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A look back on the season

2001 was an amazing year for myself. It was a long dreamed of return to a sprint car. Thankfully Sam and Debbie Locuson have given me the opportunity to drive one. At the start of the year my goals were to get consistent and competitive. Opening day came and it was downright scary. The track wasn't in the best of shape. Basically I just rode around trying to keep everything in one piece. The second time out things were better I got more comfortable and passed a few cars. We didn't get back to Bridgport until April 28th. In my mind this night was the night that got me really going forward with myself and the car. The track took rubber in the feature. After starting 5th and a little lady luck we ended up 2nd. I think back now and wish I was in shape that early in the season. Jeff Foote claimed the race. After that night my whole outlook changed. It was a huge confidence builder. Unfortunately we weren't able to make it to Bridgeport every week with prior commitments to helping out with the URC car. After that it seemed as though we were always moving forward. In heats and features. We were always buried deep in the feature because of not running every week. But somehow we were able to pull off top tens every time out until suffering a flat tire and a DNF on August 18th. A week later on a Friday night is when things finally started clicking, Sorta. We tried something different with our chassis setup to start and it sure was ticking in warmups. Car was on rails until I went under the checker for warmups and got bathed in oil. I thought the motor blew but luckily the pan gasket was all that it was. Vince Gangemi was there on this night hot lapping his 358 sprint he was trying to sell. He let me take it out for the feature. I started last and was warned prior not to try and race it against the Limited Sprints. Having a definite unfair advantage I laid back on the start but soon caught the pack and started cutting thru it. Basically outmotoring everyone, but it was the extra horsepower on the super slick track that helped me. I got the feel of more horsepower and trying to hook it up and make it smooth. I got as high as 12th and spun it out after getting on the throttle a little to hard. I was getting rather brave and decided to park it as Vince still wanted to have a car left to sell. The next week we started 12th in the feature and advanced all the way to 6th running out of time to move ahead farther. Everything was clicking now. The chassis, myself everyone was working together. September 7th 2001 a Friday I will always remember. Night started off with a scare. Car wouldn't fire to get heat in the motor. Started outside pole in the heat race. Before the race I was figuring on an easy win. Matt Beasley showed me that I was maybe to confident. As I got to antzy on the start and he beat me fair and square. Started third in the feature and ran second most of the race. On lap 16 I noticed that the motor was overheating. I knew it wasn't for the best but decided to run it. Mike Peirsig led from the green flag. We hit lap traffic with three laps to go and I closed right in on him. I thought I had a chance to get under him coming out of turn two but didn't make it. Then going into turn one on the white flag lap Mike went high to go around a lap car and I went low driving underneath of him coming out of turn two. At this point I was just driving and praying that the motor kept going. It made it and I didn't believe it it had happen, WE HAD WON! It never really set in. I think other people were more excited then me. The next week I was on a super high. I probably got a little to full of myself. I wasn't sure what to expect I wanted to prove that the week before wasn't a fluke. Started 12th in the feature I had missed the setup bad. The car was to loose to run the bottom. I moved up the track and it felt like a completely diffrent car. I ran into turn three attempting to make a pass for 4th place. I'm not sure if he came up or I drove down the track or if it was a combination of the both. But I climbed his right rear tire and started to spin. Then got hit by 2 cars sending me flipping. The rest is history. The car was junk. Our year was done. After looking back at statistics I can't believe how good of a year it was. Not once did we go backwards. Every race we either advanced positions or finished the same place we started. Up until the flip not once did we tear anything up. Several times things happened in front of me where from the stands they were all ready for me to be coming back on a hook but somehow it didn't happen. All in all I can't thank Sam & Debbie enough. the car I drove was top of the line. They took my Dad and I in and treat us like family. Hopefully 2002 will bring more top tens, and hopefully more wins to myself and S&D Racing.