Sometimes you have to Go Back to Move Forward...
Posted by Joe Willy on
Team Dirt Dog's Hile Motorsports/ Chris Hile Racing & Hile Motorsports/ Katelyn Hile Racing Find that Old Setups Work Best
by Katelyn Hile | Joe Johnson photo
Syracuse, NY | May 23, 2017- Sometimes confidence comes from knowing what you know. After last week we decided our next move would be to go back to our roots; to what we knew worked last year which gave us both an extra boost of confidence. While working on the Hile Motorsports cars last week we flipped to last year’s set-ups and applied those changes to both the 5H and 25H.
Friday the Lightning Management 5H headed off to Brewerton ready to roll! However, sometimes you have to remember how much time and money you actually invest in your racing career. Sometimes you have to make the conscious decision that the beating your equipment will take isn't worth the purse. That's exactly how we viewed Friday night. With rough track conditions we concluded that it would be best to pull off early hoping that Mother Nature would cooperate and give the track another week to dry out. In this situation you really can't blame anyone in particular. With the wet spring we've had it's incredible that we are even able to get on the track. As you all know several tracks have had to cancel their shows based solely on wet grounds.
Saturday was looking to be much nicer and upon arriving at the track we could all see the track was looking like an old friend; the typical smooth slick Fulton Speedway. Both the Lightning Management 5H and the 1911 Established ® 25H were ready to do battle. After going back to our roots this week and setting the cars up like we knew had worked in the past, we were both feeling confident as we lined up for heat races. This proved to be the right move as both the 25H and 5H qualified through their heats. Chris even turned the fastest lap of the evening in the 5H machine during his heat! As we lined up for the feature we were both feeling like this would be a good night!
Even though Katelyn lined up in front of Chris, Chris was quickly battling for the head with his 5H. Katelyn kept her 25H solid in the top 10 for the majority of the night before eventually falling back to 12th. Chris also would fade slightly in the closing laps to finish 6th. Both are ready for next week knowing what small changes they need to do to improve on this week.
Sunday was a little crazier than normal. Chris and the 5H were preparing to race Monday at the Weedsport Speedway so on top of normal wash duties we had to turn an entire car around. Weekly maintenance on a car can be cumbersome, so getting a car ready for the next race in a short day is truly a team effort. Additionally, the Hile Motorsports clan made plans to help World of Outlaw Sprint Car driver Jason Sides Sunday at Weedsport. After meeting Jason and his brother Paul last year at World Finals we have kept in contact and offered our assistance to Jason as he was at Weedsport with little help Sunday. The Sides clan are truly genuine people! Unfortunately right before his heat, the rain came and Weedsport was forced to postpone their WoO show.
Even though Monday was race day, it was back to work for all of us. I'm sure we were all eye-balling the weather report all day and when Weedsport finally called their Big Block Monday show we knew this was setting up to be an easy week!
The 5H is already ready to roll for this weekend and the 25H is a few hours away from being ready as well! Hopefully the weather changes a little as it looks like Friday may be a little soggy.
So your probably wondering what racers do with a day or two of free time? Well we've gotta go support our local AHL team in their eastern conference finals and will be attending the Crunch Game tomorrow night. Long story short- we are always up to something, even if it's not always preparing for the next race!
As always stay up to date with everything Hile Motorsports at www.HileMotorsports.com
