The IRA Sprints season opener at Beaver Dam Raceway in Beaver Dam, WI marked just the 6th time Bailey Goldesberry raced in a 410 Winged Sprint Car. And that inexperience (and poor luck) showed in the early stages of the night, but the night’s 30 lap feature was a completely different story. It may not have ended well, but the young Illinois driver has to feel good about the pace that the Lonewolf Petroleum #4 Team found this early in the season.
An early draw for qualifying is usually a good thing. However, it gave Goldesberry limited time to understand the track before her 2 lap session, and it showed. A dry and dusty ⅜ oval awaited Bailey, and her middle groove focused 2 laps were only good enough for 18th place overall. That meant Goldesberry would have to start 6th in Heat #3 later in the night.
“I just had no idea the bottom was the place to be.” Goldesberry said after her qualifying run. “I tried to adjust for my 2nd lap, but there was nothing up high in 1 and 2 either.” Goldesberry then made about 3 laps in her heat before a broken gear case sent her to the hauler early. The team got to work and fixed the car quickly, but the DNF set the #4 back immensely. Frustrating, but all was still to play for in the night’s 30 lap main event.
Goldesberry started 19th in the A Main, and immediately started looking forward. At the first yellow flag with 10 laps in, Bailey was up to 15th place. Then on the restart, she rocketed up the inside of Skyler Prochaska and began a fierce battle for the 12th and 13th place positions. Unfortunately, those battles have a tendency to boil over. On lap 13, Prochaska chopped across Goldesberry’s nose on the front stretch and pinched the BGR #4 into the concrete wall at full speed. Prochaska’s #35 was sent flipping, while Goldesberry was sent to the pits on a hook with terminal front end damage. A heartbreaking end to a fantastic and extremely impressive run.
“It really sucks.” An understandably frustrated Goldesberry said after the night’s events. “We had the car hooked up and moving forward, only to get torn up before halfway. It’s unfortunate, but we made good laps and I got really valuable seat time against some really good competition and that’s what matters. We already have the car back together and are ready to roll on Saturday at Wilmot, and hopefully we’ll have a little better luck!”
Next up for the BGR #4 Team is this Saturday night at Wilmot Raceway with the IRA Sprints once again. Tickets will be available at the speedway in Wilmot, WI. If you’re unable to make it to the track, you can watch each and every IRA Sprints event this year on the FloRacing streaming service.
Bailey Goldesberry Racing would like to thank their 2021 partners for allowing them to compete each week in 410 sprint car racing!
Lonewolf Petroleum
Rock Solid Lawn and Landscape
Hilltop Nursery
Maxim Chassis
FK Rod Ends
Puremax Racing Oil
Swindell SpeedLab
K1 Race Gear
PMX Hose and Fittings
Ultra Shield Racing Products
Pulse Racing Innovations
MyRacePass
Keizer Racing Wheels
Campball’s Auto Body
Capital City Powder Coating
SchureBuilt Suspensions
FK Shocks
Goldesberry Signs and Designs
Design Studio 66
You can follow along with Bailey’s 2021 season on her social medias; on Facebook at Bailey Goldesberry Racing, Instagram at bailey_goldesberry_racing, and Twitter at @BGRacing4, as well as Midwest AutoSports on Facebook at MAS AutoSports, and Twitter at @mas_autosports.
Jeff Burba Photo
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