Toyrific Racing Team expected to miss Quick 32 Sportsman Series opener at Cayuga
ORILLIA, ONTARIO (May 17, 2011) - Melanie Simmons and her Toyrific Racing Team have their goals set high for the upcoming Quick 32 Sportsman Series season.
Simmons has made some serious improvements for this season including stepping into a Mike Bos Chassis Craft built dragster. After displaying her car at the 2011 Performance World Car Show and taking home numerous awards, Simmons and her father Roger were quite prepared to hit the track for preseason testing.
"We have all worked so hard to be ready for the season and I feel that I have a really safe and competitive car to work with, said Simmons. "The guys at G-Force Race Cars helped with making sure I fit properly in this car, Carl Spiering and his crew at ERD (Engine Research & Development) did a few upgrades to the supercharged powerplant, my Dad spent countless hours pulling everything together and Jon Salemi at Resolution Racing really made this upgrade possible for me."
Part of the upgrading to the Toyrific Racing Team car was a new data logger. "Following the last test session I had found it was showing some irregular mechanical performance", said Jon Salemi. "After analyzing the engine we thought it would be best to send it to Carl Spiering and his crew at ERD for a more in-depth inspection." But after receiving the call that there were major mechanical problems, Simmons and her team will have to scramble in the hopes of getting to the first race.
Melanie still has her hopes set high that parts will arrive and repairs to the damaged engine can be made in time for season opener this weekend in Cayuga. "We have ordered the parts and still have a small chance miracles could happen but it is unlikely that we will make the race this weekend," she noted. "Not only is this a huge obstacle, but it will be a financial burden to our team. Without my sponsors, my racing career wouldn't be possible so a huge thanks goes out to them. We already run a tight budget and having mechanical troubles before the official race season start will make it that much harder. My team and I are prepared to work as hard as we can to move forward from this unfortunate situation."
If repairs cannot be completed in time, Simmons plans to be ready to debut her new car at the next race in the Quick 32 Sportsman Series June 10-12 at the Toronto Motorsports Park in Cayuga.
Melanie would like to thank all of her loyal sponsors which include: Delta Faucet, Jackson Transportation Systems, Barrie Harley Davidson, RS Performance Auto Service, Engine Research & Development (ERD), Auto Sense, Auto Logic, Castrol, NGK Spark Plugs, Extreme Collision Centre, Brampton Palate, J&M Recycling, G-Force Race Cars Inc. and Resolution Racing Services.
Photo Credit: Dave Erauw Photography - www.erauw-photo.com
