{"id":23601,"date":"2018-07-06T13:00:35","date_gmt":"2018-07-06T17:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/?p=23601"},"modified":"2018-07-06T07:01:16","modified_gmt":"2018-07-06T11:01:16","slug":"norman-looking-to-take-one-more-step-to-victory-lane","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/2018\/07\/norman-looking-to-take-one-more-step-to-victory-lane\/","title":{"rendered":"Norman looking to take one more step to victory lane"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Norman looking to take one more step to victory lane<\/strong><\/p>\n

WATERFORD \u2014 Bo Norman of Clinton says he can\u2019t be disappointed with his 2018 Sportsman season at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe car has been great every week.\u201d Norman said. \u201cI\u2019m just trying to keep my nose clean to the best of my ability. If the car isn\u2019t on the podium, it\u2019s because I\u2019m wrecked or the car is broken down.\u201d<\/p>\n

The plan has worked so far. In six races, Norman has three podium finishes. He is sixth in the point standing. He needs to make one more step, however, to have a truly remarkable season \u2014 a step into victory lane.
\n\u201cEvery single week in practice and in the heat races, I\u2019m on the Top 3 on the speed charts,\u201d Norman said. \u201cI\u2019m a force to be reckoned with ever single week. I just need some luck to go my way.\u201d
\nNorman will get that opportunity when the Sportsman division get ready for an important feature Saturday as part of a busy night of racing at the Speedbowl. In addition to the Sportsman feature, a pair of Mini Stock features will be on the card \u2014 a make-up 25-lapper from June 2 and the regularly scheduled 25-lapper. Kyle James will be seeking his fourth win of the year when the SK Modifieds go 40 laps. The Late Model drivers will compete in a 30-lap showdown, while the guest divisions will include the Ct. Pro 4 Modifieds and the Open Vintage Modifieds.
\nQualifying racing begins at 5 p.m. with features to follow.
\nOne of the reasons Norman\u2019s season is on the upswing is because of the new car he purchased during the winter from Ralph Constantine.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s the old No. 8 car that was driven in the past by Josh Galvin,\u201d Norman said. \u201cWe resfreshed the motor and we gave the car plenty of TLC. We spent a lot of time taking care of the things on the car that needed to be taken care of.
\n\u201cThe car has been pretty good. We\u2019re there on the speed chart every week and I hope this week and can be up near the front from beginning to end.\u201d
\nNorman got his first taste of Sportsman competition at the Speedbowl when he and his dad helped out Nate Appell. Then he, his dad and Nate decided to build an X-Car.
\n\u201cThat\u2019s what my mom wanted,\u201d Norman said. \u201cBut we decided to build a Mini Stock instead. We kept it away from my mom and had to ask for her forgiveness later She still wanted an X-Car.\u201d
\nNorman\u2019s Mini Stock career started in 2005.
\n\u201cThen I got out from behind the wheel for a while and Phil Evans started driving for me,\u201d Norman said. \u201cAnd then we got a Sportsman car in 2011.\u201d
\nWhen Evans wanted to slow down his racing so he could help his son, PJ, get started in Kart racing, there was a vacancy behind the wheel in the Sportsman car. He decided that the best man to take over the ride was the one he looked at every day in the mirror.
\n\u201cI wasn\u2019t going to beg anyone to drive my own car,\u201d Norman said. \u201cMy crew rallied around me \u2014 they all said that I could do it. As long as my crew is behind me, I\u2019ll do anything. They are a great bunch of guys. They\u2019re the same group that was there when Phil Evans and I started in 2011.\u201d
\nNorman\u2019s sponsorship includes Lou\u2019s Collision and Custom Paints, Labriola Landscaping, Atwater Paving, Ken\u2019s Auto, Sound Pools and Spas, the Aniskovich Family, GCR Specialties, Hocon Industrial Gas, NAPA of Old Saybrook and Guilford and Security Financial Mortgage Corporation.
\nHis mom, dad, wife and daughter are key members of his crew, along with his brother, Brian Norman, and P.J., Ricky, Bruce, Al Stone and his crew, Charles Canfield and his crew, and Kyle James and his crew.
\nHe\u2019s hoping the crew can join him soon in a Victory Lane celebration. He\u2019s coming off a rough week, however \u2014 he was sidelined by a fuel pick-up problem. The malady has been fixed, however, and Norman is ready to go.
\n\u201cMy plan is to have a good heat race, start out front and ride for a few laps,\u201d Norman said. \u201cI drive differently than a lot of guys. I\u2019m not going to smash my way to get to the front. I know Al Stone will have the car dialed in for me and I\u2019ll have a good ride.
\n\u201cAfter a few laps, it will be time to start pushing it. I\u2019ll give it all I\u2019ve got, and hopefully by the end of the race, they\u2019ll be chasing me.\u201d
\nAfter all, he\u2019s been on the podium this season. Now he just wants to take that final step to be on the top rung of the ladder.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Norman looking to take one more step to victory lane WATERFORD \u2014 Bo Norman of Clinton says he can\u2019t be disappointed with his 2018 Sportsman season at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl. \u201cThe car has been great every week.\u201d Norman said. \u201cI\u2019m just trying to keep my nose clean to the best of my ability. If […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3,50],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23601","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-connecticut","category-waterford-speedbowl"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23601","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23601"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23601\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23602,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23601\/revisions\/23602"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23601"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23601"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23601"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}