ASHEBORO, N.C. (June 20, 2008) – After seven weeks of consecutive fastest qualifier status, Cole Miktuk’s string was snapped on Friday night when he could manage only the third-quickest time in qualifying, however, he still added to his points lead with a pair of second-place finishes.
The teen racer said the tires issued at the track for his No. 6 GoRaceKid.com/Money4Racing.com Chevy Late Model Super Truck were probably the worst he’s had all season long.
“It wasn’t a very good night,” Miktuk commented. “It was good that we got the seconds (in both races). It’s the luck of the draw. The guy who won told me he got the best tires of the season.”
The team checked the truck’s weight when they arrived at Caraway Speedway, using the track’s official scales. The scales’ recent service resulted in every entrant showing nearly 50 pounds light. This had teams scrambling, looking for lead or other weights to add before time trials. Another monkey wrench got tossed in the works at the drivers' meeting when everyone was allowed to be 40 pounds underweight at post-race inspection. This made the Miktuks’ chore even more difficult, as they had already added weight to the truck and now his father and crew chief, Mark, decided to remove it prior to time trials, without time to undo the adjustments for additional weight.
The adjustments for weight left Miktuk a tenth off his practice times, but he still managed to qualify third, with a time only a scant 0.035 second behind first and a razor-thin nine-thousandths behind the second place qualifier.
Following time trials, the team reinstalled half the weight for the first race and Miktuk drove two more of his smooth, smart races to finish second in both 35-lap features. He started third in the first race and fourth in the second.
Miktuk’s next scheduled race is at Caraway on July 2, when the featured Late Model Super Truck race runs for 100 laps.
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06-28-2008, 12:27 PM
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