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Tough Weekend's Hurt,
but Saturday night was the third race of the young 2004 season, and it showed to be a frustrating one. However, the team was still able to pull off a top-10 finish in the main event, and continue to hold a top-5 position in the current point standings. The first 3 races of the year have been pretty good one's overall. The opening race of the season for the Modifieds was a great way for the team to start things off. Although qualifying proved to be a disappointing one, Hale Racing made a few changes to the car, and after a few laps into the first heat race of the year, Michael appeared to be back on track. After getting stuck behind a fellow competitor and having a car that was just too tight to pass with, Michael held on for a strong 5th place finish. The main event wasn't too bad either. Michael worked his way through traffic, and held on for a 4th place finish. This was his first of 3 top-10 finishes already this season. The second race of the season was an improvement to the week before. Michael came out strong... qualifying 4th, and earning numerous passing points in both the heat race and the final main event of the night. Michael drove his car to an impressive 3rd place finish in his heat race, and after being involved in a caution on the 2nd lap of the main event, Michael worked his way back through the field to earn an even more impressive 5th place finish. "Them passing points are everything in this class, we have to qualify good, I think if we can keep qualifying in that top 5, we'll be okay," said crew chief Red Hale after the second race of the year. His words couldn't have been more true. After the opening race, Michael was sitting 7th in the point standings... after the second race, he had moved up to 3rd. Although his finish of 5th wasn't as good as his finish of 4th in the first main of the season, the passing points added up. This past Saturday, May the 8th, the team took back to the track for the 3rd race of the season. After an early incident in practice, Hale Racing was determined to get the car back to it's usual ways and in competitive form. Michael qualified strong with a 16.193, which put him 7th overall. The 1st group of Modifieds took the track for the heat race, and Michael looked to be pretty strong, but after 2 laps, while trying to a make a pass on the #60 car... the two cars touched and Michael slid into the infield. He did his best to hold on to the car and keep it straight, but the grass and loose infield dirt threw the car around, and Michael's heat race was short-lived to say the least. Although frustrating, the team still had high hopes for the main event. "The car was tight from the middle out, I just did my best to hold my own," said Michael after Saturday night's main event. After already loosening up the car in incredible amounts, the modified was still tight, and Michael had a hard time getting around the track the way he had been during the first 2 events of the year. The caution-filled event ended up being shortened to 30 laps, but Michael was still able to place 9th and take home yet another top-10 finish. "I think if it would have gone all 40, we might have been able to gain one or two more spots, but we can't be too upset with 9th, not after the way that race went," said Michael after the night was all said and done. Even after an incident that cracked the upper control arm, and sent Michael into the pits, he was still able to work his way back to 9th, and keep himself in the top 5 in the point standings. The team now has two weeks off to prepare for a night of 2 main events that will take place May 22nd. If you haven't been out to any of the races this year, this would be a great one to be at. A night of two 40 lap feature events will definitely be exciting, so be sure to head out and help cheer on Hale Racing. We'd like to thank all of the fans that have already supported us this season. Even on a not-so-good-night like Saturday, numerous fans were still there to cheer on Michael and the entire team. That's the type of support that keeps us at the track each weekend, THANK YOU!
Story by
Brad Edwards |