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I would like to clarify my “selling out” comments in my last column. I am just selling my equipment, not retiring. I am actively looking for someone to drive for in 2009. Preferably the Lincoln Welders Truck Series or Re/Max Series but I am open to any and all opportunities full time or part time. I just want to drive!
The weather was awesome for both days of racing this past weekend at Toledo Speedway! The pits were overflowing with forty three cars and twenty four trucks, the stands were full and both races were very exciting. It just doesn’t get much better than that!
Our day pretty much went how our whole season did, not as well as we would have liked but no doubt it could have been much worse.
Crew Chief Tom Cumbow with help from Tom “Grump” Hannan and our substitute crew member Ray Frutchey worked hard making changes on our truck during practice trying to find some much needed speed. Some of the changes made the truck feel better than others but we couldn’t gain much speed. Still when qualifying rolled around I was pretty optimistic that we could get a good lap in. I thought for sure that our second lap would be much faster than the first but the truck was very, very tight. When I got to pit lane Grump told me why, right front tire loosing air fast and going flat. It was a new tire so we must have run over something and put a hole in it on our first lap of qualifying. We ended up a disappointing twelfth.
We knew if we wanted to be competitive in the race we needed to make some major changes. Cumbow dug deep into his notes, talked to our good friend Ed Yoak, exchanged ideas with Frutchey and did a lot of thinking trying to come up with the right changes to make the truck better. In the mean time as always, Grump was the one working hard to get the truck ready for the feature event changing the gear, adding fuel, doing other maintenance items along with getting nervous because time was running short to get the needed changes done. As time was running out Tom made the decision on what to do, jumped into action and with help from Grump and Ray made numerous changes to the truck.
At the start of the race I didn’t hesitate putting the changes to the test and we could tell right away the truck was much better! By starting twelfth we knew it was important to be cautiously aggressive so we didn’t let the lead pack get too far ahead of us. The truck was turning so well in the middle of the corner it let us get a great run off and we picked off truck after truck until we were knocking on the door of the top five. The feel of the truck was a lot like it use to be in the good old days when we were always fast at Toledo! Just past the half way point of the race as we were challenging for fourth the truck started to get loose. As we started drifting back through the field I told Tom on the radio it felt like a flat right rear tire or something had broke in the rear end. We tried to keep going hoping to catch a yellow but it just got too loose. We lost a lap and finally Tom said we had to come in because we were a hazard on the track, about that time the yellow came out. We came in and it was the right rear tire flat. The crew did a great job changing the tire and getting me back on the track but the damage was done. This was one of the times I wish we had a “lucky dog” rule for the trucks like the Re/Max Series has. We raced hard the rest of the race and were actually running with the top five trucks but there was just no way to get back the lap we had lost. Once again the crew, Tom, Grump, Mary, Nicole and this time Ray did a great job; we had a very good truck but just didn’t get the finish to show it.
Veteran Steve Christman started on the front row and led eighty two laps on his way to the victory. Newcomer Todd Gearhart also started on the front row and had a good run leading eighteen laps and finishing fifth. Mike Young finished up the year with another strong run qualifying second and finishing third. Mike was a solid performer all year and should be a strong contender for the Championship next year. Nick Gullatta also had good run coming in second and finishing second in points for the third year in a row.
Paul Hahn did exactly what he needed to do. He took his sixth pole award of the year in qualifying and then ran a somewhat conservative race finishing fourth and nailing down his second Championship in three years. Paul and his team dominated the series this year winning seven of the fourteen races. It is a well deserved Championship and makes him a two time Champion! Our Congratulations to Paul, Rick and the whole Hahn team!
In the ten seasons of the truck series there have only been four Champions. Two time Champions Paul Hahn, Bill Withers, Robbin Slaughter, three time Champion Chad Guinn and ’05 Champion Brett Rowe.
I usually don’t write anything about the Re/Max series but what a crazy race it was and a wild way to end the point Championship. Who would have ever thought that the top two guys in points would take each other out? It was pretty cool to see Justin Allgaier move past both of them to win the race and the Championship. I don’t know Justin but I had a good conversation with his dad Mike at Applebee’s Saturday night after our race. We talked some about their successes over the last few weeks, the money it takes to go racing and Justin signing with Penske Racing. Sounds like their family owned team has worked hard for their success and Mike is one proud father!
I do feel bad for the Eddie Sharp team that worked hard all year only to have their driver throw away the Championship at the last race. Most of us would give up about anything to have a shot at a Re/Max Series Championship but it meant nothing to their driver.
The highlight of the day for me though was seeing Todd Bowsher come through with a strong lead lap tenth place finish! Todd ran a smart race and stayed out of trouble all day. I’m sure that was something Todd and his team needed with the struggles they have faced racing this season. It was also good to see my friend from Columbus Greg Sarff back with a car at the racetrack. Unfortunately his driver got caught up in somebody else’s wreck.
Random News & Thoughts:
- Nice to see a couple new competitors out this past weekend in the truck series. I think Todd Gearhart was at Sandusky for the rainout but this was his first chance to race with us. He had a pretty good start in the series qualifying fourth, leading some laps and finishing fifth. I really felt bad for Eric Redmond as his throttle apparently stuck his first time out in practice and he slammed the wall doing significant damage. They worked hard getting it fixed for the feature and Eric finished fourteenth. I didn’t get the chance to talk to them at the track but I would like to welcome both of them to our series!
- It was great to have both Mary and Nicole working in the pits with us again. It has been awhile since they have both been there at the same time and it’s always more fun with them. We missed having Jeff there but Ray did a good job filling in and we appreciate his help.
- We had a pretty good group of friends and relatives in the stands cheering us on including my eighty seven year old Dad, Ray Slaughter. It is always great when he makes it to a race! It was cool because after the race we all went out to eat together, twenty one of us total! We all had a great time and on top of that Dad paid for it all! Thanks Dad!
- The ARCA Officials mentioned in our meeting that they have heard our concerns about traveling so far in the ‘08 schedule and plan on having more races closer to home. I personally think that is very important for the success of the truck series and I am looking forward to seeing the ’09 schedule.
- Now we can all look forward to the banquet which is always a great time!
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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