September 24th started off like any other race morning, the #28 West Coast Pro Truck was already loaded on the trailer, and ready to go to Irwindale Speedway. The truck had handled so well in the previous race that the setup had been checked but nothing was changed.
Everyone piled in the tow vehicle, a quick stop for coffee and then hit the freeway headed for Irwindale.
In the first practice expectations were high. The truck had been very good the previous race and it was expected to perform very well. To everyones surprise truck pushed badly, and Jeff had to let off of the gas on exit of turn two to keep from driving into the wall. The team was shocked at that performance and discussed what the problem might be. There wasnt much time before the second practice so some pretty serious adjustments were made to cure the push.
In the second practice the push was still there. It had not changed at all, again Jeff would have to get off the throttle to make the truck turn off the corner. He couldnt believe that the adjustments had made no difference. The push was so severe that Jeff decided to add to the adjustments that had already been made. Qualifying was next.
Qualifying was no different the truck pushed just as bad as before, and Jeff was only able to qualify in 7th position.
Now the team was in real trouble, no idea what was causing the problem and the main event coming up.
After being disgusted, disappointed, depressed, and angry a decision was made. Jeff decided to take a chance and guessed at what the problem might be. All of the adjustments that had been made were returned to the original settings and a change was made. There would be no opportunity to try it and see if it worked, he would just have to run it the way it was. It was decided that if the truck was still pushing during the main, Jeff would come off during the first caution and the crew would be ready with spring rubbers to make radical adjustments to try and make the truck turn.
The green flag fell on the main event, the #28 Cleavage Creek Cellars, West Coast Converters Ford started in seventh place. The push was gone and the truck was fast. Guessing had worked. Jeff started moving up right away and the longer the truck ran the faster it became. He moved from seventh to fifth, then fourth and chased down the third place truck by lap 25, then a very long caution came out. A blown engine by the #10 truck created a lengthy clean up. By the time the green reappeared only five laps remained. Jeff was able to move into third before the checked flag was waved and was running as fast as the leaders. He turned his fastest lap of the race on lap 48.
Third place felt pretty good after all the team had been through, and if you have to make a guess it feels good to make the right one.
The race over all was very exciting, there were battles with three and four trucks involved throughout the race. We have one more race to go, October 8. Come out and watch the West Coast Pro Trucks battle each other in their last race of the season.
