7/1/2020
Eric Blumer
Latest BDR Race Report and Big July 4th Race Ahead
June 27th at BDR:
While it wasn’t the night the team had hoped for, it was one of those races where you’ll take what you can get, Saturday at Beaver Dam Raceway.
The weather was warm and sunny, the track was a bit dry with the MSA Sprint Cars on the card, but at least we were racing. Eric and Justin had help in the pits, as Greg Leatherberry joined us.
In his first heat, Eric started on the outside of the second row and got a good jump at the green. He powered outside Faith Zellmer going into the first turn. He was particularly high in the corner and got into the marbles allowing most of the field to drive by on the low side. Now in sixth place, Eric got into a groove and with about two laps to go he took the lead.
Eric was able to run high and low and had about a two car-length lead over the second place car as they went into the last corner, toward the checkers. The second place car took a difficult angle and pegged Eric in the driver’s side. Both cars spun and were scored in the back of the field. They would have earned four or five points had they finished one, two and avoided the B-Main. The other driver involved did apologize for the wreck, which in the end is as much as one can ask for.
Running the B offered the perfect scenario for something we’d talked about trying since the off-season. We took off the 2020 Hoosiers and put on last year’s American Racer tires. The reasoning was two-fold. We were curious if those AR tires, that will be phased out after 2020, might be better on a very dry track than the Hoosiers. Plus, as a matter of finances, we just wanted to save the Hoosiers as we don’t believe they will be as durable over a season as the AR’s.
Eric was starting 12th in the 17 car field and it was looking to be an uphill battle. The crew offered encouragement, but Eric was less hopeful noting the cars what were ahead of him and that it was a fairly short race to make the top four and last transfer spot. It took fellow competitor, Kevin Schutz, the driver of the popular Bucky Badger #14 car, to give Eric a little pre-race boost, telling him, “Just take your time, you’ll get through it.” We’ll never know for sure if the tires were the difference, but Eric won the Semi and we saved the equivalent of a heat race and a half on the Hoosiers.
In the Feature, Eric started 17th in the 20 car field. He got as high as fifth late in the race, but faded coming to the checkers with about four cars close enough to touch each other as they crossed the line. He was scored in 7th. Ryan Sullivan won the race.
SPECIAL THANKS
After the heat, team caterer Bill Blumer Jr. realized he’d forgotten to pack beer for the end of the night. Like any good supply person, he knew right where to go and promptly went to the pit of Dave Eberle who was more than happy to help the EBR crew (Bill, Greg and Mary Jo in this case) out.
While they wouldn’t be able to visit us in the pits due to Covid restrictions, we were pleased to see Wally and Cheryl Lehnhoff had posted on our Facebook page that they were in the stands. The Lehnhoff’s and their son WallyJr. were one of those families that made it so much fun for Eric to run karts at Road America.
UP NEXT BIG JULY 4th Show at BDR!
This Saturday, July 4 was a rare open date on the original Beaver Dam Raceway calendar. And it was to be a big weekend for Angell Park Speedway. Unfortunately due to Dane County’s rules re the virus, the APS season is on hold. BDR picked up the torch and added the July 4 date with a race that will feature the Badger Midgets, along with the WingLESS Sprint Cars and Legends. Either Badger or WingLESS are the two series Eric would like to move into some day and we’re excited to be part of this show.
AS ALWAYS, THANKS!
As always, thanks to our sponsors: Dog Guard of Wisconsin; BRS Radiator, Machine & Fabrication; Northern Air Systems, Inc.; Storage & Handling Systems; Club LaMark; Bullseye Games; Ground Up Lifts; Sieg Law Office; OWL Graphics and Lettering; Grandpa Blumer.
We couldn’t do it without the folks who helped put the 6E on the track this season! Justin Hoium, Big Dumb Guy, Greg Leatherbeary, Joe Wipperfurth, Bill Tefft, Brian Benisch, Cody Weisensel and Stephanie Blumer.
Photo credit to Mech Photography.
Submitted By: William Blumer
