2011

Garrett Marchant/Garrett Marchant Racing
November 30, 2011

Hey everyone, welcome to my first blog post, I'm really excited about the new features we have with my new site! I think all my fans out there will thoroughly enjoy it, but that's not the topic of this post. The topic is my 2011 season. Are ya'll ready? Well, here we go!

The 2011 started out with difficulties, the first few races were rained out which put my first race of the year at South Boston Speedway on April 23rd. It would be my first time in the Pure Stock and my first time behind the wheel at the track. Practice went rough, qualifying went rough, and well the race went rough. I qualified in the 18th spot, with 5 laps to go I had made my way up to the 12th position until I made contact with another car and would blow out a tire in the next corner.

On to race #2 of the season. This time it was twin races at South Boston Speedway on May 14th! Race number one was a pretty calm one. I qualified in the 16th spot and worked my way up to 13th and that's where I would finish. Race #2 was the one that put on a show! I would start from the 13th spot since that's where I ended up in race one. Green flag was in the air, I would remain in the 13th spot for most of the race until a few yellow flags. I would pass the 12th place car before the final caution of the race and on the final lap I would make it 3 wide out of turns 3&4 and come home in the 11th spot.

Race #3 was held at South Boston on May 28th, and it wasn't a good one. I would qualify in the 13th position, which was decent. The race is what was rough. On lap ten I was up to 9th and as I slowed down for the caution flag the car behind me didn't check up which would send me spinning down the backstretch and into the inside wall, OUCH!

My fourth race of the season was a solid one one June 4th. It would produce my best qualifying effort at South Boston Speedway as well as my best finish. I would start the race from the 13th spot but would make my way up front quickly! By lap five I had worked my way up th the 8th spot after some exciting racing through the field. With ten laps to go bad luck would kick in as I was gaining on the front runners. The car would begin shutting off at the end of the straightaway which would kill my speed. We would end the day in the 10th spot though!

We had some problems with the car that provided me with a blown engine which sat me out for two races. The car was fixed now fixed and it was time for me to hit the racetrack at Orange County Speedway on July 9th. Some cool things happened in the two weeks I was out though, I picked up a new crew chief/teammate in Chris Crosby! It's time to get to the race though, I would start the race from the 8th spot and would work my way to the front determined to have a solid run. We would get just that and finish in the 5th spot, booyah!

Back to Orange County Speedway on July 16th. It would be a very fun day as I qualified in the 4th position. The fun ran out at the start of the race as my transmission had something in it that prevented it from going into gear, once I finally got it in gear I was in last spot. I would drive as hard as I could to bring home a good finish for my new sponsor Lone Star Car Transportation (They came on board the week of the race) and I would end up finishing in the 6th position.

Race 7 of the year would be held at Orange County Speedway once again. This was the race that I think about everyday to this day. You know the one that could have been? It's time to walk ya'll through it. I would qualify in the 5th spot, I was running in the 3rd spot with fifteen laps to go when the yellow flag would come out. I would have the restart of my LIFE and drive to the lead in turn one and two. Les Aliff in the 75 would pull ahead as he had the best line through the corner. I would run on his back bumber until the caution was waved with two laps to go. This restart would not be very good as I received a shot from behind and nearly crashed, anyways we would come home fourth which would be my best finish of the year.

On August 13th, 2011 it was time to head back to South Boston Speedway. This would prove to be a tough day as my power steering went out in practice. I would start from the rear with no power steering (not fun). On lap one ,well, my day ended as I got wrecked going down the back straightaway.

My final Pure Stock race of the season was held at South Boston Speedway, it was twin race night so it gave us two chances at a solid run. My sponsor Yvonne from Lone Star Car Transportation/Lscautoshipping.com was with us from Texas, so I really wanted a GREAT run. I would qualify 16th for race #1 and would come home 13th. The second race was much better as we ran better but ten laps into the race due to all the yellow flags the #77 www.lscautoshipping.com car would run out of fuel forcing us to pit. I would restart 16th and end then night in P13, which was not what I had hoped for.

My final race of the year was not a Pure Stock, it would be in a Late Model! I would make my Late Model debut at Orange County Speedway in the Southeast Limited Late Model Series on September 24,2011. It was a fun, but difficult day. In practice I spun the car around on new tires suffering minimal damage (car was real loose). I would hit the track again in five minutes after a few adjustments to tighten the car up and a new set of Goodyears, car was still WAYYYYYYYYYYYY too LOOSE! We would make more adjustments to the car before qualifying and they would help but not enough. I would start the race from 13th and battled and ill handling car for most of the race but would still come home 10th. I am still VERY happy with how I ran in that race too this day and I had an absolute amazing time this year!

Well I hope ya'll didn't fall asleep on me lol. Check back soon for my next blogp ost and enjoy the new website!