By Susan Arnold
MECHANICSBURG, Pa. (May 17, 2013) – The Motter Equipment Fatheadz Eyewear team rolled out all new artillery for their date with the Pennsylvania Posse at Williams Grove.
After their unexpected encounter with the wall at Lincoln Speedway Thursday night, the 71M team burned way past the midnight oil assembling a new car for tonight’s Outlaws vs. Posse rumble on the half-mile clay oval.
“We were making good progress with a more aggressive set-up last night,” said team owner Dan Motter. “We hope to take full advantage of the knowledge we gained and apply it tonight here at the Grove.”
It looked as if it were going to be a stellar night when Joey Saldana turned the second quickest lap in the 71M, qualifying at 16.565 seconds.
The Brownsburg Bullet started fourth in the second heat. Before one lap was completed race action was red flagged for Kyle Moody who flipped between turns one and two. Moody got out of the car and walked away. There was a complete restart and an all-green run for the eight-lap event with Saldana finishing in the fifth transfer spot for the A-Main and also earning a starting berth in the dash.
After the dash inversion draw, Saldana was assigned the fifth starting position. Saldana got caught in a traffic jam at the start of the dash and was searching high and low for the best and fastest groove, meanwhile being challenged by Kraig Kinser. Saldana held off Kinser and finished sixth, moving to the sixth starting position in the A-Main.
The Feature was a battle between four competitors swapping position for the lead. Donny Schatz won the race coming from the 12th starting position. Greg Hodnett finished second and Fred Rahmer rounded out the podium.
Saldana was off his stride in the A-Main as the track continued to slick off and he fought a loose race car. He finished in twelfth position.
Pennsylvania Score: Outlaws 1, Posse 1
The tie-breaker is Saturday night right here at Williams Grove.