 Team MGR Racing Learns from Thunderhill Experience
Phoenix, AZ, May 29, 2006. The first trip to Thunderhill Park ended up being much more eventful than expected for Team MGR Racing. After a long road trip from Phoenix to Willows, CA, Manuel Gil del Real and his Crew Chief, Ralph Byers, had just about enough energy left to leave the Team's transporter at the track and head back to the hotel to rest as much as possible before Friday's practice sessions. Friday's weather was perfect for all the ASC teams that decided to take advantage of TrackMasters’ Racing event to test and tune their racecars around the 3-mile Thunderhill Park road course. Despite being Team MGR's first appearance at this racetrack, by the end of Friday's practice sessions Manuel's lap times were among the top five for the day. Everything was looking great for the race weekend at that point.
Saturday's qualifying under new rules had all the teams on sticker tires trying to get their fastest lap time in a short 15-minute session. At the end of qualifying, the #27 Symbolic Ford Taurus ended up in seventh place. "The car just didn't seem to have enough traction out of the corners. I had too much wheel spin under power coming out of the turns..." said Manuel Gil del Real to his Crew Chief Ralph Byers as he climbed out of his car. Ralph recognized the situation and immediately made chassis adjustments to correct it for the race.
At the start of the race, Manuel had a good start. He moved from seventh to fifth in the first two corners. By lap two, he passed the #99 driven by Belinda Endress at the end of the straight, moving him up to fourth place and closing in on the top three cars. However, while going through the downhill, off camber exit in turn five, Manuel lost control of the car and ended up spinning out into the infield. Luckily, the car was undamaged, however, by the time Manuel was able to get back on track he was back in last place. Resolving to regain as many positions as possible, Ralph kept Manuel informed on radio as he worked his way up through the field.
Ralph's spotting abilities proved to be crucial as Manuel once again found himself taking an evasive maneuver through the grassy infield while exiting turn five, this time to avoid two cars that had just spun out right in front of him. With just a few laps to go, all Manuel could do was pass the #94 car of Dennis Hannel to get back to seventh place, the position he maintained until the end of the race. "It all seemed like a lot of hard work to finish the same way we started!" said Manuel at the end of the race while waiting for the post race tech inspection. At that point Ralph pointed at the left rear tire that was completely flat and to the ground. "If after all the race incidents and having a tire losing air in the last laps we still managed to finish where we started, I think we should be proud of our accomplishment," said the ever-encouraging Ralph.
On Sunday, seven turned out to be the lucky number as that was the number of drivers' positions that would invert for the start of the short qualifying race. Yes, after all the misfortunes the day before, the #27 Symbolic Ford Taurus was now on the pole and ready to race. Scheduled to be only six laps long and with the top finishers from Saturday starting from the back, this race promised to be as good as it gets. Manuel led the field to the green flag, at which point he rocketed his car to secure his first place. In the meantime, behind him the rest of the field was fighting hard to gain or maintain their positions. Ken Stinnett worked his way up to the front by lap two. "Stinnett is coming up behind you," Ralph said to Manuel. But Manuel felt comfortable controlling the pace from corner to corner... until turn 11, that is. Just as Manuel exited turn 11, Stinnett tapped the left side of his rear bumper sending the #27 car into a spin and leaving him facing backwards in the middle of the track. Turn 12 is a fairly slow corner and the tight field managed to squeeze by without hitting Manuel's car. Yet, for all racing purposes, Manuel's qualifying race was over. Stinnett, clearly at fault, later apologized to Manuel at the end of the race. Nevertheless, Manuel would have to start Sunday's main race in 9th place.
As it had been the case throughout the weekend, the #27 Symbolic Ford handled great at the beginning of the race. Despite starting in ninth place, Manuel moved up to sixth by turn two. He went side-by-side with the #26 driven by rookie driver Greg Nutting through turn two, into three, and uphill through turn four. At this point, Manuel had positioned his car just where he wanted it to be -inside of turn four - to be on the outside going over the hill. The #26 and #27 cars came up over the hill still side-by-side, however the #26 driver did not back off despite being on the wrong side of the road at that time. The result was as predictable as inevitable. Nutting's car bounced left as it became slightly airborne over the hill using Manuel's car as the retaining wall. Manuel's car was hit hard and pushed off track with a hole in the left side of the bumper and a bent hood. Nutting was able to continue although he later retired after going off course two more times.
Despite being in last place with a damaged car and a bent hood limiting the car's aerodynamics and Manuel's visibility, Team MGR wasn't about to quit. "Ralph, I'm going to need you to tell me what's ahead of me because I can't see much in here," Manuel said to Ralph on the radio. Racing for pride more than for position, Manuel adapted to the car's deficient handling and found motivation in improving his lap times lap after lap. "1.59, 1.58, 1.57, Great job!!" Ralph said to Manuel every time he passed the start-finish line. Not bad for a car with a hole on the right side of the front bumper, a bent hood and a driver that can't see the road ahead. But that's what racing is all about. In the end, the Symbolic Ford ended Sunday's race in seventh place, still two positions ahead of where it started.
They say warriors heal faster than average persons. Team MGR Racing will prove that during the next race at Buttonwillow Raceway Park on June 10-11, 2006. For more information about the Team, please visit www.MGRRacing.net.
|
