The Bruce’s Tavern/Connectnc.com Chevy Impala SS piloted by Richard Medlin was on track again Saturday at the showplace of the Carolinas, Caraway Speedway competing in the Limited Sportsman event. Medlin and crew came this weekend looking for a little redemption from the last race when they had a stellar car but just weren’t able to finish as good do to the flat right front tire.

Medlin again drew the 3rd qualifying position and the team got to work on a qualifying setup to shoot for the pole. Once the changes had been made Medlin took the car out for the first of two practice sessions for the team. During the first session Medlin noticed the car started to work its way free on the exit of the corners. Any easy fix for the crew chief Jonathan Medlin. After the small wedge and air pressure adjustments Richard went out for the final practice of the day. It only took him 7 laps to decide the car was right for him. Only another small air pressure change was needed prior to the teams qualifying attempt. Looking for a great qualifying lap Medlin strapped in for his chance at the pole award. As the car crossed the line tripping the scoring loop at 18.48 seconds. This placed him 5th overall but more importantly less than a tenth of a second off of the pole. Robert Johnson, son of NASCAR legend Jr. Johnson sat on the pole with a 18.39. Richard was very pleased with this run but knew he left some out on the speedway. Possibly more than enough to take his first ever Pole award as he let the car push up about half a lane to much entering the first and second turns. “That’s a lessen learned though for next time” Medlin said. As the top 6 cars in qualifying go to the tire building to redraw for their starting positions Medlin drew the 4th position. One slot better than he qualified but on the outside row of cars at the start. As the team gassed up and prepared for the feature the skies around the speedway started to darken and soon the rains came ending the nights racing early at the showplace of the Carolinas.

“I’m a little disappointed that we didn’t get to race tonight as we had a very quick racecar during practice that only seemed to get better as we ran. But there isn’t much we can do about Mother Nature. If she doesn’t want us to race then that’s that. We’ve got a few things we can do at the shop to try to make the car that much better before we come back on the 20th but I was very happy with it earlier today”, said Medlin as the rain continued to fall. Richard Medlin will race again Saturday night June 20th at Caraway Speedway.
Medlin Racing is currently sponsored by Bruce’s Tavern, ConnectNC, Markham Accounting Services, GoPro Camera’s, Spy Optics, and still has open sponsorships available for the remainder of the 2009 season including the teams trip to NASCAR’S Martinsville Speedway in September.

Richard Medlin and the Bruce’s Tavern/Connectnc.com Chevrolet were back Saturday night at the showplace of the Carolinas, Caraway Speedway competing in the second Sportsman event of the season for the team. Medlin entered the night 14th in points standings in the division, with one top-fifteen finish in single start for the team so far this season.

Medlin drew 3rd of 12 drivers for the qualifying position. As the cars started out for qualifying Medlin noticed that his car’s engine was miss-firing. With no time to look it over he had to go out and give it all the car had for qualifying. On 7 cylinders all Richard could get out of the 5 ride was an 18.84. About a half a second off of the pole run and starting him in the 7th position. The team was able to bring the car right in after the qualification laps and find the problem right away. The spark plug wire had worked its way off of the number 5 spark plug. This was a quick fix and the guys were looking forward to working there way to the front from the mid pack starting position.

It didn’t take long for the excitement to start as the cars were going off of turn 4 to the green flag they started bunching up and as the green flag flew the 3rd place starting machine missed a gear and caused the inside line to bunch all up. This resulted in Medlin driving under the rear of the car in front of him as well as having someone getting into the back of him. No one lost control of there cars however there were a few that had battle scars including the #5 machine. As the cars came off of turn 2 for the first time Jonathan (Richard’s Spotter) noticed that the right front bumper had been knocked loose and was dragging the racing surface. Medlin continued on for another 7 laps until the caution came out, then came rushing down pit road to the attention of his crew. The team tried numerous times during the caution to lift the frontend of the #5 car up off the ground but had little success. So the battered #5 machine went back out to stay on the lead lap. A few laps later the yellow flag waived again and this time as the #5 car made its way down pit road the team had a plan. The plan worked and the 5 ride was back in business. Restarting in the 9th position Medlin was able to work his way back up to 5th in just a few laps when the caution flag flew once again. Two cars had gotten together pretty good off of turn 4 and had debris all over the track. Richard tried to miss most of the debris but apparently was unable to as the cars took the green flag the car pushed very bad into turn one letting Richard know that the right front tire had gone flat. Richard hustled the car around the track for 2 more circuits until the checkered flag waived. In the end the flat right front tire pushed Medlin back to the 6th finishing position and the last car on the lead lap but it could have easily been worse.

“We’ve got a little bit of work to do here on the car after the incident on the first lap, so we’re headed back to the shop to get to work first thing Sunday but all in all it was a good day for us even with the two issues we had. It could have ended up a lot worse”, said Medlin following the race. Richard Medlin will race again Saturday night May 23rd at Caraway Speedway.

Medlin is coming off a stellar 2008 Limited Sportsman season. Competing in only 10 of the 14 scheduled races. He had 3 top five and 8 top 10 finishes capping the season off with a 5th place finish in the seasons final point standings.

“We are looking forward to heading back out to the track,” said Medlin. “Last year was a learning year for us all as it was our first full season, but we quickly began to show that we were competitive and not to be over looked. This team has become a team to watch for each and every race. We are hoping to break out and pick up our first win this season as well as better our 2008 points position if we decide to run the full season at Caraway Speedway.”

Medlin tested during the open test session at Caraway Speedway on March 7th. Out of the 13 Sportsman cars in attendance he ended the day tied for the 3rd fastest time.

“This was our first time on track with a different shock package from the 2008 season, so that experience will most likely help us out as the season begins,” said Medlin. “I was more than happy with the way the car drove throughout the day. We only had to make a few small adjustments to get the feel back into the wheel that im comfortable with.”

Medlin Racing is currently sponsored by Bruce’s Tavern, ConnectNC, Markham Accounting Services, Go Pro Cameras, SPY Optics, and still has open sponsorships available for the 2009 season.