The team would bring the same setup to the ASA race as the one that was used at the Charlotte County race 2 weeks ago. During Friday practice, a few adjustments were made to compensate for the different tires and the different weight settings mandated by ASA. Austin would click off some very quick laps during this "test & tune" and the car was very stable.
During the heat of the day on Saturday's practice session, the Sonny's BBQ #11 Ford Fusion would have trouble finding grip on the track. The desert-like heat would cause the track to become greasy and caused most of the cars to have trouble hooking up. Towards the end of the practice run, the team elected to put on some brand new tires and make a mock qualifying run. Austin ran 2 laps as hard as he could and ran a 15.5 second lap, which was no faster than Austin ran on old tires. It was disappointing because that time was about a half second off the pace.
For Qualifying, Crew Chief Dave Pletcher made a few adjustments to the car to try to solve the 'loose-off' condition that had been plaguing the Saturday practice. "I was a little concerned about qualifying when the first few times were in the low 15 second range." Austin commented. "The pole was a 15.06 by the time went out and knowing I went a 15.5 during my mock qualifying run, I thought we might be in trouble." Austin went out and performed a flawless first lap, a 15.115. Austin was made aware of his first lap time by his dad via radio communication, so Austin elected to go even harder his 2nd lap. He got in the gas really early and the car unfortunately didn't hook-up, so the 2nd lap was slower. His first lap though was quick enough to put him 3rd quickest. This was by far the team's best qualifying effort for the ASA Southern series races this year. The pole-sitter pulled a 8 invert, so Austin would have to start 6th.
But, as soon as the last car finished time trials, the clouds opened up and it poured for an hour straight, flooding the pits and the infield of the track. The ASA Series officials decided to rain-out the event, with points being awarded by qualifying order. This gave Austin a career best 3rd place. Austin said, "I am disappointed we couldn't get the race in. I think we would have had a shot to win if we would have been able to run. I will definitely take the points though. It ended up being a very good points night because everybody ahead of me in points qualified behind me."
The next ASA South race will be at Concord Motorsports Park in Concord, North Carolina. Hopefully the team can ride the momentum off of this third place finish to the "tricky triangle" that is the three-cornered track of Concord Motorsports Park.
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