BIG BEAR CITY, California – Cliff Conklin got his first Super Stock main event win of the Speed Jams 2011 season Saturday night (April 23) at Orange Show Speedway and, as you’d expect, he went home happy.
Jim Conklin had an even worse night than he’d had two weeks before, when he’d been bumped out of the lead in the Late Model main event with four laps to go and finished last. This time, he didn’t take the green flag for the main event due to a broken camshaft, completed just 1 lap of the 40-lap feature and finished last again. But surprisingly, he went home happy, too, because while it was running his MyIrishPride.com/Alpine Slide Chevrolet Monte Carlo was better than it had been in some time.
There was even a bonus for the team. With his car inoperable, race officials allowed Jim to make one lap in Cliff’s car so he could get last-place points and keep the night from being a washout. In the process, Jim might have found the solution to some of handling problems on Cliff’s Chevrolet Camaro.
“I was surprised the wheels were still on the car the way I had to drive it and defend against so many restarts,” Cliff said of the Super Stock race, which he led for 32 of the 35 laps and through three yellow-flag restarts that gave Steve Smith and Kyle Meyer chances to overtake him.
“I tried to hold my line and hold them off,” Cliff said. “I’m still pretty tired. I drove just as hard as I could after I got the lead and I really couldn’t lay down any better laps. After a caution the car would be good for about 4 laps when the tires were cold. Then the tires would grow (from the heat) and it would be loose coming out of the corners. But I was having fun. It’s really satisfying to be able to hold off faster cars.”
Jim, at 57 the older of the two, had spent the two weeks between races relocating the fuel cell and redesigning the suspension geometry on the right front wheel of his car and was satisfied with the results.
“I was having a great night,” said Jim, who won the 4-lap Late Model Trophy Dash. “I was able drive in (to the corners) deeper and catch up easier. The car turned so well I was pleased as punch.”
Then Jim got in Cliff’s car and found that it, too, had problems in the right front wheel.
“Sometimes it’s hard for me to tell Jim how the car feels and what it’s doing, so I think it was a good deal that he drove it and now he’s got some ideas on how to fix it,” Cliff said.
Jim said when the camshaft broke it did not cause any major damage to the motor, which should be repaired in time for Speed Jam 2011’s next Late Model race May 7. The next race on the schedule for the Super Stocks is July 2.
Conklin Racing is sponsored by MyIrishPride.com, Alpine Slide, Timberline Spas, Conklin Hot Rods, Azteca Grill and Restaurant, Conklin Paints, Domino’s Pizza, VoMar Starfire, Mark Dolan Realty Executives and SND Construction.
For more information, visit www.conklinracing.com or contact Jim Conklin at 909-866-5747.
