Wednesday, September 25, 2002
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Wednesday, September 25, 2002 |
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Clanton Leaves Illiana with a Top-10 Finish Hello race fans! This weekend the No. 83 Camp Fire USA Georgia Council team visited Illiana Motor Speedway located in Schererville, Indiana for the running of the Citgo MDA 300. After struggling with the racecar for most of the event, I would have to say that Illiana just might be the trickiest track on the ASA schedule. This is the first time that Steve Dale Motorsports visted Illiana Motor Speedway. In fact, this was the first visit for the series as well. Because this was our first race at the track, we just had to make a guess on the set-up of the car. Unfortunately, we were a little off. The car was too tight in the middle of the corners and really slowed us down in the turns. In addition to our tight-handling car, we struggled with tire wear as well. We changed tires five times during the event, which may be the most that we have stopped for tires in one race all year. Late in the race, Bond Suss, our crew chief, made a gutsy call to pit at lap 258. I was running in the top-five when we pitted, so I am sure my competitors were wondering why we would want to give up so much track position. We came out of the pits and took the restart in the 11th position. In my opinion, Bond made the right call. With our tires losing their grip quickly and the car still running tight, the finish could have been worse if we would have stayed on the track. It wasn't the weekend that we were hoping for, but our pit crew was great and I was able to finish sixth. While our primary goal each week is to win races, we also try to visit the fans and help the communities we visit along the way. This weekend, Citgo sponsored the race in conjunction with the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA). An auction was held this past Saturday night and nearly $100,000 was raised. The No. 83 Camp Fire USA Georgia Council team was able to donate several items for the auction, including autographed die-cast cars from Jeff Gordon and Michael Waltrip and four condo tickets for the upcoming NASCAR races at Atlanta Motor Speedway, as well as other racing items. The money raised from the auction will help fund clinical trials and studies that will hopefully find a cure for Muscular Dystrophy. I learned a lot about the disease and I was able to meet several race fans that currently live with Muscular Dystrophy. We head to Indianapolis Raceway Park this weekend for our next event. It will be a jam-packed Saturday as we will practice, qualify and race all on one day. e sure to stay up late or program your VCR to see us in action. The race will be broadcast tape-delayed on The National Network (TNN) beginning at 12 a.m. Eastern on Sunday, September 29. Until next time, Joey
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