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The
Story Of Sin City Wow, what a weekend. There isn't a whole lot more you can say about the weekend Hale Racing experienced in Las Vegas, Nevada last weekend. With the remembrance of two previous visits ending in heartache and disappointment, the team returned with a positive attitude and the goal of overcoming the "Sin City Curse." Things seemed dim in the early going of the weekend's event. The gates opened up for practice on Thursday, and the team was able to get in a few hours. The setup was off during the first few sessions, but by Thursday's end, the team had a car they could work with, and something to look forward to improving on come Friday morning. Friday was qualifying day, so the team knew they had to get in some good practice runs, and that's exactly what they did. Michael Hale took to the track early on and the team was able to turn in some good 16 second lap times. "The car was a bit tight all day, so we loosened it up for qualifying, it wasn't quite enough unfortunately," said Michael after his qualifying attempt that placed the team in 16th. Although it was a disappointment, the team still had hopes for a good weekend. With a field of 48 cars, the class was split up into groups of 4 heat races. In this "all money" event, the top qualifiers were rewarded for their fast times. The #1 qualifier would start on the pole position of the first heat race, the #2 qualifier would start on the pole of the second heat race, and so on from there. Since Michael had qualified 16th, he would start 4th in the final heat race. The top four finishers from each heat race would automatically advance into the big money race, that being the "A" Feature. The team loosened up the racecar a little bit more prior to the heat race due to the cold weather. Unfortunately it didn't really matter. Things looked really good in the early going of the heat race. However, that "really good" didn't last for even a lap. Two of the front cars got into each other on the initial start of the event, and both were sent to the back of the pack for a restart. This would give Michael an invitation to the front row, outside line, for the restart of the event. Unfortunately, during the events of reorganizing the field, Michael had a transmission issue that forced him into having to get a push start in order to continue on. The push start worked, and Michael was able to regain power, but the track penalized him for having to be push started by a track vehicle and he was sent to the back. The race officially started and Michael was able to gain a few spots. Right near the halfway mark of the race, Michael started working for the 5th position. He battled with the #50 car for a few laps and on the 9th lap Michael moved his car to the bottom of the track going into turn 1 in effort to get by the #50. 50 closed the door in what looked to be an obvious block move that forced Michael to get into the door of the 50 car. This caused the driver of the 50 car to lose control and spin around: forcing both Michael and the 50 to move to the back of the pack. Hope slowly began slipping away as things began to look dim. After the luck of the heat race, the team was just happy to finish. They still had Saturday ahead of them, and that's where the focus of Hale Racing turned to. The team arrived at the track just before noon and went to work on the transmission. Michael pulled it out of the racecar, tore it apart, and replaced a small pin that had broken inside of it with one from the spare transmission they brought with them for the event. After the team put the transmission back into the car, they warmed up the motor, made sure the transmission worked and got ready for their first practice of the day. Michael took to the track and did fairly well. After his first practice, the team began adjustments on the setup by playing with the right-rear spring. They swapped it once, ran another practice, came in, changed it again, ran another practice... and stuck with it. "The car was way tight in my first few practices, so we tried some different springs, and it worked. The difference was pretty amazing after doing that; car was no where near as tight," said Michael after finishing up practice. Since Michael wasn't able to finish in the top four of his heat race, he would have to try to qualify for the "A" Feature by running in a "B" Consolation race later that night. Their were two "B" Consolations, and Michael was in the second. Because of his qualifying spot and the fact that almost every other top-4 car from the earlier heat races had already qualified for the "A" Feature, Michael started on the front row, outside line, of his "B" Consolation. The initial start of the race saw the pole-sitter, the #22 car, jump the starting line just a little bit, and jump out to a big lead. The track saw his actions, and threw the yellow flag, ordering a restart to take place. They warned the driver of the 22 car, and on the next lap the green was waved again. This start was much cleaner this time around, and Michael used the power of his Hunter Machine prepared engine to jump out into the lead. Team owner Red Hale began motioning to Michael to take it easy, keep the lead and run his line. Michael did just that. Running his line, driving nice and smooth and controlling the race. Michael would end up taking home the win, thus qualifying him for the "A" Feature. "Alright, we made it to the Feature, now we just need to focus on finishing well in it," said Michael after winning his Consolation race. During the break between races, Michael and the team made some slight adjustments to a throttle stop on his engine enabling him a little more top-end horsepower. This proved to be a good move as Michael would use his power once more to work his way through traffic later on in the night. When it was time for the "A" Feature, Michael did his best to not let his nerves get the best of him. He wanted so much to show his appreciation for his team's help by driving a great race, and finishing well. Michael came through quite successfully. Due to the qualifying position, Michael started the event in 18th place. Everybody at the track knew that the fastest line at the Bullring in Las Vegas was the bottom line. Michael either didn't believe in that theory, or he just decided to go nuts on the outside. That's what it looked like from the stands at least. When the green flag flew, Michael immediately went to the high side of the racetrack, floating the car into the corners... and using his power down the straight-aways to surge ahead of his opponents. By the half way point, Michael had gained 8 spots, and worked his way into the 10th position. During the break at the 25-lap mark, the team made another slight adjustment to the car, and it must have worked, 'cause when the race went back to green flag racing, Michael danced through traffic once more. "The car was flying, it really felt good. I was surprised how well it worked on that high line," said Michael after the event. By the time the race had come to an end, Michael had worked his way into the 6th position. "I can't say enough about this team; my dad, Kevin, my girlfriend Bree, everybody played a roll in this race, I owe it all to them." Michael and the entire team couldn't recall being more excited about any other 6th place finish. Team owner Red Hale couldn't help but compliment the team as well. "We worked hard this weekend, we can finally head home from this track with a smile on our faces and a lot less stress to deal with." A tech inspection following the race proved painful for one of the top-5 cars. The disqualification of the 3rd place finisher gave Michael a 5th place finish, and the positive results of the entire weekend gave the team hope for a possible return in March. "We had a really good car at the end of the event, I think if we had a few more laps we may have been able to gain a few more spots and compete with the leaders," said Michael after all was said and done. "If we can get the car as good as it was at the end of the "A" Feature, during qualifying and through a heat race, we could probably run for a win. That's what we're gunning for if we return in March. Like I said, I'm just proud of this team and all the hard work they did to help us finish where we did." Hale Racing would like to thank all of it's sponsors for supporting us during this trip to the Sin City. It felt good to finally tame the curse, and come out with a good finish. We'd also like to thank all of the fans that came out to support us. We were very impressed with the amount of positive comments after the weekend's event, not only from fans, but other local racers as well. We thank each and every one of you for cheering us on and giving us your encouragement. It is greatly appreciated. This team could not do what it does without your support. Hale Racing is currently working on replacing the body panels for the modified over the winter season, and is starting work on the brand new racecar for the 2005 season at Rocky Mountain Raceways. Hale Racing plans to make a run at the modified championship, and hopes that you will come support us each and every week. We are currently planning on going to Las Vegas again come spring time in March, but the decision is not final. Stay tuned to HaleRacing.com for compete details and updated information on the teams plans. Don't forget to stop by often as progress on the new racecar will be posted as soon as it becomes available. Thanks so much for stopping by, and we hope you continue to do so in the future.
Story by
Brad Edwards |