Thanks to John Fromer at F&F in Loves Park, made it 42 laps Saturday at Jefferson without any exhaust issues on the old Cavalier (hopefully one day will have my "fast" VW done with donor engine from Nelson's Imports...).  I think we started 10th, maybe.  Pretty confident that if we did not get into the top 5, we were at least 6th after just a couple laps.  Other than maybe actually being a little loose going in and through center (the car normally is tight...especially coming off, but it seemed to turn very well under a lot of cars early - kind of like in Rockford Enduro), we had a good run going.  Unfortunately, it appears that the adhesion that bonds the spark plug porcelain to the housing gave away on #2 cylinder!  Sounded like a rod was knocking, but thanks to track hobby stock racer and crew volunteer Kyle Chwala, we replaced the plug and were able to run a few more laps at speed.  However, apparently the wire was damaged and our run was again slowed.  Having replaced the wires - real long spark transfer device that runs back behind the engine - before the car was turned into a "hornet" I did not have a spare and could not find anything.  Am upset that between working on the VW and all during the week, I DID NOT pull the plugs and wires out of the Cavalier this week for cleaning and inspection.  I do not believe I would have noticed the issue though, as the car ran fine at first, and the other plugs looked ok.  As this WAS most likely the last race of 2009 for the car (do see an Enduro at Farley, IA on the 22nd...would rather take VW though), I doubt I would have replaced either the plugs or wires before the off-season anyway.  I believe I put new plugs in before this season, but there may have been a couple events on them in 2008.  Either way, I guess it was one race too many!  Just another example of confrontation between any "driving skill" I posses and the timing of mechanical failures that have plagued my "career"...since '97 there are numerous examples of when maintenance items slowed top runs...Guess there is always something to look at! 

Also wanted to send a note on my opinion of the Jefferson track officials:  The whole day was supposed to be "all about having fun" but to me and one "crew" guy I had, at least half of the track officials displayed the "old school" hard nose tendencies that gave short track racing a bad name through-out the last millennium.  Imagine that is the only time some of these guys get to have any type of authority.   I will say much better organization that last year though.  The main point though, at least to me anyway, everyone that wants to talk bad about Rockford should do a little traveling.  Other than maybe Randy Samples and Kevin Rogers (who I will say did offer concern last week after I all but passed out), I enjoy the "new-breed" of track officials at the local 1/4 mile (compared to some from years ago).  Regardless, I hope to eventually find success in all of the area tracks end of the season long-distance events.

Special thanks to Jefferson racer Kyle Chwala, his girlfriend, "the other Kyle", and midget racing supporter John Huss for their help Saturday.