ProAllStarsSeries.com
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2005 |
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TD
Banknorth 250
Oxford Plains Speedway - 7/31/05
Retired Early for a 35th Place Finish
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Unity Raceway - 7/10/05
- 2nd -
(Skowhegan, Me –
July 12, 2005)
Hight Motorsports returned to Racin’ Nason’s home track
Sunday for the IBG – PASS 150. There were a lot of questions before the race about
how the car would perform after suffering from handling problems in the weeks before. By
days end all many of those questions were answered and the crowd got a chance to see that
Racin’ Ralph still had it in him.
Ralph started the day by qualifying 11th fastest in time trials. The run was pretty good
but could have been better had the car not been so loose. The time was good enough however
to put Racin’ Ralph on the pole of the first heat race which he led all 15 laps.
From the 11th starting position in the field Ralph began to pick off cars a couple at a
time. By lap 50 Ralph was up to 6th place with Mike Rowe leading and Johnny Clark in
second position. The next 50 laps the Hight Chevrolet car stayed pretty consistent and by
lap 100 was up to 5th place after swapping the position with Donnie Whitten over the
course of a couple restarts. On one of those restarts Ralph found himself three wide
entering turn 3 with Whitten and a lap car. Nason escaped the near fiasco with some great
driving. Ralph restarted 4th after the lap 105 roll over wreck with Gary Norris.
On the ensuing restart Rowe and Clark raced side by side down the back stretch when
Rowe moved up the track on Clark going into turn three. The two scrubbed off a lot of
speed opening a hole at the bottom of the track for Racin’ Ralph Nason to dive into
to take the lead. Rowe fought back and regained the lead 3 laps later. A spin on lap 126
marked the beginning of several restarts that had Rowe and Nason side by side at the
point. The two raced door to door for several laps but Ralph was not able to totally clear
Rowe from the outside.
Racin’ Ralph moved in behind him with 10 laps to go. It appeared the Hight
Motorsports Monte Carlo might be a bit quicker then Rowe on the bottom of the track with
Ralph giving Mike a couple taps to let him know he was still there. However Rowe did not
falter and protected the bottom and Ralph was not able to get the nose under him in the
final 10 laps. Ralph finished the race 2nd with Cassius Clark in 3rd.
The Hight Motorsports teams hopes that
Sunday’s performance marks the start of a new beginning to a strong second half of
the season. The next race for the team will be the TD Bank North 250 at Oxford Plains
Speedway on July 31st. |
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Firecracker
150
PASS - Oxford Plains Speedway - 7/3/05
Retired Early for a 33rd Place Finish
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June 19th - The Hight
Motorsports Monte Carlo finished 25th in Sunday’s Hight Chevrolet 250 at Unity
Raceway. The car was running in the top ten early in the race after starting 11th
following a 4th place finish in the heat race.
Around lap 60 Nason reported the car was losing its handle. Taking an advantage of
a yellow the he brought the car into the pits for some adjustments. Within another 15 laps
the car became totally undrivable and Ralph was forced back into the pit under green with
a flat right rear tire.
The team elected to park the car shortly after the stop that put Nason down several
laps. Clearly out of contention to win the race, it made no sense to put a very strong
race car in danger of being wrecked.
The finish to a busy weekend of racing was disappointing, however the team did not leave
feeling the weekend was a total lose. Prior to the flat tire, Ralph was riding comfortably
with a strong car in the top ten. In practice the Hight Motorsports team was one of the
fastest cars, timing in at 2nd fastest for the final segment of practice. The team also
overcame a fuel delivery issue that had been plaguing them sense the first race of the
season.
With the car back at full power and having a strong motor it’s only a matter
of time before Racin’ Ralph Nason and Hight Motorsports will be atop the finishing
order.
The team is preparing the car over the next two weeks to run the 150 lap IBG-PASS race at
Oxford Plains on Sunday July 3rd. This will mark Nason first race at Oxford in the Hight
Motorsports Monte Carlo as well as his first race on the new racing surface. |
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| June 11th - Ralph
took the win the heat and finished third in the 50 lap feature. Pictured above with winner
Jeff Burgess, center, and second place finisher, Randy Turner. Good tune-up for the Unity
250 next Sunday! |
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May 29th - The 105 -
Ralph exited early from the 105 with a blown motor,
posting a 13th place finish. |
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Photo by Mike Oles - www.TheWebGuys.org
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| BUSY WEEKEND: MAINE
STATE LOTTERY 105 on Sat. 5/21 & COMMUNITY PHARMACIES 150 on Sun. 5/22 Hight Motorsports is gearing up this week
for a busy double header weekend. The plan will be to run the 105 lap $3,500 to win Triple
Crown Race at Unity Raceway Saturday night.
The team plans then to take the 2005 Hight Chevrolet Monte Carlo to Speedway 95
Sunday afternoon for the Community Pharmacies 150 IBG-PASS race. |
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| FIRST RACE - SAT. MAY
14TH AT UNITY (Skowhegan,
ME – May 17, 2005): The Hight Motorsports team finally got a chance to see their long
winters work in a race. Racin’ Ralph finished 6th in Saturday’s opening day race
at Unity Raceway. Although the results were not spectacular, the race was.
Ralph started outside the third row in the feature. By the end of the 1st lap Ralph
was up to fourth. After a few laps of racing, Ralph drove by Jeff Burgess for 3rd place.
Next a pass was put on Randy Turner for 2nd. Around lap 23 Ralph took the lead from Scott
Chubbuck. A caution flew with only a few laps to go allowing Chubbuck to start beside
Ralph. After a couple laps of Chubbuck banging on Ralph’s bumper, Chubbuck got a
fender under Ralph. The contact between the two ended with Ralph spinning down the front
stretch. Ralph restarted from the back, but passed a few cars in the final two laps with a
flat left rear tire.
Randy Turner of Freedom won the opening day race, and congratulations go out to him
from Hight Motorsports.
HERE for an
article by Gary Hawkins on Racin' Ralph in the Morning Sentinel. |
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FIRST PRACTICE
(Skowhegan, ME – May 11, 2005): After another disappointing weekend of rain,
the Hight Motorsports team finally got to see the car on the track on Tuesday. After
months of hard work the Hight Motorsports crew saw the number 77 Monte Carlo take its
first laps. It was just a short test session, ran as the sun set in turn 2 at Unity
Raceway. After spending the day fixing a few problems with the clutch, not much time was
left to practice. However, it was enough to shake the car down and make sure there were no
other major issues that had not been discovered yet. The car went pretty well for its
first time out. The team believes that as Racin’ Ralph gets more comfortable inside
the small drivers compartment and a few adjustments are made, it will be a good solid,
fast car.
The real test will come Saturday night THE 14th as the Hight Chevrolet car debuts at the
first race in the weekly Pro Stock series at Unity Raceway. Although it isn’t the big
opening day race the team had hoped for, it will still be a great chance to show the fans
that Racin’ Ralph still has it.
As of this moment the team plans to run the car Saturday May 21st at Unity for the 105 lap
Maine State Lottery Race. Then if a night’s work will get the car ready to race
again, the team will head to Bangor Sunday morning the 22nd of May for the PASS 150 lap
race. See our Schedule page for the revised dates. |
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OPENING DAY WASHED OUT
AGAIN
Unity Raceway has been forced to push back Opening Day to Saturday Night May 14th.
The Weekly Racing Series will make it's 3rd attempt to open the season.
The Pro Stock 105 will be run Saturday May 21st. |
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Opening Day at Unity on
Sunday, May 8th -
The Maine State Lottery 105
(Skowhegan, ME – May 4, 2005): Opening day is fast approaching. The
motor is in the car and almost ready to fire up. It has been a bit of a struggle to
acquire all the necessary fittings and what not to plumb the car. However, we are
overcoming those issues and are working on putting the final touches to the 2005 Hight
Chevrolet Monte Carlo.
The last few weeks have been busy to say the least. Corey, on behalf of Hight Motorsports,
would like to thank everyone who has lent a hand in overcoming the numerous set backs,
both the devastating and the minor ones. Some of those people include, Walter Hight, Ron
Nason, Steve Benner, Benny Rowe, Brian Whitney, Tim Ferrara, Dave MacMaster, Ricky Austin,
Chad Partridge and many others.
The team is planning on getting some practice in on Saturday. Then on Sunday christening
the new Junior Hanley Chassis with new driver Racin’ Ralph Nason in the Maine State
Lottery opening day 105 lap race at Unity Raceway. |
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Progress on the Race Car
Hampered by Fire at Machine Shop
(Skowhegan, ME - April 26, 2005): As many of you know a tragic fire destroyed
Performance Automotive Machine in Farmingdale on the night of April 18. Although no one
was injured, motor builder for Hight Motorsports, Steve Benner lost his entire business.
Steve is not only our motor builder, but a close friend. Corey has been part of a large
volunteer network of friends and family who spent last week cleaning up the pieces and
salvaging motor parts.
In the building the night of the fire were all
the parts to the team’s two complete motors. Tuesday morning after the fire it looked
like a total lose. However once the clean up began one motor, which was mostly assembled,
seemed to be salvageable. Naturally the motors were the least of team owner Corey
Hight’s worries. Helping close friend Steve and his family regroup has been top
priority.
This week now that the bulk of the clean up has been completed, Steve and Corey have
decided to try to rebuild that motor, appropriately named, “burner”. The task
will not be easy, as of Tuesday morning the motor has been totally dismantled and all the
parts cleaned. Yesterday several pieces that needed to be replaced were ordered and
shipped next day air. The plan is to have most of the motor together tonight. They are
expecting one more shipment of parts tomorrow. By Thursday they hope to dyno the motor and
have it at the race shop Thursday night. The crew will then take on the fight against time
to install, plumb, wire and get the motor running. The new car will then need to be setup
and go through all final preparations for race day. We hope for all parts to arrive on time, and everything to
go together as planned. With some long nights and early mornings the team believes the car WILL BE AT
Unity Raceway Sunday for the Maine State Lottery Opening Day Triple Crown #1 Pro Stock
105. |
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