Strategy
Call Helps Elliott Makes the Most of a Bad Evening
David
Elliott hoped that the second leg of the Grisdale Triple
Crown Series would be less eventful than the first race when
he wrecked the car in a heat race. While David’s last
weekend’s race didn’t have the tension caused by that wreck,
it also didn’t have the excitement of the first race which
saw the #37 coming through the entire field for a top-5
finish.
The
car was fast in the first warm-up, so David decided to save
the tires and parked the car until the heat races.
The
evening’s format would include the #37 running two heats -
starting 6th out of 8 cars in the first race. As
the heat was filled with many fast cars, David took it easy.
He finished 5th and waited for the second heat
race to run for the win, as he would start up front on the
inside of the second row.
Unfortunately, a serious wreck in another division and the
resulting delay in racing caused the second set of late
model heats to be cancelled. That meant that the #37
Chevrolet would start deep in the field in 13th…with
most of the other fast cars at the front of the pack.
The
team met to discuss strategy options based on their poor
starting spot in the feature. With the top cars up front,
David figured the best he could hope for was a 7th
or 8th place finish. Rather than use up a set of
new tires, the team decided to change to older tires and
hope for the best.
As has
been the case for most of the season, David and Jason Shaw
were lined up nose to tail when the green flag flew. Even
though the #37 was running hotter than usual, David began to
move forward and cracked the top-10 by mid-race.
When
the caution flew on lap on lap 39 a belt came off and the
#37 lost power steering. Although it was a handful, David
was able to muscle the car for the remaining laps and held
on to the 8th position.
The
entire David Elliott Racing Team is hoping to get back on
track and capture a feature win this weekend.
The team will start Saturday by
displaying the car at Rose-Hill Liquidation in Waterdown
from 10:30 am to 2 pm. along with the #5 Thunder car of
Linda Dean. Come out to meet the drivers and see the cars up
close.
Then plan to come to the track to catch
the racing excitement! Gates open at 5 pm and racing starts
at 6:30 pm.
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