August 9, 2009

Double Duty for Pair of CANUSA Drivers at Delaware Last Friday

The CANUSA Motorsports Team took to Delaware Speedway last Friday night with two cars on the track for a pair of 25-lap features in the Late Model division.  Jamie Ramsay would pilot one of the Total Lubricants / APC Chevrolets, while seven-time Open Wheel Modified champion Jamie Cox drove the team’s backup car.

The night started with time trails and Ramsay was able to qualify seventh, with Cox ripping off the tenth quickest lap of the session.  Ramsay spoke about the struggles that the team had to overcome, “We had a miss in the carburetor, tried a few things to get it fixed for the first 25-lapper.”
Cox on the other hand wasn’t even prepared to race the car, saying, “Ivor told me since we had them both there, might as well run both of them.  I didn’t even get a lap in the car, until the qualifying run.  I was pleased with a tenth-place result.”

The first half of the twin bill would go yellow free for the entire duration, as fast qualifier Ron Sheridan led every lap from the pole for the win.  Ramsay fell back to eighth just after the halfway point, and would climb back to seventh by the time the checkered flag fell.  “The car was handling great, we just had the miss in the motor.  It was good everywhere but getting off the corners, and then when we got going on the straight it was fine.  We changed out the entire carb for the second feature.”
Cox was would play it safe throughout the 25-lap distance, and though he dropped a couple of spots to a12th-place finish, it was still a solid result for laps three through 27 for the backup driver in the car.  ”When you’re driving someone else’s car, I get a little more cautious.  We were still happy that it was in one piece, and we had a pretty good run.  We’ll just make some air pressure adjustments for the second feature.”

The second feature would close the night and following the inversion Ramsay rolled off 14th, with Cox electing to start at the back of the pack.  Chaos started early, and Ramsay was ready for it.  “I knew it was going to be crazy to invert the entire field, and I was ready for an early crash, but I thought it would happen on lap two, or lap one, not before we even got to the start / finish line.”  As one car climbed the wall and then landed, shooting across the track, Ramsay hopped on the brakes and only suffered very minor damage, bending a couple of hood pins, but not bad enough to force the car to pit road.
Jamie ran in the seventh to eighth range for the first half of the race before cracking the top-five with just a few laps to go.  On the last lap, while racing for fourth he got into the back of the Kyle Delisle and spinning him.  While Ramsay admitted he was guilty, there was no penalty and he was credited with a fourth-place result.  Ramsay was thrilled with yet another trip to tech lane for him and the team, “It’s never a bad feeling when you have to go through post-race inspection.  I feel kind of bad for turfing the #5 [Delisle].  He was trying to slow down so much to make sure he didn’t make a mistake and give up a spot on the last lap, and I was just going for another position.  I know what he was doing, because I’ve done it before, but he just slowed down so much, I got in so deep and I got into him.”
Cox was able to slowly pick his way through the field as well, after starting at the back of the competitive pack.  He avoided the lap one mess, and would bring the #22X home with a solid 15th-place finish.  “It was a pretty good night for us.  I got some laps in a Late Model, and we were able to bring it home without a scratch on it.”

Kirk Hooker blasted to the front of the pack early, taking the lead from Andrew Gresel, and held off a charge from Steve Robblee to capture his first career Delaware Speedway Late Model feature win.
1st feature – 1. Sheridan, 2. Hooker, 3. Steven Mathews, 4. Chad Rijnen, 5. Scott Lindsay, 7. Jamie Ramsay, 12. Jamie Cox.
2nd feature – 1. Hooker, 2. Steve Robblee, 3. Sheridan, 4. Jamie Ramsay, 5. Lindsay, 15. Jamie Cox.
The next event for the CANUSA Motorsports Team will be Friday August 15th at Delaware Speedway for the third and final JBM Leasing Triple Crown event with a twin 25-lap format.
For more information on Jamie Ramsay, Canusa Motorsports, Delaware Speedway, or the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series, please visit www.canusamotorsports.webs.com, www.delawarespeedway.com, or www.localracing.nascar.com.

Writen by Jamie Maudsley of Maudsley Motorsports. http://www.maudsleymotorsports.com/