TORC
Chicagoland Race Report
Belvidere, IL (September 19, 2011) - The midweek TORC
event was the opening act for the NASCAR weekend at
Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois. After having
success at the Dirt Track in Charlotte, Scott Taylor
and his #8 Miller Welders RoushYates Engines
BFGoodrich Tire Ford F-150 was looking forward to
competing on the similar track layout at Chicagoland.
The .7 mile long
"Chunk of Baja" had a variety of high speed jumps, a
demanding rhythm section, and a couple of tabletop
jumps all within the confines of the half-mile banked
dirt circle track. The race itself was sixteen laps
with a mandatory caution lap at the halfway point of
the race.
Wednesday afternoon had two practice sessions
scheduled before early evening qualifying.
Unfortunately Mother Nature had other plans. Once it
again it rained at a TORC event. Luckily the rain
ended around four o'clock in the afternoon, allowing
USAC officials to schedule a combined six lap practice
and qualifying session before the scheduled evening
race program.
Scott Taylor went out for the session and was just
getting settled in when steering issues sent the
Miller Welders Ford back to the pit area for a new
steering gear. The limited practice time saw Taylor
qualify sixth fastest.
Quickly crew chief Mike Kasch and the rest of the team
went to work replacing the steering unit. Even with
only a few practice laps, Scott also made a slight
suspension change looking for some extra speed when
exiting the three tight infield corners.
When it came to go racing Wednesday night, the race
was over almost before it started. As the field came
around turns one and two of the circle track, one of
the trucks spun causing a couple more to do the same.
Scott Taylor was one of the those trucks, the contact
bent the rear track arms bars and a shock shaft which
left the axle housing well out of alignment . The
Miller Welders RoushYates Engines BFGoodrich Tires
Ford went back to the hauler to get ready for Thursday
evening's round of racing.
The damage from Wednesday was quickly repaired and
Scott Taylor was ready for Round Eleven by noontime.
Thursday evening's race went much better the blue Ford
F-150. After starting at the back of the pack, Scott
raced hard and a fourth place finish was in sight of
the checkered flag when the truck was pushed into the
wall. This cost the Miller Welders Ford two positions,
finishing in sixth.
"What happened on Wednesday was just a racing thing,"
remarked Scott Taylor. "Just in the wrong spot at the
wrong time, but we got the Miller Welders Ford back
together and running really well on Thursday. Our King
Shocks were set-up great, and our BFGoodrich Tires
really put the RoushYates horsepower to the ground. If
we would have been able to complete Wednesday's race
we would have had more feedback from the truck which
would give the chance to fine tune our set-up for
Thursday. All in all it was a good run for Taylor
Racing."
Thursday night's racing was broadcast live on the
SPEED Channel and the two-hour program has received
rave reviews from longtime fans as well as television
viewers that are new to short-course off-road racing.
Final weekend of the 2011 Traxxas TORC Series
presented by AMSOIL is October 15-16 at the Cycle
Ranch in San Antonio, Texas.
-
Taylor Racing thanks all their supporters including:
Miller Electric - Mastercraft Safety - BFGoodrich
Tires - Automatic Transmission Designs – AMSOIL
RoushYates Engines, Ford Trucks, Russ Wernimont
Designs, King Shocks, Walker Evans Racing, MSD
Ignition, Autometer, K & N Filters, Justice
Brothers, Boatec, and Phil's Inc.
Taylor Racing has marketing opportunities available
for the 2011 TORC season. To contact Taylor Racing
please email:
stitchesbytaylor@comcast.net
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