PHOENIX, Arizona -- While the weekend prematurely ended for Barkshire Racing at Phoenix International Raceway’s (PIR) AutoZone Grand National West “United Rentals 125,” Jeff Barkshire gained invaluable experience and showed the racing community his potential at larger speedways. The team made an early exit on lap 57 when the #46 Centennial Batteries/SPE Racing Engines Pontiac driven by Barkshire unavoidably collided with a spun car between turns three and four. He was running in 17th position at the time of the wreck.
The experience of crew chief Sam Roebuck was evident as the car’s setup proved to be very solid right out of the trailer during Saturday’s first practice session in which Barkshire ran the 13th fastest lap time with a 29.200 at 123.288 miles per hour.
When asked after the first practice about how he liked the higher speeds of an intermediate track like PIR, Barkshire responded favorably: “It was a lot of fun. The only intimidating part was gauging how fast to enter the turns but once I tried several lines and found one that worked well with the car’s setup it became much easier.”
By the second practice session it was evident that Barkshire had found his lines as lap times dropped considerably. After hanging in the top 15 for quickest time in the field of 40 cars, Roebuck called Barkshire into the garage to take four new tires that tire specialist Jim Rowhein had been preparing.
“We set the car’s chassis based on the old tires but mounted the stickers to see how the car would react with new rubber,” explained Rowhein.
The car reacted well as Barkshire ran the seventh-fastest lap time during the second and final Saturday practice by posting a 28.924 at 124.464 miles per hour. Not bad considering it was Barkshire’s first visit to PIR.
Nervousness turned to adrenalin as Barkshire lined up for qualifying Sunday morning. After getting loose on his first lap, he regained his composure and clocked an impressive qualifying run of 28.890--strong enough for a 12th place seed.
“The car got loose from the middle [of the turn] and off,” recalled Roebuck of Barkshire’s qualifying effort. “Even so, 12th is a very respectful run for it being Jeff’s first time on the track.”
When the green flag dropped for the main event, Barkshire looked smooth and controlled for the first lap in which he ran side-by-side with the #61 of Brett Thompson. The car retained its neutral feel once the tires got up to temperature, but after 10 laps it began to tighten up. This cost Barkshire several positions and Roebuck began planning a wedge adjustment and tire change during the next caution. Unfortunately, the next caution involved Barkshire.
The #90 of Bruce Betts spun between turns three and four just as Barkshire entered turn three. Between the momentum of his car and oil on the track, Barkshire had nowhere to go and slammed into the side of Betts. David Eshleman in the #11 car and the #55 of Ed Watson also became entangled in the pile.
Afterwards, Barkshire recalled the accident: “I saw the #90 car ahead of me spin just as the #11 on my inside started to push up the track keeping me from being able to dive low. I wasn’t able to do much anyway because somebody had oiled the track down.”
Fortunately nobody was injured but it resulted in an early exit for the #46. While the team traveled to Phoenix with the goal of a strong finish, every lap Barkshire made over the course of the weekend increased his level of experience at higher speeds in the large steel-body cars of the AutoZone West series.
“Jeff [Barkshire] did not look like a rookie out there last weekend,” said veteran spotter Larry Gargett. “He started off tight and a little overprotective but by the second practice he relaxed and his lap times reflected that.”
Barkshire will be looking forward to getting back on track at the AutoZone Northwest Elite Division season opener on April 15th at Evergreen Speedway.
The team’s next Grand National West race will be on September 1st at California Speedway.
