7/11/2010
Chris Coker
CCR Comes Up Dry After Promising Night
Chris Coker made one of his best runs of the season Saturday night in the ASCS double regional at Lawton Speedway, only to come up empty due to a mechanical failure.
After rain soaked Texas and Oklahoma over the past few weeks, we were finally able to get in some racing when the skies cleared Saturday afternoon. CCR made the 7 hour trek north, from New Braunfels, TX to Lawton, OK driving through sporadic rain showers, but the anti-rain dances worked and the skies cleared as the team pulled into the track. The track and pits upon first appearance seamed to be more of swamp land than speedway, but after a lot of work from the track crew, the teams were able to pull into the pits and prep for an excellent night of racing.
After drawing number 12, the CCR number 5C would start out side front row in the 3rd heat. Current ASCS Lone Star points leader Eric Baldaccini took the point from the drop of the green flag with Chris nipping at his heals. This routine was repeated for all 8 laps of the prelim with Baldaccini taking the checkered and Chris Coker running closely behind in 2nd.
The 2nd place heat run qualified Coker into the feature 11th in passing points, just missing the top 8 redraw. The 5C team made some minor adjustments to the car and rolled out for the feature. The feature started at a steady pace as drivers felt out the rough track which had ruts making the Daytona hole look like a shot glass. However, it didn't take long for things to get dicey as two red flags came out early for safety crews to tend to hard crashes. During the havoc Chris had settled into 10th and was looking to go forward when it became apparent that the power steering had failed, and Chris knew the rest of the race would be a struggle.
About 15 laps in Coker overtook Eric Baldaccini for 9th place and then moved into 8th while still struggling to control the car without power steering. Chris held 8th going into the final 5 laps when the car, despite Coker's best effort, finally overpowered our driver when the car went into a slide and Coker wasn't able counter steer fast enough to save it from spinning. Coker would rejoin the field in 18th position, where he would ultimately finish.
Coker was happy with the teams obvious progress, but disappointed in the ultimate result. "We showed we could run with the top teams, but also showed we have some growing to do. The steering problem actually started in the heat, and possibly a couple races ago, but grew so gradually that I ignored. As a driver I need to notice those small details. Aside from that we had a great car. The new setups we've been working on with Chris from Charlie Brown's Garage have been a huge improvement on what we were doing. Now we just need to continue with the progression we've shown over the past few weeks. If we can do that we should be consistently in the top 10" said Coker.
The team reached another milestone this weekend, reaching it's one year anniversary. Just one year ago Chris Coker Racing took the track for the first time in over 10 years. 23 races later and we are challenging some of the best teams on the ASCS Regional tour!
CCR is back in action next week when they take on the best of Texas and Oklahoma in an ASCS Lone Star vs. Sooner double header. Friday (July 16) the teams heads to RPM Speedway in Crandall, TX and then Cowtown Speedway in Ft. Worth, TX on Saturday (July 17).
Submitted By: Admin Account