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MPL Motorsports Kicks Off 2008 Season The night’s action for Leaty began with his placement in the second Modified qualifying heat. Leaty started from the seventh starting position on the grid and at the drop of the green was immediately boxed in, with no room to race. As the laps ticked off, the field settled in single file and by the halfway point of the ten lap event, Leaty had made his way up to fourth. The #25 US Army/Rochester Steel Treating Works racecar crossed the finish line in the fourth position and the line up was set for the main event. The starting grid for the 50 lap feature was set by the finishing order of the qualifying events, which slotted Leaty and his racing machine into the sixth starting spot. The damp race track conditions immediately caused problems on the track, with Leaty making a great save during the first few laps. After some heat had been built up in the tires, the field settled in and ran single file. Traffic was congested from fourth place on back and the #25 was mired in seventh place on lap ten. Leaty tried the outside lane to pass as his car was clearly faster than the majority of cars on the track, but once he tried going to the outside, the car bobbled and Leaty was relegated back to ninth. However, as an experienced driver, Leaty regrouped, strategized, and began to work his way back through the field. With every setback, the #25 surged back forward, not giving up and not being content with running further back in the field. Leaty had managed to get back up to the seventh running position under the less than desirable track conditions with just ten laps to go. However as two cars checked up in front of Leaty, Leaty was unable to avoid the car in front of him. Penalized two positions in the line-up for the restart, Leaty again showed his tenacity and immediately set his sights further up the track. However, the laps expired just as Leaty was beginning to move through the field and he had to settle for a ninth place finish. Although the result wasn’t exactly what the #25 MPL Motorsports Team had hoped for on opening night, the race showcased the potential of the US Army team. "We had a pretty good car all night long but it just seemed everything stacked up against us tonight. We had a poor draw coming into the track and there was no outside groove because of the extremely cold weather conditions. If we could have caught just one break all night long we would have had a better finish but that is the way things go sometimes. I am really looking forward to getting to Oswego and improving upon what we did here tonight" said Leaty after the feature event. Next on the #25 MPL Motorsports schedule is the Race of Champions Modified Tour "Richie Evans 100" lap event at the legendary Oswego Speedway on Saturday, May 24th. Keep up to date on the #25 Team by visiting www.mikeleaty.com throughout the 2008 racing season. |
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