Fraserville, ON- (August 13, 2014)- It was a motorsports experience perfectly named for the weather conditions of the day. OSCAAR Outlaw Super Late Model teams tackled the 3/8th mile layout of Kawartha Downs and Speedway for the Summer Rush II.
Delayed from its originally scheduled date of July 13 by weather, “The Whitby Warrior” Mike Beyore was looking to put a ninth place finish Saturday, August 2 at Peterborough Speedway in the rear view mirror with a solid run on the Kawartha high banks.
“There will be shows like we had at Peterborough; every driver has them,” said Beyore. “We found the problem that contributed to the steering issue on the car. It was a costly repair, but there are no little red arrows that point to a broken or damaged component. You just have to keep trying different things until you can finally hit on what’s causing the problem.”
For the first round of practice on the bright, sunny Sunday afternoon, the driver of the #54 machine and his crew elected to test the car’s performance on a set of used (or scuffed) tires. As the first team to leave the staging area, he also got the chance to evaluate how his equipment would handle in clear track conditions, even though the possibility of running side-by-side with some of the other runners could also present itself.
“With a 10 lap qualifying race and 50 lap feature event to run on a hot afternoon, the tires could go away very quickly,” stated Beyore after the session. “I like to run out front – even in warm-ups – because it’s the best possible racing scenario. The spotter is in my ear all the time, so I usually know when or if someone is coming-up to pass. While we’re putting the car through its paces, everyone in the field is looking to gain the same information.”
Beyore took the green flag from fifth starting spot for his heat race and it didn’t take long for him to discover his thoughts on tire strategy would need some adjustment. The right rear didn’t grow as much as he’d expected and that threw the stagger off and made the car difficult to control. He still had the speed every team searches for, but they’d need to make some changes to get everything out the car they were hoping for. It didn’t help that the Super Lates would be the last event on the day.
“There was a fresh set of rubber mounted-up and sitting in the shade, on the rack inside the hauler,” said the driver. “As we were coming off the track following the heat race, I was already on the radio talking to the crew about tire pressures and getting the new tires ready to go on the car; but I also wanted to leave them in the trailer for as long as possible. It wasn’t a lot cooler in there, but even a couple of degrees could make a difference.”
Taking the green flag from outside the second row, Mike Beyore moved to second place quickly and held that spot for a few laps, before dropping back to fourth. The car was tight and pushed in the corners, forcing him to back out of the throttle to make it turn. Tire struggles again proved to be the culprit. A couple of caution flags helped the condition, but the combination of tire heat and the hot asphalt meant a struggle throughout the day. A late race battle with John Owen was fun, but the #54 finished the 50 lap distance in fifth place.
“I drove my butt off out there,” said Beyore, wiping perspiration from his face while the car went through post race inspection. “It was so hot and we pushed like a dump truck. I’ll never say we ‘settled’ for fifth, but its where we finished today.”
Max Beyore – wheeling his OSCAAR Modified – matched his older brother’s finishing position. Next on the schedule is a Saturday, August 23rd date at Sunset Speedway, before returning to Peterborough Saturday, August 30th.
Follow Mike Beyore throughout the season on Twitter via @54buck and at www.beyoreracing.ca.
Mike Beyore’s 2014 OSCAAR Super Late Model tour is supported by Stemac Machinery & Industrial Tools, Millenium Crane, CNC Custom Machining, Praxair, MGS Performance, Mayhew Graphics, Vista Engineering Corporation, Lesco Industrial Restoration and Metals Plus, with promotional services by Clarke Motorsports Communications.
Prepared by: Jim Clarke, Clarke Motorsports Communications/First Draft Media
clarkemotorsports@hotmail.com
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