ChampTruck Sixth Race at Virginia International Raceway, August 7-8, 2015

This race was live-streamed at: www.MinimizerRacing.com.

1. Working on the truck before the next race weekend.

Thursday, August 6

Move in and set up today. No public events. Okay, our tow vehicle transmission is locked up... yes, the NEW transmission. On the bright side... we made it to the track.

Friday, August 7

8:30 to 9:00 a.m., Open Practice on the North Course.

10:30 to 10:50 a.m., Qualifying. Mackvader placed fourth with a best lap time of 2.08 minutes.

11:45 to 12:15 p.m., Driver Autograph Session. Free posters signed by all drivers.

12:45 to 1:05 p.m., Heat Race 1. Mackvader started in fourth and finished in second place. Early in the race Boles (#3) passed Klemmensen (#54). Then #23 left the track when his clutch failed, which brought out the caution flags. Racing continued with Morgan (#88) and Klemmensen vying for second position. Klemmensen spun out. He returned to the track in last place. The race ended with Boles in first, Morgan second, and newcomer Robbie Decker (#73) in third.

3:30 to 3:50 p.m., Heat Race 2. Start order was inverted from the finish of the first race, so Mackvader started at the back of the pack. With the green flag both #88 and #3 began moving to the front. Unfortunately #54s breaks failed going into the first corner. He goosed it to separate from the pack and drove across a wide expanse of grass before stopping. No collisions. Boles in #3 worked his way to the front of the pack. Morgan was blocked by #23 (substitute driver). In a gutsy move #88 passed #23 on the outside of the second turn for third place. Near the end of the race #3 passed #54 to take the lead. Mackvader was moving up on #54 when the checkered flag came out, so Morgan finished in third.

6:15 to 6:35 p.m., Heat Race 3. Start order was inverted from the previous finish, so Morgan started near the back. Many position changes with #88 working up to third and jockeying for second. Coming down the hill into the turn onto the straight-away #88 spun, but stopped just short of the wall. Morgan pulled back on the track in 6th place, then worked his way back up to fourth before the checkered flag.

Saturday, August 8

8:00 to 8:15 a.m., Warm-up Laps. Mackvader is running well.

8:30 to 8:50 a.m., Heat Race 4. Morgan started in 5th, sandwiched himself between the two Jupiter trucks going into the first turn (yes, that's three-wide on a sports car road track turn!) and came out in fourth place. The next lap he moved up to third, then passed #54 for second. Decker had opened up a considerable lead of about 15 truck lengths, which #88 proceeded to shrink... then eliminate. Morgan passed #73 and faced nothing but open track. Mackvader finished in first with a lead of about twenty truck lengths. Decker finished second with a lead of about 15 lengths over the rest of the pack. Morgan was greeted in the paddock with a silly string shower!

10:30 to 10:50 a.m., Heat Race 5. Mackvader started in last place. On the first lap in the first corner #63 went sideways and off track; #14 spun trying to avoid #63; with no where to go #88 hit the right front wheel of #14 with his left front corner. Everyone kept racing and few noticed the damage done until a full course caution to pick up debris in the first turn. #88 came out of the second corner in 5th place. During the first lap after caution #88 moved up to 4th in turn 1. When #3s left side slipped off track #88 moved up into 3rd place and held it until the checkered flag. [The debris was #88s left light cover, parts of the fender, and a section of the rolled steel bumper. Part of the steel bumper was pressed against the engine block.]

11:10 to 11:40 a.m., Driver Autograph Session.

12:00 to 12:45 p.m., Podium Race. Morgan started in 5th. On the first turn #54 and #73 made contact; #88 moved up to 4th. On the next lap #88 moved up to 3rd, then 2nd when #11 went into the pits. The caution flag came out while workers dealt with a tire wall. This also bunched up the field. After the restart #88 went sideways in the Up Hill kinks, but managed to maintain 2nd. Szabo (#23) finally managed to pass #88 which dropped #88 back to third. With the white flag out signaling the final lap #88 spin out on the hill. This dropped #88 back to 5th place. [A belt broke coming down the hill about four laps before finish. The extent of damage to the overheated engine is still being determined.]

1:00 p.m., Awards Ceremony. Trophys were awarded to the winners of each heat race and the top three winners of the Podium Race: Boles, Szabo, and Klemmensen. Morgan picked up his 7th trophy!

Footnote: Since the tow vehicle couldn't tow or ever drive, everything sat at the track for a week until a new transmission could be located and brought to the track. Once the trans was replaced in the tow vehicle Mackvader could go home for repairs.

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