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Robert Cooper…Husband..Father..Grandfather….Great-grandfather…and Lauren’s biggest fan!! We love you and you will be missed. “Passing time can never fade…All the special memories made. Loved ones never really part…For they live inside all our hearts.” In loving memory.
The 2009 race season for the Cooper Motorsports Team was frustrating, but successful. This would be the 5th consecutive year that Lauren would be competing in a new class of racing as a rookie driver. The team felt the move to the S.K. Lights Division would be much closer to Lauren’s background of racing karts. The smile that graced Lauren’s face when she got out of her S.K. Light Modified after the first round of practice for the 2009 season was priceless. This was the style of race car she wanted to race.
The team knew it would be an up hill battle having to learn yet another new class, new rules, new drivers, and re-tool for a new style of race car. Lauren would yet again have to learn the characteristics of this style of race car, so she could relay information back to the crew about what the car needed to go faster.
The 2009 season would once again be a season of unknowns. At the start of the year Lauren had to familiarize herself with the new ride and it didn’t take long. The first race out of the box, Lauren took the car from a 16th starting spot up to 6th spot before getting turned around on lap sixteen. The rest of the season seemed to go that way for the Cooper Motorsports Team. They had several runs in the top ten during the races, but it was un-avoidable accidents that prevented the team from getting finishes that were deserved. The team would end the year with 2 top 10 finishes and 9 top 15 finishes out of 15 races, with an average of 20-23 race cars per race. The team picked up some experienced help about half way through the season from Denis Prunick (a former Sprint Cup chassis expert). Lauren also made friends with multi- time S.K. Modified Champion Ted Christopher who always had time to offer advice. Now that Lauren has a season behind her in the S.K. Lights division, she can look forward to coming back next year in the same car and class for the first time in 5 years.
The Cooper Motorsports Team has learned a lot this year and that knowledge will help us into next year. The team is also proud of their websitewww.laurencooperracing.com which is extremely popular with a hit count nearing 100,000 hits in a little over a year’s time. The team is hoping to improve the site to make it even better yet.
We would like to take this opportunity to Thank all of the people that have helped us through out the season: Ken Williams, Harold Carlquist, Denis Prunick, Rob Cooper, Bill Cooper and the many more that helped when we needed it each and every week.
The Cooper Motorsports Team received great support from Peoples Choice Mobil, Arbitell Racing, Jason’s Southbury Salon & Hookerz Tackle, Laurel Diner, A & L Eastern Hydraulic, Ultimate Auto Center, Newtown Car Care, Total Fence LLC., Riverview Restaurant and A “Sign of the Times”.
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……..
The Cooper Motorsports Team exhausted many hours this week repairing the damage from last weeks wreck. There was substantial damage to left front of the car. The team also worked hard during the week to address the brake issues and the lack of power under the hood. The whole brake system was gone through and pressures were checked and the brake bias was set. The engine had the fuel pump replaced, a known good carburetor was installed, the ignition switch was replaced and the ignition rewired. The team had high hopes for this week of racing in hopes of finally having a complete competitive race package.
This week the weather looked good, a little on the chilly side. The team was excited to find out if the changes made any improvements on the track.
The first round of practice would find the Cooper Motorsports #25 running a time of 20.3 that was good for 15th fastest on the speed chart. Lauren had expressed that she was just shaking the car down from all the work that had been done during the week.
The second round of practice would find the Cooper Motorsports #25 running a time of 20.3 that was good for 16th fastest on the speed chart. The team was very disappointed with that run and Lauren had expressed that the cars handling was off. The car was loose in and tight off. The motor she felt was better.
The crew made some changes to the set-up for the heat race in hopes for a better handling car. The heat race would find the Cooper Motorsports #25 starting on the pole position. Lauren would take the green flag and drop quickly to 6th spot by lap three. It was obvious that the car was still not handling well. Lauren would finish the heat race in 10th. Lauren had expressed to the crew that the car was rolling over hard on the right side and was like driving on ice. The crew looked over the car hard and it was discovered that the sway bar was bent. It had been over looked from the previous weeks wreck. The sway bar was replaced and changes to the set-up were made for the feature.
The Cooper Motorsports #25 would start the feature in 19th position out of 20 cars. Lauren took the green flag and quickly busted a move to the 15th spot by lap one and 14th spot by lap two. It was evident that the car was handling much better and the motor seemed to pull down the straights to keep up with the other competitors. It was on lap eight that Lauren and the #21 of Erica Santos would battle for the 14th spot. It was a good battle for position that Erica would win. Erica and Lauren would run together and both moved up a spot on lap fifteen when they both passed the #99 of Steve Greer. Then on lap sixteen Lauren would make her way around the #54 of Harry Wheeler to move to 13th spot. The caution would come out on lap eighteen for #31 of Ted Cain who hit the turn three wall hard. Lauren would move up to the 12th spot. It was on the last lap in turns three and four that a couple of cars got together and slowed up the field. Lauren made an evasive move and ended up in a drag race with the #10 of Heather DeRochers to the finish line with Lauren edging Heather to end up with her second top ten finish of the year.
The team felt very good about the run they had but still feel that more work is needed to be done. It was after the feature that Lauren expressed that the car was extremely tight at the apex. This week the team will practice on Friday for the seasons fall final on Saturday. Hope to see you all there.
The Cooper Motorsports Team spent the week working on the engine to try to gain a little more power under the hood. The engine was removed and delivered to a track approved rebuilder for a much needed freshening. The engine was done in a timely manner and was back in the car by Wednesday night. The car was scaled with the extra weight per Stafford Motor speedway engine rules and loaded for the track by Thursday night. We would like to send out a big THANK YOU to the Williams family for changing their daughter’s birthday party to Tuesday night so our right hand man Ken Williams was able to help install the motor Wednesday night.
This week the weather would not be an issue although there were sprinkles of rain during some of the practice rounds. The team was very excited to try out the fresh motor this week.
The first round of practice would find The Cooper Motorsports #25 running a time of 20.5 that was good for 12th fastest on the speed chart.
The second practice round would find the Cooper Motorsports #25 running a time 20.0 that was good for 8th fastest on the speed chart.
The heat race would find the Cooper Motorsports #25 starting in the second spot. Lauren would bring the car in with a sixth place finish. Lauren had expressed that she had very little front brake bias and it was making the very unstable on entrée. It was discovered that the front master cylinder was faulty. The team worked franticly to get the car repaired in time for the feature as a new master cylinder was installed.
The feature would find The Cooper Motorsports #25 starting on the pole position. Lauren brought the field down to the green flag and raced hard into turn one. It was down the backstretch that the #31 of Ted Cain gained some good momentum going into turn three and made it three wide for the lead. Lauren wisely backed out to give the spot up knowing that it can’t work with out somebody being wrecked. It was on lap three while Lauren was running 3rd that she was drilled between turns three and four and turned sideways. It was the #99 of Steve Greer who tried an evasive move to the inside that made heavy contact with the Cooper Motorsports #25. Lauren was able to drive the car to the infield with a flat left front tire. Lauren would finish in 17th position.
The Cooper Motorsports Team would like to thank all our sponsors and fans who come out to support us each week. There are only two more weeks left in the season. Lets all pray for good weather and one more shot to get the monkey off our backs.
Contact us at: coopermotorsports25@yahoo.com
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