Lake Ozark Speedway and Salina Highbanks

 Ok.    Will we ALWAYS start in the back??  It's the luck of the draw, literally, nothing you can do about that.


Lake Ozark Speedway, Eldon MO   8/21

We all traveled in the toter from Hermitage to Lake of the Ozarks for this race Friday night.



Chauffeured by Casey, nice comfortable ride and very scenic going through the Lake district.





Pleasantly surprised at how nice a facility this is.  Even has a high pressure wash bay in the pits,  handy when your car needs a little bath.



Started the Heat in the back, of course.  In this race, which is 8 laps, Casey got the car from 7th to 4th in a very nice run.  Advanced us to the Main with  a  9th starting position.  Just a few laps in he was up to 4th, from 9th, in a strong run - until we broke the left front shock mount late in the race, which killed handling. 

 He kept it going, finishing 7th.  Good run, and a second Top Ten finish in two nights.  Very pleased, all things considered.



Returned to Hermitage in the rig, arriving back at the campground at 1:30 in the morning, showered and hit the sack pretty quick.  Sleep comes fast and deep at this point.

Before you know it - it's time to break camp and head down the highway toward Pryor, OK, glad that it's only a 3-hour drive.  After a stop at Walgreen's (Yes, you need drugs for this sort of thing) we head out to Pryor Creek east of town.  

Salina Highbanks Speedway

Have heard about this track many times, but never before been here.

WOW!  What a facility.  Like a slightly smaller version of the Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, MO.  Very impressed.

 

Truly high-banked track, with considerable banking on the front and back straights, not a common thing.  Nice wide track surface, but looks like it'll dry out pretty quick.  

Again, due to a bad pill draw (Doug's fault this time) we start in the back of our Heat race, behind Jason Hughes, Rodney Sanders, Dereck Ramirez, Tanner Mullins and Adam Kates.  A veritable "Who's Who" of USMTS racing.  And the race is 8 laps long.  What's a mother to do?  So we finish back there somewhere and have to work thru the B-Main.

B-Main, which is also only 8 laps, Casey starts 6th and moves up two to finish in 4th.  Honestly, a really good performance in that short of a race.

A-Main:  Started about 20 cars back and ran good for a while, but ended DNF with a "cooling problem".  Hard on a motor, and possibly very expensive.

Bummer.  But it was a good experience to do this track.


Lorna made a friend
Lorna makes a friend, Social Distancing, of course!



A couple of the bosses in the pits, Wade and Lorna, of course.


Well, we've had a pretty good run this weekend.  Next USMTS race is the 8th of September in Lansing Minnesota.  The following weekend back south to Louisiana and Texas.

In the meantime D & L head toward Billings, Montana, a drive of 1,279 miles.
Or we could go to New York City, which would be 1,329.  About the same.

Billings it is!!



Be safe, whatever you're doing.  But know that in parts of this country it's business as normal.  Honestly.  Aside from masks in Walmarts and a bit of plexiglass, travelling around here is much as it was in August 2019.   What you see on your television might not be a true representation of what's really going on in this Country.  Just one perspective, based on our real-life experience.

Keep on keeping-on.

D & L

Comments

  1. HaroldAugust 23, 2020 at 1:06 PM

    Good to hear a couple of top ten finishes. Way to go. Safe travels. Should see you on the poker table. H.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Just MeAugust 26, 2020 at 11:21 PM

    Drive fast & you’ll get to Billings in time to attend the KW Racing Experience @ Big Sky Speeway on the 29th. 🙄

    ReplyDelete

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