2006 Racing Schedule & Results

Date

Track

Time
Trial

Heat
Start

Heat
Finish

Feature
Start

Feature
Finish

Cars
Present

Race
Comments

3/3-
3/5

Racearama

Congratulations to the team for being awarded the Best Appearing Open Wheel Car.

Car Show featuring area drivers and race cars

3/10-3/12

Ledgewood Mall NJ

-

-

-

-

-

-

Car Show featuring area drivers and race cars

3/31

Shenandoah Speedway VA

-

-

-

-

-

-

First practice with new Spike pavement chassis

4/7

Adirondack Speedway NY

-

-

-

-

-

-

Attended Open Practice & Looking forward to racing there

4/15

Southern Nat'l Speedway NC

11th

-

-

9th

16th

17

Stephanie was running 9th in the 30 lap feature, when on lap 22, she spun due to her oil overflowing onto her tires.  She was unable to finish the race because the engine had overheated.  This resulted in a blown head gasket.  In addition, it was determined that the angle of the radiator needed to be increased.

4/20

Adirondack Speedway NY

-

-

-

-

-

-

Event Rained Out

4/20

Greenwood Valley Action Track PA

-

5th

5th

9th

7th

15

Taking advantage of a free night due to rain in NY, Stephanie drove a 600cc microsprint for the first time ever.  (The #2J car is owned by her friend Jared Schall.)  Again, it was nice for her to get back on the dirt!

4/29

Waterford Speedway CT

-

Pole

6th

-

12th

The overheating problem was fixed, however Stephanie was spun out in her heat race.  The team is still getting acquainted with the new chassis set-ups.

5/13

Oswego Speedway NY

-

Pole

WIN

-

-

-

Rain caused the feature to be postponed until the next Ford Focus race at Oswego.  However, Stephanie and the team were happy with her heat race win, as it made missing her college graduation even more worth it.  The crew celebrated by sharing cake and ice cream with other Ford Focus teams.

5/16

Grandview Speedway PA

-

-

-

-

15th

26

Racing her old combo car, Stephanie competed with the ARDC midgets.  Like the other three Ford Focus drivers there, she had less horsepower and more weight than the ARDC midgets.  On a restart ½ way thru the race, her RF shock bent.  She then was spun out by a fellow Ford Focus driver and had to restart at the tail end of the field.

5/27

Seekonk Speedway MA

-

7th

4th

POLE

DNF

19

Starting on the pole, Stephanie jumped out to an early lead and gained 4-5 car lengths over 2nd place on each restart.  Unfortunately, during a restart on lap 9, her engine started missing and she had to pull off the track due to mechanical problems.  It was later determined that the battery went bad from her flip at the PRI show in December.  Confident that the victory would have been theirs, the team was very disheartened, yet they were happy with their communication and they’re all looking forward to the next race.
7/26
Seekonk Speedway MA
3rd
6th
6th
16th
10th
21
Seeing that all cars are now equipped with transponders, the officials wanted to try something different for qualifying.  They sent groups of 5 cars on the track at the same time for time trials.   Stephanie was listed as third quick in the rundown, but some drivers’ times were lost and everyone had to run heat races anyway.  Stephanie started at the tail end of her heat race which included 3 of the other top 6 fastest cars.  While battling for position, she spun out and only had time to make up one position.  Stephanie then started at the back of the feature, but passed her way up to a decent finish.  Although the team was frustrated with the way qualifying was organized, they were happy with the way the car handled.
7/26
Adirondack Speedway NY
3rd
-
-
2nd
DNF
15
Having time trialed in the top-6, Stephanie was locked into the feature and did not have to compete in heat races.  Once again, the car was extremely fast and handling well, but bad luck took over.  Stephanie’s engine backfired when she started it up before the race, causing the injector towers to lift and bind the throttle linkage.  Had the throttle not stuck, the car would’ve been up front, but Stephanie had to retire from the race early. 
8/5
Chemung Speedway NY
-
5th
4th
7th
DNF
15th
18
Going 3-wide into the first turn on the initial feature start, another driver made contact with Stephanie and spun out.  The officials accused Stephanie of “rough riding” and demanded that she restart at the tail end.  During a string of caution laps for different accidents, Stephanie retired from the race and pulled into the pits so not to risk getting into an accident herself. 
9/2
Susquehanna Speedway Park
Newberrytown, PA
-
-
-
-
-
-
ARDC Event Rained Out
9/10
Warren Township, NJ
-
-
-
-
-
-
Stephanie shows off the new equipment and plugs her sponsors at a "meet and greet" car show
9/16
Greenwood Valley Action Track
Millville, PA
-
3rd
5th
13th
10th
-
Thank you to Peter Vogel for the opportunity to drive his 270cc micro.  Due to the wet weather, the track was really tacky and Stephanie was battling a tight car all night.  The crew was unaware of the reverse split rear torsion bars, but they were still able to make  improvements to the car.  Unfortunately, the engine blew right as Stephanie passed the checkered flag.
10/7
Susquehanna Speedway Park
Newberrytown, PA
-
11th
7th
18th
17th
23
Stephanie was having tons of fun learning how to race her ARDC midget in traffic (and avoiding accidents) when unfortunately bad luck struck again. While running about 13th on lap 5 or 6 of the feature, the throttle shaft broke in Stephanie's car. This mechanical failure is something that hardly anyone has ever heard of before. The team has everything back together and is looking forward to Grandview.
10/21
Grandview Speedway
Bechtelsville, PA
-
-
-
26th
18th
30
The night did not go nearly as well as what was hoped for. The handling and gearing of the midget was a little off. Contact with another competitor in the feature did not help, as some suspension on Stephanie’s car got messed up and therefore created quite a handful to drive. Survival was key.
10/21
Susquehanna Speedway Park
Newberrytown, PA
-
Pole
WIN
Pole
DNF
23rd
-Crash-
29
Following a tough night at Grandview, the team was encouraged with Stephanie’s heat race win in only her 3rd time racing her ARDC midget. The feature started off just as promising, with Stephanie taking the early lead. Unfortunately, on lap 5 while battling for the 2nd position, another competitor made contact with her and ended her race early. Although frustrating, it could have been much worse.
10/28
Susquehanna Speedway Park
Newberrytown, PA
-
Pole
DNF
DNS
DNS
25

Stephanie jumped out to a strong lead in the heat race, but dropped out quickly due to electrical problems spurred on by the previous week's accident. The team had the car set up very well and were anticipating a strong feature finish.

 

 

Results for 2005 (Rookie) Season for USAC Ford Focus Midget

Date

Track

Time Trial

Heat Start

Heat Finish

Feature Start

Feature Finish

# of Cars Present

3/26/04

South Boston, VA

13

N/A

N/A

13

9

19

4/23/05

South Boston, VA

N/A

N/A

N/A

8

5

19

5/6/05

Tri County, NC

11

N/A

N/A

11

7

13

5/14/05

Oswego, NY

N/A

1

1

1

4

13

5/28/05

Mahoning Valley, PA

RAINOUT

6/4/05

South Boston, VA

8

N/A

N/A

7

8

13

6/11/05

Adirondack, NY

RAINOUT

6/16/05

Hickory, NC

N/A

6

4

7

10

13

6/18/05

Seekonk, MA

N/A

3

1

7

2

13

6/25/05

Columbus, OH

9

2

1

9

7

17

7/4/05

Friendship, NC

9

N/A

N/A

9

7

13

7/9/05

Oswego, NY

N/A

1

1

3

5

11

7/15/05

Lakeville, OH

RAINOUT

7/20/05

Seekonk, MA

N/A

5

2

6

6

17

7/29/05

Lowville, NY

N/A

5

1

4

2

17

7/30/05

Chemung, NY

N/A

3

5

14

17

17

8/13/05

Oxford Plains, ME

N/A

N/A

N/A

3

11

13

8/27/05

Seekonk, MA

N/A

5

4

7

7

17

9/4/05

Oswego, NY

N/A

3

1

6

3

13

9/10/05

Shenandoah, VA

11

N/A

N/A

11

12

12

NATIONALS

9/17/05

Lima, OH (1st dirt race)

21

2

8 (flipped)

C main finish-2

B main finish-9

37

9/18/05

Anderson, IN

6

5

5

B main:6-5

A main:1-5

37

10/1-2/05

Seekonk, MA

N/A

5

7

15

16

17