This week the Cooper Motorsports Team made some minor modifications to the set-up in hopes of building off the momentum of last weeks top ten finish.

The practice day on Friday would find the #25 S.K. Light Modified fast out of the box. Lauren would turn in a fast time of 20.3 sec. good for 2nd fastest time on the speed chart. It wouldn’t last long though. The team struggled for the next five rounds to get the times back down to a best of 20.4 sec. in the last round of practice. There were many changes made through out the day to free the car up. The team was happy with how the car was for the final practice and felt that there was a good chance that all the weekends events would be held on a sunny Sunday, not a cloudy, rainy Saturday.

The team was correct. The scheduled events on Saturday were postponed to Sunday due to the in-climate weather.

The weather for Sundays events were perfect. The schedule for the S.K. Lights class was: one practice round and then the feature race. The race line up would be decided by handicapping the top 15 in points. The practice round would find the Cooper Motorsports #25 running a fast time of 20.1 sec. that was good for thirteenth quick on the speed chart. Lauren expressed that the car was tight at the apex.

The line up would find the Cooper Motorsports #25 lining up at the pole position, due to Ted Cain not making it back after last weeks hard wreck into the turn three wall, and Brit Anderson moving up to the S.K. Modifieds. The crew made adjustments to the car for the feature. Lauren would take the green flag with the #18 of Kyle Spencer on the outside of her. Kyle got a good jump on the start and Lauren would drop back to forth spot by lap one. It was while Lauren was getting ready to enter turn one she would drift a little high. Lauren knew that the #27 of Earl Pelletier was behind her before she moved into a higher groove, but at the same time Earl had a good run coming into turn one and was going to the outside of Lauren. It was unfortunate that the two made contact and both hit the wall hard going into turn one. Lauren was turned hard right and hit the wall head on. Thankfully nobody was hurt, even though both the cars received substantial damage. Lauren would end up with a 22nd place finish. It was unfortunate for Earl, who had a very quick car all weekend and would have had a top five finish in points with a good finish. Lauren was extremely upset with herself and took full responsibility for what had happened. It was Earl Pelletier (a true gentleman) that came down to our pit area to assure the crew and Lauren that she is not to take the blame for what transpired. It’s the tracks responsibility to spot for the drivers in this class, because they are not allowed two way radios. He felt she should have been told that he was in her blind spot on the outside.

The Team would like to send a big THANK YOU to all the people that have supported this team throughout the year in various ways. It was our first full season at Stafford Motor Speedway, only missing one event due to Lauren’s graduation. It was a season of learning the ropes for the team and the driver. This team really started to excel with the help of Denis Prunick. Denis pointed this team in the right direction chassis wise and was a huge boost to our rookie driver. Ken Williams our right hand man, Ken’s dedication to this team is second to none. Harold Carlquist was always willing to jump in and give a hand. Deb Cooper (AKA the Paparazzi) always sneaking in a candid shot at the track to post on the website. Johnson Jones running our sponsors info to the announcer’s booth. But most of all, our crew chief, John (Dad), his dedication to this team is humbling to say the least. He works on the race car each and every night after a full days work. We appreciate everyone’s help but would be no where without all of his hard work! All the teams who have lent us parts, tools, help, or advise. All our fans that show up to support us and cheer for us each week. Last but certainly not the least are our sponsors who have supported this team in various ways. It may be food, parts, money or labor.

Thank you all for helping this team build a future race star.

Be sure to check back often for updates and news……..

Posted in Weekly Updates |