Phil Potts Draws Top-10 To Start June at Brighton
Phil Potts races his No.29 Pro Late Model at Brighton Speedway. (Photo by Don Simpson).
BRIGHTON, Ont. – June 6, 2017 – Phil Potts continued a streak of top-10 finishes when he earned an eight-place result at Brighton Speedway on Saturday night. It was the fourth consecutive result in the top-10 for Potts to begin his 2017 campaign.
The night started with a fifth-place finish in Potts’ qualifying heat. The track was uncommonly slick for preliminary action, which Potts didn’t anticipate.
“I didn’t adjust for it to be as slick as it was,” Potts said. “I came out of the heat race feeling pretty good. We finished fifth, but it wasn’t the car’s fault. It was my fault for not adjusting it to be as slick as what it was.”
Potts lined-up ninth for the 30-lap main event later in the night. His plan was to wait patiently until midway through the race to begin his charge forward, but a mechanical problem halted Potts’ progress.
“When I stepped out of line to go to the high side, the car just went backwards,” Potts said. “The car felt good to that point. I was running the inside line behind Steve Baldwin and we were doing well, making time.”
“Our right-front shock failed,” Potts continued. “I was really worried about the car because we did all of the adjustments that should have made the car work well. We discovered Sunday we had a right-front shock fail, which actually makes me feel good because I couldn’t begin to grasp what the problem with the car was otherwise.”
While Potts had raced his way into the top-five, he eventually fell to eighth as a result of his shock issue. The Vanderlaan/Brighton Recycling No.29 was drastically affected from its normal performance.
“My car always does well through the corners,” Potts said. “I do my passing 9 out of 10 times in the corners and I had to drive the wheels off of it to get anywhere. It wouldn’t fire coming out of the corner and it was loose going in.”
Potts was relieved to find the issue was a broken shock and not something more serious. After diagnosing the issue and solving the problem, Potts hopes he can return to action again this week. The early season rainouts and inconsistent schedule have prevented his Fowl Mood Race Team from developing any rhythm early on, he said.
“The longer you sit, you lose some marks,” Potts said. “You have to be in your car. When you’re racing a lot, you get a better feel for the car, you get a better feel for everything. You catch stuff. It’s more wear and tear on your pieces, but it’s better for you.”
Potts will return to action this Saturday, June 10 at Brighton for the rescheduled Fan Appreciation night. Race time is 7:00pm. Additional event information is available at
www.brightonspeedway.ca.
SEASON STATS
Phil Potts – 4 Starts: 0 Wins, 3 Top-5s, 4 Top-10s
FOWL MOOD MEDIA
Website:
www.fowlmoodracing.caFacebook: facebook.com/FowlMoodRaceTeam
Twitter: @FowlMoodRacing.
The Fowl Mood Race Team’s 2017 season is supported by several dedicated corporate sponsors, including Vanderlaan Building Products, Brighton Recycling, Indewey Excavating, Bay Marine, Orange Motorsports, On Time Body and Graphic, Crow Design, Image Factor Media and Clayton Johns Media
Linkback: https://www.canadianracingonline.com/smf/index.php?topic=24135.msg116701#msg116701
