home | log | biography | sponsorship opportunities | car specs | schedule | news | latest race results | photo gallery | links | postcards | classifieds
|
A Driver's Impressions |
 |
NASCAR GRAND NATIONAL DIVISION, WEST SERIES
PHOENIX, AZ
SUBWAY 150
10/03/04
Gaylord Looking Strong for Hometown Race after 2nd in Phoenix Scott Gaylord's 2nd place finish in the Oliver Gravity Separators/Denver Seminary Chevrolet matched a career-best mark for the Lakewood, CO driver winning $6744.00
After pit stops by the leaders during a caution on lap 94, leader Scott Lynch was back out front shortly after the restart. This time, however, he found series veteran Scott Gaylord filling up his mirrors. "I was doing anything and everything to try to keep him behind me," Lynch said of Gaylord. "His car came on strong at the end."
In the championship standings Gaylord moved to third with 1,503 - just 56 points out of 2nd.
Return performance. Scott Gaylord (No. 00 Oliver Gravity Separators/Denver Seminary Chevrolet) has taken the green flag at PIR more than any other driver in the series. The veteran driver has competed in eight stand-alone West Series events and seven combination races with NASCAR's premier series.
The next event on the NASCAR Grand National Division, West Series schedule will be the NAPA 150 at Colorado National Speedway near Denver on Oct. 9.
+=+=+=+=+=+§+=+=+=+=+=+ We went to Phoenix over the weekend for our first of four-in-a-row races finalizing the NASCAR Grand National Division West Series season. We left Colorado where the temps had been in the high 40s low 50s to Phoenix where we got blasted by high 90 degree temps, expected all weekend. On Saturday we felt like we had a fairly good car,running 5th fastest in both practices, but we failed to click off a very good qualifying lap, reason unknown. It was very disapointing. Fortunatly at the bigger tracks like Phoenix, we end up having a final practice session after qualifying which enabled us to continue to work on the set up of the car.
Happy hour was disapointing as well as it seemed the car went totally away from us. Scott went from thinking we had a good chance for a top 5 to a lucky to finish in the top 10 mode. On Sunday morning we arrived and completely inspected the car, made a few adjustements that would hopefully help the car for the race, prepped it for the race and sailed through pre-race tech. Then, we just waited for race time.
Once the race started Scott started to move up through the field making it into the top ten by lap 16. The changes that were made in the morning defintely seemed to help with the handling of the race car and Scott was doing a great job safely moving up throught the field. At lap 94 we were running 5th and just as it was time to pit, a yellow came out and the cars ahead of us came in. We did as well. This would be our pit stop for fuel and right side tires. Our crew did an excellent job getting the #00 Oliver Gravity Separators/Denver Seminary Chevrolet back in the race in the fourth spot. We came right back in for our left side tires. Scott liked the car so no adjustments were made and the crew had another excellent stop picking up one more position in the pits. Once the race re-started with about 50 laps remaining we found ourselves in serious contention for a top three. The final 48 laps of the race consisted of Scott racing hard getting by Borneman for second place, and looking to overtake the lead from Lynch. Although side by side on a couple of occasions, lapped cars and race traffic seemed to interfere when the opportunity seemed most likely.
"The car was really good most of the day, we did no adjustments during our stops. It was great to race with Scott Lynch for as many laps as we did. I was really hoping to pull one off for the whole team. They all did such a great job all weekend getting the car to that point. The car was running a little on the hot side the last 15 laps, so I had to be real careful keeping some air flow going through the radiator and keeping my eye on the gauges, and getting to the finish."
Car owner Geoff Burney and Denver Seminary's Gary Hoag and guests were there to share the second place finish as was Tim Matykiewicz from Events West another associate sponsor based in Phoenix.
The entire team is looking forward to sleeping in their own beds and going racing at Colorado National Speedway next Saturday October 8th, hope to see you all there!
Mike Keon Photo
NASCAR GRAND NATIONAL DIVISION, WEST SERIES
ROSEBURG, OR
NAPA AUTO PARTS 200 PRESENTED BY NAPA BELTS & HOSE
09/19/04
Series veteran Scott Gaylord of Lakewood, CO, finished fourth after qualifying third in the Oliver Gravity Separators/Denver Seminary Chevrolet.
Mike Keon PhotoThe first portion of the race was run on Saturday night, but inclement weather halted the action on lap 68 and postponed the conclusion of the 200-lap event until Sunday.
Featherlite Award - Scott Gaylord (No. 00 Oliver Gravity Separators/Denver Seminary Chevrolet) won his second Featherlite Most Improved Driver Award of the year. Featherlite presents the award at each event to the driver who improves the most finishing positions from the previous event. Gaylord's fourth-place finish at Roseburg followed a 13th-place finish at Rocky Mountain Raceways.
Tight battle for third place in championship - Scott Gaylord and Mike David each have 1,333 points, while David Gilliland has 1,331 points
The next event on the NASCAR Grand National Division, West Series schedule will be the Subway 150 at Phoenix International Raceway on Oct. 3.
Mike Keon Photo
DODGE COUNTRY/HAVOLINE/NAPA AUTO PARTS 200
AUG. 14, 2004
STOCKTON CA. 99 Speedway
NASCAR Grand National DivisionGAYLORD WINS POWERade AWARD FINISHES 4TH IN BLACKOUT
Series veteran Scott Gaylord of Lakewood, CO finished fourth in the night race where on lap 37 the track lights went out. "I was coming out of turn 4 with cars all around me when all of a sudden it was pitch black, I couldn't see anything. Somehow, from memory, I was able to steer clear of any impact. That was a first for me!" said Gaylord, who drives the Oliver Gravity Separators/Denver Seminary Chevrolet. Gaylord notched his fifth top-five finish of the season and remains 3rd in championship standings.
POWERade Power Move. Scott Gaylord (No. 00 Oliver Gravity Separators/Denver Seminary Chevrolet) won the POWERade Power Move of the Race Award at Stockton, after starting 15th and finishing fourth. At each Grand National Division event, POWERade presents the award to the driver who advances the most positions.
The Oliver Gravity Separators Team started the weekend Friday afternoon at an optional practice day where we shook down the car. We started on fine tuning during our scheduled practice Saturday. We had a brake fire in the right front at the end of our first session which cost us the entire second session. We did get the necessary repairs made and felt like we had a pretty good car for a qualifying run, but ended up with a disappointing 15th place starting position.
We have started in the back at Stockton before so Scott was well aware of the job ahead of him. The race started and there was an accident in the first 15 laps, then, around lap 37 when Scott was battling for 9th place in the middle of turn four, suddenly all the lights at the facility went out leaving the facility in total and complete darkness. The fans were excited as this put an unusual twist on things, but the crews were just holding their breath waiting to hear screeching tires and banging fenders. Luckily Scott used his head and gradually slowed to a stop. He was able to avoid hitting anything or being hit. The officials did a good job keeping everyone calm. They worked on a plan that allowed any car that was damaged during the blackout to make necessary repairs (which everyone felt was fair) but they also allowed another car to make repairs that was damaged prior to the incident which left many questions among other competitors. It took about 20-25 minutes for the whole process of returning the lights, which went out due to a car hitting a transponder on the main road. But finally, all the cars were re-gridded in the order that they were running and the race resumed.
The race proved to be one to hold the attention of the fans, and one that disappointed many drivers, including Scott. The number of wrecks had to be a record, and brought back memories of the race at the Las Vegas Bullring a few years back. A real "crash fest"! Scott was able, for the most part, to stay out of trouble for the remainder of the first half. At the break the crew changed four tires and did some minor adjustments in the ten minutes allowed.
Our goal for the second half was to continue to stay out of trouble....as the "crash fest" continued. Scott continued to move up the field being hit here and there, but not badly enough to slow the momentum. Our previous record at this race track is quite grim and we had several close calls during this event, but the Oliver Gravity Separators/ Denver Seminary Chevrolet perservered to finish fourth, which was like a win for us.
Scott was chosen along with last year's champion Scott Lynch and Kerry Earnhardt to carry an in car camera for the event and was the only one to whithstand the entire event. We will be getting a copy and should make some interesting viewing with the blackout and all. This race will be televised on Speed channel Oct. 2nd Noon ET
Our next race is in Salt Lake City, September 6th, live on HDnet TV, hope to see you there.
#00 Racing 3 abreast at Stockton
Mike Keon Photo
NAPA Auto Parts 150
Irwindale Speedway, California
NASCAR Grand National DivisionScott Gaylord of Lakewood, CO (No. 00 Oliver Gravity Separators/Denver Seminary Chevrolet)is 3rd in championship standings in the NASCAR Grand National Division, West Series.
Points: 889
Previous ranking: 4
Gaylord turned in another strong performance at Irwindale, qualifying eighth and finishing third. The podium finish boosted him back to third in the championship standings.NEXT RACE: The Stockton 99 Speedway/Dodge Country, Havoline NAPA Auto Parts 200 on Saturday, Aug. 14 - 8:30p.m. is the seventh event on a 13-race schedule for the NASCAR Grand National Division, West Series in 2004. The $107,872 event is to be televised to a national audience on SPEED Channel, on a delayed-basis. The race marks the midway point for the season. Gaylord's best finish at Stockton was a 10th-place finish last year.
Stockton struggle: The Stockton race in May was the only series race this year in which Scott finished out of the top 10. He was sidelined by an incident on the back stretch on lap 102. He was tied for the lead in the points before the incident.
#00 Racing 3 abreast finishing 3rd
NorthForkPhoto@aol.com
NAPA Auto Parts 150 at Irwindale Speedway, California to be Televised
The $103,972 event is to be televised to a national audience live 8pm on Saturday, July 31 in high definition on HDNet. In addition, SPEED Channel will provide an enhanced replay on Sept. 11.
Scott Gaylord, Lakewood, Colo. (No. 00 Oliver Gravity Separators/Denver Seminary Chevrolet), Scott Gaylord Racing. 4th in the points: Previous ranking: 5. After qualifying 10th at Monroe, Gaylord made a great charge to the front. Despite fading to fifth late in the event, he was able to gain one spot in the standings. The Lakewood, CO driver heads to Irwindale, where he has recorded two top-five and six top-10 finishes in eight attempts.
COORS LIGHT 200
July 17, 2004
Evergreen Speedway
MONROE, WA
NASCAR Grand National Division, West (formerly WINSTON WEST)
#00 OLIVER TEAM BACK IN TOP 5After a long break the Oliver team was ready to get back to action and start our climb back to the top of the NASCAR Grand National Division points. We finished 5th, winning $4,000 and moved up to 4th in the points standings. We also won the the Featherlite most improved driver award for improving the most finishing positions from previous event.
We started off pretty good on the race track, but making adjustments failed to give us the results we wanted. We went back to square one and ended up qualifying 10th.
The race got under way and the Oliver Gravity Separators / Denver Seminary Chevrolet was moving up through the field running as high as second in the 200 lap race. We were running up in 5th when we came in for right side tires and gas, this stop one of the two awesome pit stops the crew gave Scott, with the final one at about lap 123 for our lefts.
After getting the lefts, Scott liked they way the car was handling for the first time of the night; he was consistantly moving back up through the field untill he found himself in a hard fought 2nd place, this was the longest green run of the race and our car liked it, the longer the better, then the coutions had to start falling. "The short runs weren't good for us and were good for some of the other cars on the race track, this enabled them to catch up before the re-starts and eventually pass us for postion, I was really hoping to finish under the green, I think Duncan might have caught me but not the others".
The team is happy with the 5th place though, especially being able to push a clean race car back on the trailer.
We still have a lot of work to do to get ready for Irwindale in 2 weeks (July 31st) and hope to see you all there.
Televised - SPEED Channel Aug. 14, Noon, ET.
KING TACO 200
NASCAR Grand National Division, West (formerly WINSTON WEST)
May 1, 2004
California Speedway, Fontana, CA
GAYLORD TIED FOR LEAD IN CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGSScott Gaylord of Lakewood, CO, finished fourth in the #00 Oliver Gravity Separators/Denver Seminary Chevrolet winning $9,588 in the KING TACO 200 AT California Speedway NASCAR Grand National Division, West. Ken Schrader, Nexlet Cup Driver, visiting the West Series won the event at California Speedway. Gaylord is now tied for the top spot in the championship point stadings with Mike Duncun. Gaylord is the only driver to complete all laps in this year's races.
The race will be televised on SPEED Channel cable network on May 15 at 9 a.m. PT.
The weather was hot in California as we arrived for our practice day on Thursday. With the car ready to go we were prepared for a two hour session before qualifying. After a couple laps though, Scott called in reporting an oil smell in the #00 Oliver Gravity Separators/Denver Seminary Chevrolet and we found a pretty substantial oil leak at the oil pump which was not evident during warm up. After complete diagnosis we discovered a very small screw on the oil pump at the end plate had sheared off, causing the leak. With no spare parts available at the track the crew determined it would have to fabricate something right there to replace the end plate, which they did, but was a lengthy process.
Once the necessary repairs were complete we only had about 25 min remaining in practice to get the car dialed in where Scott would be happy for both qualifying and the race. We qualified 16th out of 30 cars.
The rest of the weekend went well. The race was relitively clean for all, Scott consistantly moved up through the field. Our first stop came under green on lap 51. We pitted one more time under yellow at lap 71 finishing off our schedueled stops. The pit stops went perfectly, the crew did a great job and we didn't lose one position in the pits.
At lap 92 while running fourth another yellow came out. Knowing it would be about a 5 lap shoot out we opted not to pit for tires while third place and fifth place did stop. Upon the restart we were in third hoping to hold on and knowing that #08 & #88 would be charging from the rear with new right side tires. Scott held on for a few laps but #08 had better grip with new tires was able to get by with about three to go, putting us in fourth. The weekend was a good one for the Oliver team, the crew did a fantastic job overcoming the oil leak, Scott did a great job in the race but it was the teamwork that moved our team into a tie for first in the NASCAR Grand National West Series points race.
The next event on the 13-race schedule for the NASCAR Grand National Division, West Series will be at Stockton (Calif.) 99 Speedway on May 29.
LUCAS OIL 150
NASCAR Grand National Division West Series
March 27
Mesa Marin Raceway Bakersfield, CA
GAYLORD FINISHES FOURTHVeteran driver Scott Gaylord of Lakewood, CO, finished fourth in his #00 Oliver Gravity Separators/Denver Seminary Chevrolet in the NASCAR Grand National Division Lucas Oil 150 and is now fourth in the championship standings.
Gaylord ran 4th most of the race until lap 120 when he pitted for right side tires and with a fast pit stop by the Oliver crew was able to maintain his fourth place position until the finish.
LAPS COMPLETED: Only two drivers completed all the laps of competition in the first two races of the 2004 season. Scott Gaylord (No. 00 Oliver Gravity Separators/Denver Seminary Chevrolet) and Mike David completed all of the 301 laps in those two events combined.
ON TV: The Lucas Oil 150 is scheduled to air on the SPEED Channel cable network at 9 a.m. ET on Saturday, April 3.
The next event on the NASCAR Grand National Division, West Series schedule is slated at California Speedway in Fontana, CA on May 1.
A special note from Scott Gaylord Racing:
After finishing 5th in the championship points run in the 2003 NASCAR Winston West Series, we (and our sponsors) will be evaluating our racing program and the worth to our sponsors.
The one way that Denver Seminary is judging our worth to them is by the number of donations they receive - not necessarily how much the contributions are. If any of you are looking to donate a few dollars to an organization by the end of the year we at Scott Gaylord Racing would like you to consider Denver Seminary.Address:
Denver Seminary
PO Box 100000
Denver CO 80250
Make sure to put NASCAR Program on the notation of the check if you do send them something...
Thank You, and look for more driver logs in the future.2001 Archive of Scott's Driver Log and News Releases
2000 Archive of Scott's Driver Log and News Releases
1999 Archive of Scott's Driver Log and News Releases
1998 Archive of Scott's Driver Log and News Releases
Photos From The 1997 NASCAR Suzuka Thunder Special 100 In Japan!
1997 Archive of Scott's Driver Log, Final Point Standings and News Releases
1996 Archive of Scott's Driver Log, Final Point Standings and News Releases
Email Scott at gaylord@privateI.com
