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To say Salem was a disappointment to our team would be an understatement. We went into the race with the same setup that we ran well with last year and our hopes were high that we could have a strong run. It just didn’t work out that way. We started out OK showing as sixth fastest our first couple of times out in practice. We actually picked up a couple of tenths and dropped to tenth before the session was over, not a good sign. We just couldn’t get the truck to turn like it should in turns one and two. Qualifying was even worse as we ended up thirteenth fastest. Not sure why but for some reason this was an impound race so we couldn’t make any changes before the race. Somehow I still thought we could have a good run and I knew crew chief Tom Cumbow along with our crew Tom Hannan and Jeff Long would do what ever it took to help us do that!
Starting thirteenth in a field of eighteen was not exactly what we had in mind but it sorted out OK in the beginning. Then it seemed like every few laps I was dodging a wreck somewhere in front of me. Late in the race we were competing for a top five finish, partially because of attrition and partially because we were getting through turns three and four so well. We had quite a race going with Ash Hawkins for the fifth spot. It was one of those deals where I could run him down from half a straightaway behind and get up beside him but couldn’t clear him. The line he was running was just the right one to keep me from getting the momentum I needed to get around. I got up beside him on the inside a couple of times and finally had the run I thought I needed going into turn three. As we went into four my truck got loose and instead of sliding up into him and wrecking us both I spun our truck out.
After working hard the whole race and looking at a top five finish spinning out was not too smart on my part. Fortunately there were only eight trucks on the lead lap and we restarted eighth behind Nathan Trepkowski and Tim Schafer. On all of the earlier restarts we had been able to pull away from them so I thought we might be able to get those spots back before the end of the race. We got a pretty good restart and as we went entered turn four Schafer left enough room for us to get a nose up on the outside of him. He left plenty of room for us as we came though four and we had a wheel up beside him as we started onto the straightaway. Much to my surprise he moved up, hit my left front wheel and went across the nose hard into the wall. I was glad to see Tim was not hurt because he took a hard hit. The hit on our left front wheel bent our lower ball joint and messed up the front end so just we hung on for a disappointing seventh place finish. About the only good news was that the truck was in one piece.
Random News & Thoughts:
- Right after the race we were in a hurry to get out of the infield so we could get everything loaded up and head back to the motel to watch our beloved Buckeyes play USC. As everyone knows that was a disappointment for us too as the Bucks got their rear end kicked!
- I called Tim Schafer the week after Salem to see how he was doing and how bad his truck was hurt. He said he didn’t think it was as bad as he initially thought but he hadn’t got into it too much yet. I told him I felt bad that we had come together but in no way was it my fault. We had a pretty good conversation and Tim said he knew he moved up on me but he wasn’t sure why I was out there. As I told him by us having a wheel up beside him coming off turn four I didn’t think he would move up going down the straightaway. Still not sure if we agreed but I know Tim is a good racer and we will move on from here.
- Point leader Paul Hahn seemed to be very conservative at Salem. Not sure if that was because he was point racing or if he was trying to avoid getting caught up in the big wreck like last year. Either way it seemed to work because he goes into Toledo with a seventy five point lead over Nick Gullatta. The other speculation I heard was that he didn’t have all of his normal horsepower for some reason…….
- By leaving early we missed it but I understand somebody put up the money to have Hahn’s and Gullatta’s engines torn down. The story I heard was that ARCA actually took the heads somewhere to have them checked and they all checked out legal. Personally I think ARCA should have done this about mid year on their own to take away any doubt about the cheating everyone thinks is going on. Sealing the engine sounds like a great idea but there are too many ways around it to be fool proof.
- With the last race of the season at Toledo and the Championship on the line everyone will be running their best stuff there. It would be great for the integrity of the series if ARCA would tear them down again along with the race winner!
- It was interesting some of the feedback I received on my last column about our history at Salem Speedway. I never gave it much thought that a lot of people that are in the series now were not around then and might enjoy reading about it. That is pretty cool! As far as I know you can’t access any of those articles on the “new” ARCA website or any Truck Series articles from the early years which is really too bad. Also thanks to one of our favorite ARCA Officials Dave Bell for his nice comments my last column, I appreciate it.
Thanks for reading my column, all feedback is appreciated!
Please e-mail any thoughts or comments to rspro4@juno.com or stop by our website www.robbinslaughter.com or www.slaughterracing.com
rspro4@juno.com
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