PENTICTON, BC – The month of July was a very slow month for Sarah Cornett-Ching and her race team. It ended though with an OK Tire ARCA West Sportsman Series race at Gold Pan Speedway in Quesnel, BC. August kicked off with the annual Gordie Mannes Memorial Weekend at Penticton Speedway.
At the OK Tire ARCA race in Quesnel, Cornett-Ching was looking to build on their momentum from their top five finish in the previous race. It was a very hot day at the track, but Cornett-Ching was eager to get inside the car for practice and see what adjustments were needed. It was a tough morning practice session at the track though, as the team chased a binding issue with one of their shocks. Going into qualifying, Cornett-Ching and the team could only hope for the best with the handling of the car an unknown due to the shock issue.
Cornett-Ching qualified eighth out of the 13 cars on hand. It was a disappointing run, but she was optimistic that the car would be better in her qualifying heat race and she was right, as she worked her way to third after starting at the rear of the field. The 100 lap main event started out well for Cornett-Ching, running in the top five throughout the first 50 laps. Multiple restarts slowed the pace in the second half though, and Cornett-Ching would struggle through the final laps with a bent up car after contact from another car. She brought her Snap On Tools car home with a ninth place finish.
It is disappointing to continuously have these small issues plague us throughout these races,” said Cornett-Ching after the Quesnel event. “All we can really do is look ahead to the next race ARCA West Sportsman Series race Agassiz Speedway in a couple weeks. We had a good run there last year, and I look forward to going back”.
This past weekend, Cornett-Ching raced close to home in the annual Gordie Mannes Memorial at Penticton Speedway for their two-day show. This race was not a Series race for her, and feature cars from both the ARCA West Series and the ASA Advanced Testing Late Model Series. Cornett-Ching posted the 10th fastest speed in qualifying, and finished third in her qualifying heat. Despite an ill handling car, she managed to battle her way to a seventh place finish.
“The car was just way too lose and very difficult to drive,” said Cornett-Ching after the race. “We were able to battle back to a top ten finish, and the car is damage free, so we will take it back to the shop and try and find more speed out of it for tomorrow.”
It was a long day in the shop on Sunday before heading back to the track on Sunday night. With only a seven minute practice session to test their adjustments that they made on the car, Cornett-Ching was hopeful that the car would be better then the previous day. She still battled handling issues on the car, and qualified ninth in time trials. The team continued to work on the car, and a second place finish in her heat race proved that they were heading in the right direction. Cornett-Ching once again finished seventh, with a cumulative finish of sixth place overall to end the weekend.
“We fought the handling issues again in qualifying and just couldn’t seem to get the car to turn through the centre of the corner,” said Cornett-Ching. “We did make progress on the car, and it was definitely better. We can take a lot of positives out of this, with it only being our second time here in a Late Model at this track. We were able to make some strong outside passes, and the car is relatively unscathed. I am really looking forward to next weekend’s race at Agassiz. I really have to thank Midtown RV and Peerless for coming on board for this past last weekend’s race, and Snap On Tools for their continued support.”
The next race on the schedule for Sarah Cornett-Ching will be this coming Saturday night at Agassiz Speedway. After a seventh place finish there in her first appearance in 2011, Cornett-Ching is looking forward to getting back to the track once again. This will be the second last race on the OK Tire ARCA West Series schedule. The final race on the tour will take place on September 8 at Motoplex Speedway in Vernon, BC.
For more information on Sarah Cornett-Ching and to follow her racing accomplishments, please visit her newly revamped website, www.sccracing.com or visit her on Facebook at www.facebook.com/sccracing.
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