Bark River 2 Race report
8/ 12-13Arriving at the track on Friday we had known that the track wouldn’t change, so our gearing and tires were already on the truck and we were ready to go. As you read last month in the Chula Vista race report, we figured out a new tire cut pattern, that we will probably run for the rest of the year. When we went out for practice I didn’t feel that good, but I tried to be as smooth as possible, and when I received the lap times I was 3rd fast and only 3 tenths of a second off the fastest lap.
Saturday morning for practice we just wanted to make sure the car was ready. I was practicing scrubbing speed (hitting the brakes at the lip of the big jump to push the nose down) and Kyle Leduc came up from behind and hit the jump wide open right beside me. So we went off the jump side by side not even two feet from each other with Kyle’s truck pointing straight up and mine pointing nose down, and jumped nearly 150 feet. Kyle thought it was funny; I didn’t even care because I really didn’t know what had happened, but everyone else sure did. Everyone kept coming up saying that we jumped so close to each other and that we were crazy. Hopefully someone got a photo because it would be the jump of the weekend. When I lined up at staging for the race I noticed the clutch feeling a little different, I new they put a new clutch in, so I thought that was why it felt different. It wasn’t slipping; it just didn’t have a good feel to it. When they put me on the starting line, I was ready, I started in the middle and I knew I could pull a good start. When the green flag dropped, I dropped the clutch and didn’t move. I was sitting perfectly still wide open. I let off the gas and when I eased back on it the clutch engaged and I took off. By now I was a good 50 yards behind the field, but luckily some trucks had tangled in the first turn and I managed to catch the field in the first turn and pass half of the field in the second turn putting me in tenth place. I moved through the field quickly. I wasn’t playing around with anyone this race, I knew that I wanted to be in the front and I would do what it took to get there. Before the first couple laps were over I had passed another 4 cars and was chasing down Art Schmitt, which I haven’t done before, but I knew I could do. Right when I got to his bumper, to show him that I was there, I landed off a jump and bent a wheel. And not only did I bend the wheel, it bent so bad that the inside bead was hitting the caliper. So I limped it into the pits and got it changed. As soon as the crew dropped the jack, I dropped the clutch to go and the clutch slipped again. I think I basically destroyed the clutch. Because I only made it 3 more corners before it was done. The truck felt like it was in neutral when really it was in gear. So my day was ended early. It was upsetting to know that I was as fast as the leaders, I have equipment that can get me on the podium, and that luck is my biggest hurdle.
Sunday was a new day, we had fixed the clutch, and I was ready to chase down the front runners. During practice Art was right behind me and I was just driving around the rough course checking out the fast lines. When I went off the big jump, I didn’t lift to see how far I could actually go, that was a bad idea, a gust of wind caught the hood right at the last moment and shot the truck straight up in the air. I landed back bumper first, right on a rock. In the next corner the car died so I fired it back up and took off, and it died again. After firing it up four or five times the car finally stopped completely and I needed a tow. When we got back to the pits we noticed the battery was upside down on the gas tank and was arcing on the gas tank. What had happened was when I landed on the back end of the truck a rock, in the dirt, hit the bottom side of the battery mount and broke it clean off the truck. Before the race we fixed the mount and installed, what we thought was a new battery. At the starting line I had a straight shot to the outside and my plan was to take the outside around everyone. When the green flag dropped I had a good start, I was side by side with most of the fast guys. When I got to the first corner they had only watered the outside sending me straight for the wall. I steered it away from the wall and when I went to go over the berm, it hooked my rear tire and sent me into the wall. This wasn’t that bad since there was a huge pile up on the inside of the turn one. When I went to restart the truck it wouldn’t start. The battery that we put in the car didn’t have enough juice. All I needed was a push off the wall so I could get the truck bump started. The safety crew quickly positioned themselves beside me, and hooked the tow rope to the top of my rear push bar. The course workers tugged the truck from the side and it rolled slowly over on its roof. The black cloud of bad luck had returned again. They had flipped me over, and had no clue what to do about it. They hooked the rope up in at least 3 different places and spun me around a couple times before they could get it over. As soon as they got me back on four wheels, they bump started me and I was off. I was 2 laps down, in the back of the pack, and I was able to race through the field and finish with the lead group. I was as fast as the top runners; I just have this cloud that won’t go away.
We are looking forward to Crandon and I am going to focus on my training to make sure I am in the right mind set for the big race. The last 3 races were hampered by an ignition module, a clutch and a battery, three extremely rare failures in a row. I firmly believe the crew at Art Schmitt Racing is doing a good job of prepping this truck, and we will be racing out from under this cloud at Crandon. Thanks everyone for all the help and support.
Casey Currie
This racing season would not be possible without the help of everyone. I am so thankful for everyone having faith in me as a driver, and trusting that I will get the job done. This is my dream, and I am living it. Thank you again.
I want to say thanks to everyone that is helping me out
Art Schmitt
Art Schmitt Racing
Nitto Tire
Nissan
Motive Gear
Active Moto Sport
Currie Enterprises
Elf Oils
Rancho Suspension
Mastercraft
Shoei Helmets
Wilwood brakes
Sign Pros
Simple Green
And everyone else that has helped me out.
Casey Currie
Pro Lite
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