Concord Heights Motor Speedway, Concord Heights, Cassadaigua
The Five Star Mobile 500
So maybe the wading pool was a mistake. As race time dawned bright, Drake Stevenson realized that he had only succeeded in taking his own head out of the game. Even still, many figured he had a very real shot at victory, if he could only stay near the front of the field as the race progressed. The only problem with that, however, was that he didn’t.
It all started innocently enough, as a tight condition started manifesting itself in the early laps. Drake was having a hard time getting into the slow corners at Concord Heights. Drake was patient, however, and realized that there was a long way to go, there’d be a ton of cautions on this short track as the 46 starters tried driving through each other as they tried making their way to the front, and he could get the problem fixed. So, as seen on H-Sports’ show “NSSCRA Radioactive” aired the next day, a program that aired the radio frequencies of the NSSCRA drivers, it was evident Drake was pretty patient at the time.
But there was one problem. When the crew went in to loosen the car, they turned the wedge wrench the wrong way, making the car even tighter. Needless to say, Drake, getting bumped around by a handful of drivers, was starting to get more and more pissed off as the laps clicked by. Maybe it was the fact that other drivers were starting to use Drake’s bumper as target practice, and maybe it was the fact that the car had all the handling characteristics of an earth mover, but it was starting to show on the radio.
Eventually, as time went on, Drake decided to take his anger out on who he felt was one of the worst offenders, Eddie Walters Jr. driving the 10 car for KRD Team Iona. It was not likely that Eddie had been harassing Drake for about 20 or 30 laps at a time, but it was more likely the fact that Drake looked up in his rear-view mirror and saw the 10 car wearing his rear bumper out like some guy from Bolgano had gotten in the way of one of the cars from Vilita or something. Either way, Drake looked towards the 10 car, saw him pull alongside, and flipped him off.
Either way, the problem was not getting better. The car was getting tighter and tighter, and Drake was getting sick and tired of not being able to turn his car while getting pushed around other drivers. It was so bad, in fact, that Drake was kind of reminded of those dark days not too long ago when he was driving that eight-wheeled Chase Cutter in the World Grand Prix Championship. Just thinking about it pissed him off to no end, and for five or six laps, he started swearing loudly into the radio. It was something that the crew was starting to get sick and tired of hearing, and eventually, crew chief Lawrence Malloy told Drake to knock it off.
Eventually, he had enough and late in the race, Drake went up to the rear bumper of the 10 car entering the first turn and used up all of it. I mean, he cleaned Walters out, sending him for a spin, but not enough to do any real damage. Drake kept going on, and ranted even more about what had been a very poor day. When the flag dropped, Drake was just happy to get the hell out of the car and make a beeline for the Team Blue Center to get his stuff and get the hell out of Cassadaigua.
Anyone looking at the 81 car after the race ended could see the impact that a full NSSCRA short track race had on a poor-handling car. The rear bumper had been folded up close to the fuel cell. There were tire marks all over the driver’s side. All four quarterpanels and fenders had been used up very comprehensively. It had not been a good day. One crew member looked at the right side of the car and contemplated it quizzically.
“Would you look at that,” the crew member said. “A side we don’t have to fix.”
Lawrence Malloy, the crew chief, looked at the crew member, rushed towards the door and gave it a mighty kick, the kind of kick that would have scored a much-needed goal for the Hapilopper National Football Team in recent matches.
“I don’t want you spoiled, man,” Lawrence said, frustrated at what had been an awful day.
