9/21/2024 - Brantley Queeney - Restricted Micro Gulf Coast Speedway
We got the car to the track expecting a Wing race, and it was a non-wing race. Dad's mistake! Fortunately, Brantley prefers non-wing...so he was excited. We got him suited up, fueled up, pressures checked, and sent him out in his Sawyer Chassis for 'pack the track' and hot laps. He came in after hot laps unhappy with the car, "Way too loose!". We made a few changes, and I told him it would probably dry up some and get a little grip after the other cars run on it.
For the heat race, he was starting outside of the 2nd row, 4th out of 5 cars. I told him to take his time with the front two cars. Despite being a short heat race, he had plenty of time to work his way around them and gain a few passing points if he was smooth and patient. What does he do? Green flag drops, he shoots to the outside to try to clear the front row and wheel hops the young lady in 2nd - 100% his fault, 100% caused by being impatient! He wiped out the whole front axle before he even got to the start/finish line on lap 1. Fortunately, he kept it on all 4 wheels (or 3, since one was all but broken off). Funny thing, he said he didn't realize he broke anything so he went barreling off into turn 1 at full throttle after landing, and THEN he realized he couldn't turn. It's hard to turn without a RF wheel/tire/shock! Lesson learned (Hopefully, but probably not).
With the help of David Spencer Racing, @donnyspencer, Heather Spencer, Steven Patrick, and Steven Patrick JR, we (mostly they) were able to get a new axle installed under the car and got it done in time to start the feature race. I helped....a tiny bit...as I was trying to get Blake's kart ready for his feature at the same time. Handling two cars is a handful, I can only imagine the people who manage 3! It doesn't help when you leave your cordless tools and socket set at home...rookie 'crew chief' move. Lesson learned (Hopefully, but probably not).
After the DNF in the heat race, Brantley started the feature in the 2nd to last spot, P8. He was reminded to take it easy and feel the car out, make sure everything felt right before he pushed it. You can see him going easy on it in the first few laps before he starts to push it...which puts him in a hole right off the bat. Unfortunately, without seeing him and the car's handling in the heat race, I assumed the track was still slick and I tightened it up a good bit. We made it way too tight...but he did what he could with it. Methodically, he worked his way around a few cars and started reeling in the top 5 when a caution came out. It looked like Brannon may have broken something after a brush with the wall, as a few laps later he shot up the track in 3/4 and tagged the wall again. The caution tightened up the field, and Brantley worked his way from 5th into 3rd, splittle two cars out of turn 2. Meanwhile, David Spencer and Spencer Gatlin battled for the lead. While the leaders were battling, Brantley closed the gap on them a bit. He had a few really clean laps, and a few where he pushed too hard and slowed himself down causing him to lose ground. Regardless, he ran out of time before he could play with the top-2. Spencer Gatlin and David Spencer put on a show with a few side-by-side laps at the end, with Gatlin fending off a crossover attempt by David on the last corner. Great clean race from those kids!
While the impatience in the first lap of the heat race cost us, I'm proud of him for getting out there in the feature and working his way through traffic. After the last race's performance where he got to start on the front row, won a heat, and finished 2nd in the feature...it was reassuring to see that he is developing the skills and car control to cleanly work his way around cars when he needs to. Patience may be the hardest thing to teach, and learn....a continual work in progress.
Come see us this coming weekend out at Gulf Coast Speedway, where we'll try it again!
Thanks again to Donny, David, Heather, Steven/Steven JR, and as always to Jacob Lucas at Lucas SpeedFactory for helping us when we need it (more often than not!).
- Shawn Queeney on Sep 26, 2024
- Article Date: 9/21/2024