Urquhart second in main, third in heat at Barona Speedway

Brad Urquhart finished third in his Pure Stocks heat race Aug. 4 at Barona Speedway before finishing second in that night’s main event.

“It was probably the most fun I’ve had, I would say, driving the car all year long,” Urquhart said. “With a little more luck and a couple more laps, I might have brought home some hardware.”

Urquhart began the eight-lap heat race on the outside of the fourth row. He passed three cars in the first two laps and two more in the next two laps. “Got off to a good start,” he said.

Urquhart moved into second place on the seventh lap. “Then, something I’ve been struggling with, my car getting loose, happened again between turn three and four. I was able to save it on the infield, but by the time I recovered the car I passed went back by me,” he said.

Urquhart maintained third place through the checkered flag. “Just a little disappointed that the car got loose there a little bit,” he said.

Ironically, Urquhart’s goal in the heat race was to test the car for such potential setup flaws. “Coming from the eighth position the track was a little rough, so my goal was just to get a feel for how the car was going to handle,” he said.

Urquhart’s crew for the night consisted of Rod and James Robison, who suggested raising the pressure on the left tires to 20 pounds each. “It seemed to help quite a bit,” Urquhart said.

Urquhart and the Robisons had been utilizing tire pressure of 16 1/2 pounds on the left tires along with pressure of 25 pounds on the right front tire and 24 pounds on the right rear tire.

The Robisons noted that Urquhart’s 1970 Monte Carlo had been handling better on the outside high groove of the track than on the inside low side. “My goal in the main event was to try to hit one line on the high side as high as possible and stick with it and see how the car would do,” Urquhart said. “I knew this meant I would be playing chicken with the wall again.”

Urquhart scraped the wall once during the main event but did not damage the car. “It handled really well. I think if I had a couple of more laps I would have won the race,” he said.

Urquhart began the 20-lap main event on the inside of the sixth row. His path towards the front was not adversely affected by incidental contact early in the race or by being hit from behind midway in the race.

Urquhart was either in second or third place when a yellow flag caution was thrown with five laps remaining. According to Urquhart’s in-car camera, he was ahead of Dave Evangelou while track officials felt that Evangelou was in front of Urquhart. The positioning allowed Evangelou to take the lead when he passed the driver in front of him, who subsequently fell behind Urquhart in the 18th lap.

Evangelou eventually won the main event. “I was closing on him pretty good, just needed a couple more laps, the way my car was handling,” Urquhart said.

Urquhart is sponsored by Eagle Eye Fabrication, Fallbrook Auto Works, and Fallbrook Fertilizer Feed and Farm Supply. In addition to being part of Urquhart’s pit crew, James Robison drove in the Pony Stocks race and finished seventh in the main event.