From CL Motorsports
HOLMESVILLE, Ohio. – September 20, 2012 – With only seven more opportunities to make it to victory lane again before the 2012 season comes to a close, Stevie Smith and his #19 CL Motorsports team are in overdrive.
“This part of the season can almost be as stressful as the beginning of the year or the busy summer months,” said the 2012 Ohio Sprint Speedweek Champion. “You’re trying to wrap up your year on a good note because you have over two months of downtime. After World Finals in November, we won’t race again until the DIRTcar Nationals down in Florida in mid February and then we will be racing for a World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series championship. Having momentum and a string of good finishes makes the mood in the shop better during the offseason. It gives you something to build off of. That’s why we are working so hard on these next seven races to get a good grip on our program heading into the offseason. We’ve been very consistent at times during the season but we need to find a little bit extra so that we are a threat to win every night.”
The driver of the #19 CL Motorsports/DDNi/CJB Motorsports/Spectro Oils KPC is coming off of a tough weekend at Fremont (OH) Speedway which saw the team register two subpar finishes.
“Fremont was a very rough weekend for our team,” said Smith. “I messed up the first night and got upside down. We didn’t have a good setup the second night and just couldn’t get going. You’ll have those weekends every once in awhile. The key is how you bounce back from them. We certainly will get a test as we rejoin the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series at one of the tracks that has been a thorn in our sides this year.”
The track Smith is referring to Eldora Speedway, the famous half-mile oval located near Rossburg, Ohio. The #19 team has experienced little success there so far in 2012 with only one top-10 finish in four trips.
“Eldora has been difficult to say the least,” said Smith. “Our 8th place finish in the Knight Before the Royal was really the highlight there. In May, we lost a tire and got upside down coming off of turn two. The following night, we didn’t make it out of the B-main. We pulled off early in the Kings Royal and finished last. We just have struggled with setup there all season. Finding that right combination of speed and handling is essential at Eldora and we think we’ve found a few things to try to make ourselves better at that track. Horsepower is key there and I know our Fisher Racing Engines have been stout all year long. It is also exciting to be apart of the 4 Crown Nationals Weekend. It’s one of Eldora’s biggest events.”
The following night, the team will travel into Pennsylvania for their third visit to Lernerville Speedway near Sarver, Pa.
“Lernerville is a place that we have made steady gains throughout the season,” said Smith, who has an average finish of 7.3 at the 4/10th’s of a mile in 2012. “We ran the Don Martin Memorial Silver Cup with the World of Outlaws there in July. The twin 30 lap features provided us a lot of track time there and helped us when we went back there over Labor Day weekend. We set quick time and picked up a fourth place finish. I’m pretty optimistic about racing there again in the Commonwealth Clash and using this weekend as a spring board for the last leg of the season.”
Smith kicking up dirt at Fremont (OH) Speedway. Photo courtesy of DBIII Imaging
Grandstands for the 4 Crown Nationals event at Eldora Speedway weekend will open at 2 p.m. with hot laps at 6 p.m. and racing 8 p.m.
Grandstands for the Commonwealth Clash at Lernerville Speedway will open at 5 p.m. with time trials at 7:15 p.m.
For more information about Eldora Speedway, please visit www.EldoraSpeedway.com
For more information about Lernerville Speedway, please visit www.LernervilleSpeedway.com
For more information on CL Motorsports and the Black Bandit, please visit www.TheBlackBandit.com
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