 Mechanical Problems at Infineon Raceway Ruin a Great Weekend for Team MGR Racing
Phoenix, AZ, April 30, 2006. Despite being on top of the time sheets during all practice and qualifying sessions at Infineon Raceway, Team MGR Racing ended up empty handed with their first DNF of the season when the ring and pinion gear broke at the beginning of Saturday's race.
Ralph Byers, MGR's Crew Chief, had the Symbolic Ford Taurus set up perfectly for this event. The car was fast right out of the transporter, immediately registering practice laps two seconds faster than last season's fastest race laps. At the end of Thursday's open test session, the #27 car had the second fastest lap time of the day while all ASC competitors were testing at the track's NASCAR configuration. "Infineon is a challenging racetrack in terms of set up. I wanted to start with a fairly neutral car that we could just fine-tune based on lap times and Manuel's input. In the end, we had a very good handling car capable of a podium finish," said Ralph Byers. Indeed, on Saturday morning's first official practice session, Manuel Gil del Real had the fastest time of the entire group (1 min, 22.5 secs) despite the large amount of cars on the track and the green track conditions in the early morning hours. The car, without question, was ready for qualifying.
During qualifying, NASA decided to limit the ASC session to just 10 minutes which practically gave only four or five laps for each driver to get their fastest lap. As it turned out, the top seven cars qualified within seven tenths of a second. Manuel qualified the Symbolic Ford Taurus in fourth place, only three tenths behind the pole sitter, Ken Stinnett. Despite the tight and dense field, the race started without incident. The first three cars had a close fight for position right from the beginning. Manuel kept a two to three car length distance following them in fourth place while he also opened a significant gap between himself and the rest of the field. "I knew my car would be a bit loose the first two or three laps, so I just wanted to keep it safe while staying within striking distance from the top three," said Manuel Gil del Real. "Just when my tires reached optimum temperature and I started to charge for a top three position, the rear end broke."
Although the loss of points represents a significant setback for the Team, both Manuel and Ralph are still very optimistic about their options this season. "The bottom line is that we have a much faster and better handling car now than we've ever had before... and we both know that it's just going to get even better as the season goes on," said Manuel and Ralph as they left Infineon to return to their Phoenix home base.
Team MGR Racing's next race is at Thunderhill on May 27-28. For more information about the Team, please visit www.MGRRacing.net.
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