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Geisler Jinxed at Jennerstown
PITTSBURGH, PA (August 18, 2003)…Travis Geisler’s ASA
Series debut at Jennerstown Speedway was jinxed from the start. When the
Country Joe Racing prepared Louis A. Grant, Inc. #15 rolled onto the track,
the engine immediately picked up a miss and Travis brought the car to the
pits. The team worked hard through the first practice to find the culprit,
but to no avail. Continuing work through the fifteen-minute intermission,
the team was finally forced to pull out their backup car. Their hesitancy
to do so stemmed from the fact that the car was set-up for Berlin Raceway
with a seat and driver’s compartment intended for a different driver.
The team worked quickly to change the setup on the car,
adjusted the steering wheel and pedals as much as possible, and inserting a
significant amount of foam to help Travis fit in the car. When the
preparations were finished, enough time remained in the second and final
practice session for Travis to make six laps and one major adjustment.
Travis and crew chief Bond Suss developed a game plan
for changes to the car. When qualifying was finished, the vast majority of
driver’s ran within a tenth of a second of their best practice time. Travis
and his team were able to pick up four tenths, placing him 21st
in a close field of 37 cars where one tenth separated 21st from 9th
on the grid. “I’m certainly not happy about the time, we left a lot on the
table between the set-up and only having six laps to learn the car and the
track. I guess it was as good as could have been expected though, just not
where I wanted to be,” said Travis after qualifying.
ASA impounds all cars after qualifying, so the team
could not make any further adjustments. After a 2 ˝ hour rain delay, the
race began. Immediately, Travis reported a very tight race car and the crew
prepared to make changes on the first pit stop. Unfortunately, that stop
came sooner than expected when Travis was hit from behind on entry into turn
three causing him to spin. Travis did a nice job keeping the car off the
wall, but did fall one lap down as a result.
When the race resumed, Travis made two additional pit
stops (during almost every caution), for more adjustments on the car. With
the improvements, Travis began making his way up from the back of the field,
but his quest was cut short when the race was called on lap 137 of 250 due
to inclement weather, while running in the 24th position.
After the race Travis said, “I think everyone was
disappointed by the problems we had right off the truck. As a rookie making
my first start in these cars, losing the practice hurt us more than
anything. It is frustrating when things happen that are out of your
control, but we’ll rebound and be ready for Illiana.” Travis will be
traveling to Illiana Motor Speedway in Schererville, IN on September 20th
for his second ASA race of the season.
Louis A. Grant, Inc., Minton & Sons Custom Homes, #1
Cochran Automotive, Anex Warehouse and Distribution, and Great Clips
sponsored Geisler's black #15. For more information about Travis Geisler
visit
www.travisgeisler.com.
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