Powershift Performance

Salem Speedway is a high-banked (33°), 1/2-mile oval track, i.e. a fast track. The track has just changed ownership and is very rough. Racers were bouncing a lot. Morgan bottomed out on some of the bumps, even to the point of having to remove his right rear fender because the tires had rubbed a hole in it during practice!

Qualifying started in the high heat of the afternoon with Morgan showing the fastest lap time of the field, 24.246 seconds for an average speed of 96.5 mph!!! After opening ceremonies the three heat races were run. Heat Race 1 was won by the Godfather in #55. Heat Race 2 had a spin out by Bob Mitchell in #13 and a win by Mike Ward in #16. Morgan started and finished 5th in Heat Race 3 with Cody Slowinski in #63 taking the win.

The final Shootout saw #17 beat out #88 for the win of $100 for the player with the golden ticket.

In Challenge Race 1 Morgan started in 5th, moved into 3rd by lap 2, and slipped into 2nd by lap 7 where he finished behind Mark Noble in #74. An incident in Challenge Race 2 that happened before the green flag resulted in #16 and #63 heading into the pits. The Godfather in #55 won the race in a photo finish with Ricky Rude in #14.

main race start

A 12-position inversion pill was pulled for the Main Race. Morgan started in 9th, but had worked his way up to 6th when #74 and #55 had an incident bringing out the caution flag.

restart lap 15

After the restart Morgan moved into 4th. In lap 21 #63 went into the wall bringing out the second caution flag. After the restart Mike passed #41 taking the #88 into 3rd. The three leaders stayed close and pulled away from the rest of the pack. In lap 26 Mike Ward in #16 managed to get close enough to the #88 to smack his left rear, throwing the #88 flat against the wall in a hail of sparks. Morgan held on in spite of the hard hit to take 3rd.

main race finish

START/FINISH ORDER OF RACES

Heat 1 Start: 4 - 7 - 46 - 27 - 55 - 51
Finish: 55 - 7 - 27 - 46 - 4 - 51

Heat 2 Start: 16 - 13 - 17 - 41 - 3
Finish: 16 - 17 - 41 - 3 - 13

Heat 3 Start: 54 - 14 - 74 - 63 - 88
Finish: 63 - 54 - 14 - 74 - 88

Challenge 1 Start: 27 - 74 - 3 - 46 - 88 - 13 - 4 - 51
Finish: 74 - 88 - 3 - 27 - 46 - 13 - 51 - 4

Challenge 2 Start: 55 - 54 - 41 - 7 - 14 - 17 - 16 dns - 63 dns
Finish: 55 - 14 - 17 - 54 - 7 - 41

A-Main Race

Start: 13 - 41 - 46 - 7 - 27 - 54 - 3 - 17 - 88 - 14 - 74 - 55 - 63 - 27 - 16 - 4

Finish: 17 - 14 - 88 - 16 - 41 - 74 - 54 - 7 - 27 - 55 - 46 - 13 - 4 - 63 - 3 - 51

POINTS STANDING

Morgan collected 100 points for being the fastest qualifier, 168 points for holding his 5th place position in his Heat Race, 5 points for participating in the Shootout, 204 points for advancing from 5th to 2nd in his Challenge Race, and 212 points for advancing from 9th to 3rd in the Main Race. Total points for the event were 689.0 and for the season so far 1876.5 points for 15th place in the field of drivers.

BACK TO 2018 RACE SUMMARY

Race Highlights, pit view - Wendy Morgan, 7/14/18

3-wide salute to fans - Wendy Morgan 7/14/2018

Main Race ending from Mackvader's view - Powershift, 7/14/18

Winners Circle interview - Minimizer, 7/14/18

Highlights - Minimizer, 7/25/18

YouTube livestream - Minimizer, 7/14/18

Facebook livestream - Minimizer, 7/14/18

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