NEWS

July 20 - Wednesday Fair week show added to Clinton County Raceway Schedule and videos for 7-18 are up.

There has been a tradition that during Clinton County Fair week we have racing on Wednesday night. It was not on the schedule but the race has now been added. Pro Stocks, Micro Sprints and 4 cylinder FWD are on the schedule and all classes are racing for $500 to win. The race will be Aug 6th. The race hasn't been put up on the CCR site yet however it has been confirmed several times by Vern in both drivers meetings and track announcements. Keep checking the Clinton County site for more details and start times. It's also supposed to be a pack the track night with discount admission for fans.

Videos for this weeks races are up. The incar for the feature shows just how much David had to work the wheel to keep the car going.

July 18 - Troubles continue for the Festiva race team and Clinton County

After a DNF last week due to the hub breaking Festiva Racing was looking for a solid run. For the 2nd straight week David would have another bad pill draw as he pulled 31 out of 35. This would start him 9th in the first heat.

In the heat David would catch a break as the scheduled pole sitter was sent back to the pits. This would slide David to the 7th spot. On the start the inside row wouldn't get a great start and David would try to get high heading into turn 1. The #61 would slip by moving David to 8th but he would go right back to 7th by passing the #99 up high. He would then go after the #47 and after a lap and a half would get by using the top side. David would then be stuck behind a 2 car battle. Not sure which car to follow he remained up high. Then on the final lap the 2 cars got together and David would goto the low side. It would be a 3 car drag race to the line. It was ruled that the #46 took the 4th spot. The invert for the feature was 6 cars but since the last weeks winner was in front of David it meant a 6th place starting spot.

In the feature it would be a good start as the #46 and #8m would race door to door for the first 2 laps before taking the 5th spot. Then David's troubles would begin. The brakes would appear to go out on lap 3 as the caution came out. He would pump the brakes back up but they would go out again after the green dropped. This forced him to take it much easier going into the turns. Then on lap 4 the car began to have handling problems. Each lap that went by the car got worse. Since it was getting worse each lap David thought he may have had a tire going down. After a couple more yellows David was passed by several drivers and was unsure how much longer the car was going to keep going. Then on lap 7 David would fly off turn 3 and lose 4 spots before getting it back on the track. What had happened to the car this week the other hub broke. This caused the brakes to go out on the left front. This made reverse brake bias for the Festiva. Normally when you touch the brakes you want them to get the car loose. With only the right front working it had the opposite effect making the car pull hard right. This meant David couldn't use the brakes going into the turns. Also since the hub broke the left front tire was no longer turning so only 1 wheel was helping the Festiva steer through the corner. When David would steer the car the left front tire would actually roll over and it looked like the tire had 30-40 degrees of camber in it. This can be seen on the video if you watch carefully going through turns 3 and 4 in the late laps of the feature. With all these problems David would continue on in 10th place. He would have to get out of the gas half way down the straights so he could make the corners. With 2 to go David would get passed by 2 cars and moved back to 12th spot which is where he would finish the race. Just bad luck to break both hubs in back to back weeks.

July 11 - All race videos are up and multiple pictures

The race videos are up from July 11. The spectator view does contain the final 2 laps following the leaders after the #46 dropped out with 2 to go.

34 Pictures have been added to the pictures section. I have been lacking on putting pictures up and finally got around to it today. There are a few of my own pictures. The rest are from Kathy Bierly and Nate Yeagle. Thanks to both for all the great pictures they take and allowing me to post them here.

July 11 - Tough week for the Festiva at Clinton County

David was back at Clinton County after winning last week with high hopes but knowing he would start at best 12th for the feature. For the pill draw David's luck ran out as he pulled #33. This would start him 9th in heat #2

In the heat race David would use the low side as soon as the green dropped. He would pass the #4 car but coming off turn 2 the #4 would pull even and race David into turn 3. Then going into turn 1 there would be contact between the 2 cars as they would go 3 wide with the #7. After watching the replay its unclear which car was at fault for the incident. David would continue battling with the #4 but wouldn't get around him until 2 to go. This left David very little time catch up and he would finish in 9th position. The car was not handling or driving the way it should in the feature leaving David to wonder if something was going wrong. This would put David in 16th spot.

In the feature David would have his worst starting spot all season. When the green dropped David used the high side and passed the #47. Then going into turn1 the #85 would get spun moving David to 14th spot. A little confusion with the scanner as David thought he heard yellow and slowed down but the green lights stayed on. As he raced on he would pass the #8m then the #31 moving up into 12th. The #99 and #50 would get together and David would pass them coming off turn 2 and move into the top 10. The #02 would drop out moving the #46 to 9th. David would begin to work on the #18. He tried a few times low but couldn't complete the pass. Then on lap 9 the #18 would hit the curb coming off 2 and fly off the track. David would then set his sights on 7th place. It would only take 2 laps before to would be side by side with the #94x. He would complete the pass but going into turn 1 and 2 the Festiva would develop multiple problems. The brakes went out and the car was not steering correctly. Then down the backstraight the axle came out and David would coast to a stop. This was a mirror image of the problems last year. The hub broke which caused the loss of brakes and axle to come out. After moving from 16th to 7th David's night would be over and he would finish 17th. The 2nd DNF for the Festiva in 4 weeks. This might have caused some of the handling problems in the heat race. Last time it broke it took 2 weeks for it to fully break.

July 6 - The race videos are up and a link to the #64's videos has been added

The race videos from the July 4th race are up however the incar video from both heat and feature will be exclusively on the Festiva Racing website. I decided not to post the incar videos on youtube this week since there wasn't much to see. I started 2nd and took the lead in both the heat and feature by turn 1. Its a boring incar video and youtube takes forever to upload to so if you really want to see it then you will have to get it from the festiva video section.

I added a link to the #64's incar videos on youtube in the links section below listed under drivers. http://www.youtube.com/profile_videos?user=sk8077

July 4th - Festiva Racing celebrates the 4th with a bang at Clinton County by winning the heat and feature.

The #46 race team would be spending their 4th of July holiday at the Clinton County Raceway to see if they could make some fireworks out on the track. David would get a pretty good pill draw pulling the #6 putting him 2nd in the 2nd heat race.

In the heat the first start didn't go to well for the #46 as the polesitter would be completely past David by the flag stand. However the caution would come out for what appeared to be a false start and David would have a 2nd chance. This time is was a good clean start and the 2 drivers raced to turn 1. David would push as hard as he could into the corner and take the top spot with the #94 following along. David would run out in front but was having problems with the bumps in turn 4 slowing him down and the #94 would be all over the back end of the #46. David would manage to hold on and pick up his 2nd heat win of the year. This would be a good thing because the winner of the first heat pulled a 0 to make it a heads up start putting David on the front row for the feature for the 2nd straight week.

In the feature it would be a typical start for the 4 cylinders as there have been major wrecks the last 4 weeks on the first lap. David would take the lead but it wouldn't matter as the yellow came out. Try #2 wouldn't be any better as there would be a major wreck on the frontstraight and the yellow was out again. Finally after the third restart we were able to go. On the start it would be a drag race to turn 1 that David would win and take over the lead. He would run the same line he did for the heat race but quickly found out that he could run a little higher. The big cars had pushed the cushion up the track and for the first time in a very long time there was a fast and smooth high groove. David would run right up against the cushion and his car would really hook up. By avoiding the bump in turn 4 and the small one in turn 2 he was able to build up some momentum. It would actually be a little too much as David would start to over rev the car by a couple hundred rpm's at the end of the straight. This started to take its toll on the motor and it was beginning to overheat. By lap 8 the temp was almost 240 deg. As the field took the 5 to go the temp climbed to 250 and was starting to push water out. David would have had to come in had the yellow flag not have come out. There was no way the Festiva would have held on for 5 more laps and it wasn't worth blowing the motor. The yellow flag allowed the Festiva to cool off but it still was 210 deg. We would complete 2 more laps before another yellow came out. Which again saved the #46. After pushing some water out it was overheating much quicker and the yellow flag saved it again. This would make for a green and 2 to go shootout. David would be very nervous about the motor but the Festiva would manage to hold on for the final 2 laps and David would get first win of the season.

After testing the motor the next day it didn't appear to be hurt too bad from the excessive heat. This was just an all around lucky night for David. Good pill draw, good invert, great track, and perfectly timed caution flags. Also the early yellows took a toll on many of the fast cars. The high groove we had that night reminds me a lot of the track back in 2004 and a few times in 2005. Vern defiantly knows what he is doing when it comes to working the track in and hope it gets even better.

I would like to take this time to thank my sponsors Hookers Garage in Williamsport, The Job Shop and SDF Computers. Also to my pit crew and everyone that has helped out this year. Also a thanks to all the fans that stopped by during autograph and picture night. You all make it possible to race every week. Thank You.

June 27 - Videos up early this week.

The videos for all Feature and heat are up. I'm amazed the incar video stayed on the whole time after a heck of a beating from the track.

June 27 - Festiva Racing takes the lead early but was unable to hold on.

The #46 race team was back in action again at Clinton County Raceway on Friday. David would pull the #16 pill for the pill draw putting him 4th in the 3rd heat.

In the heat David would only get an average start and end up falling behind the 18L in 4th place. Heading into turn 1 The #46 would get a little tap from behind but was able to quickly correct it and race on. David would play the catch up game for the next 3 laps and with one to go would be right on the back bumper of the #18L. Coming off turn 2 David was able to use his run and pass low to get the 3rd spot which is were he would finish. This meant for the feature David would need a 10 car invert to be on the front row...which is exactly what happened.

In the feature David would start in 2nd beside the #14F. On the start David would take the top spot by the flag stand as the 2 cars accelerated toward turn 1. The action wouldn't last long as a multi car pile up happened on the backstraight. Track officials described it as a mine field and brought the red flag out. After cleaning up the track it would be attempt 2 at getting the race under way. It would be the same result on this start as David powered past the #14F to take the lead. David would hold onto the top spot for 3 laps before the #61 started to put pressure on. He would assist the #46 several spots on the track with a little push but David was able to keep the lead. After 5 laps the leaders caught the 1st lapper. David would pass low and get by but then in turn 2 the #61 got an outstanding run off the turn and the 2 went side by side. They would continue to fight and work lap traffic.

Lap traffic would be the sore spot for the #46 as coming off turn 2 David was pushed way high, almost off the track and then in turn 3 the same thing would happen again. This cost David 2 spots moving him to 4th. A yellow would come out on lap 11 to bunch up the field. On the restart David would be all over the #94 but the track made it tough to make a pass. A caution would come out again on lap 14. Another restart but he couldn't make a move. Then going down the backstraight a bold move by the #38A would put David back to 5th however coming off turn 4 the leader had major problems and all the leaders were forced to take action. This put the #46 back in 4th spot. The yellow would come out shortly after and David would get his spot back and be in 3rd. Another quick yellow would leave the field with a 4 lap shootout. The top cars would battle but nobody could make any moves. With 2 to go David would get too high and the car would bounce wildly causing him to lose a lot of ground and allow the #64 to be right on his bumper. David would make the final lap pretty smooth and manage to hold onto 3rd spot. While the Festiva got 3rd it was still disappointing after leading the early laps and this was a special race which mean it was double payout to win.

Festiva Racing is scheduled to take part in all but 2 races that has the 4 Cylinders at Clinton County. The full race schedule is listed below.

Sponsored by :

Hookers Garage and Towing.
Auto repairs, both foreign and domestic
collision repair and 24 hour towing

1315 West Third Street
Williamsport, PA 17701
570-322-6633

The Job Shop
Prototypes Custom Designs
Welding (any mat.) - Fabrication
Basic Machining - Precision Engine Assy.
And Much More

3640 #2 Linn St.
Cogan Station, PA 17728
(570) 916 - 3401

SDF Computers
PC service and support
web design

http://www.sdfcomputers.com

For more information you can contact us at
festivaracing@sdfcomputers.com

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