8/12/2014
Sprint Source
Cole Wood – A Nationals to Build On!
The Cole Wood Racing #17w put a solid Knoxville Nationals behind them last weekend. If not for some issues in qualifying, it could have been a great week. The Auburn, California driver moved forward in virtually every feature he ran, and gained valuable experience at the “Sprint Car Capital of the World”. The team is tentatively planning a weekend off before heading to Knoxville’s Season Championship August 26.
Southern Iowa Sprintweek started on Thursday, July 31 with the 360 Nationals at Knoxville. Cole would time in 29th quick. “I think we could have qualified better, but the silver lining was, we were in a good starting spot for our heat race,” he says. “We were able to win that one.”
In the feature, he would move up from row nine to checker 15th. “We fell back at the start a little, and it really took us a long time to get going,” says Cole. “At the end, we got a lot better and we were able to get by several cars. It just took us too long to get going.”
The qualifying effort hampered Cole’s point total, and he lined up 16th for Saturday’s 360 Nationals B main. “We were able to get a few cars (checkering 13th),” he says. “When you’re back in a B main that’s tough like that…it’s just hard to get to the front.”
A week ago Sunday saw 71 cars descend on the “Capitani Classic”. Cole’s ninth quick time was stellar, but with a format that sees an invert of six in the heats, it’s more than tough. “It felt like I was in the back of a World of Outlaws feature in my heat race,” he says of starting fifth and finishing seventh. “We didn’t make it out of the B either. I think the ‘Capitani Classic’ is the hardest one-day show there is to run. You have 70 drivers and fifty of them can win an Outlaw feature.”
After Wednesday night was rained out, a heavy track awaited Thursday drivers at the Knoxville Nationals. “I think we really overthought things with qualifying,” admits Cole. “I was really tight on the right front in hot laps on the first set. The second set, I still felt really tight and we didn’t really have time to fix it. We went with a small 92” (tire) and I think it really killed us in qualifying. We were so loose.”
The 38th quick qualifying effort had the team scrambling, but Cole would checker second in his heat to move on to the feature. “(Randy) Hannagan got the jump on us at the start and we ran second,” he says. “We were penalized a row (back to row ten) for jumping the start of the feature.”
Cole would come from row ten to a twelfth place finish in the preliminary feature. Due to the rain out on Wednesday, the top fifty cars were locked into Saturday night’s program. Cole was able to accomplish that with his solid feature run. “The track was really good,” he says. “There were two lanes, and I was surprised at that. We were able to get by several cars. One more and we would have ended up in the B main (Saturday night).”
As it was, Cole would start on the pole of the C main. He was happy not to have to run Saturday afternoon’s non-qualifier. “Last year, we had to do the non-qualifiers, and that wasn’t good,” he says. “It was like the ‘Capitani Classic’ all over again. So it was good to be locked in this time.”
The start of Saturday night’s C main saw a melee involving eleven cars. Despite almost tipping over twice, Cole escaped relatively unharmed. “It was a mess,” he says. “I don’t know what happened at the start. I know a lot of people were looking at me. The 40 car (Caleb Helms)…I didn’t see him…I guess I got over his left front. It was a mess. We were fortunate enough to get through there. We did get the left front shock knocked off and we didn’t see it in the work area. Somehow, we were able to maintain out there and transfer to the B.”
Starting at the tail of the 22-lap B main, Cole would climb to 14th. “The car was really good,” he says. “We were able to pass nine cars. Everyone was running the bottom. I could get some speed, then go back to the top and pass some guys when they were bottled up.”
Finishing 35th out of the 105 cars competing at the Nationals is something to build upon. “I’d say other than qualifying, we had a good Nationals,” says Cole. “If we could have qualified well, it would have been a great Nationals.”
Visit Cole Online
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Cole’s Weekly Releases
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The Cole Wood Racing team would like to thank: Elk Grove Ford, Speed Mart, Moss Racing Engines, Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center at Elk Grove Ford, Wion’s Body Shop, CSI Shocks, Prime Time Customs, Weld Wheels, Sparco, NorCal Boxer Rescue and ButlerBuilt Professional Seat Systems.
Attached: Cole at Knoxville (Serena Dalhamer Photo)
