Gibson Motorsports prepares for a fresh start in 2010

After struggling through a limited schedule in 2008 and 2009, Gibson Motorsports is working hard to turn things around in 2010. Although the team will not compete in all of the events, Gibson Motorsports is looking forward to an expanded schedule and is hard at work preparing the car. The team was absent at Octoberfest, the last event of Flamboro's 2009 schedule after determining that the engine in the #88 late model may not make it through the weekend without expiring on the track. With the prospect of not being up to speed and the risk of putting fellow competitors at risk, the team withdrew from competition and quickly set to work tearing the entire car apart in preparation of a complete rebuild before the first green flag of 2010. It was quickly revealed that the decision to end the 2009 season early was a good one, when the team discovered evidence of piston ring failure during engine tear-down. Thankfully, the damage was not terminal and the engine block has been sent out for repairs and a replacement piston has been ordered. As soon as the engine block returns from the machine shop, the team will focus its attention on reassembling the engine with new parts and hopes it will become a potent powerplant once again.

The team also made the journey to the Parts Peddler show at the Syracuse fairgrounds in November and returned with some parts for the car and a set of digital scales that will be instrumental in setting up the car during the 2010 race season.

Gibson Motorsports was fortunate to win a complete body from Larry Knott during the 2007 APC 300 weekend at Delaware and has been busy fitting it to the chassis. The ABC-compliant body will update the appearance of the car, which will return as #88 but feature a new paint scheme in 2010. The old body and spare panels were sold to dirt racer from Eastern-Ontario and the proceeds have helped to offset the cost of painting and letterning the new body.

In 2009, the only DNA that remained from the team's old CASCAR chassis was is the rear axle assembly which will be updated for 2010. The old rear was too narrow for the current chassis, requiring different offset rims on each corner of the car to obtain the proper treadwidth. Upgrading to a quick-change rear was considered but with a full assortment of 9" gears already at their disposal and a smaller impact to their 2010 budget, the team sourced a wider 9" Ford axle and is currently fitting new shock, spring and trailing arm brackets to it.

The 2010 rulebook at Flamboro has provisions for lighter, more powerful multi-piston calipers but at this time, the team will not upgrade their braking system. The current combination of D52 and metric calipers has performed very well in the past and with a lower mimimum weight in 2010, the team could not justify the cost of the upgrade.

Although a lot of progress has already been made, there is still a lot of work to be done prior to the start of the 2010 season.