A New Track, A Fresh Motor and a Hard-Fought Night
After four weeks away from the track, Dominic Slesinski Racing was finally ready to go racing again.
On Saturday, we headed to Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway making it the fifth track we have visited for the first time this season.
A new track always brings a challenge. We arrived with no notes, no setup data and no baseline for what the 30s would need once we hit the track.
It was also our first chance to see how the refreshed motor would perform under race conditions.
Back to Racing
Hot laps gave us a good first look at the car. The refreshed motor was running strong, and we were happy with what we saw after the work from NPS to get us back on track.
Hot laps also showed us that we needed to make a gearing change if we wanted to keep the 30s competitive.
Dominic started Heat #2 from P4. After a couple of cautions, he worked his way forward and had the 30s up to P2.
Once the race settled into a longer green-flag run, it became clear we were still off on gearing. The car began to lose ground, and Dominic finished the heat in P6.
That meant we had some work to do before the feature.
A Better 30s for the Feature
With the P6 heat finish, Dominic would start the 25-lap feature from P17.
We made more adjustments to the car and made our second gearing change of the night.
When the green flag dropped, it was clear the changes had helped.
The 30s was much more competitive, and Dominic immediately started working his way forward from P17.
Unfortunately, the night took a turn when a car got loose in front of Dominic, leaving him nowhere to go. He got caught up in the incident and spun, bringing out the caution. We were then sent to the back of the field for the restart.
The good news was that the 30s escaped without any major damage.
Once the green flag came back out, Dominic went right back to work. He stayed competitive and began picking his way forward again.
When the checkered flag flew, the 30s crossed the line in P13.
Trackside Takeaways
- Clyde Martin was another new track for our team, and nights like this are all about learning.
- We started the night with no data and had to build our notebook as we went. The gearing and setup changes made a noticeable difference, giving Dominic a much more competitive car for the feature.
- There is always something to learn when we visit a new track, and we will take what we learned at Clyde Martin and add it to the notebook for the next time we come back.
Appreciation Lap
A big thank you to NPS for helping us get the motor repaired, ready and back in the 30s.
Thank you as well to our sponsors and everyone who continues to follow along and support our team each week.
- A2Z Mobile Maintenance
- Kurpakus Chassis & Fabrication
- Dietz Fabrication & Powder Coating
Four weeks away felt like a long time, so it was great to finally be back at the track.
The 30s may have started the feature 17th and had to restart from the back, but we kept fighting and brought it home 13th.
One more track learned. One more night in the books. And one more step forward for DSR.
See ya at the next one!
Photos: MIKE KNAPPENBERGER PHOTOS
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