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"Let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us" - Hebrews 8:1 |
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At the Track ...LATEST UPDATE from the OUTREACH 500 Team - 18th January, 2009 AVALON, SATURDAY, 17th January, 2009 The weather was fantastic as Brenda and I headed to the track. On arrival, we set up in our favourite position and waited for the action. We were hoping the action would last a little longer for Kev this year.......and maybe be a little less dramatic! The Super Sedans were first to go and they did a wonderful job of completely covering us with a deluge of clay! They were fantastic to watch (through gaps in the mud!) When the 500s finally emerged for their turn, we saw that Kev had been put in the 1st Heat. The 500s were divided into two groups: 1st Heat
Heat 1 was a good race with no stoppages. The commentator at the finish informed us that Kev always “has fun”! 3rd Heat
6th Heat
Feature Race ~ 15 laps
Due to an accident which involved Kev’s car being shunted. the race was stopped again but Kev retained his position in the field. While Kev was stopped, we were alarmed at the flames which we could see coming from his car but we were reassured by his hand signals to the track people that it was ok, and sure enough, it was! Another accident saw a four car pile-up and so when racing resumed the field was down to 13 drivers......one of which was Kev! The race was declared before all the laps had been completed and so Kev drove off in 8th place! A great result! Everyone was pleased with the night’s work and we thank God that no major accidents took place. Kev was ‘rapt to be supported by many good friends on Saturday, and he thanks you all for your continuing interest and prayers.
ROUNDUP For over a week the intrepid team travelled from one location to another competing in the 2008/09 Oval Express Series. The series started in South Australia and ended in Victoria. Leigh Goodfellow arrived at Kev’s place on Boxing Day, after driving down from Alice Springs with his transporter. Leigh was our sponsor for this series and he was a great help to all the team. For this year, our new identity is “Team TDC”. On Saturday, 27th the team loaded up their car and also the car of a fellow~driver, Matt Turner, and headed off to Murray Bridge for Round One. What follows is a rough breakdown of how the series went for Team TDC. Round One ~ Murray Bridge Our first heat! Started mid~pack and finished back a few places. The car wasn’t quite set up correctly. As there was only one heat, it put pressure on every driver to perform well. Competitors needed to finish in the first four to go straight into the A feature. C Main Event ~ The car ran consistently but Kev was not able to transfer through so they loaded up and went back to the motel for a debrief. Next morning saw the team on the road early to arrive at Mt Gambier the next day for Round Two. Round Two ~ Mt Gambier First heat Once again their was just one heat to enable Kev to get through. He was up the front but again could not get the car to sit well on the track. Still we made it to the C Main. In the end it was a simular result to the first night. The ‘boys’ loaded up again and headed off to the motel. The next day the team headed for home to regroup. Round Three ~ Hamilton Kev and the team loaded up and headed off to Hamilton. As they travelled they were buffeted by the strongest head wind they have ever encountered. As Kev says “Well if there was ever one that got away it was Hamilton!” The team always goes well there and this looked to be simular. With 51 cars at the venue they were in a quality field. There were three Americans out to race this year and that put the benchmark very high. This night the format went back to the normal one of three heats and a B and A final. Hot laps were first and Kev, as the Oval Express Chaplain, was asked to open the meeting to the crowd over the PA with a prayer. This meant he was late for his run so he went out with the last group. The car felt good and the team was pleased. The result was it was the third fastest car for the hot lap sessions. Total excitement! Heat One - Kev started off the back and decided to just run with patience and pass cars when safe to do so because the next start was on the front row. However, coming onto the straight the engine gave a high rev and the drive chain came into the cockpit and hit the poor Kev on the head. Kev commented about this unfortunate incident: “Some would say that could knock some sense in as none could be knocked out.” The result was quite a bit of damage to the drive line. Kev was by himself at this point so he had a lot of work to do because his trusty ‘right hand man’, Ian, had been called in to work and he arrived late to the track. By the time the car was fixed Kev’s final heat was already on the track so that was it for the night. Round Four ~ Warrnambool Heat One saw a good result with Kev starting out of position two. This position was held all the way through the race. All in Team TDC were happy. Heat Two had us up the back and the car ran well to gain a few places. Kev’s not too sure of the place, but he said it was good enough to make it to the B Main ~ his first for the series. However, sadly, the weather deteriorated so the promoter decided to cancel Kev’s B even to make sure the A feature ran. So the team headed for home again ~ happy with their night’s work. Round Five ~ Laang Off again, this time to Laang speedway for a two day event. The team’s confidence was high! Heat One Kev started out of position four and, after a good start, jumped into second. That position was held all race and things looked good. Heat Two A rear start this time and Kev again ran well but could not advance forward. He started to find a problem with the car’s handling throughout the night but couldn’t sort it out. C Main Again Kev’s car were into the C event. Sadly, the car proved a challenge again and the team could’nt get the car to go quite right. So once again they packed up and headed off to Rob Frazers’ place where warm beds were waiting. Round Six ~ Laang Back to Laang and ready for more racing. Ian and Rob set the car to what Rob thought would be a fast setup. Heat One Started out of five but went back towards the rear very quickly. The car just would not steer or handle. After much head scratching the team tried a very radical setup. Heat Two Started out of position nine and again had the same result. All were a little shattered, so they made even more radical changes. Heat Three Again another good starting position was wasted because the car did not handle well. So much had been changed that the men were all just left wondering, but they made it to the B Main, which was good. B Main Just before going out onto the track it was discovered that the tyre gauge was faulty. After a quick discussion the car was put back to the original settings and the tyres were set correctly. Now, Kev started out of nine and was able to make his way through the field. We had saved our tyres and felt we could advance to the A feature, however, there were a lot of red light incidents and this allowed the tyres of the opposition to cool down during the waiting. All was going well until a red light about four laps from the end. At the restart the car in front of Kev’s balked forcing Kev to run a little wide, allowing another competitor to get through the gap. This was a real pity because Kev was running in fifth position and was ready to advance to fourth (the final transfer position). Due to this mistake, he lost his only chance to make it into the A Main. Although this was a big disappointment, Kev was rapt that the car finally flew so they were all happy with it.
Thanks must go to the following people:
- Leigh Goodfellow from Alice Springs and TDC Refrigeration
- Steve Carter and Ractec for quick repairs to the car
- Ian Barrett and Rob Frazer for their great work
- Young Stuart Robinson who helped at Laang
 MT GAMBIER Ian and Kev set off for Mt Gambier for the second time in two weeks. They were beginning to become familiar with Leigh’s truck and they appreciated the advantages of having such a well-equipped transporter. Some photos accompany this report. They arrived at the track well ahead of time and just relaxed and settled in. We had three heats to run plus a final. Kev drew heats One, Three and Five. Heat One Kev started from position five and finished sixth. Not a bad result as they drew the heat with the top half of the field. The car ran well but the track was a little rough. Heat Three Kev started sixth and finished fifth. A good result as they were once again in the top half of the field. The car was becoming a bit of a handful as the track was ‘going off’. The bumps were a little hard on Kev’s old body. Heat Five Kev was to start at the rear in this one but a car in front dropped out so it moved us up to ninth. Again the car ran well but by now the track was almost ‘undriveable’. Kev commented that the tyre wear was so good because the wheels were hardly on the ground. At the end they finished fifth and this put us into position eight for the A Main. All very pleased! A Main Kev started well but, although the track had been worked on, it was still very hard to drive on. Kev went backwards for a time but then moved forward and, as the race progressed, a few dropped out so he was looking good. However, there’s always a ‘however’, two cars in front tangled and in taking avoiding action our car stalled. Kev couldn’t restart the engine so he was pushed by the tow car but the engine would not fire. So infield he went. A couple of the other drivers came over to see if they could help. Kev was ok to recommence if the problem was sorted out, but, sadly, the problem remained a problem so he sat out the race in the middle of the field. After being pushed into the pits Ian asked what had happened and Kev filled him in and tried to restart the engine. He says: “In typical ‘Murphy’ fashion the car fired into life. We just looked at each other and watched our points go out the gate.” Kev and Ian think the problem was caused by the hammering the car suffered but it remains an unsolved mystery. So all in all the team had a good night but they think it should have been better because they dropped down to eighth in the championship. It took a few days for Kev’s shoulders to recover because the car tossed him about so severely. Anyway, next stop: Avalon, this weekend. We hope and pray for a better result and trust we won’t repeat the acrobatic display of last year! Kev only completed one lap of the very first event....and that was carried out upside down! Thanks for the support and may God bless each and every one of you. Kev & Marg
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