Andy Seuss had a busy day in the Modified Racing Series event at Lee USA Speedway. In practice, the team ran into trouble will the kill switch on their Modified and repairs had to be made - costing valuable track time. Then, on lap one of his heat race, Seuss barely got caught up in a big wreck that involved Steven Masse and Chris Pasteryak. The contact might have been minimal, but it still caused plenty of damage.
“I thought that I was through it, but I wasn't.,” said Seuss. “We hit pretty hard and had to change the spindle, the upper control arm, the tie rod end and a few more things before the start of the consi. We never had time to set the caster, camber and toe. So I didn't know what to expect.”
The team apparently guessed right on the repairs and adjustments as Seuss working his way up through the consi and then through the field in the feature race, where he started 22nd and finished fourth. Even that wasn't without drama though as Seuss had a tire doing flat and again had to work his way through the field from dead last on the lead lap, down the final stretch of the 100-lap event.
“We had to pass every car in the consi and then come up from 22nd in the feature,” said Seuss. “We were up into the top 10 when the right rear tire went down, so we had to start passing cars all over again. But it's fun to pass here. Lee has a good outside groove. You just have to watch what the guy in front of you is doing, set him up and go for it.”
By the end of the race, Seuss appeared to have one of the quickest cars on the track, but he's not sure that a few more laps would have helped him finish any higher.
“Everyone was pretty eve at that point,” said Seuss. I would have liked to have seen a caution to see how we could have stacked up, but we were all sliding around so much at that point, I don't know if I could have chased any of those guys down.”
Seuss was especially motivated to place well at Lee and it showed. Earlier in the day, he received news that a close friend, former Lee
regular Jay Hull, had passed away. Hull was building an ACT Late Model for Seuss to race later this season. Seuss was solemn and quiet about the matter after the race, but admits he wanted to win for his friend.
“I would have loved to have done better for him…maybe to finish in the top three and got in the photos on the frontstretch, but it wasn't to be,” said Seuss.
