Joe Aramendia and Raymond Delahoussaye win final 2011 NASCAR Fiesta Modified event at Houston Motorsports Park

October 17, 2011

It turned out to be a special weekend for Raymond Delahoussaye and all the guys at WD Racing, as driver Joe Aramendia pedaled the No. 5 Tri-Lectric modified to a win in the NASCAR Fiesta Modified’s Double Oak Construction 75 on Saturday night at Houston Motorsports Park.

Joe Aramendia driving the Delahoussaye modified at HMP Saturday. Steve Steinle photo.

“It was the perfect weekend,” Delahoussaye said. “We were fast when we unloaded the car on Friday and we stayed fast all weekend. It feels great to win the final race of the season at HMP.”

Raymond Delahoussaye (left) and Joe Aramendia celebrate in HMP's victory circle. Steve Steinle photo.

Aramendia topped the field of 19 cars – which included Texas state champion Zak Hausler, who had won 12 races this season on the 3/8-mile high-banked paved oval at HMP – to take the checkered flag.
Aramendia posted the fastest lap time (14.919 seconds) and top speed (90.489 miles per hour) during Saturday night’s main event, as well as the top speed in practice and a win in his heat race.

“Had we been able to run this car all season, we would have definitely challenged Zak for the track and state championship,” said Delahoussaye, winner of 15 local short track championships as a driver, crew chief and owner.

It might not have been possible, after the car, which was originally built by Chris Swenson, was wrecked so badly a few years ago that the only thing salvageable on it was the front half of the car.

But that didn’t deter Delahoussaye and Eddie Nastasi, from Nasty Race Cars, when it came time to put it back together. Working side-by-side, the two rebuilt the rear of the car, the interior and the body.
Then they got help from David Umscheid, from Umscheid Race Services, Scooter Manchester, from Performance Transmission and Dan Finn, a carburetor specialist from Beaumont on other performance issues. They put an engine from Westside Performance in it and it was ready to race.

“We were able to bring Frankenstein back to life,” Delahoussaye said. “It took a lot of hard work and dedication by all the guys that worked on this thing. I can’t thank them enough.”

It was just the second race that Aramendia drove for Delahoussaye and WD Racing. In their first start together, back on Sept. 17, Aramendia finished ninth in the feature race.

“Joe did a great job in his two starts for me this season,” Delahoussaye said. “After the way we just finished off the 2011 season, I can’t wait to get going in 2012.”

Story by Russ Goodall
Steve Steinle photos

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Posted by NickHolt · Filed Under Paved Tracks, Top Main
Tagged: HMP, Houston Motorsports Park, Joe Aramendia, NASCAR, NASCAR Fiesta Modified, Nasty Race Cars, Raymond Delahoussaye, Russ Goodall, Tri-Lectric Pro Modified, WD Racing, Westside Performance