Duck Tape Racing's Michael Beard Scores First Win of 2012 Season
- Apr 11, 2012
"The CCRA provides a great-paying, one-day race for class racers in-between the regular schedule of IHRA and NHRA national and divisional races," explained Beard. "It's also a great turnkey 'show-in-a-box' the host tracks can promote to spectators." Before racing got underway at Piedmont Dragway, Beard was honored for his 3rd place overall finish in last season's CCRA point chase. Then Beard went out and continued his winning ways by knocking down three consecutive 6.67 ET's in qualifying, the last of which was a dead-on 6.672 on a 6.67 dial-in to capture the bonus money in the Kenny Koonce, Jr. Memorial Dash for Cash, sponsored by Ronnie Hamlin. That performance also qualified him for the first of just eight positions available in a special "Shootout" program at the end of the year. Beard went on to win the event, topping defending CCRA series champion Homer Carty in the finals with a solid .019 reaction time and another dead-on 6.678 on a 6.67 dial-in to collect a healthy payday, an Iron Tree trophy, and the early points lead.
"It has been a great start to the year, and that just gives me even more confidence for later in the year," remarked Beard. "A glance at the results so far gives me a win, two runner-ups, two semis, and two quarterfinals, along with the points lead in two different series. It may not look like it, but I'm actually fighting a couple issues with the car. I know that when it's 100%, things could be even better!" Despite the calendar having barely turned to March, Beard is already embroiled in the points chase in multiple series. He leads the CCRA as well as the IHRA Div. 2 Super Stock standings, and is double-entered in the Carolina Bracket Series, currently claiming both the 6th and 12th place in points.
"2011 was a building year," reflects Beard. "I started out the season racing Stock Eliminator with my 2.2L front wheel drive 1985 Turismo, while Sloan Racing Engines built a new 2009 Dodge DragPak 5.9L fuel-injected engine for the Volare to run in Super Stock. We hit the track with the new combination in June, and made it to the finals the second week out. We struggled with a bit of a learning curve and some issues elsewhere in the car, but as soon as we hit on what it needed, we immediately scored a win and a runner-up back-to-back. Since it was tough for me to get both cars to the track, Terry Knott let me drive his Dart Sport, the car he was driving when he won the 2003 IHRA Stock World Championship with. I drove it two weekends, coming away with a Nitro Jam win, a Sportsman Spectacular runner-up, and a semifinal in the Tournament of Champions. Altogether, the Duck Tape cars were on the track 37 weekends last year, totaling four wins, five runner-ups, and six semifinals." "The off-season wasn't overly busy," continues Beard, "Just some maintenance and preventative maintenance. We installed a new set of Moser axles, put a good hardened input shaft in the trans, and replaced a broken output shaft. Then we filled 'er up with six fresh quarts of CAM2 Blue Blood Racing Oil flowing through a K&N Wrench-Off Oil Filter." What's next on the 2012 schedule for the Duck Tape Racing team? "I've been wanting to upgrade the rear-end for over a year now, and since the car is a Super Stocker now, I think it makes sense to go all the way and make it a back-half, big tire four-link car. The plan is to do it right once, and never touch it again! That way, the chassis will be ready if we ever decide to throw some more power to it. I'll be chasing multiple series, including IHRA, NHRA, CCRA, the Carolina Bracket Series, and fill in the schedule with a large number of big money bracket races as well as local bracket races." Find K&N products for your vehicle using the K&N application search then use the K&N dealer search to find a K&N dealer in your part of the world. |
