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26 July 2008 Roseville, Ca. After a weekend off, the NASCAR All American Late Models returned to race #12 at All American Speedway for "Fan Appreciation Night." with a new left side body on her car, Laura was ready to get back behind the wheel!
During the week off, the crew discovered errant chunks of metal in the case during routine maintenance necessitating a change to a backup transmission. When Laura tried to enter the track for the first practice session, she had problems shifting and keeping it in gear. She had high gear only, and that would be difficult to work with on starts and restarts. As it would be okay for practice and qualifying, the team decided to work on the transmission after these sessions. In the second round of practice, the front brakes went out when a fitting came loose. The day wasnt starting out too well, but Laura was still 3rd fast after only a couple of laps on the track before the brake incident occurred. With the brake problem diagnosed and cured, Hayes entered the circuit for qualifying and posted the 3rd fastest lap. An oil leak developed during qualifying, further adding to the #22's problems for the day.
Laura was to start 2nd in the trophy dash but was forced to scratch as the team worked feverously at fixing the transmission and oiling problem. A special thanks goes out to Eric Schmidt and everyone at Golden State Racing for running back and forth to the shop to get the right parts to correct the problem. You guys are the best!
Before the main, the late model drivers were called over to the stands to sign autographs and visit with the fans. Laura's fan base continues to increase and she was inundated with requests for autographs. "When the track announcer does driver introductions before the races, it's great listening to the cheers, it's getting louder every week and that's always a good thing!" Laura commented. "The fans are what make our racing possible and one of the things that makes coming to the track every week so much fun."
The invert for the main was six, putting the #22 car outside, second row. On the first lap, Hayes moved to 3rd and was held in this position for the next 9 laps. By the time Laura took over the 2nd position the leader, her GSR teammate Kristin Bumbera (#00) was over a straight away ahead. Laura found her rhythm and focused on the rear bumper of the #00. Without any cautions throughout the entire 50 laps to help her catch Bumbera, it appeared at first to be a formidable task. But the once large gap began to shrink quickly. By lap 45, Laura had run the leader down. Contact by a lapped car allowed Kristin to pull a two car length lead, but Hayes was able to catch her again coming down for the white flag. With a last chance plan in mind Laura entered the first turn on the 00's bumper, But it was not to be as Laura cut a tire down on the backstretch, grazing the wall. With sparks flying from beneath the car and limited steering, Laura remained composed and limped to the finish line, still salvaging a strong 4th place finish.
After the race in the tech area, Laura stated, "This whole day was just different. Every time we went out on the track, something happened. I was surprised at how well the car handled because we didn't get many laps before the main and my crew did a great job with the setup. I'm a little disappointed now, it looked like we had a strong 2nd place finish, maybe even a win but I'll take the 4th place after what happened. Congratulations to Kristin Bumbera with her 2nd win of the season. It would have been awesome to have GSR 1, 2, 3 tonight. Came close!" Hayes added, "I have to thank everyone who worked so hard to get my car back on the track today after our transmission issues, my uncle Dennis Mclean, Jay Almstrom, Eric Schmidt, the GSR crew and my dad of course."
Laura Hayes Racing is made possible by:
Peoplefinders.com, K&N Filters, Golden State Racing, GoneRacin.com, RPM-Race Place Motorsports, PHI-Phil Hayes Inc., Team MMI, Outlaw Graphics, FRE-Finishline Racing Equipment, Northbay Welding, Gold's Gym, Scribner Plastics, VIP-Voris Investment Properties, Radial Tire of Elk Grove, Lee Power Steering, Davis Motorsports of Reno
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