June 2002 Team News Archive

June 6, 2002

Rain, Rain, Rain.... 1st weekly race rained out, enough said.\

June 13, 2002

Well mother nature gave us a close call this week but we actually got the first weekly race in. We went out in the 2 practice sessions and were turning some fast laps and the car was just plain great. Our hopes for the night were building... We started 9th in the first of 3 qualifying races and made our way through the field to finish 3rd. This gave us the 9th starting spot in the feature in which over 35 cars started. Right from go we were on the move and running a strong 2nd within the first 5 laps right on the leaders rear bumper. One problem, John was smelling gear oil and the shifter was feeling unusually sloppy. There were a couple cautions and restarts and the smoking got worse & it was reported that we were dropping gear oil on the track. We made the choice to pit & check it out... Unfortunately we found that the side cover where the shifter arms mount to the transmission had cracked & was leaking gear oil. We had to call it a night. Our final result was a 24th place finish and we are currently sitting 12th in the point standings. The only concession for the night was that the car was in one piece and we definitely showed that we were the car to beat if we hadn't broken. We'll go get em again next week!!

Click Here for Photos From June 13th    

June 20, 2002

The weather was perfect & the stands were full it was looking like a great night for racing. We started out in the first couple practice sessions and were off the mark a bit. We made some adjustments to the chassis for the qualifying race and the car was decent but the traffic was heavy and we didn't have a great finish which in turn gave us a lousy starting spot for the feature event. We started 20th in the feature and started weeding through the pack. There were a couple cautions and restarts and we gained a few more spots. Then on another restart the car darted up towards the wall heading into turn 1 we had a right front tire go flat!! Luckily the caution came out at the same time for another incident and we were able to pit and thanks to an awesome stop by the crew we were back out without losing a lap. Problem was we were back out but in 33rd spot, a longgg way to go to get up front. The car was perfect & we picked away and by the 21st lap we made the pass for the lead & looked like we were on our way to victory but a tangle with the leader while making the pass put us into the front stretch wall and ended any hopes of a victory. We pitted and checked the damage. The car was safe enough to go back out & finish the last 3 laps and we wound up 12th. God Damn we need LUCK, cause we have 0 nada none so far this season.

Click Here For Photos From June 20th

June 26, 2002

Had the Smith Boilers / Falconi Racing #01 on display for Worcesters' 100.1 The FOX at the Doobie Brothers concert at East Park in Worcester. It was a huge turnout and a good time for all. Thanks to the FOX for having us there & giving us the VIP treatment!!

June 27, 2002

Smith Boilers Night at Thompson was a success! There were over 160 guests of Smith Boilers in attendance to cheer us on for the 50 lap Late Model race and they brought us some of the luck we've been looking for. We went out in practice and were off the pace a bit but we were not really concerned because we were playing with old tires & really didn't expect to be great. We started 5th in the qualifying heat race and quickly ran to the front & ran away from the pack for a blistering victory. This set us up with a 6th place starting spot in the 50 lap feature event. When the green flag dropped we were off & working towards the front. By lap 8 we were in the lead and running away again. The race went quite a while before caution flew for a wreck and set up a restart. We held our ground for the restart and continued to lead but that was soon to end as the 2nd place car was moving up on us quick and then over took the 1st spot. We hung onto 2nd throughout most of the closing laps of the race but lost one more spot with 10 laps to go. We wound up finishing a respectable 3rd. We were pleased with the finish along with all of our Smith Boilers fans. We will make the car better for next week & seek out the win that has eluded us so far this season!! We are now currently 6th in the point standings.

Click here to see photos from smith night       

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