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Summer Nationals Week 4 Wrap Up

The Summer Nationals went to Arkansas and the Old #1 Speedway for the first time in their history, and it saw one the of largest car counts of the year with 42 late models signed into the pits. The 31AUS was back on the track with Joe Chalmers behind the wheel and Kye Blight manning the crew chief duties. Joe was excited to get on the track and was 3rd fastest in his group in hot laps. Qualifying didn’t go as well, though, with him qualifying 18th in his group. His heat race saw half of the field taken out in separate incidents, and he ended up finishing in 3rd, transferring him to the feature. There, he started 11th and finished 9th. Joe said, “Last night hot lapped bad ass, then qualifying I over thinked it and just messed up. In the heat, got very lucky avoiding all the crashes. Finished 9th on a rubbered-up track. Cars in one piece but did bend the spoiler.”

Night 2 got canceled early in the day because of the weather forecast, so back to Arkansas went the boys. Riverside International Speedway had 39 late models enter the competition. Joe set fast time in his group, and fast time overall, just 2/10s off the track record. He finished 3rd in a stacked heat race and finished 7th in the feature race.

The 3rd night of racing was at Paducah International Raceway. A surprise to everyone saw a second BAR31 Team car on the track – the 31S of Paul Stubber. Joe was in the 1st group and qualified 7th out of 8; Stubber in the 2nd group qualified 6th out of 8. In Joe’s heat, he traded slide jobs with Tyler Clem, and ended up finishing 5th. In the 2nd heat, Paul had a difficult time as he got caught up in a wreck that was in front of him, but he rallied back to also finish 5th, which would put the two 31 cars in the feature starting side by side. It was an exciting, but caution filled race and Joe took the checkers in 2nd, Paul in 8th. Paul said, “We came back to the pits with 2 cars and 3 flat tires.” Joe said, “Bloody unreal! Lost brakes on a restart coz I cooked them and dropped back to 4th. Then my brakes came back. Was able to get up to 2nd but had a flat left front for the last 12 laps.”

Joe’s last night in the 31AUS at Clarksville Speedway was exciting, but not near as fun for him. He spun out in qualifying, spun in the heat race, and spun in the B-Main. But a good showing for him in the previous races got him a provisional in the feature race where he started 20th and finished 14th.

Sunday was one of the BAR31 Team’s favorite tracks – Tri-State Speedway in Haubstadt, Indiana. Kye Blight was back behind the wheel of the 33 car, and Joe back at his crew chief duties. Kye was one of four drivers to break the previous track record of 14.054. Kye laid down a lap of 13.916, and this put him 4th in his qualifying group. He started and ended his heat race in 2nd place, started 7th in the feature, and was up to 5th when the 4th place runner lost control in turn 1, and as Kye went below him, he came down and ran into the side of the 33, and that ended the night for Kye.

Week 4 Stats:
Joe Chalmers:
Qualifying: 18th, 1st, 7th, 15th
Heat Race Finish: 3rd, 3rd, 5th, 6th
Feature Finish: 9th, 7th, 2nd, 15th

Paul Stubber:
Qualifying: 6th
Heat Race Finish: 5th
Feature Finish: 8th

Kye Blight:
Qualifying: 4th
Heat Race Finish: 2nd
Feature Finish: 24th (DNF)

The final week of the Summer Nationals is coming up. As of right now, the team plans on bringing the 31AUS car back out with Kye behind the wheel for the first 2 or 3 nights, and then get the #33 ready for the Lucas oil Race at Tri-City. Keep watch of the “Tour” tab on this site for the schedule.

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