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7/11/2009
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JIMMY KUHN JR REACHES HIS GOAL AND FIRST
TVMRS WIN
Kuhn Race Team Has Lady Luck on His Side at
Lee USA Speedway
by
Denise DuPont |
On Friday July 10th the True Value Modified Racing Series (TVMRS) returned
to Lee USA Speedway for 100 green laps of racing in "Port City Port City 100
Presented by LATICRETE". Fans, drivers and race teams all came to Lee
Speedway to continue the now twenty year tradition of modified racing on the
Lee racing surface in the month of July.
This race hopefully also started another new tradition for the #72
driver-owned team of Jimmy Kuhn, Jr. Kuhn won his first ever TVMRS race
Friday night at Lee USA Speedway. “It was awesome,” said Jimmy Kuhn, Jr.
about his victory. “We could not ask for much better. We like this track.
This is one of the better tracks that we run at.”
Kuhn was the sixth winner this year in the series showing that the
competition has been tough and the race for the win tight. In the past Kuhn
himself has come close to winning a race but in the end lady luck jumped in
and robbed him of a victory. “We have been capable before, but for whatever
reason we have just not been able to finish first. This means a lot. The
guys and team have been working on a shoestring this year. We do not have
the finances that we use to have.”
As usual the #72 team showed up at the track with their car
pristinely prepared and ready to race. And yes, race they did as they won
the first heat race and started the series race on the pole “The guys have
been working hard to get everything squared away for this week. So this is
awesome.”
Like a lot of race teams this year, the Kuhn race team has been
forced to run limited shows because of the economy. This has only been the
second series race for the Kuhn team, but both races have found the team
with the right combination for their pursuit of a win. ”We were third at
Seekonk then a win here. We night have even had a better car then Seekonk.
We did tighten up the car and made a sway bar adjustment, but still third
was just awesome and then to come here and win, you could not ask for
anything better.”
Rob Goodenough settled for a second place finish after a late race
pass. On lap 97, Goodenough lost his hopes for the win as Kuhn made his pass
for the lead.
Goodenough had inherited the lead on lap 63 after a race incident
took out the race leaders. “We did a great job. We had a good car tonight.
The car really stayed under me for a good part of the race. It was perfect
the whole race until the last fifteen to twenty laps then I was really
hanging on.”
Goodenough held off several challenges for the number one spot
during the race but in the end his efforts were not enough. “I just wanted
to hold it (the car) down enough to hold them. I had Andy Seuss covered
pretty much and then Jimmy Kuhn was just coming right along. I really did
not have anything for him. The car was really loose all day. It is something
that we have been fighting every time that we come to this track.”
Goodenough is currently running second in series points. Lee has
been a tough track for the team but this year they left with great setup
notes for the future. “I should be really happy. The luck that we have had
at this track is – we have had no luck here. But we have always been really
fast every time we come here and the car has just gone to heck on us half
way during the race. The team is learning more as they run up front at each
track. We got it setup better tonight and were only a few laps short so we
definitely gained and it is something to look forward to when we come back.
We are really happy to get this.”
TVMRS point leader Jon McKennedy won the third heat race, started
the race in third and then went on to finish the race in third. This was a
good finish after the #73 race team was plagued with issues during practice.
A push truck had to come to the team’s aid when the car kept stopping on the
track. “We kept having ignition problems. I only got two laps of practice
the whole day.” But the team got close to the root cause of the issue and
once the car was on the track it was hard to stop. “We changed the whole
wiring system in the car two times and I am not exactly sure what the
problem was. I know that we changed a lot of stuff and then we finally got
it running right. It put on a good show tonight.”
Friday the TVMRS left the 3/8 mile high-banked NH to prepare for
another race in another state as the series heads to Maine next week. The
next event for the series will be Saturday, July 18th at Oxford Plains
Speedway in Oxford, ME.
Lee USA Race Notes:
Jimmy Kuhn, Jr.
Did he save his tires during the race?
“Yes when we started the race we pretty much decided we were going
to run our own race. We were not going to race anybody. I said we are only
going to go as fast as the car wants to go and that is it. It was not that
good at the beginning it was a little bit tight. So I said I am not going to
run the car hard. I am going to try to run it the way that it is or I am
going to take the tires off the car.”
“I just rolled back and the car just kept going. On the start of
the race, I was running third. I thought now that I am here I might as well
ride around and save the tires. We actually did not get going much faster.
Other cars just slowed up and started to fall apart. We just kept working
our way up to the front and that was good. The right front I might have
bounced off the wall and screwed myself up a little bit. It was getting real
loose but it was good. The car was real good so I cannot complain. I am real
happy.”
Where will Jimmy Kuhn be racing next?
“Open show at Seekonk and then the TVMRS makeup show at Thompson
next Thursday. So as long as we get through Seekonk on Wednesday night we
will head to Thompson on Thursday night. Then later in the year we will be
back here.”
Rob Goodenough
Where will Rob Goodenough be racing next?
“I am not going to run Seekonk, the Wednesday night show. We will
run the next regular True Value Series, Oxford Plains in Maine I believe.”
Jon McKennedy
Jon McKennedy had a challenging night at Lee USA Speedway. First
the car had ignition problems and then there were no brakes. “What made it
tough though is we had zero brakes the whole race. So passing cars was
difficult but we came back and took third, we will take it.”
Richard Savary
“I love Lee Speedway. My brother raced up here for years. I raced
up here the little pro-four cars here and I really liked it up here. Tonight
I have nothing to show for it.”
Major Race Incidents at Lee USA Speedway
On lap sixty-three the top three cars were caught up spun in turn
three. McKennedy ended up on the bottom of the track while Savary and
Hinckley were stopped on the top on the track in turn three. There is a lot
of questions on exactly what happened and drivers answered with what they
saw.
Richard Savary, who was the race leader at the time of the
accident, gave his take: “We were racing and he (Jon McKennedy ) was trying
to make a pass and we made some contact. Les Hinckley was far enough behind
that he was coming to fast he had no where to go. He made contact with the
left rear. He (Les Hinckley) had nothing to do with it (the cause of the
incident) at all.”
“We had a real good car. I was not using up all (the car). I was
waiting because I know you have to wait in these races. Jon got a good run
on me but I think that I gave him plenty of room to race. I did not think
that we would be making contact at all, but we did that is all.”
“After half way we talked about picking the pace up just after a
re-start. Just after a re-start you are just getting back into your rhythm.
I raced him clean on the re-start and we go t back in the lead. I was able
just able to get back into my rhythm when he made his pass. Under normal
race conditions I do not know if he would be able to do that. But he did
what he had to do on a re-start to go for the lead. I think he got a good
run down the front stretch going into one. But I was showing how good the
car was because I got right back on the gas and went right back by him and
then I would pick the pace up. Then I would pick the pace up. I checked my
spotter.”
Jon McKennedy who was making a move to pass for the lead gave his
take: “I got up underneath him on the back stretch I do not know if he got
loose or what. It happened so quick. It looked like he came down on me a
little bit. We bumped wheels. We did not pit we just re-started at the tail
end and drove back up to third.”
Ten laps later, Mike Douglas, Jr.’s while running in eighth found
his car resting up on the back stretch wall. “I was running on the outside
and my spotter said inside. So I gave who ever it was plenty of room It
turned out to be Bateman in the #17. I gave him plenty of room and I do not
know what happened. He just drove right into me.”
“I do not know what I have to do to start drive with these guys
competitively. I have given everyone a lot of room. It is just kind of
crappy. We had it taken away from us at Monadnock. We really worked hard
during the week. Then we had another one taken away form us tonight. We will
fix it. We will put our smiles back on and go to Oxford and see what we can
do.”
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Source: Denise
DuPont / TheChromeHorn.com
Posted: July
11, 2009 |
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