Inside Line Promotions - LISMORE, New South Wales, Australia (Feb. 3, 2014) - Andrew Felker is searching for a bit of good luck after being riddled by misfortune during his first two weekends of racing in Australia.
Felker once again showed his speed last weekend driving for CJR Motorsport at the World POWRi Midget Championship only to be struck down by bad luck at Lismore Speedway.
The weekend opened on the right foot last Friday as Felker qualified fifth quickest to put himself in a strong position in the points from the start.
"Qualifying out here is the key to your whole weekend," he said. "Qualifying well can give you a safety net to almost guarantee you making the A Main with just decent heat results. I was happy with our fifth quick, but felt like we could have been faster since on our quickest lap I had to jump out of the gas to set the front end down after a big wheelie."
Since the heat races are fully inverted, Felker started his first of three heat races by advancing from ninth to seventh place.
"During the first heat the track was kind of one lane and I kept trying the top only to have slower cars get in our way, so we just settled down to avoid wrecking since we already had good points from qualifying," he said.
Felker quickly rallied toward the front of his second heat race after starting 10th only to be swept up in an early crash.
"We went to the top the first corner and drove by two rows of cars to then get caught up in a wreck on the backstretch and flatten a right front tire," he said.
Felker was unable to finish his second heat race and similar trouble occurred in the third heat race as the car caught a rut and broke the right rear shock.
However, Felker accumulated enough overall points to advance to the main event, which he started 14th.
"In the A Main I fell back early with a tight car," he said. "As the race went on and the track got slicker the car really came to us and I started picking off cars."
Felker rallied to record an 11th-place result to cap the opening night.
He returned to the track on Saturday and quickly advanced to the runner-up position in his lone heat race.
"Saturday in the heat the track was extremely dry," he said. "We got up next to the wall early and finished second in the heat."
The team then started the 40-lap feature on the outside of the fifth row.
"In the feature we gambled with a hard tire since we started 10th," he said. "I had a really fast car on the top, but lost three or four spots trying to see if the bottom ever would come in and it just never did."
Felker ended with a 10th-place finish.
"I feel like we have had a really fast car both weekends, we just haven't had much luck," he said. "This weekend is more of a traditional U.S. track with higher banking so I think we should be really good if we can keep the bad luck away."
Felker concludes his trip to Australia this Friday and Saturday at Toowoomba Speedbowl in Charlton, Queensland.
QUICK RESULTS -
Jan. 31 - Lismore Speedway in Lismore, New South Wales, Australia - Qualifying: 5; Heat race #1: 7 (9); Heat race #2: DNF (10); Heat race #3: DNF (7); Feature: 11 (14).
Feb. 1 - Lismore Speedway in Lismore, New South Wales, Australia - Heat race: 2 (6); Feature: 10 (10).
SEASON STATS -
6 races, 0 wins, 0 top fives, 3 top 10s, 4 top 15s, 4 top 20s
UP NEXT -
Friday and Saturday at Toowoomba Speedbowl in Charlton, Queensland, Australia, for the World POWRi Midget Championship
MEDIA LINKS -
Website: http://www.AndrewFelkerRacing.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AndrewFelker11a
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AndrewFelkerRacing
SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT - Fontana Automotive
Located in Brownsburg, Ind., Fontana Automotive has built high-quality, affordable race engines for more than 25 years. For more information, visit http://www.Fontana-Automotive.com.
"I've been with Fontana Automotive for two years now," Felker said. "They've helped us out a bunch here lately and I've been really strong with them. We're running one of their Spec 7 motors this year and we've had a lot of success with it."
Felker would also like to thank Auto Xpress, 66 Truck & Foreign Salvage, MelMark Pipe & Supply, CSI Shocks, Momo's Racing Engines, Engler Machine & Tool, Inc., Schluckebier Farms, Pro Powder Coating, All-Pro Auto Interiors, Aggressive Graphics, KBR Performance, Weld Wheels, KMK Enterprises, Heath II, Wilwood, Maxim Racewear and Leading Edge Composites for their continued support.
Felker once again showed his speed last weekend driving for CJR Motorsport at the World POWRi Midget Championship only to be struck down by bad luck at Lismore Speedway.
The weekend opened on the right foot last Friday as Felker qualified fifth quickest to put himself in a strong position in the points from the start.
"Qualifying out here is the key to your whole weekend," he said. "Qualifying well can give you a safety net to almost guarantee you making the A Main with just decent heat results. I was happy with our fifth quick, but felt like we could have been faster since on our quickest lap I had to jump out of the gas to set the front end down after a big wheelie."
Since the heat races are fully inverted, Felker started his first of three heat races by advancing from ninth to seventh place.
"During the first heat the track was kind of one lane and I kept trying the top only to have slower cars get in our way, so we just settled down to avoid wrecking since we already had good points from qualifying," he said.
Felker quickly rallied toward the front of his second heat race after starting 10th only to be swept up in an early crash.
"We went to the top the first corner and drove by two rows of cars to then get caught up in a wreck on the backstretch and flatten a right front tire," he said.
Felker was unable to finish his second heat race and similar trouble occurred in the third heat race as the car caught a rut and broke the right rear shock.
However, Felker accumulated enough overall points to advance to the main event, which he started 14th.
"In the A Main I fell back early with a tight car," he said. "As the race went on and the track got slicker the car really came to us and I started picking off cars."
Felker rallied to record an 11th-place result to cap the opening night.
He returned to the track on Saturday and quickly advanced to the runner-up position in his lone heat race.
"Saturday in the heat the track was extremely dry," he said. "We got up next to the wall early and finished second in the heat."
The team then started the 40-lap feature on the outside of the fifth row.
"In the feature we gambled with a hard tire since we started 10th," he said. "I had a really fast car on the top, but lost three or four spots trying to see if the bottom ever would come in and it just never did."
Felker ended with a 10th-place finish.
"I feel like we have had a really fast car both weekends, we just haven't had much luck," he said. "This weekend is more of a traditional U.S. track with higher banking so I think we should be really good if we can keep the bad luck away."
Felker concludes his trip to Australia this Friday and Saturday at Toowoomba Speedbowl in Charlton, Queensland.
QUICK RESULTS -
Jan. 31 - Lismore Speedway in Lismore, New South Wales, Australia - Qualifying: 5; Heat race #1: 7 (9); Heat race #2: DNF (10); Heat race #3: DNF (7); Feature: 11 (14).
Feb. 1 - Lismore Speedway in Lismore, New South Wales, Australia - Heat race: 2 (6); Feature: 10 (10).
SEASON STATS -
6 races, 0 wins, 0 top fives, 3 top 10s, 4 top 15s, 4 top 20s
UP NEXT -
Friday and Saturday at Toowoomba Speedbowl in Charlton, Queensland, Australia, for the World POWRi Midget Championship
MEDIA LINKS -
Website: http://www.AndrewFelkerRacing.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AndrewFelker11a
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AndrewFelkerRacing
SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT - Fontana Automotive
Located in Brownsburg, Ind., Fontana Automotive has built high-quality, affordable race engines for more than 25 years. For more information, visit http://www.Fontana-Automotive.com.
"I've been with Fontana Automotive for two years now," Felker said. "They've helped us out a bunch here lately and I've been really strong with them. We're running one of their Spec 7 motors this year and we've had a lot of success with it."
Felker would also like to thank Auto Xpress, 66 Truck & Foreign Salvage, MelMark Pipe & Supply, CSI Shocks, Momo's Racing Engines, Engler Machine & Tool, Inc., Schluckebier Farms, Pro Powder Coating, All-Pro Auto Interiors, Aggressive Graphics, KBR Performance, Weld Wheels, KMK Enterprises, Heath II, Wilwood, Maxim Racewear and Leading Edge Composites for their continued support.
