Tweedie takes early lead at Thunder Valley

A new engine has helped guide Gander's Graham Tweedie to the top of the eight-cylinder division standings at Thunder Valley Raceway in Bishop's Falls.

Tweedie, winner of the first-ever Thunder Valley Speedway's Islander RV Sportsman Super Series last year, installed the engine in time for the second race of the season on June 19. Although the engine still needs tweaking, it did enough to give the Gander driver a pair of victories at the paved track.

"It's running good," said Tweedie of his 2006 Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS. "We ran a new engine on Saturday, and it obviously worked out. It was the first run for that engine, and it worked well for us."

Tweedie said last week, he expects the car to run even better at the next race, July 3.

"I figured we would have to tweak something," said Tweedie of his new motor. "It still needs a little bit of work - it's not idling properly - so it just needs a little tuning. It's just broke in now...so it should be even better next time."

Besides a new engine, Tweedie said he never did a lot of work to his car in the off-season. Besides fiddling with the suspension, and putting in a different shock package, the car is basically the same Monte Carlo that won him the Sportsman Super Series last year.

If Tweedie wants to repeat as champion, one of the drivers he'll be looking for in his rearview mirror is Gander's Brad Melendy, who went into the second race behind Cory Reid in second place in the eight-cylinder division standings.

However, the early leader board shuffled after the second race, as Tweedie went from third to first, and Melendy dropped from second to third.

It was a case of gravel on the paved track that proved to be Melendy's undoing.

"I lost two tires on the right side because of it in the last race, and that gives you all kinds of trouble because you lose time in the pits," said Melendy. "But I think they'll have it rectified for next time."

Melendy said the crews at Thunder Valley Raceway are working on the gravel situation. He said gravel gets on the track following accidents, which can cause more mishaps when other drivers hit the gravel while going into a turn.

"There are a few issues that have to be dealt with in terms of safety...there's still the problem of gravel getting on the track," said Melendy. "There's no apron out by the low turns, so if someone has an accident and goes off track, gravel gets flicked on the pavement. That gives you a big problem going into a turn at 75 MPH. It's like you're on ice."

Besides the gravel, Tweedie said the tractor tires being used as barricades can do a lot of damages to vehicles, but like the gravel situation he said it's just another issue that needs to get worked out.

"A lot of tracks put tires around the sides, and there's supposed to be a bit of give to it in case you go off the track so you don't beat your car up," said Tweedie. "They have tractor tires around the side, and there isn't much give to those. A few drivers have gone into them and tore up the front of their car. That's something that's going to come up at the next driver's meeting."

Besides the few safety concerns being worked out at the track, and besides losing two tires, Melendy is just glad to be back racing.

"The car's running good. There's a few handling difficulties, but the power training is excellent," he said. "We just got to get things straightened out handling wise."

Melendy said his crew will look at making suspension changes around the wedge, and change a few springs to help with the early handling problems. However, he said it isn't a big deal, and is something that will take a few races to work out.

Despite the few early misfortunes, Melendy remains positive. He finished third overall last year, and jokingly said he wants to take baby steps to the top of the standings.

"We want to do a little better...maybe get to second. We'll probably have to worry about first next year," said Melendy, laughing.

Readers can follow Melendy's details of the Thunder Valley Speedway races, as well as Wayne Lorenzen's (fill-in driver), via blogs at www.sidewaysmotorsports.ca.

info@ganderbeacon.ca