The Micro Strategies Racing team headed to Pennsylvania this past weekend for the double Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series event at Numidia Dragway. This was a special weekend as it marked the return of Michelle Bongiovanni racing after a two-season hiatus. Michelle has been focusing on her career but took the opportunity to suit up and race her Cobra Jet Mustang.
Along with Michelle, Anthony Bongiovanni, Dan Fletcher and Tim Fletcher hit the track with their Micro Strategies-backed machines. Numidia Dragway is only three hours from MS headquarters and is one of the most scenic tracks in the east. It features a quarter mile drag strip nestled in rolling hills of Central PA in Columbia County that offers a “Field-of-Dreams feel.”
Combined, the team enjoyed mild success with a handful of round wins over the pair of races. Unfortunately, no one was able to bring home a win, but there were a few positive takeaways.
“This was one of those weekends where races simply didn’t go our way,” said Anthony Bongiovanni. “Our cars ran well, meaning they were quick and consistent, but in Stock and Super Stock, especially in Division 1, the drivers are very competitive. You can put up a good lap and still lose by hundredths or thousands of a second. The racing is that close.
“Being sportsman racers, we put a premium on having consistency in our performance because that’s one of the top items required for winning. This is both in the cars and with our driving and despite her time off, Michelle drove like she never took a day off,” said Anthony. “She was a bit nervous before the first qualifying run, mainly because there’s a lot to get right and she likes to perform at a high standard. She had no issues and delivered smooth burnouts, great reaction times and solid overall runs. We had her car set up to run low 9s, but it didn’t take long before she wanted to run quicker. In eliminations the races didn’t go her way, but she was right there. She was competitive and she’s already looking to attend the next race in Cecil County in a couple of weeks.”
Additionally, the team was able to use Race Results Live. “Race Results Live is brand new application developed by Micro Strategies and DragInsights that offers the tracks, racers and fans a new, advanced system to view and analyze drag racing data. “I was glued to it all weekend,” said Anthony Bongiovanni, “to see who was racing and how they were running. The data offers racers a look at competitive information and that was really good because I got to quickly access reaction and elapsed time information. This was important at Numidia due to the changing weather conditions. Seeing race data in real time helped us set up for each round of qualifying and eliminations. Furthermore, you can access past data and there are more features coming soon.
Cumulatively, the team earned a valuable Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series points, and they’ll try again at the upcoming event we mentioned at Cecil County Dragway, August 13-14.
