BURR MOTORSPORTS 2002
10/12/02 - Steve was first out for qualifying Saturday night a Clarksville. His first time was 13.581. The score board showed that officials had missed his second time. Also, the announcer didn't announce a time for Steve's second lap. Nevertheless, track officials later said his second time was 13.885. That would be much slower than Steve has turned all year. Officially Steve qualified 8th and missed the quick six. Steve started on the pole of the second heat and won going away. This placed Steve in the eight starting spot in the feature. It seemed like a full moon as both the late models and open wheel modifieds had many, many restarts before actually completing a lap. Chuck Proctor and Rod Reed both went out in a crash on the start. Steve did some great driving to avoid being taken out in crashes on several occassions. Once under way Steve made his way around several cars and into third place with only a couple of laps remaining. (The race was shortened by four laps due to the many restarts.) Steve quickly closed on second running Steven Ashby and attempted a last lap pass but was blocked by a lapped car. Steve brought the Burr Motorsports Ford home in third and was the fastest car on the track at the finish. The win was taken by Gary Frost.
10/5/02 - Steve made one lap in the opening hot lap session Saturday night a Clarksville and pulled the #33 late model into the pits. Engine man Frank Ofria quickly found a broken rocker arm. However not having a spare and being unable to locate a replacement, Steve was done for the night. The top six finishers in the late model feature would be Chuck Proctor, Tony Albright, Steven Ashby, Gary Frost, Gary Johnson, and Ralph Wiles.
9/28/02 - Steve and the team returned to Clarksville Saturday night intending to repeat last weeks win. Alas, it was not to be. Steve qualified fifth in a field of 18 late models Saturday night at Clarksville. The track was fast, as the top three qualifed under 13 seconds and the next three were just a few hundreths of a second over 13. The top six were Chuck Proctor, Steven Ashby, Rod Reed, Mike Chandler, Steve, and Chris Cook. Tony Albright hit the wall and didn't get a qualifying time. In a return to his normal luck this year, Steve would draw a five to start on the back row in the quick six. Reed drew the coveted outside front row starting position with Proctor front row inside. They were followed by Cook, Chandler, Steve and Ashby. Ashby started outside Steve and was able to beat him and Cook into turn one. Cook would spin Ashby and be sent to the rear. Other than that it was follow the leader. The finish would be Reed, Proctor, a smoking Chandler, Ashby, Steve and Cook. That's how they would start the feature with Reed electing to start outside front row. The front five would stick close and pull away somewhat from Cook. Steve appeared to be faster than Ashby and Chandler, but could not get around them. He continued to seek a passing lane until a caution came when Cook hit the wall for the second or third time that night. While under caution Steve pulled the Burr Motorsports #33 into the pits with a miss in the engine. The extent of the problem is not known at this time. The only change with the leaders was when Chandler dropped out after his car began smoking profusely. The finish was Reed, Proctor, Ashby, Albright, and Gary Frost.
9/21/02 - Steve qualified second behind Tony Albright Saturday night at Clarksville. For one of the few times this year Steve would draw a two to start outside front row in the quick six. Steve would cruise to a win in the quick six over Gary Frost, Todd Rust, Albright and Mike Chandler. In the feature Steve would lead flag to flag to get a convincing win over Albright. Those two would be followed by Chandler, Frost, and Rust.
9/14/02 - Saturday night the track at Clarksville was junk. In qualifying tires were spinning and cars were sliding everywhere. Steve qualified sixth behind Chuck Proctor, Mike Chandler, Gary Johnson, Tony Albright, and Brian Singleton. Fast time was 15.157, two seconds slower than normal. In the drawing for the quick six Steve drew a four to start on the second row for only the second or third time all year. Albright would as usual draw the front row outside. Johnson would start on the pole, Chandler would start third, Proctor fifth, and Singleton sixth. Steve got by Chandler and Johnson to finish second. The finish would be Albright, Steve, Johnson, Proctor, Chandler, and Singleton. Smoke would begin pouring out of the #33 Ford on the last lap of the quick six. Fortunately, it was only an oil leak that was quickly repaired. They would start the feature the way they finished the quick six except that Albright would elect to start on the outside. The track was definately one groove. Steve was able to move in behind Albright and ahead of Proctor going into the first turn. That's the way they would run for most of the feature as Albright had about a one turn lead over Steve and Steve had a similar lead over Proctor. However, a back maker would eventually cost Steve second place. The slower car would refuse to give Steve any room to run. Steve would try to pass on the inside several times, but there was no traction outside of the one groove. Steve would try to pass on the outside going down the back straight but the slower car would get into him and nearly send him into the wall. Proctor was able to take advantage of the situation and move to second as Steve regained control of the car. At this point there was only one or two laps left and Steve had to settle for third. Chandler would bring his car home in fourth.
9/07/02 - Steve qualifies second behind Tony Albright at Clarksville Saturday night. In what the team has come to expect in the drawing for starting postion in the quick six, Steve draws a five to start third row inside. And as has often happened, Albright starts on the front row outside. Other starting positions would be Chuck Proctor front row inside, Ralph Wiles third, Chris Cook fourth, and Mike Chandler sixth. At the start Steve moves past Chandler going into turn one. He then proceeds to pass Cook on the inside going down the back stretch when unexplainably Cook cuts left into Steve in the middle of the back straight away. The #33 Ford would sustain significant damage to the front end. Steve would be towed to the pits. Albright would go on to win the quick six over Proctor, Wiles, Chandler, and Cook. Steve's crew goes to work and replaces damaged parts and has Steve ready for the feature. Steve would start the feature in sixth place. In what would be a magnificant display of driving skill, Steve began his move to the front by passing Cook, then Wiles, then Chandler. Steve got by Chandler with a daring move between Chandler's #51 and a lapped car as they exited turn four. Steve would then catch up with the leaders Proctor and Albright. With a move on the inside Steve would pass Albright for second. Steve's ride in second would be short lived however as Proctor was running the low groove and held Steve up long enough for Albright to get back around Steve. The three would put on quite a show for the fans. The finish would be Albright, Proctor, Steve, and Chandler.
8/31/02 - Rains in Clarksville would leave the track a mess. Conditions did not improve much during the evening. Many cars would end up in or on top of the wall. Steve has third fast time in qualifying. Steve would have had second fast time, but in the Clarksville tradition of changing the rules, the length of races, etc. on a whim, Chris Cook was allowed to move from his second qualifying position to last. Your chances of getting a fast time were greatly improved the later you quailified. Cook would get fast time edging out Albright. In the second rules suspension of the night by Clarksville track officials, the quick six was started straight up instead of by draw. Steve would have to start the quick six on the inside of Chris Chandler and behind Cook and Albright. The inside was definitely not the place to be as it remained very wet. Steve would beat Chandler into turn one and would finish in third behind Albright and Cook. The front four in the feature lineup would be the same as in the quick six. Steve would again be forced to start inside. This time Chandler was able to beat Steve into turn one. Steve would make a great move to the inside of Chandler on lap two to take over the third spot. Steve was running uncontested in third when the leaders began to encounter some very erratic lapped traffic. Steve would be passing the red #11 on the inside coming out of turn four when the slower car would force Steve very low on the front stretch and into turn one. The track was just too wet and Steve's #33 would go hard into the turn one wall. That would be the end of the night for Steve and the team. Albright, Cook, Chandler, and Marty Allison would survive to take the top four spots at the finsih.
8/30/02 - There was good news and bads for the Burr Motorsports team at Paducah on Friday night. The good news was that Steve qualified a mere two hundreths of a second behind last year's UMP national champion Rodney Melvin and two positions ahead of the number two man in UMP national points this year, Tony Albright. The bad news was that that was only good enough for 14th quick out of a fast field of 21 late models. Steve started and finished 4th in his heat. In the feature Steve would start 14th. That's also where he finished.
8/24/02 - Because of a late change adding a UMP feature to the MARS event at Clarksville, the #33 Burr Motorsports team decided to run at Clarksville to hold their second place position in points. The team came up with four used tires and entered the MARS event also. Steve qualified third for the UMP program behind Chuck Proctor and Tony Albright and ahead of Mike Chandler. That's how they started in the abbreviated UMP feature. Albirght would jump to the lead from his outside starting position and Chandler would jump to third from his outside spot. Steve would move past both Chandler and Proctor to finish second behind Albright. In the MARS event, Steve would draw a back row starting position in his heat. As was expected, running a big motor on alcohol was not the way to go with the MARS mandated D55 tires. Steve would finish seventh in his heat. This relegated Steve to a 19th starting position in the feature. Steve moved up to about 12th or 13th but was making no further progress and elected to pull in to save the equipment. Steve was credited with a 15th place finish.
8/17/02 - Steve drove the Phil Burr owned #33 Ford to fast time at Clarksville Speedway Saturday night with a time of 12.903 seconds on the high banked quarter mile. Trailing Steve were Mike Chandler with a 12.959, Chuck Proctor with a 12.966, and Tony Albright with a 13.022. For only the fifth time all year Steve drew a starting postion on the front row of the quick six. The line up for the start of the quick six would be Steve, Albright, Ralph Wiles, Chandler, Proctor, and Joey Mack. At the start of the race Steve and Albright would go side by side down the front straight and through turns one and two. Albright would get a little wide coming out of two and Steve would make the pass for the lead on the inside. Unfortunately there would be a caution flag. On the restart Albright was able to jump into the lead and begin to pull away until Steve began to reel him in. At the finish it would be Albright and Steve bumper to bumper followed by Wiles, Chandler, and Proctor. Mack would be a DNF. For the feature Albright would take the preferred outside front row position with Steve starting inside. Second row would be Wiles and Chandler. Third row would be Proctor and Randle Sweeney. Albright would assume the lead at the start with Steve in second. The car would push coming out of turn four allowing Chandler to make the pass for second. Steve would immediately start pressuring him in an attempt to regain the second spot. This took place for several laps. However, misfortune would occur entering turn one. Steve would get a little high and hit the loose stuff. The rear end would smack the wall hard and immediately turn the front end into the wall too. It was a hard crash. Steve was not injured, but the same could not be said for the car. The crash destroyed two wheels, a tire, all right front supension components, a brake rotor, the rear axle tube, a shock, and the bird cage. The right rear frame rail was also bent along with crash bars on both ends. Albright would win again followed by Chandler and Proctor.
8/10/02 - Steve qualified fourth fastest at Clarksville Speedway again Saturday night. Fast time was set by Tony Albright with a 13.090. He was followed by Chuck Proctor -13.231, Mike Chandler - 13.246, Steve - 13.261, Gary Frost - 13.333, and Ralph Wiles - 13.362. As has become his custom, Steve again drew a last row starting position for the quick six. The starting lineup would be Chandler, Albright, Frost, Proctor, Wiles, and Steve. Steve takes the Burr Motorsports Ford to a third place finish in the quick six behind Albright and Chandler. He would be followed by Frost and Wiles. Proctor would climb the wall between turns one and two for the second time in one night and not finish the dash. The line up for the feature would be Chandler on the inside, Albright on the outside followed by Steve, Frost, Wiles, Proctor, Joe Brantley, and Todd Rust. Frost would get a slight lead over Steve for third at the start, but Steve would soon get by him and begin pursuit of Albright and Chandler. About half way through the feature Steve was running a strong third, well ahead of Proctor who had now moved into fourth, when the engine began missing. To avoid further damaging the engine Steve pulled off the track and was done for the night. The top five at the finish would be Albright, Chandler, Proctor, Rust, and Wiles. The motor problem appears to be a broken valve.
8/3/02 - Steve qualified fourth fastest at Clarksville Speedway Saturday night behind Chris Cook, Chuck Proctor, and Tony Albright. Gary Frost and Joe Brantley would qualify fifth and sixth. Once again Steve would have bad luck in the drawing for starting position in the quick six. Steve again would start on the back row as he drew a five. The start would be Albright, Cook, Proctor, Brantley, and Steve. Frost would be unable to start. Steve would move past Brantley to finish fourth behind Albright, Cook, and Proctor. Albright would break the usual pattern and elect to start the feature on the inside of the front row. He would be followed by Cook, Proctor, Steve, Brantley, and Frost. After one lap Steve jumps from fourth to second and sets his sights on Albright. However, Cook would slam into the left rear of Steve's #33 late model nearly spinning Steve and damaging the front end of Cook's machine. A spin does occur behind Cook, bringing out the yellow. Cook has to take his car behind the wall and does not return unitl he is many laps down. On tbe restart Frost dives to the low side and passes Steve between turns one and two. Steve immediately begins pressuring Frost to regain the second spot. They battle for many laps. Steve puts the Burr Motorsports Ford underneath Frost on several occasions. Frost makes contact on several of these occasions and prevents the pass. With less than five laps to go, Brantley drives into the rear of Steve's machine and causes a spin. Proctor gets into the rear of Steve's car and leaves the entire right rear sheet metal crammed into the rear of Steve's car. Track officals remove the crumpled sheet metal and Steve is able to continue. Both Steve and Brantley are returned to their previous positions. By this time much of the field looked as though they had been in a demolition derby. You would have thought they were racing for $10,000 instead of the usual $1,000. On the restart it is apparent that there is something wrong with the #33 machine. Steve no longer has breaks as the the left front break line is broken. Steve fades to fifth where he would finish behind Albright, Frost, Chandler (who made a strong run from his eight or ninth place starting position), and Brantley.
7/27/02 - Steve qualified third fastest at Clarksville Speedway Saturday night. The top four all turned times under 13 seconds. Tony Albright - 12.746; Chuck Proctor - 12.886; Steve - 12.921; Gary Frost - 12.983. That was to be the highlight of the night as Steve continues to have bad luck in the drawing for starting position in the quick six. Steve again would start on the back row as he drew a five. The start would be Frost, Albright, Proctor, Mike Chandler, Steve, and Eddie Pace. The finish was Albright, Frost, Proctor, Pace, Steve, and Chandler. As usual Albright would elect the outside position to start the feature with Frost on the inside. Next would be Proctor, Pace, and Steve. On the start Steve gets to the inside of Proctor and Pace and appeared poised to move to third, but a caution comes out for debri on the track. On the restart Steve again makes a move to the inside of Pace, but Pace shuts the door. Steve falls back some and has to try to make up ground. He is able to close it back up some but not enough. Steve would bring the #33 home fifth behind Albright, Frost, Proctor, and Pace.
7/20/02 - Steve and the Burr Motorsports team arrived at Clarksville Speedway Saturday night intending to make it two feature wins in a row. Steve was the third late model to take to the track for qualifying. The track was still a little slick and seemed to get a little better as more cars qualified. Steve's time would be only good enough for fifth. But at Clarksville it only matters if you qualify in the top six as the six fastest draw for starting position in the dash. The first major setback of the night occurred as Steve would get a six to start at the rear of the quick six. Steve quickly assumed the fifth position ahead of Chris Cook. Steve would then battle with Gary Frost for fourth which would make the difference between starting in the second row or the third row in the feature. Towards the end of the eight lap dash Steve would make a pass to the inside of Frost going down the back stretch. Next, the second major setback of the night would occur as Frost would dive deep into turn three and make contact with Steve. The impact would bend a tie rod on the #33 Ford late model and allow Frost to regain the fourth spot. Tony Albright, Eddie Pace, and Mike Chandler would take the top three positions. Upon inspection in the pits, in addition to the bent tie rod, the car was found to have damage to the fifth coil and a flat left rear tire. After making these repairs Steve would start fifth in the feature. Passing is always at a premium at Clarksville and tonight would be no different. Steve would find himself in a battle with Mike Chandler for fourth place. Steve would make the pass on Chandler twice but neither time would last. The first time Steve had completed the pass, but a caution came out and Steve was sent back to his position on the previous lap. The next time Steve would make the pass on the straight away, but Chandler was able to drop down in front of Steve in the corner. A caution would be displayed on the last lap ending any chance of Steve regaining the fourth spot. Steve would finish fifth.
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Steve starts the second half of the season off with convincing wins in both the quick six and the feature at Clarksville Speedway on Saturday night. Steve began the evening by qualifying fourth in a field of 20 cars. For the first time in a while good fortune would smile on the Burr Motorsports team as Steve drew a one to start the quick six on the pole. The rest of the field would be Carnell Parker, Eddie Pace, Tony Albright, Mike Chandler, and Lee Devasier. Steve took a big lead in the quick six dash and was never challanged. The finish would be Steve, Albright, Pace, Chandler, Devasier, and Parker. Albright's car broke in hot laps before the feature. Therefore, the starting lineup was Steve, Chandler, Pace, Parker, and Devasier. At the start of the feature, Steve was briefly challanged by Chandler. But as the race progressed, the Full Throttle, Fantasy Graphics, and Tommy's Auto Machine sponsored Ford late model only got faster. At the finish Steve had a sizable lead over Chandler, Pace, Todd Rust, and Stephen Ashby.
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7/5/02 - Steve qualified sixth at Western Kentucky Speedway Friday night. The heat was started straight up with Steve starting outside third row. Steve passed three cars to finish third. That's also where Steve started the feature. At one point Steve passed eventual winner Eddie Pace and was slowly closing on leaders Tony Albright and Maynard. Albright broke and brought out a caution. Steve's car did not hook up after the caution and he faded to fifth where he finished.
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6/29/02 - There were only 15 Late Models Saturday night at Clarksville Speedway. But it was a quality field. Steve qualified sixth. The top six were all within three tenths of a second of each other. Gary Frost driving car number 55 for the second week in a row took fast time. Based on the number drawing, the quick six lined up as Eddie Pace, Frost, Randle Sweeney, Mike Chandler, Steve, and Tony Albright. Pace would jump the start and be placed back one row. The finish would be Frost, Pace, Chandler, Albright, Steve, and Sweeney. That's the way they would line up for the feature. The track was pretty much one groove and there would be little passing. The finish would see a new winner for the second week in a row as Frost took the win over Pace, Albright, Chandler, and Steve. Steve and the team are still chasing the right set up. They've gotten the car more driveable but are still looking to get an edge on the competition. Hopefully that first feature win of the season will be coming soon.
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6/22/02 - Saturday night at Clarksville Speedway Steve qualified third behind Tony Albright and Carnell Parker. After the drawing for position in the quick six, Steve started third. Albright and Mike Chandler started on the front row and Eddie Pace started on the outside of Steve. Gary Frost and Parker started fifth and sixth. The finish was Albright, Chandler, Steve, Pace, Parker, and Frost. That's also the way they started the feature, with Albright electing to start on the outside of the front row. At the start Chandler took the lead. Pace was also able to fall in line in third place. The top four moved away from the rest of the field. Albright was able to get around Chandler at one point, but his lead would be short lived as Chandler moved back around Albright. At the finish the top five would be Chandler, Albright, Pace, Steve, and Stephen Ashby.
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6/15/02 - There were 35 late models trying to make the 20 car starting field for the $5,000 to win Summer Nationals at Clarksville Speedway Saturday night. Steve's qualifying time was about a half a second slower than what he normally turns at Clarksville under similar track conditions. As a result, he qualified 15th and did not make the "quick nine." Steve started fourth in his heat and finished fourth trailing Steve Shepard, Bob Pierce, and Wendle Wallace and in front of John Gill. That was good enough as the top four transfered to the feature. Steve started 18th in the 40 lap feature. The car was a little tight at the start with a full load of fuel. Steve passed a few cars early, but a couple of cars got by him when the car pushed out in turns one and two. As the race wore on, the car got better and Steve had the #33 Burr Motorsports Ford late model working both the high and low grooves. Steve was able to pass several cars and he also benefited from some attrition to finish 10th. Overall, Steve and the team were happy. They advanced from 18th to 10th, the car was running strong and they brought the car home in one piece! Overall the fans at Clarksville saw a great field of cars and some great racing. Kevin Weaver took the win over Don O'Neal, Shannon Babb, Scott Bloomquist, Billy Moyer, Steve Shepard, Dan Schleper, Bob Pierce, John Gill, Steve, Jeep Van Wormer, Joe Brantley, Tait Davenport, Wendal Wallace, Rodney Melvin, Billy Drake, Tony Albright, Randle Sweeney, Gary Frost, and Duke Whiseant. The competition was very close as all cars that finished the 40 lap feature were on the same lap.
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6/14/02 - Steve qualified a solid fourth among 22 late models at Paducah International Raceway Friday night. In the inverted start in the quick six, Steve started third. The car was pushing out to the wall on acceleration in the turns. This caused Steve to drop to sixth in turn four on the first lap. Steve held on and managed to get a fourth place finish. This had Steve starting fourth in the feature. At the start of the feature it was apparent that the adjustments made to the car by the crew did not coincide with the changes in the track. Steve quickly dropped to fourteenth. As the race wore on the car got better and Steve passed several cars to move back to a tenth place finish. Steve and two other cars were battling for eighth place at the finish line, but Steve came up inches short of making the pass. The team hopes for better results at the Summer Nationals at Clarksville on Saturday.
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6/08/02 - There was good news and bad news for Steve and the team Saturday night at Clarksville. Steve set fast time; or so it seemed. After the late models had qualified, track officials stated that the times that appeared on the clock on the board were not official times and differed from those they had in the tower. Somehow Tony Albright was moved up from an apparent sixth place time to fast time. This gave Steve the second fastest time. Undeterred, Steve drew a two to start on the outside of the front row in the quick six. Steve started outside of Mike Chandler. Steve jumped to the lead at the start and built a big lead while Albright, who had started fifth, was held up behind Chandler. Albright finally passed Chandler but could not gain on Steve. Steve took the victory a full straight away ahead of Albright. Things looked good for the feature as Steve was starting on the front row along side Albright. At the start, Albright jumps to the lead. It looks like it will be another classic battle for the win. However, bad luck strikes again. Before they could complete the first lap, Steve is hit in the left rear by Tait Davenport, flattening the left rear tire. Steve exits the track and the crew replaces the tire. Steve re-enters the track as the field takes the green. Starting from the rear Steve catches the field and begins passing cars. However, bad luck strikes again when a car spins in front of Steve. Steve has no place to go and hits the car, damaging the right front. A broken lower control arm would end the night for the Burr Motorsports team. With the bad luck hopefully behind them, the team is looking forward to competing in next week's Summer Nationals at Nebo and Clarksville.
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6/07/02 - Work commitments prevented Steve from arriving at Western Kentucky Speedway in time to qualify on Friday night. This put the #33 Ford at the back of his heat where he started eigth. Steve was able to move up to fifth. Steve started fifth in the feature and made it up as high as third but couldn't make it stick. Steve finished in fourth place.
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6/01/02 - Steve qualified second fastest at Clarksville Saturday night. The first event of the night was the makeup feature from the rain-out the previous Saturday. Steve started fourth. The car was very tight and would not turn in the corners. The problem was so bad that Steve felt something must be broken and brought the #33 Ford to the pits. Steve was credited with thirteenth place as a number of other cars also experienced problems. For the quick six, Steve had another disappointing draw with a fifth place start. Steve advanced to third place in the quick six. This positioned Steve on the inside of the second row for the second feature. The car was still too tight, but Steve held on for a fourth place finish.
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5/25/02 - After a week of late nights and much hard work, the car is back together in time for the races at Clarksville. In qualifying turn four proves tricky for many competitors and Steve would be no different. Steve has to lift the accelerator coming out of four and looses significant time. At Clarksville you only get one lap to qualify. However, Steve's time was good enough for fifth place. In the drawing for the quick six Steve drew a six. Steve would start at the rear of the quick six behind Carnell Parker, Chuck Proctor, Tony Albright, Steven Ashby, and Mike Chandler. At the start the #33 Ford would move past Chandler and fall in behind Ashby. Parker would also have difficulties at the start and drop to the rear. Steve appeared to be faster than Ashby, but was unable to make the pass. The finish would be Albright, Proctor, Ashby, Steve, Chandler, and Parker. By this time lightning would be flashing close by. Before the features could be run the rain came. Therefore, there will be double features at Clarksville next Saturday.
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5/20/02 - The #33 Ford Late Model is stripped down and will get a new front clip tomorrow. The crew hopes to have it ready to race at Clarksville this Saturday, May 25.
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5/18/02 - It looked like it was going to be a good night for the Burr Motorsports team. Steve again set fast time at Clarksville Speedway. In the drawing for position in the quick six, Steve drew a two to start outside front row. That's where the good fortune would end. Steve's number 33 Ford would push badly coming out of turn four on the start and again coming out of turn two. Steve found himself running third going into turn three and running outside of Ralph Wiles. Contact with Wiles sent Steve hard into the concrete retaing wall between turns three and four. Steve escaped injury, but the car was severly damaged. The front clip was destroyed and the rear clip was also damaged. It looks like the team will be sidelined for a number of weeks.
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5/11/02 - Steve set fast time Saturday night at Clarksville Speedway with a 12.969 lap. Carnell Parker was second with a 13.173, Tony Albright was third with a 13.182, and Chuck Proctor was fourth with a 13.319. In the drawing for position in the quick six, Steve didn't draw near as well as he qualified, he drew a sixth place starting position. Steve would finish fifth behind Parker, Steven Ashby, Proctor, and Albright. In the feature Steve would pass Albright early for fourth and begin working for several laps on Proctor before passing him on the low side coming out of turn two. Steve was having difficulty getting the number 33 Ford to turn in the corners and a slight bobble allowed Albright to move past Steve for second. By this time Ashby had spun and gone to the rear. Albright soon took the lead from Parker and Steve began to work on Parker for second. Steve completed the pass of Parker, but a caution sent them back to their positions from the previous lap. At this point there were five laps to go. Steve again completes the pass for second and begins to close the gap on Albright. He is able to move back in behind him, but runs out of laps and has to settle for his third consecutive second place finish.
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5/4/02 - Steve and Tony Albright put on a show for the fans at Clarksville Speedway Saturday night. Out of 21 Late Models, Steve qualified second behind Gary Frost and Albright qualified fourth behind Carnell Parker. In the drawing for position in the quick six, Steve drew front row inside and Albright drew front row outside. As is often the case, the outside was the preferred groove. Albright took the lead at the start with Steve running right with him. Steve kept the pressure on and would try to work the inside but was unable to make a pass and finished second. Albright had the option of starting inside or outside in the feature and started on the outside. Once again Albright would get the jump at the start. Steve fell in behind the leader and began his repeated attempts to pass on the inside. The number 33 Ford would pull up beside Albright but could not complete the pass. Steve would get blocked by lapped traffic on several occasions but would again pull alongside the leader. Steve made his final attempt at the pass coming out of turn four on the last lap. They would cross the finish line side by side, but Albright got him by a fender.
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5/3/02 - Steve set fast time Friday night at Western Kentucky Speedway. Steve finished second to Bryan Maynard in the heat race. Joe Morris was third and Tony Albright was fourth. In the feature it was Maynard, Steve, Albright, and Randle Sweeney. Joe Morris was running fifth before falling out. Steve was able to make a move to the low side on Maynard coming out of turn four on the last lap, but came up short. The team continues to make progress on the setup with the new chassis and hopes to have the Ford making a run for the front at Clarksville tonight.
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4/20/02 - Steve was the second fastest qualifier out of 32 Late Models Saturday night at Clarksville. He qualified ahead of a lot of top competitors such as Tony Albright, Terry English, and Ed Dixon. The top six drew for starting position in the quick six; Steve drew a five and started fifth. Steven Ashby got sideways between turns one and two and Steve had to brake hard trying to miss him, but still got into him. No caution came out and both continued, but a half lap down. Steve couldn't make up the lost ground and finished sixth. In the feature, Steve started sixth and dropped to ninth before moving back up to seventh where he finished behind Terry English, Chuck Proctor, Tony Albright, Ed Dixon, Randle Sweeney, and Gary Frost. Carnell Parker finished eigth. Steve and the team are still working to get a handle on the new chassis, but are making progress.
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4/12/02 - Hard luck continued for the Burr Motorsports team on Friday night at Western Kentucky Speedway. After a dissapointing seventh place qualifying time on a loose and dusty track, Steve started fourth in the first heat. Contact from another car quickly bent the left rear wheel and cut down a tire, resulting in a DNF for the heat. Steve started eleventh in the feature. He was running ninth and had made a pass for eighth when again the car he was passing got into him and cut down the left rear resulting in another DNF.
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4/06/02 - Things didn't begin as the team had hoped for the first official night of racing at Clarksville Speedway. The spur gears in the quick change broke on Steve's qualifying lap. After repairs Steve started 6th in the first heat race. Steve managed to get by a couple of cars, but 3rd was the best he could do. This resulted in Steve starting 11th in the feature. Steve moved up to 6th but was unable to pass anyone else on the low side. Not content to ride in 6th, Steve tried the high side. This proved unsuccessful as he was passed by Stuart Mayes and moved back to 7th. Steve continued to work to get by Mayes, and on the last lap was able to make a pass on the outside coming out of turn four to finish in 6th place.
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1/21/02 - Steve Ryan and Burr Motorsports launch a web site to keep their fans informed of the latest team news and results.
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| 9/8/01 - Ryan
back in Clarksville winners circle
by
Thomas R. Jerles CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (Sept. 8, 2001) - A hard rain just before noon did not stop the racing program at Clarksville Speedway. Randle Sweeney sets the fastest time. Tony Albright and Sweeney are first and second in the fast six qualifier and start the feature on the pole positions. Albright gets the lead on the start. He sets the pace for the first fourteen laps and then the drive shaft comes out of his car. Sweeney has the point for the restart. Steve Ryan powers by Sweeney to take the lead on lap sixteen. Ryan keeps the Ford powered UMP Late Model in front all the way to the checkered flag. The win was the second in a row for Ryan. Randy Sellars started the race in sixth and ran out of laps after passing Sweeney for second, coming up one position short at the finish. Following Sweeney for fourth was Mike Chandler. Gary Frost finished fifth. Carnell Parker advanced from a seventh row starting position to finish sixth. Chris Cook and Troy Gay were seventh and eighth. Two rookie Late Model drivers had top ten finishes. Gary Johnson was ninth on the lead lap. Joey Devito was tenth and was the first car that was one lap down.
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| 9/1/01/ -
Ryan puts Ford in Clarksville winners circle
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Thomas R. Jerles CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (Sept. 1, 2001) - Tony Albright sets the fastest qualifying lap of the season in time trials with a 12.562 second lap time, but his luck ran out in the fast six qualifier race, when he went out with mechanical problems. Steve Ryan and Gary Frost finish the qualifier first and second and start the feature on the pole positions. Gary Frost takes the lead on the green flag and leads two laps. Steve Ryan gets around Frost to take the lead for lap three. Ryan's luck ran out last Saturday night when battling Albright for the lead when he and a lap car made contact and he went out of the race. This week was a different story. Ryan drove the Phillip Burr owned #33 UMP Late Model faultlessly all the way to the checkered flag. Ryan's win put a new meaning in the phrase "have you driven a Ford lately" as the finished ahead of a field of Chevy powered cars with a Ford powered car. Gary Frost came up only one position short of the win, finishing second to Ryan. Mike Chandler stayed in the hunt all the way to the finish, where he was third. Jimmy Nowlen, in his first visit to Clarksville Speedway this season, finished a strong fourth. Steven Ashby had something break on his car in his qualifying race while leading with one lap to go. He rebounded to finish the feature in fifth place. Randle Sweeney was racing Nowlin hard on the last lap and a resulting spin caused him to drop to sixth. Gary Johnson, David Mille, James Breeden and Ronnie Frost rounded out the top ten.
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| 8/25/01 -
Ryan put up good fight, win goes to Albright
by Thomas R.
Jerles |