Continued Speed in Limited & Super Struggles Throughout August for Lane Snook

A story from July repeated itself in August for Lane Snook, as the team continued to race in both the Super and Limited divisions. The results sort of maintained where they were in the previous month, with speed in the Limited division and mixed results in the Super division. 

After a runner-up finish at Selinsgrove on August 1st in the Super division, Lane and team would tackle the Limited division at Port Royal on the 8th. Lane’s dominance in the division continued. He would win his heat and “then started 5th in the feature and was able to work my way up through to get the win.” Another strong run up through the field in this division for Lane and his 7th win on the year.

The following week would feature a mix of Super and Limited action, kicking off at Bedford with the Super. “We started 8th in our heat and passed a car to get to 7th. Then started 13th in the feature and passed a couple of cars, but wasn’t really going anywhere, and decided to pull off to try and save equipment, as the track was pretty demanding.” Snook would end up 12th. 

Making a late decision, the team loaded up the Limited and headed down to Hagerstown on Saturday.

“We started out the night going quick-time overall. Then started on the pole and won our heat, and also started on the pole of the feature.”

Snook would sweep the night after leading all 30 laps to grab the win, with a car that “I felt the best in the slick, that I have in a while.” This was Lane’s first win at the Maryland ½ mile and marked win 8 of the year. 

Lane and crew would switch back to the Super and head to Selinsgrove on the 21st. Snook set a new track record in qualifying and won his heat.

“I started on the pole of the feature, got out to an early lead trying to save equipment the best I could and still maintain a solid pace.”

Trouble found the 23 car as it has on several occasions this year when,  “a d-zus button came out of the MSD panel, and it flew up in front of my face, and I couldn’t see. So I pulled off, and they took the panel off.”

Snook would rejoin the feature, but outside of the top 10, and start to charge back up through the pack.

“I ran back up to 4th coming to the white flag, and something hit the lift arm side-to-side bar and broke it, which caused the lift arm to hit the driveshaft and break it, which ended our night with a DNF.” 

Lane would then hit a three-race stretch driving the Bruce Kane 15K at Port Royal. First, in a warm-up show to the Lucas Oil program, on the 22nd. Lane qualified 18th overall and then ran from 6th to 5th in the heat. In the feature, he would stay steady around his 15th-place starting spot and finish 14th. 

The following and last week of August, Snook piloted the 15K car against the Lucas Oil Late Models. The results were definitely not quite what the team was looking for. Both nights, Lane started towards the back of the heats and would need to run the B-Main. Friday, he was able to finish 6th in the B-Main, and Saturday, after starting further back, Lane “wasn’t really going anywhere again, so decided to call it a weekend and go back to the shop to try and figure out what we are missing.”

There have definitely been some growing pains with getting accustomed to the 15K, but the team is starting to figure out some areas where improvement can be made.

“I think the main difference is the shocks. We are slowly making gains on them and figuring them out. But we’re doing a couple other things that are a little different than what I’m used to, to try and help the car, but just haven’t really found a good balance for me yet.” 

In addition to the troubles of adjusting to the new car, Lane is also dealing with a bad string of luck in the family 23, on the Super side.

“Our Super car has definitely been fast at Selinsgrove. I haven’t really gotten enough chances to race it in the slow and slick as I would like. But as far as Selinsgrove is concerned, we need to find some luck, and need the driver to not mess up on the restarts. We took it to Bedford once this month and had speed but pulled a bad pill, and it was hard to pass.”

Snook is also hopeful that luck will return this upcoming weekend as they race in the Renninger Memorial. A race that is very special to his family, and he has a chance to grab both the Super & Limited checkered flags this year. 

For September, Lane plans to open the month running Jaxton Garman’s 11-car at Williams Grove, as the Limited division makes an appearance at the famed ½ mile. A double-threat night follows in the Renninger Memorial, as the 23 will compete in both divisions at Port Royal.

A quick haul over to the state of Ohio will be in order for the young racer, as he heads to Eldora in the 15K to compete in the Baltes Classic. This is all in preparation for the World 100 the following week. This will be Lane’s first attempt at the World. This lineup will get the Port Royal native through the first half of the month, with other races still to be determined. Stay tuned for updates as the month progresses.  Be sure to check the team’s website (LaneSnookRacing.com) and Facebook page for any schedule updates or changes.