2002 Racing Season Weekly Results

March
Saturday March 23rd	Silver Spring Speedway: Steve started 2nd in his heat race and won. He then started 11th in the feature. In the feature on lap 2 he got caught up with Bob Eichelberger after Bob's motor shut down and Steve had nowhere to go. Eichelberger then went on to win the feature and Steve finished 26th.
Saturday March 30th	Silver Spring Speedway: The car was very fast in hot laps. It was a very tacky track surface. Steve started 10th in First heat. Finished 5th! Half a car length behind Sam Leonard. Started on pole in the Consolation Race. Finished 2nd. Started 22nd in feature. Man on the MOVE!! Finished 13th!! Awesome run. Track was super slick in feature.
April
Friday April 5th	Williams Grove Speedway: Race Canceled Due to Cold Temperatures and Snow
Saturday April 6th	Silver Spring Speedway: Very cold night race! Steve started 5th in his heat and finished 3rd. Started 11th in feature and finished in 6th.
Saturday April 13th	Silver Spring Speedway: Race was canceled due to Rain.
Saturday April 20th	Silver Spring Speedway: Tonight the track was very slippery and it was very tough to pass. Steve did not qualify in his heat race and finished 7th^.The track got worse for the Consolation race. Steve started 7th and he drove the wheels off the car and he finished 6th... so he did not transfer to the feature.
Saturday April 27th	Silver Spring Speedway: Steve got off to a rough start in his heat race... after clipping a spun out car the team had to repair the steering system. Steve then started the Consolation race in last position. He moved all the way up to 5th before running out of fuel on the last two laps. (The feature for this night was later postponed due to rain.)
Sunday April 28th	Selinsgrove Speedway: Race Postponed due to poor track conditions due to rocks. Was rescheduled for June 2nd.
May
Saturday May 4th	Silver Spring Speedway: Steve finished 2nd in his heat race and started 11th in the feature. He moved up to 5th and then something broke in the driveline... he finished 24th in the feature.
Saturday May 11th	Silver Spring Speedway: Steve finished 2nd in his heat race and started 10th in the feature. After getting caught up in a spin-out he ended up finishing 19th in the feature.
Saturday May 18th	Silver Spring Speedway: Steve won his Heat race and started 8th in the feature. He then went on to win the Feature... His first win of the Year! Way to go!
Saturday May 25th	Silver Spring Speedway: Steve started 6th in the second heat and finished 6th. This gave him a starting position of 4th in the first consolation race and he ran a good race and finished 2nd. In the feature he started 23rd and ran a great race... he avoided a few close calls with wrecks and finished the night 8th. The car was a little off in the setup and all in all it was a great night for the team to come away with a top ten finish.
Sunday May 26th	Susquehanna Speedway: Race was postponed due to Rain. Race has been rescheduled for Friday August 16th.
Monday May 27th	Lincoln Speedway: Steve won his heat race and drew the #9 spot for the feature... and then the rain hit... Heavy rain and thunderstorms force the rest of the race event to be canceled.
Friday May 31st	Williams Grove Speedway: Steve ran his warm-ups and said the car was fast and he drew a good #9 spot but then the rains moved in and force the night to be canceled.
June
Saturday June 1st	Silver Spring Speedway: Steve started 8th in his heat race and finished 2nd. This put him in the 10th starting spot in the feature. The track was very slick and had just one lane... so there was not a lot of passing going on. Steve ended the night in 13th position in the feature.
Sunday June 2nd	Selinsgrove Speedway: Things started out very well with a great draw number that put the car starting on the poll in the second heat race. Steve ended up winning his heat race. Steve then drew the #2 position for the feature. In the feature Steve jumped out to a lead coming out of turn four and never looked back! Steve lead every lap of the race! He ended up winning the feature by about 10 - 15 car lengths. Way to Go!
Saturday June 8th	Silver Spring Speedway: Steve started 8th in the 4th heat race and finished 5th. This put him in the 2nd Consi.; He started 2nd and went on to win the 2nd Consi., this put the car starting 22nd for the feature. In the feature Steve ran the High groove to perfection for the first half of the race. Then the high side of the track began to deteriorate and this somewhat slowed his progress. Steve ended up picking up 10 spots in all and he finished 12th in the feature. A real solid finish from the 22nd starting spot!
Saturday June 15th	Silver Spring Speedway: Steve started 8th in the 4th heat race and finished 3rd. This put the car starting in 13th position in the feature. Steve worked his way up to 6th and was looking really fast when a large chunk of mud broke through the shield on the right rear tire and then the mud became lodged in the wheel. This cause a major vibration in the car and the track officials threw the yellow flag. After a quick pit stop to remove the mud Steve brought the car from the rear of the field and ended the night in the 16th position. After the feature their finishing position was drawn for the D&F Lawncare sponsored Cash Dash. In the Cash Dash Steve started in 3rd position and went on to win the race! Great job Steve and Team!
Saturday June 22nd	Silver Spring Speedway: Steve started 9th in the 5th heat race and went on to win the heat! This put the car starting in 10th position for the Feature. In the feature the car was running great; Steve moved up through the pack led a lap before the car's handling went away slightly... He ended up finishing the night in 3rd place! A great finish!
Saturday June 29th	Silver Spring Speedway: (Firecracker 40) Steve started 6th in the 3rd heat race. He ended up finishing the heat race in 3rd position with a left rear tire going flat! This transferred him directly to the feature race where he started in the 12th position. In the feature the car was running great; Steve moved up through the pack and got as high as 3rd position. After everything shook out Steve ended the night in the 6th position in the 40 lap feature. A good solid finish!
July
Saturday July 6th	Silver Spring Speedway: The night started out great with Steve starting 8th in the 2nd heat race and finishing in 2nd position. In the feature he started in the 10th position and the car was running good; the track was very slick which put passing at a premium... Steve ended the night in the 12th position. A good night of racing!
Friday July 12th	Williams Grove Speedway: (Auto Locator Night) The night started out okay with Steve starting 7th in a very tough heat race field. He ended the heat race in 6th position. Steve then started 3rd in the first consolation race and ended up winning the race by about 1/2 of a straightaway! This put him in the feature race where he started in the 17th position. In the feature, the car was running okay. The track was very slick and hard. Steve fell back a few positions in the first 7 laps and things did not look too good. Then after the caution on lap 7 Steve began to run the high groove at the very top of the track in the corners (otherwise called riding the rail). He finished the 20 lap feature by making a pass at the checkered flag to get 11th position. Not a bad night of racing after the way things started out...
Saturday July 13th	Silver Spring Speedway: Steve started 8th in the second heat race and the track was a little rough... there was only one lane and it was not all that great. Steve ended up finishing the heat race in 8th position. In the Consi. Steve was scheduled to start 9th but due to one team unable to start he got to move up to 8th. At the start Steve made a great move and passed 3 cars on the first lap to move up to the 5th position then the caution came out after lap one. After the restart Steve continued to move up and ultimately finished 3rd. In the Feature Steve started 25th and for a while that is where he stayed. Then after a caution the car seemed to improve slightly and Steve eventually worked his way up to the 17th finishing spot. Steve drove his heart out, as the car was not the way the team wanted it to be set-up for the race. After the feature race they ran a special "Match Race" Cash Dash for the top 16 drivers in the points standings. Steve was 8th in the points coming into tonights race so he was matched up with the driver who was in the ninth position in the points. This driver was Carmen Perigo Jr. who just happened to win the Feature race on this night, and with the team struggling with the setup this was a very tough match-up for Steve. He lost to Carmen in the 2-lap Dash.
Thursday July 18th	Port Royal Speedway: The night started out good with Steve starting 7th in a very tough heat race field. He ended the heat race in 4th position. This put him into the feature where he started in the 11th position. In the feature, the car was running good. The track was very tough to pass on. Steve basically held his own during the caution filled feature race. He would move up a few positions then he would fall back a few spots. At the end he finished in the 12th position. Not a bad night of racing.
Saturday July 20th	Silver Spring Speedway: (50th Anniversary Race) Steve was automatically in the feature due to his being in the 8th position in the points coming into the race. Steve and the team thought they had the setup problem fixed and looked forward to a good race but unfortunately it seems that a problem still exists as they started the feature in 4th position and held their own for a while before falling back some. Ultimately they finished in the 16th position in the 50-lap feature.
Saturday July 27th	Silver Spring Speedway: (Auto Locator Night) Steve was in the Front stretch grandstand area signing autographs and handing out giveaways courtesy of Auto Locator before the race. Unfortunately this would be a really short night at the races for Steve and the team. Steve started 8th in the 3rd heat race. Coming out of turn four to take the green flag the two cars in row 3 in front of Steve got tangled and Steve had no where to go. He hit the one car very hard before coming into contact with the outside wall. This ended the night for the Steve and the Team. Everyone was very disappointed and upset at the situation. Ultimately there was nothing Steve could have done differently and he was uninjured which is the most important thing. The car did not fair quite as well though. The chassis of the car was bent and broken severely. The team loaded the car up early and left the track to go back to the shop and begin the long process of switching to the back-up chassis. At last word, with a lot of help from friends and family, Steve and the crew expected to be able to race at the next race on Sunday night at Lincoln with the newly built car! Kudos to all of the Team for their tireless effort long into the night to get ready for Sunday night's race!
Sunday July 28th	Lincoln Speedway: Steve started the 4th heat race in the 6th position with the newly assembled car. He ended up finishing the heat race in the 3rd position and this transferred him directly to the feature race where he started in 11th position. In the feature the car ran well and he moved up to the 7th position before dropping back slightly and finishing the night in the 10th spot. Thanks to the hard work from the team and a lot of friends and family Steve was not only able to make it to the race with the newly built car but get a top ten finish in the race. This good run has actually moved him up one spot in the Sportsman Tour Points he is now in second position in the standings and just 110 points out of first. Great job Steve and team!!
August
Saturday August 3rd	Silver Spring Speedway: Steve started 7th in a very tough 2nd heat race. Steve quickly moved up to the 4th position by lap 3 but then fell back after making some contact with another car coming out of turn 2. He fell back to about 9th position. He then came back up through the field with a ill handling car to finish in the 6th position. This meant he would have to qualify through the first consolation race. He started 4th in the first consolation race and ran a real good race and finished a strong 3rd. This put the car in the feature starting in 25th position. Steve ran the high side for most of the race although he could go low to pass when he needed to. He ran a very good race picking up 11 positions to finish in the 14th spot. Not a bad finish at all on a very slick track surface.
Saturday August 10th	Silver Spring Speedway: Steve started 8th in the 5th heat race. Steve ran a good heat race but only moved up to the 6th position by finish. This meant he would have to qualify through the second consolation race. He started 5th in the first consolation race and ran a real good race. On about lap 4 there was a horrific wreck at the end of the back-stretch. After the re-start Steve ended up finishing a strong 2nd. This put the car in the feature starting in 24th position. The car was strong and was getting stronger as the race went on. Then about lap 15 Steve had moved up to about the 15th position and was quickly closing in on the cars directly in front of him. Then the two cars in front of Steve got tangled up in turn 1 & 2 and Steve slowed up to avoid hitting them and the car behind Steve bumped him and turned him sideways. This forced Steve to restart the race from the back of the pack in position 22. Steve then drove the wheels off the car for the last 10 laps and ended up finishing in the 16th position.
Friday August 16th	Susquehanna Speedway: Steve started 7th in his heat race and finished 7th on a very dry slick track surface. Steve then ran in the consolation race and finished 4th which transferred him into the Feature race. In the feature Steve was doing alright when on a restart he got tangled up with another car and ended up spun out and having the left side of the car over-run by another car. Steve re-started after this incident at the back of the field and ran two laps before the left front wheel assembly came completely off. This was presumably due to damage sustained in the earlier wreck. Steve ended up finishing the feature race in 22nd position.
Saturday August 17th	Silver Spring Speedway: Steve started out his heat race okay and was running in 6th with 1 lap to go when a car in front of him spun out and Steve had to spin out his car to avoid a collision. This moved him back to 10th with 1-lap remaining in his heat race. He ended up finishing in 9th position. This put him in 14th position in a very tough consolation race. During the consolation race the car was not moving up so Steve pulled the car off the track around lap 5 along with a few other top contenders who were in the same situation. Rather than risk any unnecessary damage to the car they felt it was better to park it and come back swinging next week!
Saturday August 24th	Silver Spring Speedway: Steve started out the 5th heat race in 7th position. On the first lap Steve and Carmen Perigo Jr. made contact in turn 3. It was just one of those racing things. But unfortunately it did minor damage to Steve's car and Carman's car as well. Steve ended up finishing the heat race in 10th position. This put him starting in 14th position in the consolation race. The car was still not right although Steve did move up through the field somewhat. On lap 7 Steve decided to pull the car off the track and at that time he was running in about 10th position. The team will look to identify the problem this week along with make some other changes to prepare the car for all of the race over the Labor day weekend.
Saturday August 31st	Silver Spring Speedway: This was a special night called "Feature Frenzy Night" so due to Steve's current position of 11th in the season points standings Steve started out the Feature in the 11th position. The car ran fairly well although the car is still not the way Steve and the crew would like it to be. Steve ended up the race in the 17th position. Not a bad finish and the points will help Steve in the Standings.
September
Monday September 2nd	Selinsgrove Speedway: Steve qualified through his heat race and the car felt really good. Unfortunately on the third lap of the feature a car spun out and Steve had no where to go and ended up hitting the spun out car and rolling the Auto Locator machine onto its wing. Fortunately Steve was uninjured and the team will be able to repair the car without too much trouble.
Saturday September 7th	Silver Spring Speedway: This was "Manufacturers Night" at the track with special prizes of race car parts and accessories donated by many of the manufactures. Each driver that started the feature got to pick a pill to see what door prize they won. Steve drew and ended up winning a brand new set of headers! On to the race... Steve started his heat race in 7th position and ran a good race and finished 2nd. This transferred him directly to the feature and put him in the 8th starting position. Steve ran a great feature race and ended the night in the 4th spot! A great finish and an outstanding "bounce back" from last weeks mishap at Selinsgrove! Way to go Steve and Crew!
Saturday September 14th	Silver Spring Speedway: (Sportsman 100) The starting lineup was determined by each drive completing two qualifying laps. The fasted 16 drivers were automatically in the feature and the last 10 spots were determined by a "B" and "C" main each with 5 transferring into the feature race. Steve ran great qualifying laps and ended up 3rd fastest! They later found out the officials were inverting the top 6 this put Steve starting in 4th position. Steve drove a great race and never fell much below 5ht position. He did move up as high as 3rd and ended the night in 4th spot! A great finish in a grueling 100 lap race! The team and Steve took home a very nice check for their hard work. Once again, Way to go Steve and Crew!
Friday September 20th	Williams Grove Speedway: The first race on Friday night was the first that the team was running a new motor they just purchased for the car. In Steve's heat race he got bumped on the first lap and had to go high to avoid any further contact and this caused him to fall back to the rear of the pack. He did manage to move his way up through traffic and get a respectable 7th place finish out of the race. He then went out later to run in the consolation race and he notice the engine did not sound right. He brought the car in and the crew checked all of the plug wires and they were okay. He went back out and it still was not right so he brought it back in and parked the car rather than risk any engine damage. It turns out all it was, was a bad spark plug.
Saturday September 21st	Silver Spring Speedway: There were rain showers off-and-on all night and this made for an ever changing track surface. Steve started the 2nd heart race in 7th position and ended up finishing in 7th as well. In-between that time he got bumped high again at the start and had to make a run from the back of the pack to even finish 7th. He then started the 10 lap consolation race in 12th position (after a lengthy rain delay) with only the top three moving on to the feature. Steve once again was forced high and fell to the back of the field before making his push to the front. He ended up in about 8th position. The team will look to regroup for the last two races. They will have an extra week off to get ready. Look for them to compete for the wins in the last two races of the season.
October
Saturday October 5th	Silver Spring Speedway: The night started out good with Steve starting in the 6th position in the 2nd heat race. He ran a great race and the car was flyin'. He ended up winning his heat race going away by about 1/2 a straight away over the closest competition. This transferred Steve directly into the feature race were he would start 8th. The crew made some changes to the car for the feature and decided to go aggressive with the setup as it was the last race of the year at Silver Spring. The feature started okay and Steve held his own for a few laps. But, the car was not as good as it was in the heat race and he fell back a few positions. On a restart on about lap 5 Steve got run into by the car behind him. This spun him out as well as the aggressor and another car behind him as well. This put Steve at the back of the field for the restart. The field ran a few green flag laps and then a few cars got tangled up in turn 3 and started a massive pile-up wreck. Steve was slowing down to avoid the wreck and got CREAMED from behind. This sent Steve flipping down the end of the backstretch and finally landing in turn 3 on his roof. Fortunately Steve was uninjured although somewhat shaken. ( and understandable so!) Needless to say that ended what started out looking like a promising evening. Overall the damage amazingly was minor to the car. A bent front axel and a new wing are the initial obvious damage.
Saturday October 12th	Williams Grove Speedway: (Fall Fest) The team got to the track and everyone got to run hot laps and then the track officials drew pills to determine the points inversion for the starting line-up. It worked out that Steve was going to start the feature in 2nd position. Then the rain came... just light showers but enough to force the postponement of the "Fall Fest" feature event till Saturday Oct. 26th at 5 pm.
Saturday October 26th	Williams Grove Speedway:(Fall Fest) (rescheduled) The team got to the track a little late due to one of the crew members getting married earlier in the afternoon. Congratulations to Allen and Jen Shaeffer!! Steve and the crew knew that they would be starting in the 2nd position in the race. The race started out good with Steve being able to get a early lead and he lead the first two laps until a red flag came out for a flipped car in turn 3. The race was then restarted with 18 laps remaining. Steve made a line adjustment to see if he could pick up a little speed through the corners, and did he ever! He pulled away from the field and maintained between a 10-15 car length lead for most of the race. about lap 15 the second place car had a slight bobble that gave Steve about a 3/4 straight away lead. Then with 18 laps down the caution came out for a car that could not make it into the pits... The race was restarted with 2 laps to go and Steve pulled away and won by about 10 car lengths! This was the third win of the 2002 season for the Auto Locator Race Team! The crew had the car setup great and Steve drove a great race! Even Allen and Jen made it over from their reception to see the last few laps and join the team in Victory Lane! Congratulation Steve and crew on a successful end to a successful 2002 racing season!