Bad Luck Strikes, But Very Marginal Points Lead Remains

-Video Footage From The Stands Now Available-
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July 4th of 2009 definitely had some ups & downs for Hale Racing. It began with a middle, then an up, then a down, and the nation's birthday ended with another up. The middle... practice. Practice began with Michael and gang running off top 5-like lap times. They were close, so minor adjustments were made to try and get the car just right for qualifying. The event was scheduled to have 2 main events, so qualifying fast on both laps was definitely key. Michael did just that. Hale Racing put together a great racecar for Michael's qualifying session, and ended up with the pole position for both main events. This was the evening's first up... then came the down.

Michael and the rest of the field took to the track just before sundown for the opening main event of the evening. It was one of two 50 lap main events, so the goal was to keep the car in one piece; stay out of trouble, and try to make sure the tires weren't toasted before heading into the later main event. Michael did a good job of achieving all of those goals... UNFORTUNATELY when bad luck strikes there isn't a whole lot you can do about it. The team does take responsibility for not being quite as prepared as they wanted to be, but things could have been worse.

Michael ran 45 of 50 laps. In those 45 laps, he avoided numerous accidents and found his way into the top 10. Unfortunately, as I stated above, bad luck struck just before the checkered flag waved. A distributor problem came about, and the crate motor nestled into Hale Racing's "McHander" chassis would not run. Oddly enough, 3 other cars had distributor problems as well. Talk about bad timing. It appeared the event would end with Michael earning 1st in overall points earned, but sadly enough it didn't turn out that way. Michael was scored 19th, and unfortunately the back up distributor was loaned to another Modified team so Michael was unable to return to the track to take the checkered. It was a hard blow to take, but the team couldn't lose focus as another main event still had to be run. No bad luck this time... just good, patient driving and the team's second top 5 finish of the year.

It wasn't since opening night that Michael found himself in the top 5 finishing order of a main event. Just goes to show what qualifying well and finishing in the top 10 will do for points. Michael once again started way in the back of this race, and slowly but surely maneuvered his way towards the front. This event had far less cautions, so it was all about the setup of the racecar and patience of the driver to get Michael into that top 5. You'll notice in the video that Michael used the high line quite well to get around some pretty fast racecars in the early-going of the event. After the first caution of the race, things went to single file, and Michael slowly picked off a few more drivers before finding his way up to 4th where he would eventually finish. Hale Racing earned top honors for points earned in this one, and really saved themselves from losing the overall lead in the race for the championship.

Michael holds a very small 7 point advantage over 2005 champion, Nick Parker. Nick, just like every other modified competitor, will not vanish. With just 2 months left in the season, this will most likely be the closest points race in the history of modified racing at Rocky Mountain Raceways. It doesn't get any more competitive than this. What does that mean for you Hale Racing fans? It means you better not miss any races for the remainder of the year. Hale Racing needs your support and hopes you'll come help cheer us on throughout the rest of the 2009 season.

There was plenty of friends, family, and even sponsors on hand for the July 4th race, and as we always like to do in wrapping up articles here at HaleRacing.com, we'd like to thank each and every one of you for supporting this race team. This has definitely been one of the most stressful seasons for Hale Racing and so far, one of the most successful. Although the total amount of top-5's are down, the total amount of tough luck is a bit high, the support of our fans stays consistent and continues to grow. Thanks to all of you for sticking by us throughout 2009. Thanks to all of our great sponsors who, time after time, race after race, still proudly partake in financially helping this race team be as competitive as possible. Without any of you, without our great fans, without all of your continued support, there would be no Saturday night racing, there would be no fun in the dirt, there would be no possibility of a championship. That racing, that fun, that championship is all being made possible because of you! Thank you for being a part of Hale Racing! We hope to see some fans make the trip to Rock Springs, Wyoming tonight. Yep, Saturday, July 11th is the teams first visit to the dirt. Stay tuned to HaleRacing.com for video and updates on how Michael and the team do. Thanks for stopping by.