From Peterson Media
Taking on the World of Outlaws over the weekend, Willie Croft expeiernced some mechanical gremlins on Friday night, before recording a 17th place finish on a rubber down race track on Saturday night.
Timing in 21st fastest during time trials on Friday night, Croft would like his Tri-C Machine/JRI Shocks/NAAKE Suspension machine up sixth in his heat race.
Charging his way up to the fourth spot, Croft would earn the automatic transfer to the feature event, where he would line his Holey Smokes BBQ/Christian Stover Foundation/ButlerBuilt backed entry up in the 20th position.
With the 35-lap feature going green on a track that was both rough and heavy, and dead slick, Croft slowly began working his way towards the top 15.
Trouble arose for Croft on the 14th lap, as something went amiss under the hood of his machine. With the red flying, Croft headed to the work area to see if his Lee Lindgren led team could make a quick fix.
Re-firing, it still was not right, and he made the decision to call it a night, and he ended up being scored 25th.
“We had a pretty good car on Friday, and I was hoping we could get the whole race in,” Croft said. “We had some engine issues, and pulled off to hopefully keep it a small issue.”
Saturday night saw Croft struggle during time trials, as he timed in with a dismal 27th quickest effort.
Hoping to make up some ground in his heat, the Sacramento, CA driver still struggled, and his ninth place finish relegated him to the B main.
Starting ninth in the B, Croft and his car came alive late, as he battled with Carson Macedo for the final transfer spot.
A late race wreck with some of the leaders, gave Croft the breathing room he needed, and his fifth place finish propelled him into the feature event.
Starting in the 23rd spot, Croft got in line on the rubber, and made sure to hit his marks and save his tires.
Through attrition, and some moves on restarts, he was able to score a 17th place finish.
“Overall we rebounded nicely from the start of the night,” he said. “We timed in pretty bad, and struggled in our heat. We got going pretty good in the B, and then in the feature, it took rubber, so you just had to not make any mistakes, and nurse tires for 35 laps. Hopefully we can be a little better next week.”
The Tri-C Motorsports team would like to thank Tri-C Machine, JRI Shocks, NAAKE Suspension, Holey Smokes BBQ, The Christian Stover Foundation, ButlerBuilt, Arai, Brown and Miller, Sander Engineering, FK Rod Ends, Hinchman Indy, Schoenfeld, K&N, Smith Precision Products, A.R.T., Kaeding Performance, Dan Olson Products, Vortex Wings, AIC Powdercoating, and GUTS for their support in 2013.
2013 BY THE NUMBERS: Races-6, Wins-0, Top 5’s-0, Top 10’s-2
ON TAP: Croft at the Tri-C team will now head to Stockton, CA on Friday night, before returning to the Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico, CA on Saturday night.
STAY CONNECTED: Stay connected with Willie Croft Racing by visiting www.williecroftracing.com. You can also follow him on Twitter @wcroft29.