Dalton tries for 2 in a row at Delta Speedway.

Saturday July 17, I returned to Delta Speedway in Stockton, CA to try for 2 in a row. When we arrived, I was surprised to hear that they were calling all 600's to the track for wheel packing. They usually don't do that here. They track was very wet and heavy. When I came off the track we removed almost 30 pounds of mud from the car so my crew made some adjustments for our hot lap session. The car felt really good. When I came off the track I asked that they don't change anything.

I drew a pretty good pill & when they posted the lineups I was on the pole of heat #1. They dropped the green flag, I pulled ahead of the outside car and went high. He tried to pull a cross over hooking my rear bumper and causing the car behind him to spin. Since we hadn't completed a lap they restarted the race, giving that car its spot back. On the restart I got on the gas a little earlier and was able to pull ahead enough to not worry about him hooking my bumper. My car rolled the corner beautifully & I led flag to flag and picked up another heat race win.

The track was holding up very well. It appeared to be getting rough but it still had a lot of tack. We made some minor adjustments to the car for heat #2. I was starting dead last in the 8 hole. On the start I laid back a bit and when the green came out I pulled the car to the bottom & passed 3 cars before we even came out of 4 and was sitting in 5th when we hit turn 1. When we came around to complete lap 1, I was in 4th. The 3rd place car was very difficult to pass. I knew I was faster but his driving line was a bit erratic, making it hard for me to set him up for a clean pass. With just 2 laps to go, I stuck my nose in & got under him, giving him just a little nudge to let him know I coming by. The lead 2 cars were already a half a lap ahead and I had no hopes of catching them. I finished a solid 3rd.

The lineups were posted & I was starting 2nd in the feature. They annouced that they were going to take a 30 minute intermission to work the track. I had mixed emotions on this. The track was rough but it was still vey racy. We watched as all they did was roll the top in and scrape off the marbles. It still appeared to have some moisture left on top. As I was sitting on the pad getting ready to roll out, my crew ran over and began changing the car again. It always makes me nervous when they do that, but I knew it would be for the better. They said the track was starting to go away & they just tightened her up some more.

I was able to get a good start and we were 3 wide in turns 1 & 2. I was up high and was able to carry the speed to put in front coming down the back straight away. I was only able to hold on to the lead for just a few laps before I was passed. I was able to stay on the leader's tail. We ran this way for about 5 more laps when we caught up to the rear of the field. A slower car was running low. The leader & I both went high. She was able to get by him, but as soon she did he slid up into my front end. I hit the brakes to keep from wrecking. I kept the car under control & pulled it down to make the pass., but lost another position with leader now several car lengths ahead. In just a few laps the 2nd place car & I caught up to the leader as we worked our way through traffic. With about 10 laps to go the caution was out. I thought I would have a good shot now, but they put a lap car between the leader & 2nd place. On the restart the lapper was running in the middle, 2nd place went high & I went low. I got by him ok but lost some speed doing so. A couple of laps later I was up on the cushion in turn 2 went out of know where I was hit in the side by someone trying to give me a slide job. I lost the spot to him and was a little upset with him. With only a few laps to go I knew I had to get up on the wheel. Bad thing was I over drove turn 1 the very next lap & gave the car a bad push coming out of turn 2. I almost hit the wall. I was able to recover but I fell back to 5th. I was able to hold on to 5th when the checkers waived.

The track had gone away quicker than we thought & I started to over drive the car in the end. That wasn't a good combination. However, it was still a good night. We rolled the car in the trailer in 1 piece and the crew & I learned a bit more this week. We will be back at Delta again next Saturday, July 24th to go for it again.

Thank you for all your support,

Dalton Hill #81