5/12/2011
Sprint Source
Scott Winters - Season Opener at Knoxville
Scott Winters – Season Opener at Knoxville!
(Kole Faragher) May 11, 2011 – The 2011 racing season kicked off last Saturday May 7 in Knoxville, Iowa for Scott Winters and the Winters Motorsports 23w team. The team was joined by 42 other 410 sprint cars, including a slew of IRA teams for the annual IRA Challenge at the historic half mile.
One lap qualifying was on the docket for all of the teams and Scott would go out 27th in the order. A disappointing lap at 15.846 seconds resulted in finishing 28th in the order.
“I was a little worried going out that late in qualifying coming off a seven month offseason,” Winters said. “The car was way too loose and I was twitchy from not having many laps.”
There would be work to be done in order to make the ‘A’ feature after missing the heat race inversion by four spots.
That resulted in starting the fourth and final heat race in the seventh position with the top five moving onto the ‘A’. The heat included five different Knoxville weekly winners, including 4-time Nationals winner Donny Schatz and defending track champion Brian Brown. Scott would finish in eighth, setting up a run for the ‘A’ in the ‘B’ feature.
“The heat was stacked top to bottom,” Winters explained. “Missing the invert hurt our chances of transferring in that loaded heat. We were still way too loose so we tightened the car up even more for the ‘B.’”
Lining up on the grid eighth with only the top four getting a pass to the feature with only 12 laps to get into a transfer spot was the task, and it was mastered beautifully as Scott worked his way forward to snatch the last transfer spot into the money show.
“I knew we needed some luck somewhere during the ‘B’ in order to get into the top four and that came with a late caution,” Winters stated. “We were able to get around (Travis) Whitney on the restart on the bottom to make the show.”
Scott would start last on the field in the 20-lapper after a few changes to the car between features. The changes made resulted in a strong charge to the front in typical Scott Winters fashion. Scott picked off many drivers and was up into eighth with a few laps to go, but dropped multiple spots after a near-miss with a few drivers around him. A magnificent save also resulted in dropping to finish in the 15th position. But the car was going in the trailer in one piece, and the car was very fast come the end of the night.
“Going in, we wanted to move forward and finish, but the car was really working well,” said the 24-year old. “I could put it anywhere on the track and I was getting smoother and faster with each passing lap. We were up to eighth there after a few yellows and going for more until getting pinched off down the backstretch. I got a little greedy and it resulted in us dropping back a ways from where we were by finishing in 15th. All in all, it was a good night for our first night out with the charge through the field and putting the car into the trailer in one piece.”
The team decided to stay home last Sunday instead of trek over to Huset’s Speedway for their Mother’s Day Opener. This week’s plans are still up in the air, like they will be for most of the year, but there could be a showing at Huset’s in Brandon, S.D. on Sunday. The best way to find out where Scott will be racing and the subsequent updates is on Scott’s Facebook Page! (facebook.com/the23w)
Q&A Corner with Scott
Have a question that you want answered? Put “Question for Scott” in the subject line and send it to The23w@gmail.com
Blast from the Past
Scott led the first 15 laps of the Huset’s 2010 opener on May 2, 2010. It looked like the season would open with a win before the he hooked one of the numerous ruts on the track, resulting in a disappointing 10th place finish.
Sponsors
The Winters Motorsports team would like to thank their sponsors for everything that they do: T&K Transport, Wayne Harbitz with NuTech Seeds, NAM Design, The Keystyone Brew Krew, and the BFD Boys.
Winters Weekly Wrap-Up
To receive weekly emails updating the week of Scott Winters, send an email to The23w@gmail.com with “Winters” as the subject.
Facebook
Fans can follow Scott Winters Racing with updates, pictures, weekly press releases on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/The23w
Twitter
For the tweeting type, fans can also follow Scott Winters Racing at www.twitter.com/The23w
Article Credit: Kole Faragher
Submitted By: Kole Faragher
