Repaired Madman Chassis Delivers Top-5 Finishes at Gravity Park & 141

After extensive damage to our chassis at The Hill Raceway a few weeks ago, we had the opportunity to drive Jarred VanLaanen’s sportmod the past few weeks to try to hold onto our points lead at Luxemburg Speedway.

The first night we had great success, going from 7th to 3rd in the heat race and later finished 5th in the feature after starting 12th. We lost sole possession of the points lead, but we would still be tied with Lucas Lamberies for the top spot.

The second night in the car did not produce the same results. I started 13th in the feature, and immediately knew something was wrong with the car. The tank for the power steering fluid had busted off of its mount, spilling the fluid out of the tank throughout the race. I tried to drive as best as possible, but in the end I faded from the 11th spot to finish 15th. That finish put us back into 3rd in the standings, 13 points out of the lead.

This past weekend, we were able to get our Madman Chassis back from repairs and we took a trip south to Gravity Park Speedway in Chilton to test it out. After finishing 4th in the heat race, we were set up 9th on the starting grid of the feature.

Early on, there was not much room to maneuver, and I was stuck behind Bill Edler and Rick Kretschmann in the 10th spot. After a slew of cautions, I was able to get to the bottom of the racetrack and jump all the way up to 5th before another caution flag flew. On the final restart, I went back to the bottom of the track and drove up to a 2nd place finish.

The following night, we went to 141 Speedway for another shakedown. Due to our DNF in our previous visit to the track, we lined up on the outside pole of the heat race. I took the lead in the early going and cruised to the win.

I would start on the outside pole of the feature as well, taking the early lead but struggled to find traction. I was passed by Ryan LeMieux on the outside, and followed behind him for the majority of the race. A late caution proved costly for us as Jason Ebert was able to slide up and take the 2nd spot away on the final lap. I tried to dive to the bottom to pass him back, but couldn’t find enough traction coming to the checkers, finishing in 3rd.

Our plan for this week is to head to Luxemburg Speedway on Friday night. Only 2 nights remain in the 2018 points season before we head into the end-of-year fall specials.

Remember to follow Budzo Racing on Facebook at facebook.com/budzoracing, on Instagram at instagram.com/budzoracing and on Snapchat at snapchat.com/add/budzoracing.