Aggressive Competition, Handling Issue Cause Point Lead to Shrink

When David was interviewed by OntarioOval.com prior to the night's racing on July 23rd, he said that he had finished second a lot this year because he wasn't willing to hit the leader to get past them. After Saturday's race David was reminded that other drivers are more than willing to use the bumper to make a pass.

The #37 Pennzoil Impala was fast in practice and the team only had to make minor changes before the heat race.

With starting positions determined by inverting the top 6 in points, David lined up on the outside of row 3 for the second heat race with 5 fast cars starting ahead of the #37. David tried to make the outside lane work, but eventually had to settle into 5th position behind the #82 of Jason Shaw. He finished the race in 5th and lost one point to Shaw in the overall points standings.

The feature race was also lined up by inverting the top 12 qualifiers by points, meaning David started on the outside of row 6. The faster cars were unable to move forward until contact between the #36 and #33 brought out the first caution. David restarted in 8th and the outside lane began moving forward. The Pennzoil Impala quickly moved into 4th and had climbed to 3rd with just over 10 laps to go.  

At that point, the car developed a slight push in the corners and the #89 of Shawn Chenoweth and #82 of Jason Shaw were able to close in on David's rear bumper. Chenoweth got into the back of the #37 and was warned by the flagman. Coming off turn 4 to the white flag, Chenoweth knocked David sideways. Before the #37 was straightened out, both Chenoweth and Shaw had made the pass, dropping David to 5th place at the finish.

"I'm getting pretty sick of racing with guys who don't know how to pass cleanly," said a frustrated David after the race. "I've been knocked out of the lead in both Grisdale races this year and now Chenoweth knocked me out of the way and cost me a good points night. I've run second three times this year because I didn't want to hit a guy to get by him, but the track doesn't seem to mind if you hit someone to pass them."

"I'll be changing my driving style when I'm racing with guys who want to be overly aggressive with me," said David.

David's points lead atop the Late Model Division slipped to 5 points after the event...a lead the team hopes to extend on July 30th at Flamboro Speedway. It's "Kids Ride Night" from 5 to 6 pm, so bring the young ones out so they can take a lap around the track in one of their favorite cars.

Hope to see you there.