|
14 June 2008, Roseville, Ca. Laura Hayes returned to All American Speedway for her 7th race of the season in her Peoplefinders.com Chevrolet on June 14th.
In practice, Laura was 5th fast but the continuing understeering problem again cropped up. Last weekend's race had Hayes first out on the track in qualifying, this weekend was the opposite with her going out last, almost always an advantage as the track cleans up. Laura was able to get her number on the board with the 5th fastest time, putting all three Golden State Racing cars in the top five!
In between qualifying and the main, the team decided that something had to be significantly changed to cure the understeer issue so they put the car on scales, Laura climbed in and her dad and uncle went to work for what seemed like forever under the hot sun. After hours of working and guidance from GSR's Eric Snyder, many changes were made, and for better or worse, the car was bound to handle different!
Laura missed the invert by just one position so she would start 5th. From the first lap, Laura could tell the adjustments were for the better! The car was actually loose which is a first. It remained free for the entire race, a little too free for Laura's preferences but the car was still fast.
Hayes moved up to 3rd by lap 20 and was having a good battle with 2nd place, Gary Glenn, the series points leader. The caution came out which put the #22 car on the outside with the Texas style restart format. Since the car was too free, the outside groove wasn't working the least bit, so Hayes tried getting to the bottom as soon as possible, which wasn't the best method to take. On the lap 28 restart, Laura lagged back too much, trying to move to the bottom lane, and got freightrained by three cars, dropping her back to 6th. At this point, things went downhill quickly. Laura had an altercation with another driver and with nowhere to go, she found her nose underneath the other's rear bumper. This contact obstructed airflow to the radiator, causing the engine to overheat. Then the right rear tire went flat and Hayes was forced to go to the pits, ending what was originally a great night.
After running in the top 3, having a fast car, a possible shot at winning, and having it end as it did, was extremely disappointing. But from all this, Laura did learn some valuable lessons; she learned absolutely no lagging on the restarts even if the car doesn't work in that line as this was what got her into the wrong position and into the dilemma with the other driver. The team did learn a tremendous amount about the car, for next time, they will have to back up the adjustments in small increments and the car should almost be perfect!
June 21st at All American Speedway is a special fair event with a 150 lap race! Join Laura Hayes and her Peoplefinders.com car for an exciting show!
|
