Falcon Motorsports’ 2004 Season Review
(Another Successful Year)

 The season opened as successfully as 2003 ended.  The “Sunburn Grand Prix”, with its rich history, was revived at Texas Motor Speedway the first weekend of May after two years of being closed down in Abilene, Texas.  It didn’t take long for the team to blow out the cobwebs and start turning fast times.  As a matter of fact, along with winning Saturday’s race, David broke the track record, which he already held, with a time of 1:18.957.  Sunday’s race offered no less excitement.  Bob Ferstl made David’s job look tough.  David was able to open up a gap of six seconds in lapped traffic, but he could see Ferstl in his mirrors for the remainder of the race.  When asked of the weekend, David replied, “It was a great weekend!  The car was prepared beautifully and only minor adjustments were necessary.   I always know that because of the team’s hard work, we will be there at the finish line.”

 The first Hallett race on the weekend of May 15-16 was not as easy going as the season opener.  Ron’s first weekend back in the car for the year consisted of a great qualifying run for pole position on Saturday; however a broken starter kept him from making it to the green flag.  The team made the fixes over night and David stepped into a fast car on Sunday.  Mirl Swan gave him a little trouble at the start of the race; however, once he was able pass for the lead on lap three, David left the competition to win by a margin of more than 13 seconds.  The weekend drama was not over.  David was called to meet with the Chief Steward to discuss a pass on a lapped car that was made under a stationary yellow flag at turn one.  The argument was made that the speed differential of nearly 60 mph was so great, it would have been dangerous not to make the pass, but the Steward rejected the argument and penalized David one position, thus stripping him of his win.  Ron was quoted as saying, “It is disappointing for everyone, especially David.  We feel the pass was necessary for safety reasons, but I guess we will lick our wounds and get ‘em in Topeka.”

 The race weekend at Heartland Park in Topeka, Kansas by all accounts was another success.  The team posted two pole positions, two wins, and were awarded the fastest race lap in both events.  However, it wasn’t as easy as it sounds.  Saturday came and went without incident.  But after qualifying on Sunday, Orlando found coolant in the engine compartment.  The source was traced back to a cracked coolant fitting on the engine.   The fitting is special made for the motor in this car; therefore, it could not simply be replaced.  To make matters worse, it is made of aluminum, which basically means only a weld shop can fix it, and there aren’t too many of them open on Saturday.   As luck would have it, one of David’s fellow Kansas State alumni just happened to be at the track, and he just happened to own a weld shop.  It was impressive to see Mike and Ron in action.  The part was not easy to get to, but they had the car torn down and part in hand withing thirty minutes.   The race was scheduled to start at around 4:00 and the welder said that he could get the part back by 3:30.  At 3:25, the team was sweating it, but he pulled in right at 3:30!   Ron and Mike thrashed to get the car back together in time.  Meanwhile, the announcer was calling the group to the grid for the start of the race.  David changed into his drivers suit and was being strapped into the car while it was still on jackstands and still in pieces.  When the car was finally back together, they fired it up, while still in the air, and lowered it to the ground to make it to the grid with less than three minutes remaining before the start of the race.  It was teamwork at it’s finest, and it gained the team another win and twelve points toward the championship!

 The Independence Day weekend is always enjoyable on and off the Hallett Motor Racing Circuit.  This year was also exciting, but unfortunately the team wasn’t quite complete.  David, Orlando and Allison had other business to tend to, so Mike and Ron were on their own.  Ron drove a spectacular weekend, earning a decisive win on Saturday and driving to a personal best time of 1:11.xxx during Sunday’s qualifying.   That time was more than quick enough to earn him the pole position.  Ron battled with a tough competitor, Shane Stevens, leading the majority of the race.  But Shane never let up, and he managed to pass Ron for the lead where he stayed for the remainder of the event.  Ron and Mike proved their capabilities that weekend and showed why Falcon Motorsports is always the team to beat!

 The second and final National race at Heartland Park Topeka over the Labor Day weekend was the final race for the Midwest Division prior to the Runoffs.  This important weekend would determine David’s final standings in the Divisional Championship as well as qualify him for the 2004 National Championship Runoffs.  It was essential for him to get a start on Sunday’s National event as well as prepare the car setup for the Runoffs.  David held a commanding lead in Saturday’s race, enough so that he was able to make a short pit stop for a wing adjustment and retain the overall lead in the race.  Sunday’s race wasn’t as easy.  David nipped the pole by 0.070 seconds over Mirl Swan with Steven Williams less than one second behind that.   The start was close, but Mirl made it to turn one first and gained the lead.  They fought closely for the first three laps trading positions several times.  On lap three, David passed Mirl on the front straight, but when he went into the first turn, something felt different.  The car was not responding as it had and Mirl once again passed for the lead.  A mistake into the chicane allowed David to pass for the final time.  With an extremely ill handling car, David managed to keep Mirl at bay for the remainder of the race, never quite figuring out what was wrong with the car.  Upon inspection of the car after the race, it was discovered that the left tunnel under the car, which produces most of the total downforce, had collapsed.  “I knew something was wrong, I just didn’t know what”, David said.  It took me about a lap to adjust my driving style to the new way the car was handling.  I was surprised to hear that I was actually pulling away from the competition, so I just stayed out and hoped for the best”.  David’s win pushed him to second place overall in the Midwest Division Championship, surpassed only by Pat Witherspoon who completed six races to David’s four.     The win also qualified David for the National Championship Runoffs in Ohio the week of September 20-26.