Our first CCMP experience

First and foremost I am VERY disappointed in the turn out. You have all of these so called drivers bitching and moaning about payouts so somebody works her tail off to get sponsors and posts decent pay outs and 12 cars showed up. I know its a busy time of year but the cars that did show were all top notch racecars.

We had a LONG day, mine was 23 hours. Our problems started in the first practice session with handling and brakes. The second session the starter and clutch went out, the car started getting hot and we lost second gear in the tranny. Third session we got a little closer with the handling, had to push start the car in third gear to make it.

In between the 2nd and 3rd practice I broke out my compass and headed over to the parts trailer looking for a starter and some brake pads. He didn’t have anything I needed so he asked me what car # I was. By the time I made it back to the trailer there were 2 starters and a set of brake pads other drivers had brought over. I didn’t hear it but I guess they announced over the PA that we needed these parts. AMAZING, I had never seen a track do this or other racers so concerned about us making the race, GREAT SPORTSMANSHIP.

We just barely made it out for qualifying after making several other repairs and changes and successfully qualified near the back thanks to a clock error which gave us a 3rd lap. Before the race started we were thrashing on the car pretty good to improve the handling.

All the restarts were double file which kept us close and made for some good racing. We had to start in third gear which hurt a little bit but MSeay did a good job learning the track. As the race went on you could tell he was gaining confidence in the car and pretty soon we were looking pretty good. We got lapped by the leader only who was DQ’d after the race, everyone else was at least half a lap back from him. Four laps later the caution flew which was perfect timing for us because 3rd gear popped out. The final 15 laps of the race Mike had to drive with one hand on the wheel and one on the shifter. With 2 or 3 laps to go Mike passed the 5th, 4th and 3rd place cars when they got a little out of shape but he let them back by because we were a lap down.

If we weren’t lapped by the car that was Dq’d we may have had a chance to finish 2nd or 3rd. Mike was pretty racy at the end and it would have been very interesting. After the long day we still had a lot of fun and we will be back again. Thanks to Sheri for organizing this and getting the sponsors and thanks to all the people willing to help us out. That alone made the trip worth while.

Thank you Ed, Mike and your entire team… the track and its drivers are unbelievable!!!

Through all the tough times yesterday you guys fought back and had a great finish. I look forward to seeing you guys at the next one… call if you ever need anything!

Again, thank you for all your kind words… people like you are the reason I worked so hard for the race.

Sheri Krom

My hat is off to Sheri…

I wanted to be there so bad. I was in a parade that we said that we would support for the Cars of Yesterday. After a morning at The BUDDY’S Home Furnishing “Kids Christmas Program” in Tampa we headed over the Pinellas Park. WOW!!! There are so many Fans still waning for Stock Car Racing still after the closing of Sun Shine. Anyway I can tell you that Sheri hard work won’t go unnoticed. I believe the Winner got over $1500. plus in winnings. Way to go Ander Jackson. I wished more Teams could of made it. For the effort she did. But, next time they will come. We believe!!!
In closing Sheri you are my Hero (thats someone who does things over the top for others without looking for a personnel gain)!!!
Thanks for all you did!!!
Bobby Diehl

We wanted to join you guys for this well promoted race, but I still don’t have my motor. Glad all went well and the weather held for you.:huepfen024:
-JIM-

Thank you Bobby!!!

Don’t worry Ocala… there will be another one… hopefully in February/March if Bobby and Gary want to work with me again on one.

[QUOTE=Edm;39250]First and foremost I am VERY disappointed in the turn out. You have all of these so called drivers bitching and moaning about payouts so somebody works her tail off to get sponsors and posts decent pay outs and 12 cars showed up. I know its a busy time of year but the cars that did show were all top notch racecars.

We had a LONG day, mine was 23 hours. Our problems started in the first practice session with handling and brakes. The second session the starter and clutch went out, the car started getting hot and we lost second gear in the tranny. Third session we got a little closer with the handling, had to push start the car in third gear to make it.

In between the 2nd and 3rd practice I broke out my compass and headed over to the parts trailer looking for a starter and some brake pads. He didn’t have anything I needed so he asked me what car # I was. By the time I made it back to the trailer there were 2 starters and a set of brake pads other drivers had brought over. I didn’t hear it but I guess they announced over the PA that we needed these parts. AMAZING, I had never seen a track do this or other racers so concerned about us making the race, GREAT SPORTSMANSHIP.

We just barely made it out for qualifying after making several other repairs and changes and successfully qualified near the back thanks to a clock error which gave us a 3rd lap. Before the race started we were thrashing on the car pretty good to improve the handling.

All the restarts were double file which kept us close and made for some good racing. We had to start in third gear which hurt a little bit but MSeay did a good job learning the track. As the race went on you could tell he was gaining confidence in the car and pretty soon we were looking pretty good. We got lapped by the leader only who was DQ’d after the race, everyone else was at least half a lap back from him. Four laps later the caution flew which was perfect timing for us because 3rd gear popped out. The final 15 laps of the race Mike had to drive with one hand on the wheel and one on the shifter. With 2 or 3 laps to go Mike passed the 5th, 4th and 3rd place cars when they got a little out of shape but he let them back by because we were a lap down.

If we weren’t lapped by the car that was Dq’d we may have had a chance to finish 2nd or 3rd. Mike was pretty racy at the end and it would have been very interesting. After the long day we still had a lot of fun and we will be back again. Thanks to Sheri for organizing this and getting the sponsors and thanks to all the people willing to help us out. That alone made the trip worth while.[/QUOTE]

Glad to hear that you made it, sorry to hear about all the problems… But hey this is racing… Sometimes it is tough and sometimes it goes easy… As long as you somewhat enjoyed yourself even though it was a long day that is all that counts…