By: Clayton Johns/Fowl Mood Racing
August 30 2016
Brighton, Ontario – Phil Potts drove to a third-place finish during a thrilling Vanderlaan Building Products Pro Late Model feature on Saturday night at Brighton Speedway. The podium result is Potts’ 16th top-five finish this season.
The night started with a heat race win and the car handled to Potts’ liking after a small change gave him a fast car to pilot.
“We won our heat and tried one different bar change. What a difference. The car rotated so well and it was so much fun to drive. To be honest, I was overdriving the car, but I was having such a good time. I was sliding the car sideways for no reason except for the fact it was finally doing it,” Potts laughed.
Come feature time, Potts was quickly in the mix at the front of the field. He took the second position on lap four after starting the 30-lap event in fifth and ran second behind Brandon Mowat.
“Coming out turn four a couple of times, I don’t think you could have put a piece of paper between our two cars and not a touch. It was so much fun racing door-to-door (with Mowat),” Potts said of the battle.
Potts took the lead from Mowat on a lap 24 restart and led until another caution slowed the race on lap 27. With a bit of strategy in mind, Potts chose the inside lane for the restart.
“I chose the inside on the caution because, nine out of 10 times, Brandon isn’t a high-side guy. He likes the bottom. As much as I enjoy the high side, you try to take away from your competitor,” Potts explained. “It put Charlie behind me too, but it didn’t work out. Brandon actually blasted by me on the outside.”
Potts remained second until he drifted over the cushion with two laps to go and slipped to third.
“I went in to the corner the same way I had been and I hit the throttle. It just went right over the berm and Charlie (Sandercock) got by me,” Potts said. “The car was perfect up to that point.”
After finishing one spot behind Sandercock in Saturday’s race, Potts sits five points back in the championship standings with three races remaining. After three months of tinkering on his Longhorn Chassis, Potts feels he and the Fowl Mood team have hit on something strong for the stretch drive.
“We’re tooth and nail, clawing for every single point we can get. It’s a dog fight and it’s going to be a dog fight right to the end,” Potts said of the points battle. “Initially with this car I was thinking, “finish in the top-five” and now I’m thinking I need to win.”
Potts and the Fowl Mood Race Team are now preparing for the Labour Day Classic weekend at Brighton. The Pro Late Models race a complete points paying program in a topless race on Sunday night
“It’s been such a whirlwind summer, I didn’t even realize it was coming that fast. I’m looking forward to it,” Potts commented.
Labour Day Classic weekend details are available at www.brightonspeedway.ca
SEASON STATS
Phil Potts – 21 Starts: 4 Wins, 16 Top-5s, 20 Top-10s
FOWL MOOD MEDIA
Website: www.fowlmoodracing.ca
Facebook: facebook.com/FowlMoodRaceTeam
Twitter: @FowlMoodRacing
The Fowl Mood Race Team’s 2016 season is supported by several dedicated corporate sponsors, including Vanderlaan Building Products, Brighton Recycling, Indewey Excavating and Crow Design.