Team Associated Success at Round Two of Midwest Grand Slam Series

apid Competition Raceway at Grand Rapids, Michigan hosted round two of  the Midwest Grand Slam and Team Associated’s Keven Hébert was there – here is his report:

Rapid Competition Raceway in Grand Rapids, Michigan was the site of the second leg of the 2011-12 Midwest Grand Slam Series. A slightly different race format than the previous round meant that the entire program would run over Saturday and Sunday. Practice early Saturday morning was followed by three rounds of qualifying with a final round of qualifying and the finals scheduled for Sunday. Some of the best names from the Midwest were in attendance in both TC and 1:12. The largest class was Stock 17.5T TC and after a few practice rounds I felt comfortable with my Reedy-powered TC6.1. Only a few small changes from my US Indoor Champs set-up were needed to lock her down.
Modified 1:12 was a little bit more challenging. I lost traction early in the run for the first few qualifiers but this situation continued to improve and by the second round of qualifying the problem was resolved. At the end of qualifying on Saturday, I held the TQ position in both Mod 1:12 and Stock 17.5T TC.
On Sunday, I was able to improve my TQ times in both classes to secure the advantageous pole position. In the TC 17.5T final, I was able to take advantage of the number one start and lead wire-to-wire ahead of Dave Johnson in second and Brad Johnson in third. Things were a bit more difficult in Mod 1:12 as Andrew Knapp challenged me for the first half of the race, but thanks to a small mistake on his part, I was able open up a comfortable lead and take my second win of the weekend.
Thanks to Rapid Competition Raceway for a great event and first class facility.

Source: Team Associated