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Thomas Praytor Racing Recaps 2006
MOOSE
COLLECTS SOME HARDWARE
With
the 2006 regular season in the records books it was time for the Moose to collect a little
hardware for his rookie season at Mobile International Speedway. The night started with a
check and trophy from Chris Fausak (picture above) for finishing 4th in the
overall point’s standings. Chris and his family owned Fausak Tires sponsors the Super
Stock class at MIS, along with our Max Force Race teams and our radio show, Fausak Tires
Inside Alabama Racing. The Moose would then pick up the trophy and a check for being the
Rookie of the Year along with a ROY jacket from MIS and a ROY jacket from Hoosier Tires.
Thanks to everyone that made it happen. With a successful rookie season on his resume the
Moose has been prepping for the 39th Annual Snowball Derby. Two test sessions
have produced positive results and we’ll turn the Moose loose on December 1st
at Pensacola’s Five Flags Speedway. For More Moose Click Here MOOSE HORNS HIS WAY TO SECOND
10-14-06
Picture attached is of the Moose on the starting grid for the
Fausak 50 at Mobile International Speedway. The red and white 78 decal on the car is in
memory of Charlie Bradberry. Bradberry was killed in an automobile accident a week ago and
he is the 2006 Late Model Track Champion at MIS.
MOOSE MATH
TURNS TO MOOSE MUNCH
Thomas:
“My Dad and I were talking before the race started and I told him I couldn’t
believe the year we had. We won the Rookie deal, top 5 (4th) in points and we
were able to run with Donnie (Hamrac), Mr. Jessie (Reid) and Mr. Howard (Langham). After
my first couple of weeks I didn’t think I would ever be able to do that. I can’t
thank everyone enough for their help this year, especially the veterans that I’m
still learning from every week.” Picture is of the Outdoor Channel Pontiac bungee corded back together to load on the trailer. MOOSE
MATH
With just one night of points racing left at Mobile International
Speedway the Moose has some math problems to work on. Problem #1-Taking the green flag
ensures the Moose the Rookie of the Year Title. That’s the easy one. Problems 2 &
3 are a lot tougher and involve some veterans who aren’t interested in solving the
Moose’s equations but making their final night add up in their favor. Currently Jessie Reid is 3rd, 11 points ahead of Thomas and Howard Langham is 2nd 24 markers higher than the Moose. For the record, Donnie Hamrac has clinched his second title in the super Stock division. On the final night of racing there will be no qualifying or heat races for the Moose to pick up ground. It all comes down to 1 double throw down Texas chain match feature to decide it. The math is simple; in Mobile you get 3 points per spot in the feature. That means Thomas has to finish 4 spots ahead of Reid for 3rd and 7 spots ahead of Howard for 2nd. While the math is simple, it’s easier to take an ice cream cone from a fat kid than take points from these 2 during the final night of points racing. It all happens Saturday night in the Lee Fields Memorial Race at Mobile International Speedway.
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Six
years ago, Thomas Praytor was part of the Outdoor Channels ARCA Racing This Week film crew
when we interviewed Tony Stewart at the new NASCAR Silicon Racing in Birmingham. The Moose
had an opportunity to race with Stewart on the new game and came out on the short end of
Stewart’s bumper. Six years later Thomas was part of the assembled media to interview
Tony Stewart at Talladega Superspeedway. Stewart
was at NASCAR’s most competitive track to preview the repaving project that is
underway. The resurfacing is a huge
undertaking that requires massive bulldozers outside of the track to hold the paving
machines up on the banking and to keep them from tumbling down. Six years later it appears
the Moose may have grown two feet while Stewart’s stature in NASCAR has grown even
larger with 2 Nextel Cup titles under his belt since their last meeting. Reminded of their
previous meeting and the difference in size today, Stewart’s comments reflected those
words given to him by A. J. Foyt several years ago. The complete Tony Stewart interview
will be heard on Fausak Tires Inside Alabama in the upcoming weeks.
The Moose is
scheduled to test his Outdoor Channel Pontiac Tuesday night for the next round of the 2006
Season at Mobile International Speedway. The
Moose is currently leading the Rookie of the Year point’s standings and is now just
18 points out of 4th place.
MOOSE SCORES
THIRD AT MIS
Thomas on his night; “We
had an awesome car on Thursday night and it was just a little loose off the corners in
practice. We thought when the sun went down that it would be perfect but it was still a
little loose. I needed for Mr. Howard to make a mistake for me to get by him and that just
doesn’t happen.”
Three days
of misery leading up to the race had our race team beat down and wondering if we were
headed in the right direction. During the Thursday night test the Outdoor Channel Pontiac
experienced what we thought was an electrical failure that shut the car down under power.
A long day in the shop led to a Friday night test at Mobile International Speedway. Two
laps into the test the team realized we had not solved the problem. Three hours of
searching at the track netted no improvement. The team scheduled a house call to Fausak
Tires and Service for their mechanics to debug the problem, we netted no concrete results.
Back in the shop Tom Claxton and Mike Woodsen, with over 50 years of engine building
experience put their healing hands on the car and we loaded up for the racetrack.
Job 1 at the racetrack was to see if the car would run. While everyone held their collective breath the car made 5 laps. Now that we knew it would run it was time to see if would really run. The Moose stabbed the Outdoor Channel machine into turn 1 and he was on a rail. We tweaked on the car to free him up a little in the center of the corners and rolled him out to qualify. Lap 1 was a new best time for Thomas, lap 2 was even better and he was on the provisional pole. The final car to qualify was 2-time track champion and the current track record holder, Donnie Hamrac. Hamrac would take the pole by less than a tenth of a second.
Thomas leaves round 7 of the
2006 season 5th in the overall point’s standings and is the rookie point
leader. The track will be back in action on June 24th for the 3rd
installment of the Miller Lite 100 Lap Super Late Model Series.
MOOSE BRINGS CROWD TO ITS
FEET IN A WILD FINISH
In the first 5 races of
the year the veterans had taken the young rookie to school on how to get around the
high-banked oval. Specifically, they had worked him over on the start and he would spend
the rest of the night playing catch up. Part of the Friday night test was devoted to
starts and restarts and the practice would pay dividends.
As the pace car left the track on Saturday night the Moose had a horn on
Jessie Reid’s bumper (Reid and Langham were doing double duty Saturday night racing
in the Super Stock and the Super Late Model Race) going into turn 3 and stayed there until
they dropped the green flag, then he had 2 horns under Reid’s machine. The Moose sent
his first notice to the veterans he was here to race.
The field bailed off into turn 1 and another veteran, who had Thomas’s
usual starting spot outside the front row, tried to make a hole that wasn’t there.
The Moose held his line and put that car into the spin cycle. Second notice, the Moose was
here to race. On the second restart the field
would get settled down into single file. Thomas found himself in 5th looking
for a way around Chris Loepke. Lap after lap the Moose pressured the 30 car and had just
completed the pass for 4th when the front 3 cars started spinning in front of
him. A quick move to the bottom of the track and he cleared the spinning cars. The Moose
had the point with the caution flag in the air and 2 laps to go. Under MIS rules when
there is a caution, the field reverts back to the previous green flag lap. Since, Thomas
had just cleared the 30 car of Chris Loepke, the 30 was moved to the front and Thomas was
now 2nd. The Moose had 2 laps to
get by the guy he had taken 13 laps to get by before.
A good start had the
Moose in a full charge and on the bumper of the 30. The Moose was better getting into the
corners and the 30 was better coming off. If MRN had been at the race the final lap would
have gone something like this. “White flag is in the air. The final lap of what has
been a slam bam affair in the Super Stocks tonight. Chris Loepke leads the field across
the start finish line. Both of these guys are hungry, looking for their first win of the
2006 season. The 28 of Thomas Praytor on his bumper they dive into turn 1; Praytor is all
over the back bumper of the 30. This is going to be close! Off of turn 2 Loepke gets an
advantage. Praytor looks low thinks better of it and moves back in line. They bail off
into turn 3 for the final time; Praytor has a big run on Loepke. THEY TOUCH! THEY TOUCH!
Loepke is sideways. They bang off each other again, Praytor to the high side as the come
off turn 4 side by side. It’s a drag race to the finish line and Chris Loepke wins by
a half a car length.” Final notice the Moose is here to race.
Thomas on his night:
“The last laps with Chris were pretty cool. His car kept getting looser all night
long and I gotten around him just before the caution came out. When we restarted they put
him back in front and I put a lot of pressure in him. A little too much on the last corner
and I got him out of shape. I wanted to win really bad but I didn’t want my first win
like that. I let him go and went to the outside; we bounced off of each other a couple of
more times on the way to the finish. I just came up a little short.”
Double Duty
Last Friday night the Thomas closed out Spring practice for St Pauls Football with their
Spring game. The Moose started his night at center and took a turn on defense in the 2nd
half recording a sack in the St Pauls win.
MOOSE TAKES FLIGHT AT MIS
5-13-06 With a couple of weeks between races Thomas had a couple of opportunities to test
his Outdoor Channel (TOC) Pontiac for round 5 of the 2006 season at Mobile International
Speedway. The team tried several different setup packages that would help the Moose be
quick not only for qualifying but also in race trim. With another 200 laps of testing
under his belt we turned the Moose loose at MIS. Off
the trailer the TOC Pontiac was as good as the last test and the Moose turned in a 4th
place qualifying effort. Another unlucky dice role by the pole sitter Donnie Hamrac would
put Thomas outside the front row again for both the heat race and the feature. Outside the front row is the worst starting spot
and now Thomas would have it for the 3rd time in 4 attempts.
The Moose got a good jump in
the heat race and was side by side with the 1st place car in turn 2 when he got
tapped from behind. The TOC machine looped
around backwards and took flight off of turn 2 and the Moose became the latest driver to
earn his MIS wings. Luckily, the car rolled
to a stop before it had an opportunity to hit the exterior retaining wall. After a chance
to check his fire suit the Moose restarted the car and made his way back to the racing
surface. Back on track Thomas shook the car
down and it felt good enough to continue. At
the drop of the green flag the car was wicked loose and the Moose was hanging on to an ill
handling racecar. We would find out after the race that the left rear tire was down on air
pressure by 10 pounds and that was the culprit. Between races the guys at Fausak Tire dug
out a pound or so of dirt and grass from the left rear and it was ready for action again. The feature would hold almost the same luck for
the MIS rookie. Going into the first turn of
the first lap the Moose was horned into the third groove as one of the guys made it 3
wide. Out of the preferred groove the Moose’s tires were covered in track debris and
he was having a tough time finding grip and he was sliding straight to the back. At the
halfway point the caution flag was in the air and the team called Thomas to pit road for
some adjustments on his machine and he was back on track.
With cooler tires and a couple rounds of wedge jacked in the car the Moose
was back on the hunt looking for positions. When the checkered flag dropped Thomas was
back up to 6th and closing in on the 4th and 5th place
finishers.
Thomas on his night; “I
didn’t realize I got as much air as I did leaving the race track. I’m just happy
we didn’t tear the car up. The guys I’m racing with have a lot of experience and
each week they teach me something new.”
MOOSE SCORES A TOP 10 IN CLOSE RACING
ACTION AT MIS
Coming into week 4 of
the 2006 racing season at Mobile International Speedway the Outdoor Channel team had been
quick in qualifying and posted some solid finishes. Saturday night would start the same
way with the Moose posting the 3rd quickest qualifying time and without an invert for the
feature a solid starting spot behind 2005 track champion, Donnie
Hamrac. Thomas knew a solid finish would depend on a good start. As
the green flag flew the Moose was on the champs bumper (see picture) as they bailed off
into turn 1. Donnie's brother Eddie was outside of the Outdoor Channel Pontiac and the
Moose was the meat in a Hamrac sandwich. Off of turn 2 Eddie lost the handle on his
machine spinning sideways in front of the Moose. A cloud of smoke, dust and spinning
race cars covered the race track with the Moose emerging from the fog with his car in 1
piece. A red flag followed to clean the oil and debris from the track and the field
was reset. The first corner of the restart would be clean and the field started to sort
itself out. From the first corner the Moose was fighting a tight race car, it wouldn't
turn off the corner. Five laps in, the 2004 track champion Howard Langham put a move
on the Moose to push him back to the 6th spot. The Moose fought hard
to get back in the top 5 and was underneath the 5th place car on the last lap
when his wiggled off of turn 2 and he would have to settle for 6th. The track takes
a 2 week break but the Moose will be testing and working on getting better for the home
stretch.
Thomas on his night;
"The wreck on the first lap was pretty wild! I'm not sure how I missed it or if I can
tell you what I did. All I know is I was looking into Eddie's eyes with his car sideways
on the track and then I was by it. I'm still learning from the guys I'm racing with.
They've been doing for a long time and they are taking me to school on the starts. I'm
getting better at it but I still have a lot to learn."
Picture attached: Is the American flag license plate that was attached to the rear bumper of Donnie Hamrac's car. Thomas was so close to Hamrac on the start it was lodged into the hood of the Outdoor Channel Pontiac. Picture courtesy of Catlin Clicks Photography. 4-22-06
MOOSE
SCORES TOP 5
LOOKING FOR MORE THIS WEEKEND AT MIS
After struggling with
mechanical issues in week 2, the Moose rolled his Outdoor Channel Machine into Mobile
International Speedway looking for some pay back in week 3. Off the trailer the car was
decent but not what the team was looking for. The guys made wholesale changes from
practice to qualifying and the Moose turned an awesome lap. Thomas's qualifying effort was
second only to the track record holder. That was the good news, the bad news is,
second put him outside the front row for the start of the race. The problem with second is
you can't get down to the preferred groove until the rest of the fast cars get by
underneath. Saturday night would be no different with the Moose finally horning himself a
spot in the 8th position. The Moose needed a caution to get the field bunched back
up but it was not to be, once again the race would go green the entire distance.
Thomas was able to pick off a few cars and would work his way up to 5th before the
checkered flag flew.
MOTOR PROBLEMS
ENDS MOOSES NIGHT EARLY
Thomas on the weekend, “It was just one of those weeks. Everybody worked non-stop after Thursday night and it took all of that to find the problem. Mr. Mike was at the shop all night Friday night and at the track on Saturday, he really busted his behind for me to race and I can’t thank him enough. We already have the motor ready to go the shop and I hope we’ll be back this weekend. As bad as I wanted to race Saturday night it really didn’t seem to be that big of a deal in the end. During the night we borrowed a carburetor from Chris Cotto. When I took it back to him, he had just found out his brother was killed in an accident. Wanting to race just didn’t seem to be that important compared to what Mr. Chris was going through. I’ve been thinking about him a lot, our race team (Max Force) is named for my brother Max who passed away too.” Picture Team moving in fast motion working on Outdoor Channel Ponitac.
MOOSE OPENS WITH FRONT ROW START
AND TOP 10 FINISH
Thomas on his night: “I’m disappointed, we had a better car than our finish showed. The first corner of the first lap showed what a rookie I am. Steven, Donnie, Jessie, Shannon they all found a spot to get to and they left me hanging out. On the plus side I didn’t tear up the car so we’ll get to spend the week getting better for next week.” Picture; Thomas and 2 time track champion and new track record holder Donnie Hamrac.
Thomas
on his test: “I’ve been testing by myself for the last few months and I really
appreciate Mr. Donnie letting me follow him around. I thought I was pretty smooth until I
got behind him. That was the first time I’ve had a motor blow up on me. That, that
was a wild ride off the back of turn 3, I don’t want to do that again. I can’t wait to get it all back together and
get back to the track."
Moose Testing Schedule Picks Up
Mobile 2-26-06: With the 2006
racing season inching closer, the testing schedule for the Moose is picking up speed. This past weekend, Thomas logged over 100 laps on
The Outdoor Channel Pontiac at Mobile International Speedway. Testing up until this past weekend was all about
gaining a familiarity with the racetrack and the heavy stock car. This past weekend the
team worked with the driver on picking up speed. After spending the first half of the
practice session going in the wrong direction, the team threw its past notes out the
window and started listening to the new driver. With
each session on the track, the team worked on the chassis based on the drivers input and
with each session the lap times got faster. The Moose is not old enough for a
driver’s license but his experience as a driver gives him the ability to give quality
feedback from the racecar. By the end of the
session the Moose was turning laps over a half second faster than when the team unloaded. Two or three more test are currently scheduled
before opening night on April 1st.
“The car was really loose off the turns and I was having a hard time getting back in the gas. They changed a whole bunch of stuff under the car and it really felt good at the end. I’m looking forward to going back and trying to pickup a few more tenths.” Thomas Praytor
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With the start of the new year, Max
Force Racing rolled out it's newest car with it's 2006 Mobile International Speedway
Rookie Candidate for his first test behind the wheel of The Outdoor Channel Pontiac.
Thomas Praytor or the Moose took to the high banks of MIS like a duck takes to
water. The heavy 3,300 pound stock car was sluggish compared to his 1,200 pound
legend car and required some driving style changes and a new appreciation for the brake
pedal. The Moose wasn't the only one trying to adapt, our race team was used to
setting up cars for a 45 year old fat guy. A lighter, younger driver required some
changes in setup that we are still working on at the shop. A solid test with over 100
laps in the book has the Moose looking forward to his next test scheduled for February
after Speedweeks in Daytona.
Thomas on his first test: "Compared
to my legend car, the stock car is like driving a turbo charged tank. It
took a little while but I got faster as the test went on and I didn't hit anything so
it was a good day. I'm ready to go again."
