to go off as planned. I basically just watched, took some photos and again wished I could be more involved. After Happy Hour, we pushed the car over to the pumps and filled it up, then pushed it back. The day was pretty much over. I went out to my car and drove over to the fence in the middle of turns 3 and 4 and parked literally 35 feet from the banking. The Cup cars came out for practice and the sounds and vibration from these rocket ships was amazing. Sunday morning came early and the feeling entering the track was a bit different this time. Although still incredible, the thoughts of what the day could hold were overwhelming. The morning basically consisted of bringing the car through inspection one final time and then pushing it out to the starting grid. I had a lot of "downtime" between then and the race, so I snuck out to the vendor area outside of turn 4 to meet up with ITPB staff writer, Danny Zeeff. Unfortunately for Danny, his charter bus was doing laps around the outside of the speedway trying to park and we never did get to meet up. I rushed back to the garage, it was at least a mile walk and I was pretty tired and worn out by that point. It was time to get the pit stall set up and I volunteered to lug the pit cart (war wagon) down to our spot on pit road. I think it was like a ½ mile trip. That track is huge and we were pitted down near turn 1 and I had to pull that thing from before the start/finish line all the way down. Needless to say, it was a very tiring experience. The excitement of the upcoming race kept me motivated. Now, I didn't have an ARCA crewmember license, so I was not allowed in the "work area" of the pit stall and obviously not allowed over the wall. The team had hired a race day crew from 5Off5On Race Teams . Like I said, I have been around race teams and professional ones, at that, and I have nothing but great things to say about this "hired" team. These guys were very professional. They not only pulled off a great pit stop, but they helped haul the equipment to and from the pit stall. They pulled out tarps when the rain came. They folded the tarps afterwards. They didn't just come in, steal the glory and run. They worked with the existing team, as a team and I was truly impressed. Great job guys! The race, well, it kind of sucked. We, and I hope the guys don't mind me saying "we", we had a plug wire come off at the drop of the green flag and it dropped us way back in the field and a lap down. Chase had dominated winter testing, practice and blasted to the Old Milwaukee Pole. He was 2nd fastest in Happy Hour and he never got a chance to get up to speed and lead a pack in the draft due to a flat right rear tire. So, everyone, from the announcers to other teams to our team expected Chase to be one of the main contenders for the win. Another thing I was impressed with was everyone's patience. No one, including Chase, panicked when the engine started missing. Everyone held tight until a caution came out. Chase came to pit road, the crew found the problem, fixed it and sent him on his way. Chase battled to the front and got out in front of the leaders. A caution came for rain and allowed Chase to get back on the lead lap. After the rain, Chase pitted for tires and fuel and headed back out. He and Jason Jarrett hooked up in the draft and started jetting for the front. At one point they were 3 seconds per lap faster than the leaders. Chase remained calm, yet confident and continued on moving up to 21st. Then, the rains came again and with that, the unthinkable. The track officials called the race on account of rain with 27 laps to go. What?? This couldn't be happening. This team, this driver, this unparalleled effort, was cut short. There was an hour to go before the Bud Shootout was scheduled to start. The rains had stopped. There was plenty of time. But, it would not come to be. The disappointment I felt was unbelievable. I can only imagine what the guys felt. These guys put their best efforts, their lives and their hearts into this for the past several months. Fate dealt them a blow with the plug wire problem, they overcame it and now they were stopped because the "main event" needed time to get set up and ready. Couldn't it go off a little late? Speedvision, now SpeedChannel pumped this race as "The biggest race of the year" for these guys. Then why not let them finish it? I guess you could sit here and say we could have, we would have, etc… but no one will ever know. What I do know is that these guys proved that a rookie team, and a rookie driver could shake up the big boys. They made their point and left their mark and now they are just hungrier than before. They will be back with a vengeance. Ah yes, this article is titled, "A Dream Discovered in Daytona". That dream? When I watch the races on TV and they start to sing the National Anthem, all the crews line up from their pit stalls, shoulder to shoulder, along pit road and face the flag. I have always had the dream to be a part of this at Daytona Speedway. Well, they got ready for the Anthem and the crew lined up. I wasn't actually officially part of the crew, but I stepped over the wall and lined up and proudly faced the flag. As the first notes were sung I started to get choked up. This was truly one of the best moments in my life. I was living a dream. The singing seemed to go on forever and I savored every moment of it. Hopefully, I will have many opportunities to do this again in the future, but if nothing ever comes of it again, I can die in peace. Life is good. On a final note, thanks again to Ray Montgomery, Chase, Scott, Cheeseburger, Tony, Josh, Hunter, Bob, Keith and Kevin for letting me be a small part of it. I will be doing major lobbying as time goes on to convince them that they need me on the crew full time. I am making every effort to get to their next race in Atlanta and if they can use me, I will get my ARCA license and do whatever they need. This team is going to make some noise this season and for many to come and I would be proud to be a part of it. I also feel that I could help them. If your reading this Ray, that translates into "Please God, let them hire me!!!! Please!!". Anyhow, that was my weekend. You can view the pictures I took Here Also, go to Montgomery Motorsports Website and be sure to follow these guys all season. Thanks and keep reading! Rob RobFaiella@insidethepitbox.com Check out ALL our sections and features here!! There is plenty to keep you busy on our main page! (Editors Note:The views and opinions of our writers are just that, theirs. If you have comments, write to them. We take no responsibility for their articles... Do you blame us?) Article archives Return to the Main Page