By: Joe Burrage
Findlay, OH. – (May 24, 2010) – The CKR Team has certainly been through a lot so far in 2010 and things are slowly starting to turn in the right direction. On Saturday night Kemenah was able to make his way towards the front on a track that was very difficult to pass on and claim his first top five finish of the 2010 season.
Last week before the team loaded up to take on the Pennsylvania Posse at the historic Williams Grove Speedway, Kemenah announced that Dean “Bonzai” Bruns was coming back to help out and the move has already showed immediate results. Last weekend at the Virginia Motor Speedway Kemenah was able to finish in the ninth position and the car felt great the entire race.
“Running the World of Outlaws deal is very tough, anyone can win on any given night and if you’re not consistent or near the front, winning races is difficult,” said Kemenah. “Having Bonzai with this team is a blessing because he knows how to win races and he’s proven over the years he is one of the top wrenches out on the tour. Having Bonzai, Bob Hampshire, and Adam with us takes a huge weight off my shoulders and I trust them completely.”
You could not have asked for a better Saturday night at I-96 Speedway, the weather was beautiful for racing and the grandstands were filled to capacity to watch the World of Outlaws only appearance at the big ½ mile.
The CKR Team worked throughout the day to get the Golden Flavor Sesame Sticks, Hampshire Racing Engines, MS Motorsports, Maxim, car prepared for qualifying. Kemenah went out and took his two qualifying laps and with excellent results, sixth quick overall.
The racing program was delayed for about 45 minutes or so with an electrical problem and the team took some time to relax and talk strategy for the upcoming heat races where Kemenah was starting on the inside of the second row in the second Heat Race. The team made a few changes to the car hoping they could grab a top two finish and get into Dash later in the evening.
Coming down to take the green flag Kemenah got a decent start, but Steve Kinser got a better one and was able to move ahead of Kemenah coming out of turns one and two. The track was very fast and narrow during all the heat races and passing was pretty difficult. Kemenah was able to hold down the fourth position and grab a transfer spot into the A-Main.
As the evening progressed Kemenah and the crew kept an eye on the track conditions looking for anything they could take advantage of. Starting in the 13th position Kemenah knew he some time to work his to the front but he certainly didn’t want to waste anytime doing so. From the drop of the green flag Kemenah kept his No.63 sprinter glued to the bottom of the speedway where the car felt really good. After the first lap Kemenah was running in the 12th position when the nose wing started to lie down. Race leader Danny Lasoski was setting a very fast pace and it didn’t take long for him to catch up to the back of the field.
After a series of yellow flags World of Outlaws officials made the call for a fuel stop giving the CKR Team a chance to make adjustments with plenty of laps remaining. Kemenah had settled into a nice groove before the fuel stop and managed to work his way into the ninth position but the team was penalized two positions for having crew members working on the car after the horn was blown.
On the ensuing restart Kemenah lined up in the 11th position and quickly got to work again on the restart using the middle of the speedway. From there Kemenah continued to pass cars making his towards the front, turn four was working to perfection for the No.63 sprinter as Kemenah was able to make his own line work and that propelled him to the sixth position with two laps to go.
The final lap for Kemenah was a good one; he was able to get by Kerry Madsen going into turns one and two and was really gaining on fourth place running Joey Saldana going down the back stretch, using turn four to his advantage almost the entire race Kemenah just missed his mark and Saldana was able to hold onto the fourth position and Kemenah would cross the finish line with his first top five finish of the season.
“We had a really good car tonight,” said Kemenah. “Everyone on this team has worked really hard the past couple of weeks and tonight shows were moving in the right direction. We are very fortunate to have the help from a lot of great people to make this whole deal work, Tom and Fran Chiappelli of Golden Flavor Sesame Sticks, Hampshire Racing Engines, MS Motorsports, Maxim Chassis, Accu Force Shocks have really helped our shock program out tremendously, and I can’t thank everyone else out enough for their support. Hopefully we can continue to be consistent, after that the wins should come.”
The Sponsors: Golden Flavor Sesame Sticks, Hampshire Racing Engines, Maxim Chassis, MS Motorsports, Kears Speed Shop, Champion Racing XP Performance Lubricants, Bell, Awesome Racewear, Accu Force Shock Dyno, Banshee Graphics, SSE Helmet Designs, ButlerBuilt Motorsports Equipment, TP Wings, Winters Performance Products, Media Camping Center, Real Racing Wheels, All-Star Performance, KSE Racing Products, Inc., Chiappelli Motorsports.
