Mars, PA (9-30-10) As the end of the 2010 racing season looms for Butch and the #27 Lambert Racing FASTRAK team, the FASTRAK Grand Nationals are just getting set to start! The team has had a run of bad luck over the past couple of weeks after having a strong run at Hesston Speedway back on August 7th. A bad pill draw had Butch starting last in his heat event at the Northeast Tour event at Raceway 7 on August 13th, but he managed to race his way into the feature event to secure the 18th place starting spot in the feature. His patience was key in the feature as he worked his way up to a solid 9th place finish. The following weekend we made the five hour trek to Woodhull Speedway in Woodhull, New York for the first time ever. Butch ran well enough in his heat to make the re-draw on the tricky 1/3rd mile track, but of course drew the #12 starting spot for the feature event. Contact at the front of the field at the start of the event caused a large crash involving 5 or 6 cars. Butch looked to have missed the crash by driving off of the racing surface on the back straightaway, but another car spun right into his path resulting in a hard crash and major damage to the #27 machine. He was credited with a 19th place finish, and his very first DNF (did not finish) of the season. Sharon Speedway held a $1000 to win FASTRAK special event on Saturday, August 28th where Butch finished 2nd in the heat, redrew the 8th starting spot for the feature and ended up finishing there on a very slick track with little to no passing.
The Friday of Labor Day weekend would mark our fourth trip to Tyler County Speedway in Middlebourne, WV this season, for a FASTRAK Northeast Tour event. Once again we had bad luck with the pill draw and drew next to last for the heat event. Butch started 8th in his heat and charged his way through the field to take a 2nd place finish and secure a spot in the feature re-draw. In front of a standing room only crowd, he started the feature in 5th place and quickly jumped into 3rd place, where he stayed for most of the race. A bad restart on lap 21 dropped him back to 6th place, but he was setting up to pass the 4th and 5th place cars when disaster struck with two laps to go. The bolts that hold the flywheel onto the motor broke off and the car lost all power. His second DNF of the season netted him a 20th place finish and a very long drive home. We arrived back at the shop at 5:30am and the crew went to work, pulling the motor out and getting the broken bolts out proved to be quite a challenge, but they never gave up! By 3pm the car was loaded and ready for the first night of the Labor Day Classic at Tri-City Speedway, which, unfortunately ended up being rained out. All the hard work paid off on Sunday, though, as Butch brought home a solid 5th place finish in the FASTRAK Northeast Tour event in the second night of the Labor Day Classic.
We had a double header weekend at Sharon Speedway for the Applefest Nationals on September 17th and 18th, with the Saturday night race being race #18 on the FASTRAK Northeast Tour schedule. In the Friday night event, Butch pulled off a strong 4th place finish in what was one of the best races of the year with 5 cars battling for the lead for the last few laps. The entire grandstands were on their feet by the time the checkered flew! On Saturday night, he started 15th in the FASTRAK Tour race and worked his magic to work his way through the field to a 6th place finish.
After winning the FASTRAK Northeast Tour portion of the Fall Classic at McKean County Speedway in 2008, the team had high hopes for this season’s event on September 24th & 25th. Unfortunately, Lady Luck had other ideas and our bad pill draws put us behind the 8-ball before the drop of the green flag. With 44 cars on hand, it was not a good night to draw the last pill in the can for the heat event on a rough and muddy track. Butch started 9th and could only muster an 8th place finish. He lined up in 10th place for the b-main with only 10 laps to make it into the top 2 finishing positions to secure a spot in the feature event. He took to the outside on the start and was on a mission, with two laps to go, he moved into 3rd place, but got held up by the 2nd place car coming to the checkered and missed making the feature event by a fender. As a result of not making the feature, he lost his 3rd place standing in the FASTRAK Northeast Tour points, dropping to 4th by 1 point. Saturday night was a special $1200 to win event and once again, we drew the last pill. This time, the track was in much better condition for the heats and Butch advanced from his 11th starting position to finish 5th. He lined up for the feature in 17th spot and steadily worked his way through the field and was running in 6th place. A caution with 1 lap to go shuffled the field on a bad restart and he ended up finishing 9th.
This Saturday at Mercer Raceway Park marks the beginning of the 2010 $30,000 FASTRAK Grand Nationals. The Grand Nationals are a 3-race series where all FASTRAK regions (Northeast, Southeast, Great Lakes, etc) race for 2 nights in their respective regions, then come together at Wythe Raceway in Wytheville, Virginia for Night #3. For the Northeast, Night #1 is at Mercer and Night #2 is at Roaring Knob Motorsports Complex on Saturday, October 9th. Points for each night will accumulate and the driver with the most points at the end of the three nights will be named the 2010 FASTRAK Grand National Champion. We will also have the 20th and final FASTRAK Northeast Tour event at Roaring Knob on Friday, October 8th. We are tentatively scheduled to compete in the $10,000 to win FASTRAK National event at West Virginia Motor Speedway on October 15th & 16th as part of the Dirt Track World Championship weekend. Once we get through Nights 1 & 2 of the Grand Nationals, we will decide if we will go to WVMS and if we will go to Night #3 at Wythe Raceway or stay close to home and compete at Lernerville Speedway in the Steel City Stampede.
Don’t forget to “Become a Fan” on Facebook (Butch Lambert Racing), where we have up to the minute race results, schedule changes, news and contests, and as always, our website, www.lambertracing.com is updated weekly with results and stats. You can also follow us on Twitter @LambertRacing27!
Butch Lambert and the Lambert Racing team would like to thank all of their sponsors and supporters for 2010: Bagel Bites, Austin's A1 Bleach, Fannie's Friends Pet Cremation Services, Fleming Tire & Auto, Lambert Plumbing, RAM Transit Lines, Inc., Kozminski Auto Body, BP Construction, Harmony's Angel Candle Co., Smardt Equipment, Woodward, Inc., Flinner Signs & Decals, Mars Beer Distributor, Marburger Farms Dairy, Hotsy, B&E Mini Mart, Herr's Potato Chips, Epic Action Video Cameras, Ultrashield Race Products and Fleming Design Services.
The Official Blog of Butch Lambert & the #27 Lambert Racing Team.
