April 10 Race Report - 5 Races in the books ALREADY!
The racing season is well under way and it’s hard to believe that we’re already 5 races into the schedule, (2 of which were rainouts):
Friday, March 27 at Path Valley Speedway: 600 micro sprint and 305 sprint
For my first official race night with Rob Warko Racing, I was driving a 600cc micro sprint and a 305 sprint car. In the 600cc heat race, my engine “blew up” and cut my micro sprint racing short for the night. As a rookie in the Pennsylvania Sprint Series (PASS), it’s a rule that I start at the rear of both the heat and features for my first three 305 sprint events. In the heat race, I stayed right with the other drivers, but in the feature, the car was very loose and I had to “baby” the car around for an 8th place finish. The 2.5 hour ride home turned into 4 hours, as we lost 2 right side trailer tires on Route 78. After two broken jacks, the ingenuity of my dad and friend Jared, and digging a hole on the side of the road, we were able to take a tire from the left side, put it on the right side, and drive home on 2 trailer tires. It also helped that the Warko’s were able to meet us and switch the car from our trailer to theirs!
Saturday, March 28 at Big Diamond: The Kick Off for the 2009 ARDC Midget Season
Ah, my favorite track! And for the 2nd night in a row, the weather was “iffy.” Fortunately, it didn’t start sprinkling until the ARDC midget feature was over. The car handled well all night, except that a random “sputter” robbed it of some power. I finished 2nd in the heat race to Steve Buckwalter after leading the majority of it. Dad checked the spark plugs, ignition system, cleaned the injectors, and changed a jet. The “sputtering” problem persisted in the feature. Starting 9th in the feature, I quickly dropped a few positions because I was down on horsepower. As the race went on, the problem decreased and I was also getting more aggressive. After 25 laps, my official finish was 7th. It was a VERY exciting night of midget racing for the fans. Check out this video for highlights: http://www.garysilvermanproductions.com/clips/032809clips.htm
There is currently talk of Big Diamond adding other ARDC midget races to their 2009 schedule. Keep your fingers crossed!
Sunday, April 5 at Path Valley Speedway: 600 micro sprint
The Friday night show at Linda’s was cancelled, so Path Valley utilized their Sunday rain date…and what a beautiful day for racing weather wise! The track surface during the heat races was very slick. I started last and finished last. For the feature, the track tightened up a lot, but I was still able to gain some positions. I started 14th and finished 7th. Thanks to Dad and Uncle Gary for traveling out there and helping me.
Other odds and ends:
Tonight’s plan was to run at Path Valley with the 600 micro and 305 sprint, but the show was cancelled. The 2nd ARDC race is tomorrow at Susquehanna. In an attempt to find the source of the engine “sputtering,” dad checked the engine timing, but didn’t find anything abnormal. Our consensus is that the piston rings weren’t “seated” yet. In the past, Bob Wirth has rebuilt the engine and “dyno-ed” it, so the engine had sufficient wear on it before race season. This year, Dad rebuilt most of the engine (with Bob Wirth’s help & guidance) and so it didn’t have any “dyno” time or practice time. The sputtering problem decreased as the last race went on, so the motor should be good to go for tomorrow!
My website (www.stephaniestevens.com) is currently being updated with the complete schedule and I hope to get some new pictures of all the cars up there soon. For more information on ARDC, please see www.ardcmidgets.com. As always, I can't thank my family, team, and sponsors enough!
Stevens' Racing Appreciates the Support of the Following Sponsors:
Schooley's Mountain Auto Works **NEW**
WILD Life Photography http://leatherneck.smugmug.com/
PowerMist Racing Fuels http://www.powermist.com/
DJ Safety http://www.djsafety.com/
MacMillian Oil Co. of Allentown, PA
Broadway Automotive
Ayers Enterprises
Mayberry Sales & Service http://www.mayberrys.biz/
Winner's Circle BBQ http://www.winnerscirclebbq.com/