Ocala Speedway
Notes: Alberson tries to dial in setup for Ocala
By Kyle McFadden
DirtonDirt staff reporter
Garrett Alberson at All-Tech Raceway last week. (heathlawsonphotos.com)
OCALA, Fla. (Feb. 23) — Garrett Alberson sat hunched over an electric-green Scooby-Doo–themed clipboard on the step of his toter Monday at Ocala Speedway, methodically jotting numbers onto the paper spreadsheet he uses during every test session.
The Las Cruces, N.M., driver didn’t discover a perfect setup on practice night at the 3/8-mile tri-oval heading into Tuesday’s non-points Wieland Winternationals opener on the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series. But for Alberson, getting there often requires deliberate process of elimination.
“Every run, we write down what we change. When we come in, I’ll write what I felt,” the 34-year-old Alberson said. “After we’re done, the next day, we’ll put down the load numbers of everything we tried. It keeps it organized. Otherwise, if you don’t do it like that, you’ll make so many sessions and wonder what the heck you’re doing.”
The Roberts Motorsports driver typically keeps a strong pulse on how he stacks up against his competition. At All-Tech Raceway over the weekend in Ellisville, Fla., it gnawed at Alberson that he needed provisionals Thursday and Friday before unloading a backup car and rebounding to finish fourth Saturday.
Alberson, who said after Friday’s 14th-place run at All-Tech that he was “a little lost” prior to Saturday’s turnaround, opened the five-race week at Ocala with tempered optimism. He believes he’s currently a top-10 car, but “not in the top three” quite yet.
“We have some work to do, for sure. It’s certainly been worse,” Alberson said. “Actually, our practice at All-Tech, we were OK. But it was so fast, you couldn’t do a whole lot.”
He added that Monday’s practice at Ocala at least ended on a positive note after last Wednesday’s practice night at All-Tech perplexed him with mechanical issues on their primary car that sent them searching for a rebound the next two nights. At Ocala, they’re starting out with the same car they had success with Saturday at All-Tech.
“This thing at least got kind of normal, got fairly slick in spots before it rubbered, and we weren’t totally out to lunch,” Alberson said of Ocala. “We’re in the ballpark, but we definitely have some fine-tuning to do.”
Alberson pointed to Rocket1 Racing and Brandon Sheppard as Monday’s early standard, calling them “the class of the field all night,” after Sheppard paced four of the 12 practice sessions and never timed outside the top three. Others who impressed Alberson included Kyle Bronson, Carson Ferguson and Brian Shirley.
“Definitely have some work to do to catch up to the top two guys, like Shepp,” Alberson said. “Carson looked really good. Bronson looked good. Shirley looked good.”
Alberson is hoping to avoid a sluggish start to the week at these Winternationals. Last year at Ocala Speedway, he finished 14th, 18th, 20th and 11th over the first four nights at the Bubba Clem–owned facility before finally cracking the top five with a fifth-place run in Saturday’s finale.
Tuesday’s $7,000-to-win program should offer a clearer picture of just how much work Alberson and his team still have ahead of them.
“We’ve got a little work to do, but hopefully we can find something soon,” Alberson said.
Hedgecock still searching
Cory Hedgecock’s starts and finishes during his first Lucas Oil Series weekend with Billy Hicks Racing looked perfectly respectable: 21st to 12th, fifth to eighth, 19th to ninth.
From his perspective, however, something still feels amiss.
“With a new team to kind of start the deal, I’m fine,” Hedgecock tried telling himself over the weekend at All-Tech. “I probably should be a little happier, but unfortunately I’m not. That’s just me. … Again, new team. I’m used to running with my dad.
“We’re just trying to figure it out, the whole deal, and how we like to tune. And how they like to tune. Still feel like I’m fighting something on this car and I ain’t found it yet.”
Monday’s practice at Ocala (Fla.) Speedway, a new track for Hedgecock, offered little immediate resolution, as he said he’s still searching for the right balance in his race car. Even so, Hedgecock believes there’s more on the table as he works to unlock the potential he sees with his new team.
That optimism showed Saturday at All-Tech Raceway, where Hedgecock clawed his way to a top-10 finish despite unloading a backup car and starting at the rear of the B-main after a fuel pump issue in his heat race. He gained 18 positions over 60 laps between the consy and feature.
“We’re still nitpicking on it and everything,” said Hedgecock, whose family operates Eagle Racing Engines. “We’re getting a little bit better. … “I feel like I’m fighting something. I don’t know where I’m fighting at.”
Other than the Longhorn Chassis beneath him, nearly everything about Hedgecock’s new ride in Billy Hicks Racing’s No. 79 is different. His race-day crew now includes Kevin Myrtle — a former Chris Ferguson crewman — and Jonathan Leopard. He’s running Clements Racing Engines power by Glenn Clements, whom Hedgecock praised as someone who “builds good motors.”
On the shock side, he’s using Bilsteins from Vinny Guliani, rather than the Penske and Integra packages he traditionally ran.
“I’ve had some really good wins on Bilsteins,” Hedgecock said. “It’s probably not a shock issue. More or less, I’m fighting something. … I’m fighting right-front travel on this thing, and I just can’t get the attitude in the car like I want to. We’ll get it or die trying, I guess.”
Odds and ends
Rocket Chassis co-owner Mark Richards liked what he saw during Monday’s practice at Ocala Speedway, praising improvements to the racing surface that included added banking, the removal of “the shelf” in turns one and two and higher retaining walls. “It’s headed in the right direction,” Richards said. … A number of drivers who weren’t at All-Tech over the weekend plan to join Ocala action, including Jonathan Davenport (Thursday-Saturday), Dennis Erb Jr., Tyler Erb, John Garvin Jr., Tim McCreadie (Thursday-Saturday), Ryan Montgomery, Brody Smith, Garrett Smith (Tuesday-Wednesday) and Drake Troutman. … Devin Moran of Dresden, Ohio, posted the fastest overall lap Monday at 14.195 seconds, but his day ended after just one practice session when his engine expired. The Double Down Motorsports crew worked into the wee hours replacing the powerplant. … Cody Overton of Thomson, Ga., also had his practice night cut short aboard Bruce Kane’s No. 15K machine with a power steering issue. … Preston Luckman of Coos Bay, Ore., caught a much-needed reset Sunday at Augie Burttram's Port Orange, Fla., shop, where extensive damage was uncovered. The entire right-side suspension, steering rack and rear-end needed replacement, a repair effort that took Luckman and his crew eight hours to complete. They were grateful for the Big Frog Motorsports team owner’s hospitality. … Former WoO champ Dennis Erb Jr. of Carpentersville, Ill., and crew chief Heather Lyne have two extra helping hands on the crew this week: Dirt Late Model driver Daniel Adam of Peru, Ill., and Adam’s general mechanic Sam Russell. Adam had planned on making a Speedweeks appearance, but has been sidelined by a mechanical issue. … Josh Rice of Verona, Ky., and his JRR Motorsports team were the first to voluntarily end their Monday practice session as the Lucas Oil rookie packed up shop at 7:32 p.m., two minutes past the halfway point of practice. He conceded that his No. 11 machine was “good enough” and “I feel like we have a good starting point. I feel like we can adjust where we’re at.” Rice also offered up initial impressions of Ocala, a first-time track for him: “It’s fun. I don’t know how well it’ll race, but it’s one of the most fun places to ride around. Two totally different corners. I think we’ll be all right.” … Dallon Murty of Chelsea, Iowa, called the oddly-shaped Ocala “the weirdest place I’ve ever been to,” but in the enjoyable sense because “it keeps you on your toes.” The 21-year-old topped Alberson and Sheppard in the ninth session of Ocala practice Monday, saying that he “finally found something” in the final half-hour of the session. … Brenden Smith of Dade City, Fla., is looking forward to this week’s action at Ocala Speedway, a track he knows well from his extensive Crate experience, especially after turning top-five lap times in three of his five sessions Monday aboard his Colten Miller-owned JCM Motorsports No. 19m machine. … Ryan Montgomery of Fairmont, W.Va., said the long tow to Hendry County Motorsports Park in Clewiston, Fla., for World of Outlaws Late Model Series action over the weekend was “absolutely worth the trip.” Driving for car owner Josh Wamsley of Phillippi, W.Va., this year, the quarter-mile even reminded him of Marion Center (Pa.) Raceway near his home: “The dirt kind of felt similar to Marion Center,” Montgomery said. “Even when it got slick, you had to run it really hard. I kind of backed it up a little bit in my heat race and got a little tighter. I got my stuff rocked over really hard, kept on the gas with the wheel spinning, and almost had a little traction off.”
