Glenn Gault Jr.

Glenn and the team spent a long weekend of racing in Lancaster NY outside of Buffalo that concluded with a main 75 lap feature on Sunday afternoon.  The race track is a short track that doubles as a drag strip on the front stretch adding a strip of dark rubber to the racing surface along its length.

Glenn Jr. felt very good with the set up of the car going into the final feature of the weekend. He said it was ” a top five car on bad tires” and that it was ”holding some of the fastest laps in practice”. This was not the first visit that the team had made to this track and so Glenn felt comfortable here even though he did say this was a difficult track to pass at and one that was easy to get caught up in a wreck at.

The cars took to the track at shortly before 3PM under sunny skies with Glenn Jr. starting  7th by pill draw in a field of 26 late models. Unfortunately as Glenn came up to speed he noted a tire issue with the right rear. Glenn pitted under a caution on lap 1 and returned to the field now 26th on the restart.  Next caution flag waved on lap 6 while Glenn and the #56 were racing for position, the #56 ended up facing the wrong direction resulting in a penalty for Glenn. This had Glenn starting tail end of the longest line on the restart which was not a change from his previous spot of 25th. Back to green on lap 7 and Glenn set to work moving from 25th up to 17th by the next caution on lap 12.  After the short clean up and back to green Glenn went back to passing cars like a man on a mission, taking position 13 by the next caution on lap 23 and 12th by the following caution caution on lap 29. Steadily moving through the field he passed car after car moving into the top ten by lap 37 . Next caution flag waved on lap 40 and Glenn was scored 10th. On the restart Glenn moved into 9th and was poised to continue his march through the field when on  lap 47 the #56x started a chain reaction accident that involved several cars that blocked all of turn 3. Glenn locked it up trying to avoid the wreck but unfortunately still got a piece of it and bent up the front end of the car and suspension making the remaining laps more challenging to drive. Glenn restarted in 12th position on lap 47. Moved into 11th on lap 61. Caution waved on lap 65 and Glenn was holding 10th. One lap later caution waved for the final time and Glenn held 9th. Glenn held on and races as hard as he could finishing in the 9th position.

Glenn Jr. said it was just disappointing to have such a great car and then come away with a lesser finish. As with many other times this year, great finishes have been ripped away from Glenn and the #32 Snow King Late Model racing team for one reason or another. However as a gone but certainly never forgotten ARCA driver Blaise Alexander was known for saying , “Disappointment is motivation for success.” If this is true, this team has the motivation for a whole lot of success at Hickory on October 2oth and in the other upcoming ASA race. So watch out this team will be back on track soon.

Heat Race

Glenn started the final race of the 2007 MAARA series in the first heat from the 8th position in a ten car field with 12 laps as the scheduled distance to set the field for the main feature.The first lap brought out the caution flag and also took two cars out of the race in a wreck. This left just eight cars in the race. Glenn moved into third on the green and was there through the single other caution on lap eight.He maintained it through the checkered flag.

Feature

The main feature had the field set with Glenn starting in 9th. A few cautions at the beginning of the race soon had the field switching from double to single file restarts on lap 3. After some sorting of the order, Glenn was set in the 8th position and back to green on lap 5.  On lap 14 caution flag waved as Glenn again for the second time had a front row view of an incident as it unfolded right in front of him with #5 and #23. Glenn again made it through without any trouble due to some quick maneuvering. Back to green on lap 16 restarting 8th.  Just three laps later Glenn had the fourth position. and third on lap 21. Caution again was out on lap 23.  Back to green flag racing on lap 26 restarting third and on lap 32 Glenn was taking the second position on the track behind the #0. Next caution came on lap #41 and Glenn continued to hold  strong on second. Caution flags waved throughout the remaining laps on #49, 61,73, 78, and the final coming on lap 88. Glenn always made a hard run on the leader on the restarts giving everything the car had to get the lead. Glenn maintained second in the closing laps with a vibration developing was fighting hard to keep second place from the third and fourth place cars who were battling hard to take it. As the checkered flag waved the # 32 crossed the line behind the leader in second.

Congrats to the team on finishing another great season in the MAARA series.

Glenn was schedule to run two 35 lap features at Lake Erie Speedway tonight but unfortunately steady rain moved in after the completion of the first feature postponing any further on track activity.

In the feature Glenn did run. he started from the 10 th position passing cars and sitting 7th on lap 7 which was the first caution of the race. Caution again flew on laps 8 and 9 and Glenn maintained 7th. Back to green on lap 12 and Glenn took over 6th. One lap later in turn 2 Glenn got hit from behind and spun bringing the caution out. Glenn took the car into the pits for new tires  coming back to the track to restart 18th on lap 32. Caution flag was displayed on lap 34 and the race ended green/white/checkered.

Glenn and the team again continued to show what an experienced team and driver can do and salvaged a good finish out of a challenging situation.

Feature 2 Championship Night

The second feature for Championship night got pushed back a week due to rain last week. This added to the laps of racing for the team on the last night of racing for the year. The night had already been scheduled as a make up for the rained out MAARA earlier in the season.

Glenn started the last feature of the season from the 9th position. Glenn went to work passing cars and moved all the way up to 5th by lap 6 and maintained it through the first caution on lap 11.  Back to work for four laps before a gain the caution was out. Glenn had a front row seat as another car spun in front of him. He made quick work of slowing and avoiding the other Late Model.  Coming out of the caution, due to penalties issued farther up in the running order sending cars to the rear of the field for causing the caution, Glenn restarted third. The race ran caution free through to the checkered on lap 35. Glenn did a great job of racing and maintained the third place finish.

This ends the points for Lake Erie Speedway and Glenn unofficially finished 3rd in points for the year. Congratulations to Glenn and his team.  For all the hard work and all the tough endings, although third place may not be what anyone’s goal sets out to be, this team has a lot to celebrate. The fortitude and perseverance shown by everyone from the driver to every last member of the crew was truly at Championship level. No one who witnessed it or experienced it could say anything different.

Heat

Glenn started the 5th race in the MAARA series in the 5th position in the second Heat at Holland Speedway. As usual only 10 short laps in this race to determine starting spots in the main 100 lap Feature. Glenn held the 4th or 5th position throughout the Heat and in the closing 2 laps raced hard to the checkered in a pack of cars finishing unofficially 5th.

Feature

Glenn started te main feature from the 14th position. after racing for 7 laps an incident just past the start line involved seversl cars with heavy damage. Glenn was involved but only just minimally and was ablr to continue after a lengthy red flag to clear the track. When the green flag again waved Glenn returned to racing from the 10th position. Next caution came on lap 22 and Glenn was scored in the 6th position. Back to green on lap 26 and four laps later Glenn took the fifth spot maintaining it through a long green flag run to the next caution on lap 51. This was followed by a second caution on lap 54 when there was an accident coming back to green.  Back to steady racing on lap 57 and five laps later Glenn took the fourth position and maintained it throught the checkered flag through a long stretch  of green flag racing.

It was a good night for Glenn and the team and again another great show of driving by our experienced driver.