Mother Nature Wins Round One!

May 30, 2011 - One week after the first on-track test of the season, Gibson Motorsports arrived at Flamboro Speedway ready to compete in the first round of the Grisdale Triple Crown. After spending the week improving upon the baseline created on the previous weekend, the team arrived with high hopes of a good showing. Twenty-six late models were on hand to battle in the first of three seventy-five lap features that will crown the 2011 Grisdale Triple Crown champion.

Unfortunately, prior commitments meant that the team would arrive to the track late and was not able to participate in valuable practice time. Upon arriving at the track, Scott pulled pill #30 from the tower, meaning that he would start dead last in the first qualifying heat. On the opening lap of the race, Craig Zurbrigg made heavy contact with the front stretch wall, eventually coming to a rest on his roof. Craig was not injured in the incident and after a short delay, the race restarted with Scott trailing from the rear of the field. On the restart, the #88 Impalla jumped out of gear, causing Scott to lose ground to the rest of the field, which he was not able to make up for the balance of the race.

The grid for the second qualifier was set in inverse of the first heat, placing the Gibson Motorsports entry on the pole position. Scott spent the opening laps in second place before eventually falling back to fifth. The car had a slight push through the middle of the corners and was loose off but overall, Scott was pleased with the performance of the car.
A few small changes were made in preparation for the feature to help the car roll through the centre of the corners better. Unfortunately, the team didn't get the chance to show their muscle, as several delays from several incidents and rain showers limited the on-track action to just eight laps. Despite attempts to keep the track dry during the brief showers, the event was lost due to the weather & will be rescheduled to June 11th.