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MARSTONS MILLS, Massachusetts (September 19, 2023)
You can't win the race if you don't show up on race day. The Dream Team showed up last weekend, and they certainly were consistent and fast. Unfortunately, the consistency and speed was not enough to win on race day.
The Dream Team made their way back to Jay Blake's favorite race track, Maple Grove for his birthday weekend and the final scheduled national race of the season. Maple Grove, of course, is the drag strip that crew chief Jay Blake visited over 20 years ago after losing his sight. It is the track where the dream began, and it has always been Jay's biggest dream to take home a Wally from Maple Grove.
The Dream Team wanted that Wally just as bad and was committed to making Jay's dream come true. However, after the first qualifying pass another unexpected obstacle was thrown into their path. Clutch mechanics Lukas VanGelder and Joe Driscoll delivered some bad news to the tuners in the form of cracked and crumbled clutch disks. The disks were unusually damaged from their first clean run. Luckily, Lukas and Joe were able to located some old but still usable clutch disks in the transporter, allowing the team to continue racing.
Qualifying runs 1 through 3 yielded a 5.51, 5.50, and 5.51 respectively. Tuner Anthony Terenzio, and tuning consultant Rich Bozzelli were comfortable with the racecar's consistency and performance. They were ready to push it to the next level, and hoped to dip the funny car into the .40s to snatch the Wally.
The team was poised and confident as the first round of eliminations neared. They heading into the staging lanes to face up against Matt Gill and his Moduline team. Unfortunately, the loss was swift, and by a razor thin margin. Gill cinched the win with a .0017 lead. The team was thrilled with Burkart's 5.49 at 266.93 mph, but sadly, it was not quite quick enough to beat Matt Gill's 5.46 at 267.16 mph.
As the car rolled back into the Follow A Dream pit area, the crew could not help but feel disappointed in their early loss. The racecar was finally running in the .40s, but it seemed the season was over for the Dream Team even though the crew was still thirsty for more.
The Lucas Oil Regional Race in Virginia is only two weeks away. Although this race is currently not schedule, team Tuner Anthony Terenzio's confidence in the racecars potential capabilities was unwavering,
"If we get those new disks, and we run them in Virginia, I feel confident that the car will run faster, the car will run quicker. We absolutely can, and will pull .40s."
Team owner Jay Blake also seemed torn when asked if the season had really officially ended for Follow A Dream.
"We are not lacking in the confidence, nor the enthusiasm to head to the regional race in Virginia, all we are lacking is a plan and the funds. I'm going to see what I can do about that."
Jay's answer seems a bit cryptic, but also hopeful that The Dream Team's season might not be over, and that the team may have one more chance at winning a Wally this year.
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