Promising run ends in disappointment for Opportunity Motorsports in Winchester 400

The Winchester 400 is widely known as one of the most grueling Late Model races of the year, and for the Opportunity Motorsports/Circle Bound Racing team, it was just that.  Friday’s practice sessions resulted in oil system problems on the team’s primary number 14 EAS machine driven by Zach Taylor, who was forced into a backup machine, which was originally slated to be driven by veteran driver and team owner Chet Blanton.  With Blanton now a spectator, and Taylor only having four laps of practice behind the wheel of his new mount, it would take a strong qualifying lap to salvage the day.  Taylor qualified in thirteenth position, very impressive considering the lack of track time.

Sunday meant the dropping of the green flag on the 35th annual Winchester 400, and had the OM/CBR team hoping that they could add Zach Taylor to the list of former Winchester 400 winners including Mark Martin, Rusty Wallace, Butch Miller, Mike Eddy, Hank Parker Jr, Bob Senneker, and Ted Musgrave.  In the first run of the race, Taylor complained of a tight handling condition which dropped him back out of the top 15 and one lap down before the first pit stop on lap 106.  At that point, the team attempted to raise the panhard bar in an effort to allow Taylor to turn better in the center of the corner.  However, this adjustment could not be completed without falling a second lap down in the pits.  The end result was a better handling vehicle in the corners, but being two laps behind the leader after a shock adjustment.

This adjustment would have Taylor marching back up to the front of the field, and would hold serve through a series of smooth and successful pitstops.  Unfortunately, just past the halfway point of the event, Taylor reported back to the team that the transmission had been jammed in fourth gear, making pit stops and restarts a challenge for the rest of the event.  When it seemed things could get no worse, the machine stalled under caution, and could not be restarted without assistance from a tow truck, costing the number 14 yet another lap to the leaders.  Despite being three laps down, Taylor was riding in eighth place, waiting for the ever prevalent Winchester attrition to set in and improve his position.

Unfortunately, the Winchester attrition did set in, as leader Jeff Lane suffered a mechanical failure directly in front of a large pack of traffic, including Taylor, who had no way to avoid the ensuing mayhem.  The EAS machine suffered heavy right front suspension damage and had no choice but to retire from the event, only eighty laps from the conclusion.

Had Taylor avoided the accident and maintained his position, the 14 car would have finished the event in the top three, but instead came home in seventeenth position.  Despite the lack of success, the team did manage to have one of the fastest cars on the track, and is confident heading into one of the premiere races in the country, the All-American 400 at the Music City Motorplex.

Taylor will return to his home track in an attempt to conquer the high banks of the Nashville Fairgrounds, and top drivers from across the eastern half of the United States in the process.  The number 14 Electrical Automation Services, Purdue University College of Engineering, ARP Stock Car Bodies, ARC Racing Engines machine will take the green in the All-American 400 at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday November 5th.

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