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| Alli Owens has first visit to USA International | April 29, 2005 - April 30, 2005 - USA International Speedway, Lakeland, Fl
Alli Owens got her wish. She wanted to race at USA International Speedway, Lakeland, Florida since she was a little girl. The morning of April 29th was the day when we loaded up Alli's late model racecar and headed west.
This was one race that Alli has looked forward to for a long time. USA International Raceway is a 3/4 mile paved speedway with terrific lighting and the best PA system ever heard. We arrived Friday April 29th to check in and park the hauler.
We were able to park next to our friends Bobby and Danny Sears and their driver Rich Clouser. We had a couple of extra team members for this weekends race. Brian Bellaw came to help and Scotty Williams arrived as Alli's spotter.
Practice on Friday went well with Alli getting about 4 practice sessions of 20 laps each. When asked about her first experience driving on this track she said "I really like this racetrack."
I guess things are a "go" for Saturday. All of us except Brian stayed in town Friday. Brian had to work Saturday but would be back for the race.
Saturday April 30th started at about 9:00am with us getting everything ready for practice and qualifying. Alli was able to get a couple more practice sessions in before qualifying. When the time came to qualify, Alli stepped right up to the task and did a very nice job. She was conservative and didn't want to push the car and herself too much. She knew very well that if you lose it on this large track, you lose it in a big way.
The feature race for the Late Models started around 9:00pm. Alli was as ready as she was going to be. Alli started near the back of the field and settled into a good consistent run keeping her car close to the inside.
At around lap 25 or 30 there was a wreck coming out of turn 3 and Alli did a great job of braking and missing the cars. The green stayed out for a while and Alli kept advancing her position consistently.
At around lap 60 or so there was a wreck in turns 1 and 2. Alli went low to miss the cars but the car in front of her checked up.....Alli hit her brakes and the car behind hit her and shoved her into the car in front.
When Alli came around where we could see the car, the hood was pushed up and damage was done to the front. She radioed in that the motor was running fine and the temperature was still good. We knew we had to get that hood off the car and do something about the air box since it appeared to be crushed and not letting air to the radiator.
The red flag had come out so they could remove the other damage cars and Alli shut the motor off and waited for the yellow to come out so she could pit. The yellow came out and Alli quickly made it around the track and came down pit road. Her dad Mike, Bobby and Brian all scrambled over the wall to remove the hood and loose parts and take off the crushed air box. That was done quickly and Alli took off down pit road.
She got back into the race but at around lap 74 she said her air filter had blown off. Again she came into the pits. We could have removed what was left of her intake box and filter and send her back out but Mike made the decision to not go back out without an air filter and take the chance of sucking something into the motor.
All in all it was a great weekend. Alli put in almost 200 laps at the track she wanted to race at for so long and did a heck of a job racing with 32 other cars on this big track. This is one race she will remember for a long time.
http://www.alliowens.com/
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