10/21/2014
Thesenvitz Ventures South For Two Special Events
(Photo by Mike Spivey)
TULSA, Okla. – After months of having the past two weekends circled on his calendar, Trey Thesenvitz was finally southbound from Jasper, MN, rolling down Interstate 29 to Sweet Springs, MO; he and his team were headed to Sweet Springs Motorsports Complex and their Show-Me Showdown, and then to Tulsa, OK and Port City Raceway the following weekend. Originally scheduled for three days of racing, Sweet Springs’ Thursday night’s events rained out before Thesenvitz left home on Friday morning; the crew arrived to find that more rain had forced the cancellation of Friday’s racing as well. The track worked fiercely to get the grounds prepared for Saturday, dumping truckloads of lime throughout the pit area to dry it out. Their efforts paid off, as 188 total entries signed in to race in seven different classes.
The rainouts made it necessary to change the format of the show, and hot lap sessions were made into group qualifying sessions. The change was instantly trouble for Thesenvitz, as his Sawyer/Yamaha entry was stricken with mechanical gremlins before he could complete a lap. This meant that he’d receive no points for qualifying, and also have to start tail of his heat race. He made a spectacular recovery, though, and moved up four spots from seventh to third in the ten-lap heat race number four of six. The qualifier lineup, heads up off of heat race finish, meant Thesenvitz would start sixth in the second of three qualifiers. Again, the Jasper High School junior moved forward in the running order, finishing fourth. Strangely, the points system placed emphasis on qualifying almost as much as heats and qualifier races combined, relegating Thesenvitz to the back of the B-main. He began the race inside row nine, 17th of the 19-car field. When another car ran into him in turn three of lap one, he was forced to take the #53 pit-side, bringing his night to a close, with his official scoring being 17th in the B-main.
While he was certainly capable of a better finish at Sweet Springs, it was onto Tulsa for the highest-paying micro sprint race in history: the 1st Annual Micro Sprint Outlaw Nationals. The check for the Saturday night feature winner was slated to be $11,000, with an extra $2000 for any out-of-state winner, and several other product sponsors offering money to anyone who could win while using their products. The action kicked off on Thursday night with Thesenvitz in heat race nine of ten, scheduled to start outside of the front row of the ten-lap race. Around the halfway point, Thesenvitz wound up wrong side up, flipping a couple times through the turn three area. The damage on the car was moderate, but it was enough to sideline him for the rest of the night.
Hoping for a better Friday night, the crew finished up repairs and Thesenvitz would hit the track sixth in heat six of ten, and completed the race in seventh. The finish wasn’t sufficient to transfer directly to a qualifier, so he was sent to an LCQ, in which the top two finishers would transfer to the back of a qualifier. Starting fourth, Thesenvitz jumped to the third spot, looking to pick up one more and get into the final transfer position. He’d fall back, however, and got passed back with two laps to go, rounding out the race in fourth.
For one last go at the main event, Thesenvitz would have his work cut out for him, as a pill draw of 195 out of 200 put him starting in the ninth and final spot of his heat race, with several Port City regulars in front of him. In turn two, havoc ensued, and four cars crashing brought out the red flag, with Thesenvitz only slightly involved. His car tipped over as he spun to avoid the crash ahead of him, ending up on its side, but with no damage. Unbeknownst to him at the time, he accidentally bumped the fuel shutoff valve during the incident. As the carburetors were still full of fuel, he was able to ride around under the pace laps before the restart, but as he stepped on the pedal to come back up to speed, the car sputtered, and he was forced to pull to the infield, halting what looked like a promising heat race scenario. Regardless, as the other three cars involved were unable to restart, he was scored sixth in the race, scoring just enough points to get him inside the top 50, meaning he’d automatically be in a qualifier race. Early on in the qualifier, Thesenvitz was up to the eighth spot and looking like he’d be able to garner a few more positions as the race went on. Unfortunately, the handling of the blue and green Sawyer machine started to fade, and lost ground in the waning laps. The sixteen-year-old capped his weekend, trip, and season with a 12th place finish in the qualifier.
Though the team’s finishing positions don’t show it, they were extremely pleased to be running wheel-to-wheel with the best in the business, “still having a blast, learning a ton, and living the dream.”
Thesenvitz would like to thank MerchLane, Performance One, Speedshack Performance, and Kustom Colors as well as his family, his crew chief Scuba Steve, and all of his great fans for their continued support.
Thesenvitz next plans to compete on December 31-January 3 in Tulsa, OK for the 30th Annual “Tulsa Shootout” in the River Spirit Expo Center in the #53 600cc outlaw entry.
Quick Results
October 11 – Sweet Springs, MO – 600cc Outlaw – Qualifying: DNQ; Heat: 3 (7); Qualifier: 4 (6); B-Main: 17 (17)
October 16 – Tulsa, OK – 600cc Outlaw – Heat: 8 (2); LCQ: DNS
October 17 – Tulsa, OK – 600cc Outlaw – Heat: 7 (6); LCQ: 4 (4)
October 18 – Tulsa, OK – 600cc Outlaw – Heat: 6 (9); Qualifier: 12 (10)
Season Stats
22 races, 2 wins, 9 top fives, 12 top tens, 7 DNFs
Social Media
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/5oshadesoftrey
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/315368391835159
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/5oshadesoftrey
Website: http://www.racertrey53.com
Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/user/racertrey53
Article Credit: Redbeard Promotions
