By Bill W
July 21, 2014 – Cole Wood and the Cole Wood Racing #17w team got a bit of a monkey off their back by winning the feature event at the Rapid Speedway in Rock Rapids, Iowa last Thursday. The Auburn, California driver’s win at the JSTS stop at Rock Rapids was welcome, as it came a night after leading a good portion of the feature at the Sioux Speedway in Sioux Center, Iowa. The team will focus on the Knoxville Raceway Saturday in anticipation of the 360 and 410 Nationals there.
The team towed to the Sprint Invaders show at the Cedar County Raceway in Tipton, Iowa two Friday’s ago. After running second in the heat, he ran fourth in the Dash and started third in the feature. “The cushion was really thin at Tipton,” says Cole. “I was able to get up to second, and I tried to make a move on (Terry) McCarl for the lead. I ended up getting into the corner too hot, and (Jon) Agan got by me. We were really running well. Without that mistake, I think we would have been second, or even won that show. It was good to get a podium finish.”
JSTS Speedweek started in Sioux Center on Wednesday. Cole would run second in his heat. “We started the feature in third,” he says. “I was able to get to second and Wayne Johnson was leading. With fifteen laps to go or so, everyone was running the bottom and I went up top. I was able to lead for seven laps, and then (Brian) Brown passed me on a restart after a caution. It started laying rubber on the bottom, and I stayed on the top for too long. I was fast up there, and I was trying to make it work. A couple of guys got by me and we ended up fourth.”
The winning night at Rock Rapids started with a heat win. “We had a good heat,” says Cole. “We were able to get the jump on the start. We were able to run away with that, and we were able to draw a two for the feature.”
Cole would lead every lap of the main event. “I was able to get the jump on (Roger) Crockett on the first start,” he says. “That was called back when Derrik Lusk got upside down. Then Crockett led the next one down the backstretch, but he got over the cushion in three and four and I got by him. It was kind of clear sailing from there. I kind of had a line that was working for me there.”
The win was the first in 2014 for the team. “It was really good for our team,” says Cole. “The night before, we had led the race and we ended up finishing fourth. That was kind of a disappointment for the team. To win the next night lifted everyone back up.”
Fairmont Raceway in Minnesota hosted the JSTS sprints on Friday. Cole would finish second in the heat. “We started second in the feature,” he says. “We ran second for a couple laps. Once again, Brown found the rubber and he passed us on the bottom. I was good up top, but loose on the bottom. The rubber stayed really thin, so I couldn’t hang with those guys down there. Three or four more guys got by me before I tightened up a little bit, and we finished seventh.”
The team was ready for 410 action at the Knoxville Raceway on Saturday. “Knoxville is brutal,” says Cole of the competition. “Saturday was the hardest group of cars I’ve ever seen at Knoxville. We were decent in qualifying (20th). We had a bit of motor problems, so we could have been a little better, but the car was good.”
Cole would qualify for the feature by running fourth in his heat. “The car was a lot better than what I ran in the heat,” he says. “If I could figure out running the bottom, it would have been better. In the feature, we started 16th. We had a really good night going. Brown was running ninth at the time, and we were up to 11th, two cars behind him. We had a caution, and it seemed the bottom got a lot better at that point. The top wasn’t as good for me as it had been. It took a while to get going again and we lost some ground (finishing 17th).”
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The Cole Wood Racing team would like to thank: Elk Grove Ford, Speed Mart, Moss Racing Engines, Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center at Elk Grove Ford, Wion’s Body Shop, CSI Shocks, Prime Time Customs, Weld Wheels, Sparco, NorCal Boxer Rescue and ButlerBuilt Professional Seat Systems.