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February
17th, 2011
Team
LaCross Fulfills Dreams at Daytona
 As
a group of short track racers from Central New
York, most of the team members had only dreamed of
racing at Daytona. But that is exactly what
happened on 2/12/11 when Team LaCross Motorsports
from Preble, NY took the checkered flag in the
ARCA Slick Mist 200 at the World Center of Racing.
In the moments after the race, team members
embraced and shared emotions that most never
thought would happen.
The
week went smoothly as the team unloaded the car on
Wednesday morning and only had a couple of small
compliance issues during the day long inspection
process. On Thursday the car was approved for
competition in the morning and ready for afternoon
practice. The team made several adjustments during
the 32 laps of practice. On Friday, the team
qualified 39th out of 48 cars. Even though the
speed was not what we were hoping for, Bill
Gerhart assured us that we would be OK in the
draft and his goal was for us to finish on the
lead lap.
Saturday
was a beautiful sunny day at the 2.5 mile high
banked oval, and there was a lot of excitement as
we setup the pits in preparation for the race.
After doing driver introductions on the Bud
Shootout stage, we were ready to run this race
just like any other track we have raced on in the
last 30 years. When the green dropped, we moved up
a few positions as some of the faster cars faded
to the back for safety. After a couple of early
cautions, I was able to get into a small draft
pack and turn our fastest laps of the weekend.
Eventually, about halfway we got lapped by the
main pack of cars lead by Bobby Gerhart. Shortly
after getting lapped, there was a big wreck coming
off from the 4th turn and I was able to weave my
way through the carnage without damage. At that
point, we pitted for right side tires and gas. The
LaCross crew ripped off a 17 second stop and beat
all of the other lapped cars off from pit road.
This put us in position for the Lucky Dog Award.
Unfortunately, there were no more cautions in the
closing laps of the race so we ended up as the
first car one lap down to the leaders. When the
checkered flag flew, we found ourselves in the
26th position. Not bad for a bunch of local racers
who built our own car and engine in Central New
York, which is a long way from Charlotte, NC.
Since
we were running the #7 owned by Bill Gerhart, he
was extremely happy as one of his cars had won the
race and the other made a solid run to the finish.
He was pleased with our effort and reminded us
just how hard it is to succeed at this level of
competition.
I
would like to thank the following people who help
make this opportunity possible:
John
and Darlene Cross, (they never miss a race)
Chuck
Miller, Crew Chief (he is good enough to be
working for a Cup team)
Bob
Cincotta, Bodywork and Pit Support
Aaron
Cross, Jackman and Fabricator
Duane
Canfield, Frontstretch Spotter
Bobby
Thurston, Jr., Backstretch Spotter
Todd
Caufield, Rear Tire Changer
John
Traphagen, Front Tire Carrier
Eric
Bomboy, Gasman
Wade
Camenga, Front Tire Changer
Matt
Sheerin, Catchcan
Bob
Dolezal, Rear Tire Carrier
Grant
Cross, Electrical
Clara
Ortalano, Crew Support
Jim
Caufield, Pit Support
Kevin
Warren, Sign Board
I
also need to thank some businesses that have
supported our team:
Cummings
Auto Machine, Engine Builder, Norwich, NY
Quadraflex,
Labels, Cortland, NY
Bestdeck,
Garage Space, Cortland, NY
Mojo
Photos, Graphics and Photos, Waverly, NY
Ritter
Performance Machine, Engine Tuning, Lehighton, PA
North
Country Custom, Embroidery, Watertown, NY
Odyssey
Networks, Webhosting, Cortland, NY
KING
Design, Webmaster, Staten Island, NY |
