The regular (points races) racing season at Wall Township Speedway came to a close last Saturday Oct 16th. Coming off a third place & two second place finishes in our last three races, we were looking to cap off our season with a win. But, I'm getting ahead of myself.

Start With A Winning Attitude

We started the year with a different approach to the season. Sponsorship money was down and we decided to run a limited schedule. We also decided to just try and win races and let the points fall where they may. Right out of the box, we started with a win in the Fan Apprication Day preseason (a no points race) opener. We followed that with a disappointing 6th place finish the following weekend, but then came back strong to rip off 2 wins in a row!
We were off to a great start with 3 WINS in 4 races!
(Photo taken by track photographer)

In our next race everything turned bad. On the 1st lap of the heat race, we got run into by the #24 car, launching us into the air! As the car came down, it landed nose first bending the front clip. Our night was over! We never made the feature race, and worse yet, the car needed a new front clip. This put our season back a little as sponsorship money was already tight.

In our next outing while running in 5th place, and me thinking "We can WIN from here!", we suffered a mechanical failure. While running under yellow the car just shut off! The timing sensor decided to quit, leaving us with a dead racecar.

With our electrical problems solved (we actually repaired the car the morning of race day) we were ready to race. A solid 4th place finish that almost turned into a podium finish.

The following week we came back even stronger. After finishing 3rd in the heat race, we looked forward to a good finish. Bryan started 5th in the feature, worked his way to the front, and held off Jason Rochelle #17R for our 4th win of the year! We then joined our fans in the grandstand to celebrate the win and watch the remaining races.

We added another sponsor logo to the car. No money, but a very worth while organization to be affilated with. The Victory Junction Gang.

The next two weeks we didn't fair as well. While spinning to avoid a wreck, Bryan was "collected" by another car. We only suffered minor damage, but that was enough to knock us out of the race, earning us a DNF - 20th place finish. We suffered a 2nd DNF - 17th place finish the following weekend. The car developed a server vibration due to the driveshaft bolts coming loose! And yes, they are now safety wired to prevent this from happening again.

We rebounded in the next race with a great 3rd place finish that almost was a 2nd place. Yea, you always want one more lap. Bryan's post race comment was "It was the most fun I’ve had on the track this year. It’s always fun passing people, no matter what position it’s for." We also set the Fastest Race Lap of the Year for the 1/3 mile oval at Wall on this date with a 14.601 second lap time.

After a couple of rainouts we came back even stronger. We were awarded a 2nd place finish in the "yellow flag - final lap - unwritten rule" race. I won't even comment on this race. We WON, but ended up in second place. OK, so I did comment, lol.

A night of family & friends. The track put on a special fan night inviting all the fans to the infield to meet with the drivers. Bryan march to a second place finish was masterful. As he ran down the race leader & current points leader, he just ran out of laps. One or two more laps and we may have scored another win.

Which Brings Me Back To The Final Points Race

The NASCAR Busch North Series was scheduled to race on October 2nd, which was going to be our final points race for the season. But it RAINED. They returned, as did we, the weekend of the 16th to try again. But it RAINED. So our season didn't finish with a big victory celebration we were looking forward to, but with a wimper. We really wanted one more shot at another Win!
Looking back on the year, we had a good season winning 1/3 of our races. Setting Fast Race Lap at Wall was a added bonus.
Thank You to our Fans & Sponsors for all your support.

In a total of only 12 races at Wall Township Speedway this season we had the following results:

• 2 - Heat Race Wins
• 4 - Feature Race Wins
• 2 - second place
• 1 - third place
• 1 - fourth place
• 1 - sixth place
• 3 - DNF's
• 1 - DNS
• 5 - Rain Outs
• Set Fastest Race Lap with a 14.601 sec. lap time

Comments?
Rebuttals?
Corrections?

Send Email to:
Roy Buckridge
Crew Member - 14NJ