February 21 & 22, 2009 It stinks that Arizona doesn't change its time and Nevada does.   We had to leave at 4am on Saturday morning to make it to Canyon Speedway Park on time.   Travel across Hoover Dam is restricted so I take a little longer route to Arizona with a tough tow down into and up out of the Laughlin area.   Arrived at the track and drew surprisingly well.   #4.   That lined me up on the pole for heat #4.   I tried to hot lap but the track was still greasy and I flew off the track and just spun the tires for the most part.   Not a good use of time or equipment.   From staging I watched the previous heat and saw that the top was where it was at.   So I knew that getting up would be important.    I was really ready for the start and got the jump to ease up into the high line into turn 1.   The car was good and I was moving along quite nicely.   The laps were winding down and I wasn't feeling any pressure.   Turns out I had built up a decent sized lead.   YELLOW.   Dammit!   Coming off turn 4 on the restart the car practically died.   I was on and off the accelerator to get the car to go and it finally did.   Although I was at the flagstand and had fallen back to 4th spot.   I knew there was just a few laps to go and I got back into third and was right with 2nd.   I needed 2nd to transfer.   I tried a slide for life in turn 4 to no avail.   I got close coming off 4 the next time by as the white flag waved.   I cut from high to under the 2nd place car off turn 2.   I had a better run and nosed ahead into 3.   I barely squeezed my way in front and got the final transfer spot.   The top 12 redrew and I, of course, drew the 12th starting spot.   The track was rubbered up and one line on the top side of the track in the other features before ours so I was a little concerned.   At the green the front jumbled up a bit and I dove low to avoid it.   MISTAKE.   The train blew by me off turn 4 and I fell back quickly.   A couple of laps in I went to avoid a spin in turn 2 and was hit from behind causing me to spin, giving me a flat.   Got it fixed and rejoined the tail of the LONG line of cars.  I managed to avoid the carnage and rode the train to a 15th place finish.   I felt faster than the group in front of me, but couldn't find a line by.   The top was just too fast.  After unloading on Sunday I tried to warm up the car.   Dead.   The battery had been charging but all it would do is click.   We scrambled to change everything we could think of, but to no avail.   To avoid missing my heat we push started the car and I lined up 7th of 8.   At the green a car in front of me spun and I shot off the track to avoid him.   No yellow so I was a ways behind.   Finally the yellow waved.   However at the green the car began to misfire.   I got under the 4th place car and the car sputtered.   I finished off the remaining laps and ran 5th.   Hoped to get it figured out for the B but didn't get it done, so I lined up outside row 3, with 4 cars transferring.   Hoping for the best I was in a good spot with the top groove being best again.   Going for the green the car went and then revved up going nowhere.   Something in the drivetrain too a dump.   I coasted off the track and was pushed into the pits.   From there we loaded up and made the long trip home.   Retirement is becoming a more clear reality than ever before.   There might be a good deal on a race team out there soon!   Wanna go racing?   Thanks Blake and Robert for their help and support this weekend.   February 14, 2009 A return to basics this weekend as I reset the set up on the car in hopes of regaining the handling on the new ride.   Last weekend turned out to be a smart decision as Mohave Valley rained out anyway, so I didn't miss anything other than wasting some money on the tow down there and back.   Smart move huh?   The weather was great as the dreaded wind of Death Valley Raceway was gone!   Wanted to tag my heat but a few others had the same idea so I wound up starting inside row 3 for my heat.   The track was a little slippery (wet) up top and dry slick down low.   So everyone was fighting for the bottom and I was able to move up to third pretty quickly.   Got into 2nd and then was passed on the outside.   Fought hard and made it back by and began a run at the leader.   He was out quite a ways but in the closing laps I was coming, just ran out of time.   I redrew 8th for the feature and the track was in pretty good shape.   Some close racing early on had me fall back into the 9th spot after just rubbing the infield tire coming off turn 4.   I was so glad that the car was still steering correctly after the "rub."   Was 8th in line at the first yellow and began to move up.   Used the bottom to get all the way to the 5th spot and was about a straight away behind the lead pack of 4.   The leader began to slip away as the 2-3-4 group worked their way back to me.   With nowhere to go I was forced to move up a groove and it was a little rutted out.    It took a couple of laps to get the hang of throwing it in really hard.   The bottom was a slower, more direct groove and the outside was a hang it out ride 'em cowboy kind of groove.    Finally got a run on the 4th place car coming off turn 2 and timed it just right......until he pushed across the track and came up a little high.   We just touched and continued on.  WHEW!   Was able to finish the pass off turn 4 and set my sights on the top 3.   The 2-3 cars had now moved up to the top (signaling works! haha) and I was forced to try the bottom.   I could get a nose out front but the momentum of the top would allow them to race on by.   I wound up settling in and finishing 4th, our first top 5 of the season!   After a failure to appear by another car in tech I was promoted to third.   I'm pleased with the progress and hope we can use this to improve even more next time out.   Alls well on this end!  Thanks Mom, Blake, and Kelly for their help and support in the pits.  January 31, 2009 Mohave Valley Raceway A slew of chassis changes this week and off to Mohave Valley Raceway we went.   I drew 45 which placed me 5th in the 7 car first heat.   A false start negated a good start and it was back to the drawing board.   I managed to get a good start again and moved up through the pack well.  By 1/2 way I was in the 2nd spot and was slowly reeling in the leader.   I began searching around for a groove and was actually finding something towards the end.   However, I ran out of time and wound up about a car length short of picking up the heat win.    All 27 cars would start the feature so a good draw would be important.   I drew 43 which was 6th best of the cars drawing.   At the green I slipped into my 6th spot and not soon after slipped back into 7th.   Just after a restart I was inside 6th coming off turn 2 when I pushed up and clipped his left rear tire.   It flattened my right front and sent me off the top of turn 3.   I limped off the track and into the pits.   Mom and Blake went to work changing the tire and soon after the yellow waved.   I was at least 2 laps down though.   I rejoined the field at the back of the long line.   The leader was going into 3 when I was at the flagstand, it was a LONG line.   I figure I was somewhere around 24th / 25th in line.   Forced to run where the others were not, I found it tough to move up, but did so anyway.   The car was pretty good and I didn't want to give up.   Even laps down I was determined to do the best I could.   By the time the checkered waved I had moved up to 9th on the track just behind the cars battling for the top 5.   Not too bad at all, lots of cars passed to get up there.   I was laps down so I was officially scored in 19th.   Back to the drawing board, more changes on the way!   Thanks Mom & Blake for their help in the pits this weekend.  January 24, 2009 Death Valley Raceway I really need to get more laps on this new car and the chance to race at DVR had us on the road early Saturday morning.  Was scheduled to line up outside row 1 for the heat but decided to tag as I was not sure how the car would react to my most recent changes.    So I lined up last and jumped by 2 cars at the start.   Finally got to the 4th spot, needing third to transfer.   The track groove was pretty narrow so passing was at a premium.   I got side by side with third but ran out of room and had to fall back or crash us both.   Wound up 4th, albeit close.    Lined up for the B main on the pole.   They had graded and watered the track so we had to run around packing it in before the green.   It was a little sloppy low and I knew I would get jumped at the start.    That did happen but I was able to use the bottom of turns 1 & 2 to vault into the lead.   I knew some good cars were behind me so I was trying to set a good pace.   It had to be a good pace as lapped cars were coming into view within the first 4 laps.   I had just started lapping cars when the first yellow waved.   The car was good and the track was improving from its greasy beginnings.  I managed to hold onto the lead the whole race.   However, coming off turn 2 with just a handful of laps to go, the car began to die, the fuel light came on and I pulled down off turn 2.   I let off the throttle and the car came back to life.   So I got back going and to my surprise I was still leading.  I guess I had a good sized lead most of the race.   Won the B and that lined me up 13th for the A. The track was getting bumpy and I tried to pick and choose my way through the bumps early on.   I played it safe.   I was moving up and doing well but would have done better if I had banged the ruts like the rest.   I just couldn't get myself to abuse my equipment like that.   I chickened out.   However I was still quite competitive hanging with the lead group.   A couple of unlucky yellows negated some passes on my part, but I still wound up in the 6th spot.   Not too bad from 13th in a tough field of racers.   The car is coming along, more changes on deck for this coming weekend.   Thanks Mom & Blake for their help in the pits this weekend!   January 17, 2009 I've been a little down in the dumps lately, stressed out about the racing and a few other things.   Just a rough time for me altogether.    It's approaching a year since my father passed and he has been on my mind quite a bit.   So deciding to go to Mohave, of all places, is toughest.   It may sound odd, dramatic, or even silly, but going to Mohave really bothers me.   You see when I turn off of 95 to head south on 93 the off ramp points directly to the cemetery in Boulder City where my father was laid to rest.   It's difficult to make that turn every time we head down there.   Really makes my mind go crazy for the rest of the trip.   Sorry, these are my own issues, not everyone's.  Anyway, the only issue weather wise was the wind.   It was windy.   However the wind was blowing down the front straight and away from the pits and fans.   That's good.   I had made many changes to the car and really needed to hot lap to see if everything would be ok.   I had also painted my driveline slip yoke to make sure it was no longer bottoming out.    Lots to check on.   Went out to run in the track a little bit and before you know it they were dropping the green on us.   It didn't take long to see that the changes were good.   The car was moving around, turning, and going forward.   It was awesome.   The track was still pretty quick and it's always fun to fly around the track in these cars.   I remembered why I am still doing all this, that was fun.  Of course I draw numbers like I draw pictures, horribly.    Lined up 7th of 7 in heat number 3.   With about 28 cars in the pits I would need a top 3 to transfer into the main.   At the green I decided to keep with the bottom until someone ahead of me showed me the line.   I quickly learned that I was a little heavy on the throttle as the track was slick.   Once I retrained my head to foot communication, I went forward, very far forward.   Picked off cars lap after lap.   I know that my flaw at big shows is I am not aggressive enough so I was trying to stay in the battle.   The bottom was working and as the white flag waved I had slipped into 2nd and was about 3 cars behind the leader.   Going into 3 I gained some ground and come off 4 right on his bumper.   Finished 2nd, a great run.   I redrew 3rd for the feature, but had some very young and very good company around me.   In fact the field was full of great drivers.   At the green I realized quickly that I was in the wrong line.   Cars were moving well up top and the bottom was just a tad slower.   By the time I got to the top I had already slipped back to 5th.   A restart later the cars bunched up a bit and I got too high allowing a few others to slip by.   I wasn't frustrated, but I was a little annoyed with myself.   So I buckled down and decided to fight a little harder.   Fought back and passed a car or two back and got myself into the 6th spot.   I started smelling rubber about midway through the race and it was obvious that the track was taking rubber, using up the rear tires.   I could feel the right rear shaking like it was going flat.    Battling hard for 6th I was trying everything to get by.   I was using the brakes quite a bit to not hit the guy, but the pack was breathing down our necks.   We were stacked up behind.   I got a good run off 4 to get side by side however he didn't me much room and I had to pinch the car to avoid contact, forcing me back to 7th.   White flag.   Was just really close into 1 and off 2.   Into three and one last ditch effort.   I hugged the berm and shot off turn 4 on the inside.   I just did nose ahead at the finish to grab 6th.   While it's not a win, I'm satisfied with 6th.   It was fun.   Back in the pits the right rear was blistered and coming apart.   Might not have lasted much longer anyway.    Thanks to everyone who helped in the pits and who stopped by to say hello!    January 3, 2009 I really believe in numerology.   I teach math so it's obvious I'm into numbers.   Well with that in mind, our first race was destined to be a nightmare numerically.   It marked the start of our 13th race season, I drew 66 and started 6th in the heat race.   Three sixes and a thirteen just don't really add up nice numerically.   During hot laps the car was great, moving right along.   I got the first tire mark on the quarter panel during hot laps, very cool!   I guess that's why they do not call them "warm" laps.   Lined up 6th for the heat and drove it in hard on the outside.   Narrowly made it by another car on the extreme outside and shot to 2nd coming off turn 2.   YES!!   The car was great and I moved in on the leader.   Not really sure where to run but trying a different line than the leader.   That wasn't working so I started to follow his line.   Suddenly the car was getting tight in and loose off.   I was under heavy pressure for 2nd but still staying in that spot.   Turns out the right rear was practically flat.   I was still 2nd coming into turn 3 on the last lap when I got hit from behind sending me sideways into the line of another car.   That car was a victim of circumstance.  We door slapped pretty hard.   I recovered but finished 4th putting me outside of the top 3 transferring to the B.   Someone is now filed away into the "discretionary file."   Lined up in the B main on the outside of row 1.   However just before we went out they watered.  UGH!   The track was slicker than snot.   We drove around for a while packing it in and finally got the green.   I moved into the lead and then fell back to 2nd.   I thought the track was coming in so I moved up.   NOPE!   It was like ice on the outside and I flew off the top of turn 3.   Restarted 7th as that was all the cars left.   I needed 6th to transfer so I passed just two cars to make the A.   Started 22nd in the A.  At the green I couldn't see a THING!   The dust coupled with the sun glare made it impossible to see.   After two laps the dust settled down but the glare down the front stretch made everything disappear.   It was really tough for me to race.   The car was a mess and I was too.   Hard to concentrate when I can't see the wall or other cars down the front stretch.   After a while I was heading into turn 3 when the left side door comes flying up beside me.   Making my line of vision even worse.   I pulled off under caution and it was fixed with 200 mile per hour tape.   I must not have gone any faster than that as it held.    Eventually it just got to be too much.   I wasn't going anywhere and I just wasn't comfortable not seeing, so I pulled in and called it a day. Once at home I realized there were some things wrong with the car that needed to be tended to more seriously.    So I stayed home on Sunday and did not go for day 2 of the event.   I need to get my stuff together and make a better effort if I am going to be competitive in 2009.   It's time to get going on the track or get out of the car.    I know I have gotten slower over the last couple of years, so I can either pick it up or pack it up.   Time will tell.   Thanks Mom, Blake and Jerry for their help this weekend.   Also to everyone who chipped in to tape up the door in the work area.    MOHAVE VALLEY RACEWAY, September 27, 2008! I will never race for points again! Repeat, I will never race for points again. As we readied for the final IMCA points night at MVR we were suprised by a visitor from Iowa. Friend and sponsor Kim joined us by surprise to take in the final event of the point season. Loaded up and made the 125 mile trek to MVR under sunny skies and 100° temperatures. We arrived to a wet track and a few drivers who haven't been to MVR in quite some time. It was nice to see the former regulars return to add cars to the field. The point race was on all of our minds as my large 12 point lead was almost erased by the J-bar breaking at the last event. I had a 4 point lead and needed to finish with 4 points of the 2nd place guy to win the championship outright. Lined up 5th of 6 in heat 2. At the green I was excited to go and was looking for an opening but there wasn't much room anywhere as the bottom was a little sloppy still and the top had cars in it. I got into 1 turned the car hard and was heavy on the gas peeking inside the car in front. The lead car got loose and collected the car in front of me. I was full throttle and clipped the left rear of the car in front of me as we both spun to the infield. The car behind me had nowhere to go and hit me right in the door. As we pulled away I was notified by another racer that my front wheels were facing different directions. Front end damage. Off the track I went. In the pits the crew went to work and after thinking for a few moments, I knew I had to go run the box races. I figured there were kids waiting and as I rushed onto the track there was a crowd. Got some help from the fans in running the races. All had a good time and one of the kids even hugged my leg saying, "Dan, thank you for coming out here and doing this." I know, "ahhhhhh." Returned to the pits to get the front end squared away as the crew had it all under control. The bad news is that I missed the invert and would be 2 rows behind my chief competiton for the championship. I was so worked up over the whole thing I was feeling the beginnings of a migrane. It wasn't pretty. Got to line up to find that a car up front elected to tag the main moving the row of the 2nd place point car up another. They introduced us, started us up and we headed around 1 & 2 to catch the field. The pace car pulls off the lights flicker and I am trying to catch up. I am a set of turns behind as the green waves. SHOOT! Needing to get up to the front was now getting more difficult. As I rode around in 11th place I wasn't gaining ground and my chief rival was already up to 2nd. For a moment I contemplated causing my own yellow to just catch back up, but figured that would be a risk should I cause two I would be out. The very next lap, yellow. WHEW! Back to racing and I was slowly moving up through the field. I was up to 6th only to lose two spots when a car spun in front of me. Things were looking bleak. Finally I told myself to just go for it. Quit racing all "safe" and just go to the front. Finally started making headway and was up to 6th. The 4th and 5th place cars were side by side. As we exited turn 4 the car in front of me got loose and headed to the infield. After losing spots the last time a car spun I over reacted and hit the car as it spun to the infield. It caught the left front and I got a flat left front. As I chugged in the infield to get the car going the yellow waved for the other car into the infield tire. Off the track I went to Mom, Blake, and Kelly for a tire. In a calm, deliberate, and quick manner they changed the tire and I was off to catch the back of the field. Now in 11th I knew I was under fire as the leader was my chief point rival. As the lights flickered I told myself, "you can either win this championship or give it away......so go win this thing!" The cars were favoring the bottom so I peeked high and then had to choose the middle into 1. I got a good bite and shot across to the bottom. As the cars battled for traction I had a great grab and went through to pack. I actually exited the 2nd turn in 6th place. Just one more spot to tie, 2 to win. I quickly got into the 5th spot and after a few laps I eased by 4th. Just before the yellow waved again I had cleared the 3rd place car down the front stretch and into turn 1. Third in the line up I was actually hoping the race would end. I was where I needed to be after an up and down race. The leaders got to racing hard and I was right there with a car ready to battle with them. As the leaders touched I decided to back off and give myself some room. The leader got some breathing room and I stayed aggressive not wanting to get pressure from behind. Second place and I eased back up on the leader and he took a shot at the lead only to push out coming off turn 2. I sneaked by and got the spot. Once into 2nd I actually didn't want to pressure for the lead. I rode out the final laps and as I crossed the line I became the 2008 Mohave Valley Raceway track champion for IMCA modifieds! It's our 4th championship at MVR ('97, '98, '03, '08) YES! Thanks Mom, Blake, and Kelly for their great work in the pits, they saved my butt out there. Also a big thank you to my sponsors, friends, family, and fans for their support during this great yet trying season. Way to go also to Bill Meyer and his team for making us work for it. Afterwards I told my crew that I would never run for points again. It's too much stress on us all. We should be there for the fun of it, not for the points. Been there, done that. MOHAVE VALLEY RACEWAY, September 13, 2008 After a busy week of meetings, work, and more meetings (school related) I was able to get to work on the car in hopes of finding some much needed speed. Found a few things wrong with the suspension and then placed it on the scales. Went back to square one and adjusted a few things here in there. Loaded up on Friday night and hit the road at 5:45am on Saturday to complete a vinyl job in Pahrump. Got home around 1:45 and got a few things done while everyone rested / napped. By 3:30 we were on the road. Arrived at the track and headed out to pack. It was wet. Luckily I was in the last of the heats and the track was very racy for our heat. The night started out rough as the first heat of Mini Sports lasted a LONG LONG time. I started 4th of 6 in my heat and was in 2nd quickly. Got under the leader coming off turn 4 and was into the lead. From there I just kept driving it harder and harder while changing my lines here and there testing the waters. The car was a totally different car, GREAT! Lined up 7th for the feature and was into the 6th spot early taking it easy. Got into 4th and was running with the leaders when the car broke. A heim-joint on the J-bar broke allowing the rear end to roam freely at the back of the car. Of course it took a lot of other things with it and I finished dead last. Lost a lot of points from our lead in the process. Not good. Thanks to Mom, Blake, Kelly and Jeff (our pit neighbor) for your help and assistance getting the mess of a car back into the trailer. I appreciate it. Also thanks to the fans who waited patiently to talk while we worked on the car. Below are some photos from J & E Photography, http://www.jephotos.photoreflect.com MOHAVE VALLEY RACEWAY, August 30, 2008 It was so nice to get back to racing at "home" just 125 miles away. While it is still warm and it was threatening rain, we enjoyed the familiar ride to Mohave Valley Raceway. The track was in excellent shape and I headed to the track lined up outside row 2. The car just wasn't itself as the green flag waved. It almost seemed like I had a parachute on me as I struggled to move up. It took until lap 5 to pass for the 2nd spot and I was on the leader as the white waved. The leader went into 1 in the middle and it was slick. He did a half spin and I had to lock 'em up to avoid him. I darted high and so did he. I was already committed so with two wheels off the racing surface I drove side by side into turn 3. We touched slightly but he gave me plenty of room and I was able to drive by on the high line for the narrow win. Went out to run the box races and had another great time. I had purchased little gold, silver, and bronze medals for the kids in honor of the recent Olympics. I even had a tie for the bronze in the big kids race. Good thing I brought extras right? Always prepared. As we prepared for the main event we were all trying to avoid the mosquitoes. They were tearing us up. I ended up wearing my head sock to get some things done. The crew was suffering greatly as they attacked us all over the place. Even getting through our clothes! I really had a bleak outlook for the feature. The car just was driving like a brick. Not moving and certainly not going forward very well. But I hit the track in the 7th starting spot. I used the bottom early and narrowly escaped a tangle on the back stretch early. That placed me up to the 3rd spot and after another yellow I was able to join the battle for the lead. I was hoping the lead battle would move to the bottom and while it came close to moving, they never moved down. I finally was able to work by the 2nd place car on the bottom and then hit the wall. The leader just checked out on me over the last few laps. I had nothing for him. It was great for him as he got his first win, but for me it was frustrating as the car just wasn't that good. So it will be back to the drawing board this week to try and get it back to how it was when I dominated the Nationals last October at the same track. We'll see. Overall a second is great all things considered and it was nice to see a first time winner! Congrats to that team. WINNEMUCCA REGIONAL RACEWAY & LOVELOCK SPEEDWAY, August 15 & 16, 2008 One more LONG trip, over 1,000 miles. Arrived at Winnemucca Regional Raceway with the whole team in tact. Mom, Blake and Kelly all made the trip again. The track was in great shape and the first heat was a fast one. Then before we go out for heat 2, they WATER!?! We tried running in the water and did ok except for a spot right in the middle of the front stretch. It was slick. They decided to go green so at the green I backed off and fell back. Moved to the bottom against the berm and avoided the slick front stretch. All the cars slid way up the track with one glancing off a light pole. Red. Back to green and I really just didn't want to risk it so I was lagging back. Managed to work in the water and finally made a move up but would only finish in the third spot. Lined up for the main and I moved through the field pretty quickly and was up to third before 10 laps were scored. Being on the outside on the restarts was difficult and I could never make it stick. The car just seemed to stall out once I got to third, didn't have anything for the leaders. So I finished 3rd, a good run overall. Made the long drive to Lovelock after the race in Winnemucca. My poor crew were wore out after a LONG LONG day of travel. We got to the rooms by 2:00am and went to bed. Went to eat in the morning and then hit up the local store to stock the coolers. Spent the rest of the day watching the Olympics to pass time. Arrived at the track and had to relive the "wreck" from the previous time with many of the people. Everyone wanted to talk about it, me, not so much. Lined up 7th in the heat race and was mired on the slick bottom groove. They watered and the water always runs down so the bottom wasn't the greatest place to be. Finally broke free and worked up to third. Was gaining on the leaders as the white waved. A lapped car played a role in the finish and I wound up slipping by into 2nd. Made the invert and lined up 8th in the 17 car feature. The racing was fast and close early. After an early restart the leaders made contact and I narrowly missed another car as he climbed over the side of someone. That put me in 2nd but I got put back to third as another car was restored to the lead. At the green I fell into the third spot and was right behind as the 2nd place car got under the leader going into 1. The other car suddenly made an odd swerve to the right and then snapped back to the left. OH NO, he we go again. I was going hard into the turn and was at full speed. I tried to check up and see whether he was going to spun down in front of me or simply stop. I almost had the car stopped and he stopped. I glanced off him and we stopped driver's door to driver's door. Just a moment later another car spun and jumped over my front end slightly. The second hit broke the front end suspension and my night was over. Everyone else drove away and finished. Big time bummer! While taking a weekend off this late in the season is normally a kiss of death in regards to the points, I have decided that I along with the crew need a weekend off. I am mentally exhausted from all the wrecking and carnage over the last few weeks. School is starting for me on Wednesday and for students on Monday. Yes it may jeopardize my shot at the points, but I just need the break. Thanks Mom, Blake, Kelly, and to the Delaney's for their help in the pits at Winnemucca & Lovelock. SUMMIT RACEWAY, August 9, 2008 Yes we are crazy, but to some we are persistent. The recent troubles experienced by the team have done little to damper everyone else's spirits. It seems that I am the only one, (as usual), who is concerned by it all. We loaded up, got the mufflers on, and headed out to Elko, NV's Summit Raceway. Left a little later and took our time getting there. Just "enjoying" the drive. Got to the hotel by 3:30 and had an hour in the room before heading to the track. Arrived to find a healthy field of 16 modifieds. I lined up inside row 2 for my heat and quickly got to third. Slipped into 2nd and was putting pressure on the lead. Was able to run up to him but just couldn't get by. As the race wound down I entered turn 3 only to have the car come out of gear. It just wouldn't stay in gear so I came off the track. Decided in the pits that I would use the old secret weapon on the car to keep in it gear. Click here to see it! With the small heats, I still managed to get into the invert and was lined up 7th for the feature. I decided to change a few things for the feature and I will admit that my attitude stunk heading into it. My confidence in myself and the car was really low. But I climbed in and got into the line up. Just after getting in line I see a red flag on the track for the pro stocks. A car had gotten into the fence and taken some of it down. The ensuing melee in the pits had everyone's attention. Just as we were getting ready to go onto the track another incident broke out and halted our race before it began. Finally we hit the track and it was black and slick but it looked like there might be some bite up high. However it was WAY up there compared to the bottom where I lined up. After a couple of tries we got going. I moved up quickly and was into the 4th spot early. With the double file restarts I used the inside of row three to jump inside the 2nd place car and took over that spot. However the car on the outside went back by and I was into third. Eventually moved my way into 2nd but wasn't happy with the car. It was so tight going in that I had to drive it too hard which took away my corner exit. After a couple of restarts the third place car went way up the track and found some bite. I liked what I saw and headed up there too. However I would have to be creative to get by in him in that line. Went back to the bottom and got by off 4 and then did a little slide up into 1 to take the spot. I had to wait on the car for a while on the top for the bite to come in. The leader would be out there but I knew if I waited I could get a good run. Sure enough I got a great run and went right by and into the lead. YELLOW! Damn! Plus with the double file starts I would again have to fight for the top. A couple more times I either was passing or just about to pass for the lead when the yellow waved. Now the action was heating up as a new third place car was fighting high and low. We were spending so much time battling with ourselves that we didn't have much of a shot at getting the leader. Entering three there was a big oil slick as a car had scattered a motor. They stopped us thinking they may call the race due to debris. I was sitting in third on the track not sure who had crossed the line ahead (me or 2nd) on the last lap. So I was sitting there thinking, YES I will have the outside on the restart and I am going to get this lead if it hurts me. After about 10 minutes they had cleaned the track and we were ready to go back to racing. The leader left the track as officials allowed him to change a tire due to being forced into the debris by an official. They put me back into 2nd so there goes my plan for the top. Darn it! So we go back green, yellow. The flagman shows the green, white, and checkered flags, meaning a two lap shootout. OH BOY! At the green I go in really low and the leader goes in a little off the bottom. He slips up and I duck under. He gets loose and there is contact. The leader comes spinning down towards me. OH NO! He mashes the gas and spins around. We make contact but I keep going. The race is still on. Yellow. I am in the lead with the other two going to the tail. Normally I would be excited to lead but not when things like that happen. It was an amazing battle to that point. The other problem, my front end was damaged as my steering wheel no longer lined up. Uh oh! I knew I needed the restart of the season to pull this off. The green was out and I was into turn 1 hoping, praying it would turn. It did. In fact it turned better than it had ALL night! The car was FAST! It was like I had turned on another switch. I won! Amazing turn of events and a tough end to a great race. Wish the three of us had just raced it out. Bummer. Thanks Mom, Blake, and Kelly for their help and support! WINNEMUCCA REGIONAL RACEWAY, August 1, 2008 I will not be attending any more races solo, I got that much out of this weekend. Left early Friday morning for a race in Winnemucca. Got to the track in time to watch them water, water, and water. One time the water truck went around the outside barely moving just soaking the track. Well, of course, it was a mud bog when we went to pack. What is wrong with dry?? (That's why I LOVE Battle Mountain) Anyway, we were just moving mud rather than packing it down. After "packing" it didn't look any better. So I decided to skip the heat race. That put me last in the main and the track was better by feature time. At the first green I played it safe and moved up a spot going into three I went low as another car lost it up high. He spun into the right side and we hit. It almost put me into the front stretch wall, but I recovered and kept going. With no one on the sidelines I wiggled the car to feel it out. It felt ok, so I stayed out. Next start I went high into 1 and got ran up the track as a car jumped over my left front. Escaped that and just as I completed that lap, BANG, BOOM, BANG, CLANG.......etc. Something happened in the drive train and the driveline came loose. It proceeded to tear everything up under the car before I came to a stop. Night over after just 1 real lap of racing. Bummer. I have had a lot on my mind over the last few weeks and the pressure is getting worse. So it's needless to say that I was frustrated after the troubles in Winnemucca. I keep feeling that everything is a "sign" that I should quit. No one believes that I will quit, they've told me. But I will admit I have entertained the thought. Blake arrived on Friday after work and helped to load up. He was optimistic about fixing it for Battle Mountain. However it just didn't seem like we would be able to fix it well enough. It destroyed the transmission, shifting rods, interior of the car and driveline. So I loaded up and headed home. I really need to get through this as I try to finish off a possible MVR and Western Region championship. I feel like I have a 1/2 lap lead and have run out of gas. The checkered flag is in the flagman's hand and I am creeping to it as the field roars behind me. Interestingly enough, as I type this, "Something's gotta give" by Leann Rimes is playing in the background. How's that for a "sign?" LOVELOCK SPEEDWAY, July 25, 2008 Again hit the road solo only this time it was just so hot I left the dogs behind. So I really was solo. About 100 miles into the trip I started thinking I should just return home. However I kept going. Got to the track and it turned into a heavy show as 23 cars were there and many great teams from all over the place. The track was a miserable mess when we went to pack it. It wasn't packing down, instead we were just moving slop around. Trying to clean it off in the pits by myself was not fun. It's the type of stuff that when it dries it won't scrape off, you have to keep getting it wet to get it off. Lined up inside row 2 for my heat and jumped inside the pole sitter going into turn 1. Got into 2nd and wound up moving up the track to find some traction as they kept watering between each event. (A pet peeve). Finally got into the lead and was getting heavy pressure from behind. Turn 3 was blind as the sun was setting right in our view. So I was setting the car off feel. A few times I set it too high and lost traction. Wound up losing the lead and finished 2nd. Again started 2nd row inside for the feature. They had watered heavily before the main and it was greasy. I wound up finding an opening and got high early. Had fallen back and then moved up to 2nd again using the drier high side. The competition was great and I found myself back and forth between 2nd and 5th most of the race. Running third as the laps wound down we encountered heavy traffic. The lapped cars were pinning the leaders down so I started to move up. White flag. Several cars racing hard in front of the leaders as we ran bumper to bumper to bumper. I went in just a little higher and figured I would try for the win as the leaders bottled up the bottom. A lapped car shot up the track and when the cars parted I was full throttle heading for a car spun facing me head on. WHAM. I could tell by the ringing in my ears that it was a hard hit. The bent up hood and the RF tire sitting just inches from me told me the car was toast too. As the fuel poured down the track cars continued to circle the track. I was trying to get my bearings and see if I was ok or if there was any pain. My chest hurt and my legs were going numb. But I figured I would be ok. I sat there for quite a while without dropping my net. Finally an official appeared and by then I was ready to come out. Once out I was ready to throw up. The damage was sickening. Especially since I could look across the track and see the checkered waving, I was that close. It took a team of 7 or 8 men to get the car in the trailer. I cannot thank Rob, Nick, Rodney, Brandon, Randy, and several I didn't know for helping me get the heap in the trailer. They were really helpful! Thanks! Now that I am home I am thinking this whole thing may be a life change. I planned to sell the other car and race the "wrecked" car on a limited schedule next season. Maybe this is a sign that my time is up and that I need to just move on. Grow up, sell out, and life goes on. I had actually raced my way up the standings and am leading the region while I sit third nationally. I already have several in line to buy the other car and that is money in the bank. However, this isn't the way I wanted to go out. But then, who said I would get to choose how I went out. Part of me wants to race the other car until the end of the year, part of me thinks it is time to bow out gracefully. I don't know what it is with cars, but some cars you just click with, and this car was one that I just clicked with. I loved it and am sick that it is gone. Money down the drain. Right now the best I can figure is that I may race out the season until September and then sell out, calling it a year, possibly a career. The year started out horribly, got better, and now has taken a turn for the worse again. I'm at a loss, literally and figuratively. Thanks again for all the help getting the car loaded in Lovelock, I appreciate it greatly. WINNEMUCCA & BATTLE MOUNTAIN, July 18 & 19, 2008! After quite a bit of thought, I decided to hit the road to Winnemucca on Friday. No one was able to get off work to come with me, so I would be solo aside from the dogs. I was nervous, but figured if I was going up there I might as well get in both races. So on the road I went. I also had some vinyl to deliver for a dwarf car up there, so there was another reason to go. It was a LONG drive alone and I took my time stopping several times to walk around and revive myself. The Ipod was helping to fill the void of company. Upon arriving at the track it was nice to see some familiar faces as Blake's brothers and nephews were there with their pure stocks preparing to race. They offered to change a tire if needed and I was grateful. I did, however, tell them that I hoped to not use them. It was also during this time that I was presented with a great portrait from "Grammy." It is amazing, see the Photo of the Week! Lined up 4th for my heat and used the outside to get into 2nd quickly. Once into 2nd I had to try the bottom and it wasn't working. I was not getting any position on the lead car. Started going in higher and coming off low and it allowed me to peek inside. Finally got enough of a look and the leader drove in a little hard and pushed. I slipped by and led the final two laps to win. Tried to get all the normal stuff done on the car before the feature as best I could. As I waited in line to go out for the feature I realized I didn't top off the car with fuel. But it was ok as I was to the brim when I started the night and my car makes weight empty. Lined up in the 7th spot and at the first green cars were everywhere. A couple were spinning or out of shape. We all scrambled but made it through. Still green. Then yellow as a car at the tail had to spin to avoid the scrambling mess. Restart. Another wild start with cars three wide, maybe 4 off turn 2. I started 7th yet drove into turn 3 in the 3rd spot. Worked on 2nd for several laps but couldn't get by as he was working on the leader. Space was limited. They finally lined up on the bottom so I went high in turn 1 and it stuck. Slipped into 2nd and then pressured for the lead. Off turn 2, red flag. A car had flipped over on the front stretch. As I sat entering turn 3 I could see the pit stands. It was eerie that I had no one there to look to for a thumbs up, wave, anything. I passed the time people watching. It helped take my mind off things. I don't like it when there is a big accident like that. I got a good restart and was right there for the lead. I could get inside but not enough to stick it in there for the spot. I realized I was giving up too much room getting in so I drove it in harder into 1 and was there when the leader got loose. I closed up the extra room with my nose and as he gathered the car up the track I slipped side by side. Into 3 and into the lead. From there I was able to lead the final 12 or so laps to the win. With the win I became the all-time wins leader at the track all on my own, breaking the tie with Robert Miller. Afterwards I loaded up and hit the road with Blake's family and was able to meet up with Blake in Battle Mountain for a late night / early morning meal at the truck stop. On Saturday I was invited to a get together at the Bame household in Battle Mountain as they prepared for the race that memorializes their namesake. I had won the Bame Memorial race in 2005 and 2006 but did not attend the event in 2007. We had a great time visiting and was glad they invited me over to meet the family. Just before we left there a big surprise, Mom and Kelly drove up! So from 0 crew on Friday to the full crew on Saturday. Awesome. We headed to the track early so that Blake could apply the vinyl to the dwarf car. Finished it just in time to get the car ready for the heat race. Lined up 3rd for the heat as some new cars in attendance had to tag. At the green the track was greasy. I stayed inside where I started and moved into 2nd pretty quickly. Could get inside the leader a couple of times but the track had me lifting to avoid contact as it was still quite greasy. By 1/2 way it had come in good and I was able to make the pass stick. Once into the lead I moved around a little testing the waters and won the heat race. I chose not to run the trophy dash and watched instead. It was a great race and I watched to see where the line might be in the feature. It became obvious that I would have to use the top at least once during the main event, if not more. A couple of cars broke so that moved me to the 6th starting spot. They watered and the track came in pretty quickly, although it was a little greasy up top. I once had a bad experience with the greasy top before and wound up flying off turn 1 and into a huge tractor tire. So as the green waved I quickly got to the bottom to pick off a car or two. A few laps in I finally got into the top 4 and put the pressure on third. He was holding the bottom so I went high. A few times I got in high but not far enough alongside and got a couple of tail whips into the left front. So I waited and finally got a good run so that I was side by side into 1. From there I got a great shot off turn 2 and into 3rd. It was a good battle for the lead and I slowly creeped up on it. Got into 2nd using the bottom and just gained inches each lap on the leader. Yellow. The double file restart put a car outside me who was working good up top. He went into 1 hard and flew into the lead. I tried low on the 2nd place car and got close but only managed to bump him a couple of times. I moved up top and we touched a bit going into turn 1. I fell back and again was better off the turn and wound up getting into his bumper again. Not wanting to drive through anyone I again tried up top. This time it worked and I was into 2nd. The leader wasn't out too far and I saw he was middle to high. So I started working the bottom and was making up ground. Finally to the leader and we were side by side. The track was like an ice skating rink, I loved it. We were so close yet not touching. This went on for a few laps before I finally found some bite on the low side off 2 to shoot into the lead. While I could hear the pressure from behind I never felt a nudge or saw a wheel to my outside. I went on to lead the remaining laps to pick up my 3rd Bame Memorial race win. Thanks Mom, Blake, and Kelly for your dedication and long trips this weekend to help! I cannot thank you enough for the support. Great weekend! ELKO, ELKO, LOVELOCK, July 11, 12, & 13, 2008! Another triple header weekend with many miles and trials in between. Left around 8:00am on Friday for Elko with Blake and a visiting Iowan Kim in tow. I was having some mechanical issues with the "new / orange" car so I decided to take the yellow / old car. Arrived in Elko by late afternoon and checked into the motel before heading to the track. Things weren't good. Elko requires mufflers now and boy did they cause issues with the tuning. The car ran very poorly, however I still won my heat. I almost drove flat footed around the bowl shaped track. In the pits and I tried to free up the car and jetted up as it was a little lean. It helped and the car was good. I raced all the way up to 2nd in the feature and was having a great battle for the lead. I would actually lead several times without ever being scored as the leader. It was a great back and forth battle for the lead. On a late restart I got inside the leader and drove off 2 in the lead. Just off two there was sparks and grinding coming from the car. I lifted. Went one more lap and pulled off. The torque link had broken and was grinding on the driveline. Night finished. Skip allowed us to use his shop and thanks to several other racers we were able to get enough parts together to fix the car. It wasn't exactly what I wanted but it was better than missing the race. Got it all buttoned up and while Blake and Kim napped at the hotel I headed off to cruise through the activities in the park. Back to the track and disaster strikes again. As we unload the transmission is leaking out the back. Lovely. We rush to change transmissions and got it all buttoned up. During this time I was asked to fill in for Dustin Greenwood in his heat race. He races a pure stock which is a big old Monte Carlo. I got in and started outside row 2 for the heat. At the green there was an opening between the front row and I went for it. This car is wider than my modified and well there was some good old fashioned door to door contact. I muscled my way out of it and was into 2nd, just behind Dustin's dad Keith. Keith was leading for a few laps before I finally slipped by going into 1. I hit the brakes two times total and scared the heck out of myself in the process. I learned, no brakes, just lift and muscle it around. I actually WON the heat race! Hysterical! I was outside pole for the modified heat and won it after getting heavy pressure for the last few laps. Was scheduled to line up outside row 1 for the feature but I didn't think that was cool, so I opted to start shotgun on the field. You know, it's fun coming from the back. It was exciting early as cars were really bunched up on the tight little track. I moved outside and was really running through the field when the yellow waved. They do double file restarts with the leader out front. I finally made it to third and the outside was going away. I really had to fight to stay in third and then I finally got into 2nd. Once into 2nd I had nothing for the leader. The car just wasn't rotating in the entry / middle part of the turns. So I settled for a well deserved 2nd place finish. Exhausted we hit the hotel and zonked out. Up and at 'em by 6:30 so we could be on the road by 7:30 to Lovelock, NV. It was about 180 miles away and they were to start racing at 1:00pm on Sunday. Arrived at the newly created track by 11:00, teched in and worked on cleaning the car up. Lined up last for the heat race and really struggled badly. After taking the mufflers out, the car needed some more fine tuning. So back to work we went and hoped for the best in the feature. Lined up 9th and slowly worked my way up through the field. They too use outlaw restarts and it sucked the every time I was on the outside. The bottom was where I was working best and I had to again fight hard to stay up there without losing any spots. Finally broke the top 5 and then moved all the way up to 3rd. While fighting for second I got a little too low and clobbered a tractor tire in the infield with the left front. I drove cautiously into turn 3 hoping it would turn. It did. After two laps of cautious driving I decided I didn't rip the left front off, and although the wheel told me I had a lot of tow out, I continued on. Caught up to and slipped by the second place car. Was a ways behind the leader by then and ran the remaining laps to finish 2nd. Not too bad. Loaded up and was on the road home by 3:34pm. Arrived home at 11:57pm and hit the bed. Was up by 4:45am to take Kim to the airport and have been running on empty ever since. But there's work to be done! Thanks to Blake, Kim, Danny, Skip, and Dan for their help in the pits. Also to Randy Artz, Keith & Andy Greenwood, and Wade Taylor for all their help getting parts lined up to keep us going this weekend. I appreciate it. WINNEMUCCA, BATTLE MOUNTAIN, MOHAVE VALLEY July 3,4, & 5, 2008! Well the bullet has been bitten and I hit the road. The holiday weekend allowed for 3 nights of racing with many options. Since I haven't raced at my sponsor's (Atlas Towing & Recovery) track in almost two years (Battle Mountain Raceway) I decided to head up north for Winnemucca and Battle Mountain for Thursday and Friday. The weather was pretty warm for the northern part of the state as the temperature read 104° as we rolled into town on Thursday. Atlas was nice enough to pick up the hotel tab for two nights there in Battle Mountain. Winnemucca is about 60 miles from Battle Mountain so we got checked in and headed out to the track. Lined up inside row two for the heat race and jumped outside quickly and got into the second spot. The track was heavy for the most part with a couple of tricky slick spots here and there. Managed to slip by the leader two laps later and won the heat race. Lined up 5th for the feature as my DNF last race left my point average a little low. At the green the racing was intense. Very close with some rubbing and bumping going on. The cars bottled up exiting turn 4 and I backed off only to get passed on both sides. Figured I had better get aggressive or I would be going to the rear in a hurry. Passed a car to get back to 5th and the yellow waved. They do the outlaw restarts so the leader was out front and I was outside row 3. After some tense battling I found myself locked in a tight three way battle for the lead. The second place car went outside so I pressured inside. Second went by just as I slipped by inside. I was now in 2nd place and the leader got a couple of car lengths on me. A couple of laps later coming off turn 4 the leader almost looped it and had to gather it up to the inside. I slipped by on the outside and the race was on. I felt that I wasn't quite as fast as a couple of cars and was ready for the pressure from behind. The pressure was there. I was racing my guts out doing all I could. Little did I know but the pressure faded slowly and I had a lead. Lapped traffic. I hit the back of the field and it was crowded. Got by the first few and then hit a road block as they were quick and racing hard for their own spots. It seemed like I had passed a lot of cars. The next two cars took me a while to work around. I was thinking that there had to be someone there, waiting to snag the lead. Had a small opening and I had to take it. Into turn 1 side by side. Clipped a spot of standing water and wheel hopped with the other car. But we both escaped and I went on. One the bumper of another car and the white flag is in the air. I did lead that final lap for the win. With the win I tied the great Robert Miller on the all-time win list at the track. Very cool! Thought about heading to Fallon on Friday morning, but needed to race in Battle Mountain for Brian @ Atlas. Plus it is a favorite of mine. I really enjoy the surface there. Headed to the car wash and unloaded to clean up the car and trailer. Little did we know but the 4th of July parade was getting ready to start going right by the front of the car wash on the main drag. Quickly loaded up as the sidewalks filled with chairs and people. Off to the grocery store to stock up on drinks and ice and we found where the parade started, at the store! Snapped a few photos and then got supplies before heading back to the room. Arrived at the track by 5:30 and visited with a few friends before packing in the track. Lined up 6th for the heat and didn't run to well at all. Actually got up to third right with the leaders but fell back and ran 4th. Hoped the track would slick over and it did. As I sat in staging I could hear the stock cars squealing their tires in turns 3 & 4. It was my old favorite surface coming to life. A few laps into the race I found myself running 4th when the yellow waved. With the outlaw restart that put me inside row 2 and on the bottom of the track. I got into third and was behind another spirited battle for the lead. We were all over one another and using every bit of our skills to stay off one another. I finally got a peak at 2nd place as he slipped up off turn 2. We touched a bit as the available space became narrow and I got into 2nd. A small puddle of standing water started to make the exit of turn 4 interesting. As the leader clipped the puddle his car pushed and I got side by side going towards turn 1. The squeeze was on and I opted out. I chugged the bottom and got a look off turn 2 and shot into the lead. Two restarts and a lot of laps later and I was in victory lane for the 2nd time in as many days. Awesome! Got to bed around midnight and was up and at 'em by 6:00am. On the road at 7:00am and headed home to pick up mom and Kelly. It was a cool 57° as we headed home. Other than a blow out on the trailer just miles from Vegas, the trip was good. Arrived home at 2:45 and chilled out while we waited time to hit the road again. Left at 4:00 and made it to the track by around 5:45. Kelly and mom went to work on washing the car and Blake fixed the damaged nerf bar. I had the task of finding some tires with tread on them. After the Battle Mountain race the tires were bald. There was no cross tread visible at all. In places you could see the chords peeking through. It was a great team effort and the car was ready for the heat. Lined up outside row two for my heat and got into third off turn 2 by using the outside. I was trying high and low but the top 2 were having a good battle for the lead and there wasn't anywhere to go. I finally started working the bottom and got by the 2nd place car. Again had to use an inside move off turn 2 to slip by the leader and as I did the white flag waved. Managed to win the heat. Again had a great time with the kids at intermission and went to work on the car. Lined up 7th for the feature and really stunk it up early. The outside was the place to be and I glued myself to the bottom like I didn't know what was up. Cars were going by me and I wasn't doing much of anything. Narrowly missed a couple of spinning cars and found myself in the 5th spot on the yellow. Had to go back to the bottom to get by a few cars and within a few laps the yellow waved with me in 3rd. Once in third I used an outside-in cut to take over 2nd and found myself about 6 cars behind the leader. We were evenly matched at best as I was not gaining at all. The track was fast around the top and I was up there trying to get it done. Entering turn 3 just before half way the leader jumped the cushion and slipped off the top of turn 3. Into the lead I went. I led for a while and then the final yellow waved. We were ready to get the green and it was called off. Cars flew by me on both sides so I knew they were ready. As we headed down the back stretch a car flew by us on the exit road. As he did the lights flashed signaling an impending start. I entered three and set the car. Hammer down for the green. Turns out the rest of the field didn't go and I had a big lead immediately. Ran out the rest of the race for the win. Our third win in as many days. A hat trick of our own. In victory lane I had the "Dan Fans" from the fence join me, it was great!! Thanks again to Mom, Blake, and Kelly for all their hard work and support. They continue to make me look good! WINNEMUCCA REGIONAL RACEWAY & DEATH VALLEY RACEWAY June 27 & 28, 2008 Well I finally bit the bullet and hit the road. I promised myself not to keep track of the money being spent and hit the road. The original plan was to go to Winnemucca for their Friday show by myself (ok the dogs went) and then meet the team for the Death Valley race on Saturday. I hit the road at 8:30am and traveled slow trying to sip the fuel. Immediately I realized why I hadn't been traveling much. It was pretty lonely. My dad was normally there and I noticed him being gone quite a bit. He was always good for a story or two along the way as well as some snores to interrupt the silence. It was tough, but I needed to do it. My normal small town fill up was out of gas so I had to make it all the way to Battle Mountain on fuel. I got a call that Kelly and Blake had gotten off early and were on their way. Arrived at the track early and it has changed since 2006. A little more narrow and a bit heavier. Got to visit with many people and it was nice to be there. Managed to win my heat and lined up in the 8th spot for the feature. At the green I went nowhere as I was suffering from shell-shock. The track leads to much closer racing and a more aggressive style. I finally found my way and moved up a spot here and there. They do outlaw restarts, leader out front and everyone else double file behind. I used this to move up to 4th, then 3rd and finally got inside of the 2nd place car down the front stretch to take over the number two spot. The leader was out a ways but I slowly reeled him in. However when I got to him I was out of room. Couldn't go low as it was greasy and he was running a good line. I was getting peeks at the inside but couldn't get by. Finally I got a shot off turn 2 and as we exited the turn there was heavy contact sending my car up in the air a bit. I came out in the lead but things weren't right. The car had a mind of its own and was all over the place. I had run out of tearoffs early in the race and now couldn't control the car. I had to throw in the towel. Bummer! Made the long trip home after visiting with several people in Battle Mountain. They all saw the trailer and stopped by the hotel to say hello. Took our time getting to Death Valley as the race didn't start until 8:00 and we knew it would get hotter the closer we got. Arrived about 4:00pm and washed the car while trying to stay cool. Mom and my friend Allen Williams from Texas joined us a little later. The heat race was a little hairy late as I grabbed the lead early but the heat made for some dust. I was using the infield tires to judge my entry into 3, but when it disappeared I began to worry. The track, although dusty, was really fast. I felt all Days of Thunder driving through the haze. Managed to win the heat. Had to use the outside groove a for a little bit early in the feature race before gaining the lead. From there I led the remaining laps to capture the feature win at Death Valley Raceway. The win unofficially clinched the track championship for us at the track. There is just one sanctioned feature left (September 20) and I have a good enough lead to not get passed. So if all works out, I should be the 2008 DVR champ. Although the guys I had hoped were there to compete weren't there much this year, I'm still happy for my team, they worked for it. Thanks Mom, Blake, Kelly and Allen for their help and support this weekend! Tough weekend, but I'm glad I went. MOHAVE VALLEY RACEWAY, June 21, 2008! It's too hot to be racing here right now! I should be enjoying the cooler temperatures in northern Nevada. But hey, we're tough, sucked it up and hit the road to Mohave Valley Raceway. As always, the track was in amazing shape. Packed in quickly, was smooth, and well DUH!! of course it was going dry. What do you expect in 120° heat? Lined up third for the heat. At the green I jumped high and was right on the leader's bumper. Couldn't get by as the car on the inside was right there. Going into turn 1 I shot the middle. Another car peeked low and hit the water that was standing on the inside of the turn. His car washed up and whacked me in the left rear quickly blurring the horizon as I spun around like a top. As I spun I knew the rest of the pack was behind me so I reached down to catch a gear and get out of the way. As I pulled I yanked the entire shifting linkage assembly from the interior sheet metal of the car. WHOOPS! The car stalled and would only go into third gear. I had to leave the track. The amazing crew went to work repairing the damage and I hit the track to run the box races. As I returned to the pits I was able to help the crew put the finishing touches on the car. Took it for a stroll through the pits and it was great. Even better than new! Contemplated a chassis adjustment but nixed that idea after seeing how spent the crew was from all the hard work to fix the shifter. It was miserably hot and they were worked to death already. So I was fine with what I had. Was scheduled to line up 8th but a car opted to start at the back and I moved up to 6th. Got a great jump at the start and was quickly into the third spot. Was trying the bottom to get by for the lead but couldn't get by so I tried the top a little. Entering turn 3 a car shot the bottom and pushed up the track forcing me way up and almost off the track. Back to 4th. Was able to get into the 3rd spot just before a yellow waved. At the green I quickly passed for 2nd as the car hit a slick spot shooting him up the track. Once into 2nd I was over driving the car. Bad! Was about 5 cars back of the leader before I saw the crossed flags. I then started waiting longer to get on the gas and it was working I was moving up on the leader. Once I got to the leader we hit lapped traffic. I jumped high and as I did the lapped car spun to the infield. The inside car again moved way up the track forcing me off turn 4. Back to the fight and I again had to slowly reel in the leader. Finally back to him I tried to pass high but to no avail. Coming off turn 4 I got a great shot and was side by side with the leader as the white flag waved. He moved down and we touched. We banged quite a bit before I could feel him slide in behind me. Off turn 2 and into the lead. Into three and on the gas. Nudge, loose, shove and around I went just off turn 4. From first to next to last that fast. It was uncalled for and nothing was called. At the very least we should have both finished at the back and third place should have won. But it was not to be. I really lost a lot of respect for people that I at one time held in high regard. Things like this are just not right. This isn't NASCAR, local tracks are supposed to have a black flag. However, if they wanted someone else to win, they got their wish. I know no one likes to see the same guy win, but if you beat 'that guy' it should be fair and square. Just my $0.02. I have a lot of thinking to do over the next couple of weeks. The "dad" side of me says I should go back and dole out some good old fashioned "medication" next time. The "Dan" side of me says to let it go and just go back and beat them fair and square again next time. While the "I pay the bills" side of me says if you aren't happy with the customer service, go elsewhere. We'll see. Thanks Mom, Blake, Kelly and Jerry Sr for all your hard work and support in the oppressive heat! DEATH VALLEY RACEWAY, June 14, 2008! Did I mention that the temperature reading on the truck's "car-mometer" was 117°? Just in case you forgot, it was 117° as we pulled in to race on Saturday night. We had worked all week on the yellow car to get it going and then on Friday I worked all day myself to get the spare engine installed in the orange car. While I'm not the most mechanically inclined, I did manage to get the motor in and running all by myself! However, as we loaded the car on Saturday we found a small hairline crack in the intake (it's old) which was allowing water to seep out. So we put some JB Weld on it and arrived at the track to check it out. Put in some water and it held! WOO HOO! Just in case we put in some stop leak before I went out to pack the track. Another short field was on hand but what's new? Lined up inside row 2 for my heat race and the bottom was really slick as they had watered and the track was still greasy. At the green I had to move up as the pole sitter slipped in the greasy bottom groove. I shot the middle and into the 2nd spot. Was challenging for the lead when the yellow waved. At the green I was right on the tail of the leader entering turn 1. I went in high and cut the car back to the bottom narrowly avoiding the slimy stuff. The leader pushed up and I squeaked by and into the lead. Survived a few cautions and restarts as drivers struggled with the slick and greasy surface. No box races as they watered and were working in the track surface during intermission. But there are some cool photos of previous ones here ( DEATH VALLEY PHOTOS! ). We had time to go over the car and make sure that nothing came loose. Sometimes the parts "settle" when they are recently replaced so we wanted to make sure all was well. Nothing was too loose, but a few bolts took a 1/2 turn here and there. Again, I considered loading up and heading home as the thought of another small field race entered my mind. However I decided to race for my dad as Father's Day was coming up. So I did. The track was drying out quite a bit for the main and it was actually MUCH slicker than I thought it would be. At the green I settled into the low line and was soon up to the 2nd spot. The leader was working the bottom so I went up a groove and drove in side by side into turn 1. We raced door to door for a couple of laps before I was able to slip into the lead and move back down to the bottom. Everyone makes fun of me for running the bottom all the time, but I did win a race there earlier this year by rim riding. I just tell them that the older I get the further way from the edge I want to be! haha. It was fun to tip toe around the track on the surface that was getting more and more slick each and every lap. At the end of the race I had picked up the win....for dad! Thanks Mom, Blake, and Kelly for their help and support in the pits and at home this week as we readied the cars for battle. Everyone enjoy Father's Day! MOHAVE VALLEY RACEWAY, June 7, 2008! 100 degree temperatures didn't stop the team from assembling at the house ready to hit the road to Mohave Valley Raceway on Saturday afternoon. Mom, Blake, Kelly, and a fresh from Colorado Robert! Arrived to an empty pit area. Uh oh. But as the afternoon wore on more and more cars entered the pits and a decent field of modifieds assembled for the action. Lined up 5th of 7 in the first heat. Used the bottom to move up and then jumped high to challenge for the lead. On lap 5 or 6 I was able to sneak outside the leader and still hang on to the edge of the racing surface. Into the lead I went. Yellow. Back to second I went. At the green the leader now knew where I wanted to run and found that his car worked great there too. So I would have to find another way around. Began working the bottom, then followed him high cutting across the bottom. Was able to get close, but he was just too good up top. Going into turn 1 with 2 to go he slipped off the top and I went into the lead. Led the last lap to win the heat race. The box races were a riot. The little ones (6 & under) had 9 entries. More than some modified fields these days. We had kids cutting the course, falling over, and just having a good time. I had to herd some of the wanderers through the correct course, but it was great. Good times! The older group had just two participants. But both had a great time and did a super job. They watered the track during intermission and I wasn't sure what to expect. Decided not to tighten up the car. Everything was ready and as the Super Stocks took the green I entered the car to go line up. Bump the starter and the car's engine instantly locks up. Uh oh! Off flies the hood and I check out the flywheel. It's ok. Out come the plugs as the crew works feverishly to find the problem. Yep, there's the problem. Water in the back two cylinders. I turned the motor over and was able to get the water out of them in a revolution or two of the motor. Put the plugs back in and checked the water in the radiator. It wasn't down too much. Started the car. It ran and put some moisture out of the pipes for a few seconds then cleaned up. Hmmmm. Checked the oil to see if it was milky. All the while they are calling, "modified 87N to staging now please!" The oil wasn't milky. But it didn't look good. Decided to see if the car would start and I could at least see what it would do in the feature. I was concerned as just sitting between the heat and the feature it filled with moisture. I would have to start the car three more times. To stage, to enter the track, and to get going after on track introductions. Started in the pit. About 10 minutes later it started in staging. "Gentlemen fire your engines!" It turned over....and started! Kept watch on the temperature gauge and took the green. I was on the bottom so I wanted to stay there. Moved up to 5th early, then 3rd, and then had to use the outside. The temperature was good and the car was still running, so go for it. The outside got clogged up so I cut back across to pass for 2nd. Back to the bottom I worked on the leader until slowly pulling ahead and into the lead. Things were going great! Yellow. Under caution the temperature gauge began to rise, slowly and not too much. It worried me. Back to green. I knew they were close. Laps winding down. White flag! What was that noise? Is the car vibrating? I was driving myself insane. Finally into three off turn 4 and checkered flag! What a turn around. From thinking I would just start, to winning! Awesome. Thanks to Mom, Blake, Kelly, and Robert for their help and support. DEATH VALLEY RACEWAY, May 31, 2008! I was awaiting a new gear from O'Hanley's 9-inch rear ends this week so I went ahead and took the "old" car up to Pahrump for the meet and greet. It was a great experience and I had a lot of fun. Even met up with some long lost friends from the sand drags. Got home about 11:30 on Friday which made for a long day after being up for school by 5:30am. Saturday morning Blake put the new set of gears in the car and I readied the trailer for the race. Was loaded up and ready to go by about noon. Hit the road at 3:00 and arrived at the track amidst the wind. It was breezy. Another short field, but what are you going to do? Lined up inside row 4 for the heat race and the track was tacky but a little bumpy. I had loosened up the car quite a bit in anticipation of the tacky track conditions. Got a good jump and was running right on the tail of the 2nd and 3rd place cars. Got a good run off turn 4 only to hit a slick spot and nearly clobbered the third place car. Nearly, so I missed him. Finally got into a good rhythm and caught and passed for third before the end. The leaders were long gone but I ran a good third. They graded the track during intermission and I had a first hand look at it as I ran the box races for the evening. That was a kick, the little tikes are the best. Kept a close eye out on the track and with some water between the early main events the track was slicking over yet keeping some bite as well. Lined up in the 5th spot for the feature and wasn't sure what to expect. At the green the hole opened up and I drove through it. Went down the middle, cut the car to avoid a car pushing up from the bottom and crossed over into the 2nd spot. Out of turn 4 I was in 2nd and gaining quickly on the lead. Into turn 3 and the leader starts to lose it. I narrowly miss the spinning car and am in the lead when the yellow waves for the spun car. I was happy yet not at the same time. In the lead early and nowhere to go but backwards. I got there quickly using the outside and I didn't get to try the bottom. Was the bottom better? Decided under yellow to stick with what got me there and try the top. Shortly after going back to racing I began to get pressure from the bottom of turn 2. A couple of quick yellows made it tough to find a rhythm. After some heavy pressure from behind I decided on another yellow to go to the bottom. It was tricky on the bottom of 1 & 2 as it was both wet slick and black slick. I could hear the pressure from behind like crazy. Three and four was really good on the bottom. So good that if I didn't trust the car and drive it in hard, it would push. Pressure, pressure, pressure. Was beginning to wonder if the white was coming, but kept pushing those thoughts out of my mind. I kept thinking of hitting my marks and trusting the car in three and four. Was actually surprised by the white as I was working hard at staying on top of things in the car. Managed to get the car around and win the feature. Thanks Mom, Blake, Kelly and to O'Hanley's 9-inch rear ends for getting the car going this week and for helping me at the track. MOHAVE VALLEY RACEWAY, May 24, 2008! It was a very long week around here. A meeting after school on Wednesday and then I displayed my race car and gave a speech at my school's Award's Night on Thursday night making for two very long evenings. Was so tired by Friday that I came home after dinner around 7:15 and the next thing I know it was 10:00pm as I had fallen asleep without really setting out to. Loaded the car on Saturday under cloudy skies. The weather maps on tv called for rain and it was looking iffy all the way there. In fact we just missed some heavy showers in the area while driving to the track. Arrived at the track and it seemed as if the track was in its own vortex as there was little if any moisture. It was great. They had been pumping water out all day on Friday and the track was in great shape. Packed in very quickly and we were ready to go racing, although, once again the field was short. Like I've said before, I can't control who is there, just need to go out, have fun, and do my best. Lined up dead last for my heat race, inside row 3. At the green I slipped by one car and was into the 4th spot. Things were pretty racy as the track was fast up top. It was slicking over on high on the exits and my competition was getting loose coming off each set of turns. I started to diamond off the corners and exit the bottom. It worked as I slipped into the 3rd spot and then slipped into the number 2 spot. Worked on the leader for a couple of laps before driving it in hard on the bottom of 3 and 4 and taking the lead. The next time by the white waved and I led that last lap for the win. Again held the box races at intermission and the kids came out in force. Some of the older kids let the younger kids use their boxes so we had a full field of pee-wee box racers. It was great. One car broke for the feature and I moved up in the line up. The first green saw some cars bottle up off turn 2 and I cut down quickly making it by several and up into the top 5 quickly. Restart. On the second start I moved to the outside and slipped into the top 5 quickly. Then I began to work the bottom getting up to the 4th spot. Second and third were side by side and I managed to get by one and used a high low crossover to gain the runner up spot. The leader had already moved out on the field and I worked hard to chase him down. He was running high and I was entering high, rolling across the middle and exiting the turn hard off the low line. It was working as I was steadily cutting down the margin. The high-low line was really where the car wanted to be and since the exits up high were slick I was making huge gains coming off the turns. Finally to the leader and cut under coming off 4 and into the lead. The next lap the yellow waved. Finally able to run my line completely I was having a blast. The car was good and it was fun. Began lapping cars just after 1/2 way and everything seemed to be going my way. With about 3 laps to go I could feel a vibration developing. It wasn't just my nerves, it was obvious. Getting worse, and worse. OH NO! Still had my foot planted in the loud pedal going for the win. Off turn 4, white flag waving and car shaking the whole time. Come on! Just one more lap. Down the back stretch, into 3. It was worse. The car was losing some momentum. Off turn 4 and I made it! WHEW! Not sure but we believe it's a drive train issue. We'll have to see. I was planning on trying to race in Fallon on Sunday, but I think it's best to stay home and save some money. Diesel was $5.29 down the street from the track, yet only $4.59 at a store in Searchlight on the way home. Interesting?! Thank you to all those lost protecting our freedom whose doing so has allowed me to continue doing what I love to do and having fun while doing it. "If you can read, thank a teacher, if it's in English, thank a soldier." Thanks Mom, Blake, John and his dad, and to the fans for their help and support at the track this weekend. Even though the fields aren't huge, I'm still having fun. DEATH VALLEY RACEWAY, May 17, 2008! Began the day by celebrating Blake's birthday by sharing cards, gifts, and of course CAKE! Yummy! The weather is heating up and it was flirting with 100 degrees all the way to the track. The temperature gauge on the mirror of the truck reached 98 degrees before we got to the track. Once at the track, disappointment as the field was a skeleton like one yet again. People were racing other tracks or just not ready to race. The economy has some on the sidelines and others are just doing their own thing. After being bummed and wanting to just load it up, I thought about it a bit and changed my tune. I decided that I can't control what others do and that people were there to see racing, so I needed to race. Not to mention my family, crew, and friends wanted to see me race. So I headed out for the heat starting in the 6th spot. The track was in great shape and fast. I got up to third pretty quickly but the car was bogging quite a bit as it was still pretty tight. Again carrying the left front pretty good and I finally worked my way up to 2nd. The leader was gone. I'm talking 1/2 a lap ahead gone. But I stuck with it taking the white. Part way out of 2, yellow. Under the caution we packed the top of the track as it was still pretty chunked up. Going for the green the engine's pitch changed. It was down on power. I ran the last lap and pulled off shutting the engine down quickly. Coasted into the pits and began removing the front body pieces. I thought it may be a rocker arm or a rocker arm stud so I began pulling the valve covers as the team went to get Jerry Jr as he happened to be in the stands watching. Jerry came over and we ruled out the valve train and found that the center of a spark plug had broken out. Changed all of the plugs and the problem was solved. We did check the timing just in case, but it was fine. Turns out those plugs have been in that engine since 2006. OUCH! We finished just in time to hit the track for the box races. Those are always fun and this time my mom had made our very own race flags to use during the box races. It was great. Hopefully everyone enjoyed it. After the box races I decided that the car needed to be tamed down more and went to work on the right rear of the car. Changed a spring and the shock to hopefully slow down the roll on the car and make it more stable. In other words I wanted the left front to be off the ground in inches, not feet. Lined up for the main and the field was even smaller. But hey, I was determined to have fun regardless of the circumstances. What else is there to do right? At the green I cut the car early in one and it stuck like it was welded to the track. I raced off of turn 2 very quickly and found myself 3 wide for the lead. Into 3 on the bottom and into the lead. I wound up leading every lap for the win! Thanks to mom, Blake, Jerry Jr., Kelly, Aries, Carly and Brett for their help and support in the pits. We'll hope there are more cars and competitors at future events. MOHAVE VALLEY RACEWAY, May 10, 2008! Another Saturday, another race. Another short field of cars to boot. Lots of things seem to be keeping people away, but I can only control whether my car shows up and thanks to Blake and my mom the car is always ready to go and in tip top shape. Lined up 4th for my heat race and got a nice jump at the green to come off turn 2 in 2nd place. Began to pressure for the lead very quickly on the bottom and was door to door for the lead for an exciting couple of laps. I had tried to calm the car down from the last race at Death Valley and it was working as I could actually see track instead of the left front tire. Going into turn 3 my car pushed up the track and both myself and the leader thought we were going to hit. Both of us let off and we didn't hit. Both back to the gas and I was able to pull ahead and into the lead. From there I began working different lines every lap until I found a good, solid line. Won the heat. Out of the car and onto the front stretch to run the box races. FUN! This time the wee little ones did a race. They lost shoes, went the wrong way and just had a blast. Lined up 8th for the main and the track was a slick one. Into turn one a car pushed up and hit the outside pole sitter exiting turn 2. He spun and mashed the gas shooting off the track and into another car. I bobbed and weaved my way past the spinning cars and into the 3rd, yes third, spot. Yellow. Restart and I moved up to 6th as the front row cars tagged. Back to racing and I was having a hard time finding a way by as cars were high and low and as we raced in a sort of slow motion there was just no room to get by. Patiently I found my way into the 4th spot and then finally into third. Once into third the race got fun. There was an intense battle for the lead and I was left to run where they weren't. My line changed in every turn, every lap. High, then low, then the middle, then high, low, middle. I almost went three wide but ran out of space a couple of times and lifted in lieu of hitting the front stretch fence. (Been there, done that too many times at this track). Finally the outside got the line and moved into the lead allowing me to use the same line to get by into 2nd. Again I was all over the leader trying inside as he was running the middle to high line. Finally got a good sniff of the lead air coming off turn 4. The entry to 1 on the bottom was bad so I had to lift early. That allowed the leader to tuck down in the middle and take my line. With laps winding down I was running out of time. However the leader picked up a push. He was really hugging the bottom. I was going in high and cutting back across to get a good run off the moisture. White flag. The leader slowed going into turn 3 and I went to the middle. I got my left front up to his door. Contact. A little wiggle and he is just ahead of me as we take the checkered. Another close 2nd for the team, we can't complain. Great run for everyone and a fun race even in a short field of cars. Thanks to Mom and Blake for doing such a great job giving me a good car to race and for the support! DEATH VALLEY RACEWAY, May 3, 2008! Death Valley Raceway has suffered through some terrible winds these last few weeks and this week had me a little worried as the wind was whipping around on the way. However as we arrived and started unloading, the winds were calming and the weather was great. The track packed in pretty quickly and was actually holding water really well. With the car regulars not showing for some reason, the car count was down to some regulars and some new cars. That led to a closer start for my heat, inside row 2. Dropped into the third slot at the green and found that the track was heavy and that my car was not set up for that. My first clue was the fact that I was carrying the left front WAY off the ground. I almost thought something was wrong. However I had been working on tightening up the car, but on tracks that were a little slicker. I rode around for a couple of laps and wasn't doing much. The car was bogging off the turns and I contemplated pulling off the track as it was really a handful to drive. Decided to move down a little and get the left sides into the bottom groove that was already slicked off. Out of nowhere the car was a rocket. I pulled alongside 2nd place coming off turn 2 and used the slicker bottom groove to move by. I was surprised to be right with the leader on the next lap and drove it in hard on the bottom of turn 3. Into the lead I went and the next time by the white flag waved. Won the heat out of nowhere as I wasn't really doing much the first 1/2 of that race. Had some fun with the kids doing the box races at intermission. The track is really working with me on that and it's going to be good, I can tell! I was really concerned about how tight the car was, but with several divisions in front of us I didn't want to loosen it up too much in case the track glazed over. We don't have too much experience with the Death Valley surface so many of us do not really know what the track is going to do. That, in my own weird way, makes it incredibly fun! I burned a path from our trailer to the track as I closely kept watch on what the track was doing. It was actually staying very good and it looked fast. Do I loosen up the car? How much? So I got two ideas in my head and wasn't sure which to do. One last look at the track. There was a slight glaze appearing entering turn 3. Is it enough? I had no idea and was getting a headache trying to make up my mind. Back to the old, scientifically proven method of Dan. I flipped a coin. Heads I leave it, tails I loosen it up. Grabbed a nickel from my shorts' pocket and flipped it onto the trailer floor. Heads......leave it! Well there you go. Lined up inside row 3 for the feature and it was on quickly. Heavy and fast on the inside and outside. The only areas of slick were the exit in the middle coming off turn 2 and the front straight in the high lane. I was right with the leaders as the inside row was had moved up into 3 of the top 4 spots. I finally got inside the 4th place car and into 3rd to make it 3 for 3 for the inside row. The car was still tight and it felt like I had lost the right rear spring. All hiked up and pedal to the floor I was running the guts out of the car. It was like an IROC race as I couldn't gain an inch but wasn't losing one either. Kept working the bottom of the track and was starting to get a peek inside of 2nd place. Whenever I would get a run, he would get a run at the leader and we were just inches off one another. If someone were to bobble it would be ugly. Just about half way I got a shot at 2nd and was able to take advantage of a wide entry to 3. Drove it in on the bottom and got the spot. Was right on the leader at that point and even after a restart it was tooth and nail the rest of the way. I was getting sniffs of the lead off turn 2 from time to time but just not able to get enough to drive it into the lead. Pressure was also right there from behind as at times it sounded as if I had two motors in my car. Exciting! White flag in the air. Off turn 2 I was there but just not enough. The leader went in a little lower into 3 and that caused him to push up the track. I jumped to the extreme inside and we came off the turn almost door to door. He was a little sideways and coming back down the track. I pitched the car a little to avoid the door slap and we raced to the line side by side. Checkered flag flying over our cars like a blanket and I was 2nd. Just a couple of feet short. I could finally take a breath. What a race. Thanks to Mom and Blake for keeping things together this weekend. The best skeleton crew in the biz! MOHAVE VALLEY RACEWAY, April 26, 2008! I'm an early to rise kind of person anyway, so the early start time wasn't too bad for me. However I will admit that it was different being on the road to a local race so early in the morning. We left the house about 6 minutes earlier than expected (7:54am) and hit the highways to Mohave Valley Raceway. The race, the Spring Nationals, was placed during the daytime in hopes of becoming a part of the annual River Run motorcycle rally in Laughlin, NV. In the past the event has had a few problems with violence and the police presence was evident early. We were still 90 miles away from Laughlin and the highway was cluttered with Highway Patrol cars and unmarked cars pulling people over left and right. So I will admit our trip took a little longer as I was careful to heed the posted speed limit. Not that I am a big time speeder either. Arrived at the track around 10:00am and readied the car for action. The temperatures were in the high 80s by the time we packed in the track and soon swelled to the 90's by race time. I was ok with the heat but the wind was, again, miserable! It just drains you when you are out in it for a long time. Lined up 5th for my heat race and really didn't go anywhere right away. The track was slick, slick, slick! Normally I love it and move forward quickly. This time, not so much. I was struggling bad. Fell back early and wasn't running all that well. Finally moved up towards the front and everyone bunched up in front of me. I hit the brakes to avoid contact and with the steering locked right I couldn't save it. To the rear I would go. Again I really went nowhere and struggled bad. On the last lap I went in high on the 4th place car. I was about up to his passenger door when he pitched the car. The timing was bad. The very right rear of his car slipped right in the opening between the left front and the driver's door. As I squeezed by our cars connected tearing the right rear quarter panel from his car and beating up my driver's door. My fault. I did run 4th as I was door to door for 3rd at the line. In the pits I was a little down on myself for not going anywhere. Didn't know what my problem was. Gathered up the materials for the box races, but they never materialized. Miscommunication just made it impossible. So I went to the pits to scratch my heat. I noticed when I spun that the car wasn't steering right very well. After a quick check I noticed the problem. The front end was off center to the left. I would turn left at a 90 degree angle and right at about a 40 degree angle. Problem! Fixed that and I decided to change the pullbar entirely as well as switch the two right side shocks. I mean I ran so poorly I needed to do something to make myself feel better! Lined up 8th for the 40 lap, yes 40 lap, feature. At the green it became obvious it was a day race as the field in front of me disappeared in dust. I moved high and caught a glimpse of turn 1. To the outside I moved up quickly and was in 5th when the first yellow waved. The track was just as slick, but the car was better. MUCH better. Still working the high line I was up to 4th when I got a little high entering turn 1 and slipped my right sides off the track. Holding my breath I made it back onto the track losing just one position. One lap later I got the spot back as the car who passed me slipped off turn 1. I was working the track high and low but it was obvious that high was the way to go. However it made me nervous. The entry to 1 was SO slick entering 1 I was afraid of slipping off. Finally made a low pass for third and then worked on 2nd. Once into 2nd the yellow waved. I really had nothing for the leader. He was slowly creeping away as I was trying other lines to get by. Yellow. I again made a run at the lead and could keep up. I noticed a couple of puffs of blue smoke out of the pipes of the lead car entering the turns. Two laps later the leader exited the track down the back stretch and I inherited the lead. Where's that white flag? Lap, after lap, after lap. Finally the flagman makes a move. CROSSED FLAGS!?! WHAT?! I still had another 20 laps ahead of me. I came dangerously close to slipping off the top two or three times during the run until a caution waved. Back to racing I was hearing noise behind me but no visible pressure. Yellow. I was getting nervous as the guys behind me had more and more shots to plan an attack. Concentrated on getting good restarts and it happened. Heavy pressure on the outside entering turn 1. Uh oh. I hit the middle and drove off turn 2 back into the lead. Wait. I got a great bite in the middle. Think I'll try that again. I moved my line down the next lap and it was great. Moved down in turns 3 just about 3 feet and got another good bite! YES! I found the little edge I needed and drove on to win the Spring Nationals!! A cool grand in payout, a very cool checkered flag of my own, and the best part, a brand new 90cc Polaris Quad!! Oh yes, this also puts us back on the IMCA All-Star ballot for 2008! Thanks to Mom, Blake, Kelly, and the gang from Steamboat Springs, CO for their help and support today. What a day!! DEATH VALLEY RACEWAY, April 18 & 19, 2008! **I was taught that if I cannot say anything nice, I should say nothing at all...so there will be editing here. Friday April 18, 2008 The driver's meeting was at 2:00 and considering I still have students in my room until 1:20, I knew I would be late. My principal agreed to let me go when the students were out of my room, about an hour before I was actually contracted to leave. I arrived at the track solo as Mom, Blake, and Kelly were unable to get off any earlier. Blake joined me around 4:30. We finally hit the track for hot laps at 5:30 and our heats rolled out shortly after that. I lined up inside row 3 for my heat and used a three or four wide move on the bottom of turn 2 to jump into the 3rd spot and captured the 2nd spot coming off turn 4. Once in second I stayed at the bottom to try for the lead. I was able to pull almost to the door of the leader a couple of times but couldn't make it stick. The sun was glaring badly coming off turn 4 and I came really close to making contact with the leader once and the infield tire another time. I moved up once but it just wasn't worth racing so hard for a heat win. I finished 2nd. Cleaned up the car and watched some of the alphabet soup races for the dwarf car events. It was finally our turn to race at 9:30. I lined up 9th, row 5 inside. Used the bottom early and was making progress as the top was crowded and some contact racing allowed me to slip into some better spots. However once the line thinned out it was obvious I needed to go top-side. I was patiently working my way through the field and had not touched a single car the whole race. Once into 6th I used a small slide job in turn 3 to capture the 5th spot. I was having a hard time fighting the car off the front stretch wall as I contacted it slightly once and kept riding the berm of dirt in front of it on other occasions. The car was great up top, in fact it was really much better than the cars in front of me off turn 2 especially. Third place slipped off the top of the track and that moved me into the 4th spot. Second and third were racing side by side up high in front of me. I was carefully working their battle and again made no contact with either of them. With laps winding down I noticed that second was moving down slightly to block the advances of the third place car. It took a couple of laps but I finally set up my move. As he moved down off turn 2, I shot to the extreme outside and with my right rear just over the outside edge of the track, I flew by both cars on the outside and into turn 3. Into second place I drove into turn 3 and could see the former second place car fly into the turn way too hot. Edit......birds.......puppies..........children at play............sunny days..........fields of flowers.........nice things.......deep breaths.......self-control.......Edit. As I spun in front of the whole field several dodged me with great skill, but not everyone was so lucky. It wasn't their fault, but I was clipped in the right rear ripping the rear body supports from the frame and making a huge mess. For some reason I was placed back to 4th for the restart but the car who......Edit..........nice things........nice things........self-control........Edit remained in second. My car was terrible as the side to side contact has knocked the front end all kinds of crazy. It was a handful. I was able to ride out the final laps in 4th. I can be thankful that I still finished, but I ended up having to tow home last night so that we can rebuild the rear end of the car this morning before heading back. The newness has certainly been knocked off of this car these last few events. While I'm not one to let others control what I do, the old saying is, "when in Rome." If the Romans continue to drive like barbarians, maybe I'll have to join in myself. Better get to work! Thanks to Blake for helping me out on Friday! Saturday, April 19, 2008 We arrived home just after 12:30am on Saturday morning. Unloaded the car so it was ready to work on first thing in the morning. Ordered a pizza as we were all hungry, got some things done around the house and before you know it I was going to bed at 3:00am. Back up at 5:45am and I managed to do some school work and other things while waiting for everyone to get to the house ready to work. At 8:00am we were hard at work getting the car repaired from the accident that followed our being punted on Friday night. We used the truck to run over the bent pieces to get them back straight, hammered many items, and used an old door from 2004 to repair the shredded quarter panel. Mom and Kelly worked on getting the 100 pounds of sand and dust out of the trailer and we were loading up at 11:00am. Hit the road to the gas station ($4.15/gallon yikes!) and were on our way by 12:00. The driver's meeting started at 2:00 and with a 1.75 hour travel time, we would make it. The wind was brutal throwing us all over our lane on the highway. As we entered the open valley near the race track it was obvious that the wind was going to be a big problem. I parked facing into the wind so that the wind wouldn't whip into the trailer as it did on Friday night. They decided to start later hoping to avoid the wind and dust. We all sat in the trailer out of the dust and wind and when I needed to go out I would put on my fire suit head sock to save myself from being sand blasted. We finally lined up for our heats after the near 100 dwarf cars completed their heats around 6:00pm. They watered the track and we waited for the sun to set so we weren't out for our heat until about 7:00pm. I lined up 6th of 7 and moved up to 2nd quickly. Got side by side for the lead off turn 2 and finished the pass off turn 4. A couple of laps later I got pressure from inside. Just couldn't stay out front and was passed. I ducked back under and passed back. He ducked under in the next turns and passed me back. I then got outside and we were door to door in a great old fashioned duel. But my car just wasn't as good as his and he continually put inches on me every lap until he had a good couple of cars at the finish. I ran 2nd. The wind was making it miserable, I was starting to feel the effects of the food I ate earlier and my 2nd, third, and fourth winds were finally wearing down. I laid down in the truck for a while and tried to nap. Couldn't. Wound up sick to my stomach as my food seemed to have left an acidic taste in my stomach. After getting sick and finally starting to feel better, I went to check on the racing. They were running the Dwarf C. They had A Pro B, A, Pro Dash, Veteran Dash, Veteran A, and Sportsman A to go. Yikes. This was around 9:00pm. I looked at the track during the Pro B and decided to make a couple of changes. By now we had the heat on in the trailer and were using a fan to blow the inches of sand out of the back of the trailer. Finally our turn to line up. Just before midnight we rolled up. Upon rolling into the staging area I was careful not to bottom out the car on the bumps and holes. Then WHAM. I rolled to a stop and immediately got out of the car. Looked under the car and my heart sunk. Oil was pouring out of the pan. Immediately I motioned to mom and Kelly to get Blake to push me to the pits, oil streaming under the car. Leland Hibdon stuck his head in the passenger side and offered up his personally built, AWESOME Chassis immediately. I was hoping to fix my own car though. Drained the oil and began work on the pan. Patched it and put oil back in. No go. Decided to take Leland up on his great gesture and stepped about the "A" machine. It has a Brinn Transmission and I have never experienced one of those as I am still old school Muncie 3-speed. I drove the car around the pits once to get a hang of the new (opposite) clutch system. It was so nice of Leland to offer and his cars are always top notch. I was nervous, didn't want anything to happen. Especially after Friday's fiasco. I took my spot at the back of the field due to the driver change and spent a couple of laps feeling out the car. I steadily got quicker and moved up into the top 10 quickly and then was slowly picking off cars to get into the top 5. The car was good and I think I was probably not aggressive enough with it. It could have taken more from me going in. I got as high as third before I began to fade. Not the car, me. I fell back to 5th at the line. However, two of the cars apparently lost a lap in the pits so I was scored in third. An AWESOME was to finish what was a long and miserable day. I appreciate Leland and everyone from the AWESOME Chassis team for being so kind and letting me drive their car in the main. Thanks to Leland Hibdon, Levi Kiefer and team, Mom, Blake, and Kelly for their help turning what could have been disaster into a great top 3 finish! MOHAVE VALLEY RACEWAY, April 12, 2008! The racing this weekend was a little short on cars, but not short on action. I lined up 4th in my heat race and had the lead coming off turn 1 at the completion of the first lap. Went on to win that race by a decent margin. I am trying a "new" BMS set up and the car was good but it wasn't using the left front very much if you know what I mean. Good run though. During intermission I went over with Blake and Kelly to run the first box races at MVR. It was a huge success. They allowed me to use the remote microphone and the crowd was really into it. Hopefully the kids will bring their own boxes and enjoy the racing next time. Thanks to MVR for putting up trophies for all 5 kids for the demonstration race.   Lined up 8th for the feature and used the outside line to move up to 6th early. Was by 5th and passing for 4th when that car got really sideways in front of me. I slammed on the brakes and then 6th got by me. I was then pinned behind them and they were evenly matched. Luckily for me I the 5th place car slipped off turn 4 and I squeezed by before passing for 4th on the outside of turn 2. Third jumped to first at the same time and I took a lap to run down 2nd and 3rd hoping the leader wouldn't check out. Got to the bumper of the 2nd and 3rd place cars and chose the outside car. Going into 3 the outside car pushed and I cut and shot the middle jumped off turn 4 in second place. By the crossed flags I was right with the leader but he, of course, was running the high and better line. I started working the bottom off both sets of turns. It was working, but inch by inch. At this rate it would take 30 laps to pass him. We approched lapped traffic, MY FAVORITE! Just as it started to get fun, yellow. Asleep at the restart I lost several car lengths and had to make it up.  Finally had worked up and got a good run at the leader, it was there. The pass was ready. YELLOW! I knew there was only about 3 to go as the flagman was readying the white flag on the flagstand. Got a decent restart and followed the leader high into turn 1. Cut across and come off the bottom of 2. Good run. Into three and I was about a tire behind coming off turn 4. Off turn 2 I lost a little ground having to go in in the middle. Shucks! Off 4 about a car length in arrears. Easily into 1 up top and cut across the bottom. Was about a car behind entering three but I drove it in hard and got the car turned well. We were door to door! Side by side, number to number, wheel to wheel, checkered flag waving! My car got a bite and I inched ahead. Flagstand there, both of us inches off one another, hard on the car. FINISH LINE.........we win!! By about 3 inches. WHEW!   I led the last three feet of that race, if that! Really exciting. Thanks Mom, Blake, and Kelly for their help and support this weekend!! Also thanks to Shane and MVR for sponsoring trophies for all of the box racers! DEATH VALLEY RACEWAY, April 5, 2008! Another long day, but sleep is over-rated right? What is sleep anyway? I was up early to get ready for my 4 hour class for my job. After learning the latest and greatest ways of teaching kids these days I headed home at about 12:30 and started getting the car ready to be loaded. It didn't take too long and I was able to sit down and eat something for the first time all day. Good thing as I had one of those annoying headaches. Hit the road about 2:30 and made it to the track just before 4:30. Got through tech, they have a great tech there, very thorough, I like it. Once that was done I got things ironed out for my first kids box race at intermission. Had a nice interview with track announcer Mike Henle and then prepared for the heat race. The cooler night temperatures made for a really nice track. I started 5th of 8 in my heat. At the green I was surprised at how good the track was. There was a tricky part coming off turn 2 once you got to corner exit but it was fast. My car was fast too. I got it turned quickly and was up to 4th, then 3rd and finally rocketed into 2nd. Followed the leader around for a couple of laps before he picked up a push in the middle of 1 & 2 and I slipped by. From there the only other obstacle was a lapped car with 2 to go. While it was a closer call than I thought, I was able to slip by with just the slightest tire mark at the end of the right side quarter panel. Funny note! People STILL think I have a Late Model! I love it, April Fool's lasting almost a week! haha Heat win in hand I quickly got out of the car and headed off with my boxes, cups of water, and trophy to conduct the first Kids Box Races at DVR. It was great! I had 5 kids this first time as I just wanted to show the kids what it was and how it worked. They ran in front of a front stretch fence that was lined with parents and other kids cheering them on. They raced two laps (around a shorter marked off track on the front stretch) then stopped for a tire taking off one shoe, holding it over their head for the official (me) and then putting it back on. Two more laps then a stop for fuel. 1/2 a cup of water that after drinking they had to hold over their head to prove to the official it was gone. Then off for the final two laps and the checkered. The race long leader lost the lead on lap 4, but regained it quickly and took home the first win! I took a photo with the kids and should hopefully have one to show soon! It was a blast. Hopefully kids will start bringing out their own boxes all decked out! Got back to the pits and saw that I lined up 9th in the 15 car field. One car broke so they changed to another car. Not too bad of a start, sort of usual. It looked like there would be two good grooves with the middle being tough as it was black and slicked over. Since I started low I figured I would work that angle. It worked well as I was doing well and up to 5th. I then made the mistake of trying to set up 4th a little high and got shuffled out to the middle and I dropped through the field like a rock thrown into a pond. Bloop, bloop, bloop! But hey, I wasn't following. Managed to stay in the 7th spot for a few laps before getting by 6th. Stalled out in 6th as I was faster than the car in front but couldn't get by. The car spins right in front of me. He actually almost spun 2 times before finally spinning partially down the back stretch. Whew. Yellow. The yellow wasn't for him so he got his spot back. Darn it. From here on out the race would get exciting.......in a good way......I think. Anyway, they have a rule that the flagman starts the race. There is a cone a little further down the front stretch than we are used to and it really boggles up the field coming to the green. If you aren't on your toes, LOOK OUT! I was able after a few laps to slip into 5th and was working on 4th coming into 3 when the third place car looped it. I had the car slowed and was trying to drive around him high when I got a shove from not 1, not 2, not 3, not 4, but 5 cars. We all piled in door to door to door, etc in turn 3. OUCH. YUCK! I waited as the car to my left started and drove off. I started, backed up, and drove off. Was awaiting that lovely wobble of a flat tire, broken suspension, something. It wasn't there. The car had held up. A slow drive by up high in turn 3 to give the crew a look. Two thumbs up, so I was back in action. The track wound up restoring everyone's spot except for the car who originally spun. Up to 4th. Back to racing and three of us were low as another worked high. That allowed me to slip into third and eventually 2nd as the second place car clipped the infield tire 3 times putting some major toe-out in the car. Once into second there was a series of cautions that set up some interesting restarts. I was sticking to the bottom as that was my only option. Third place would race in high on us and would get by until the exit of two. I had little for the leader and with a few to go the fight for the bottom got interesting. I thought I was low but someone was lower. I got rooted out into the middle. Fighting for ground we rubbed and the outside car was able to slip in. Back to 4th, yikes! However I got a run off 2 on the low side and was side by side for third entering three. Trying to thread the needle between that car and the infield tires was tough. We rubbed again and I came off 4 with third. From there it was white and checkered and a hard fought top 3. WHEW! I'm going to need some help with body damage this week! Thanks Mom and Blake for your help this weekend! I appreciate the support for another fun day of racing. MOHAVE VALLEY RACEWAY, March 29, 2008! Spent most of the day outside working on the cars and getting the new one ready to load up. On Thursday night I caught someone parked in the street a few houses down all dressed in black walking around my neighbor's two tricked out personal cars in their drive-way. After seeing me, he bolted and sped off quickly before I could get him or any tag information, but it kept me from loading the car early and letting it sit loaded in front of my house. So we loaded Saturday morning. We finished up around 2:30 and was hoping to leave by 3:30 for Mohave. However during the week my new "Hot Wheels" drag racing set (I KNOW) came in and we were all chomping at the bit to open it. With an hour to spare, we broke it out, set it up and reverted to our old school childhoods playing with Hot Wheels cars drag racing down the track. I'll probably catch heck for sharing that, but we are all kids at heart, and my homework was done. I'm just an old school gamer! Ended up leaving about 3:45 which put us at the track a couple of minutes after the driver's meeting. But that's ok, I was scheduled to start dead last in the heat race anyway. The track was a little more moist than normal during our usual packing in of the track. I was a little concerned that it would be left a little sloppy on the bottom for the heats, but hey, it is the same for everyone. I lined up 6th of 6 for the heat race and got to work quickly. Slipped by two cars early and then another one. Into third I slipped up and half way off the top entering turn 3. Managed to barely hold onto my spot and set my sights on the leaders. Into second and right with the leader. However he was running a good line and with the water at the bottom still there I couldn't find any room high or low. I could take a sniff at the lead here and there but nothing that would stick. White flag! Into turn 1 high as the leader picked up a push. Took an extra set of the car to turn under him and I had a run off turn 2. Side by side, door to door. Contact. Sparks. Still fighting hard and we touch wheels. The other car soars up in the air. Into turn 3 get the car turned and I win the heat. Of course we both have different views of the incident. We even discussed it. I liken it to trying to convince a Hatfield that the McCoys are good people. Both of us have our views. I shook his hand and went to ready for the feature. However as a side note, I hate it when there is contact in crucial situations. But when you get humans in race cars going fast on a dirt track there is bound to be mistakes and run-ins. That behind us, we elected to leave the car alone for the feature even though I think it had a slight bog coming off the turns. More gear is most likely the cure. Since I had no gear nor any time, I stayed with what I have. Novel idea huh? The bad news was I had to start clear back in the 12th spot. At the first green we didn't even make it out of 4 before an incident collected two cars. One exited the track so my row moved up one spot. The second restart I got a good start and it was clean on my end. What seemed like 2 laps must have been only 1 as we did a complete restart on the ensuing yellow. This time I was up another row. I hate that people were having bad nights, but I was moving up without racing! BONUS! Third restart and we needed another try. On the final double wide restart I actually ended up outside row 3. Heading for the green off turn 4 I was just getting on the gas when WHAM I get door slammed hard on the driver's side. It took my left hand off the wheel and jammed my elbow into the door bars. You know that shooting pain that follows something like that? GRRRR! I could tell by the steering wheel placement that the front end alignment had been knocked out of line. But into turn 1 I went trusting that the car would turn. Everyone was fighting for the moisture on the bottom so using the clearer outside line I shot into 4th, then 3rd. Two laps later I had passed for second and the yellow waved. Back to third. At the green I barely slipped side by side with the second place car going into 1 and avoided jumping the cushion. Roared off 2 into the 2nd spot and began working the leader. It was obvious that he was running high so I would have to chug the bottom. Two laps later I got a good run off two and broke off the high line to enter 3 low. Hugging the tires I got the car turned and shot off turn 4 in the lead. Slipped back up to the high line and began to run like the wind as I knew several fast guys would be on their way. Crossed flags, half way! A couple laps later I had a slight miss of the turn going into 3 and thought I had lost it all. I felt the right rear just slip off the top of the track which normally spells D-I-S-A-S-T-E-R! Not this time. I waited a little longer and the car got back on track and back to racing I went. It was tough to steer with the alignment issues, but I was still running scared, hoping that the damage would not scrub off much speed. When you are up front you never know what's going on! Five to go, lapped cars! I knew I was going to catch a pack of cars before it was over. Most were up high. I would need some good fortune to maneuver around them. High, low, high low cuts, and an outside pass that had me scooting over in the seat it was so close. Two laps to go and two cars running side by side for position. Off turn 2. Two cars fighting for a spot low, another up high and a slow car entering the track from the infield. I threaded the needle and passed all 4 down the middle. White flag. Two more lapped cars. I went in high as a lapped car shot up the track. I narrowly got the car whoa-ed up, turned and to the bottom. Into 3 one last time. Off 4 high and checkered flag! We won our second feature in the new car. Amazing!! During the trophy presentation I was able to meet a young man who is living with Autism. He was the assistant flagman for the night. If you didn't know, April is Autism Awareness Month. He came down to take a photo with me and I let him hold the trophy. He was so excited and such a great person that I told him take the trophy home with him. Autism Awareness Thanks to Mom, Blake, and Kelly for their help and support at the track this weekend. They are simply the best!! DEATH VALLEY RACEWAY, March 22, 2008! After a long week of readying the new car for battle I got things ready to be loaded by late Friday afternoon. The first thing I did was wreck the car into the left side opening of the trailer. The car got to rolling down my driveway and I couldn't hold it back so wham into the side of the trailer it went. It about shook all the things off the walls of the trailer, but just the left front tire hit the side head on so there was no damage. Thankfully. I ended up having to start the car and drive it in as I couldn't push it back up the driveway by myself. Anyway, headed to the track at our normal 8:00am time and this time had my uncle Rick, his girlfriend Cindy, our friend Robert, my mom, Kelly, and Blake in tow. Arrived just before 10:00am and got the car unloaded while everyone snapped photos of the new car before it hit the track. You know what it's like, gotta have pics of the shiny, new, error-free car before it is introduced to racing. Wanted to get on the track so I went out to pack the track. Following packing the track allows the mods to hot lap so for the first time in a long time I stayed out for it. Normally I do not hot lap but with a new car I needed to. Everything went surprisingly well as the motor ran well, the car steered well, and drove well as well. I was pleasantly surprised as there generally seems to be something that goes wrong with a new car. After hot laps I was approached by the Micro Sprint guys about filling in for an absent driver in their group. I accepted and got in the car to get a quick "how-to" from the guys. Took a few laps around the pits and then headed out for the heat race in that. It's a 250cc engine and you get to shift while racing. It was so neat getting into that little car. I had some engine problems and didn't do all that well, ended up pulling off. I'm sure I didn't do something right, but hey it was fun. Climbed out of the Micro Sprint and headed over to my modified as my heat was lining up already. Lined up 5th of 7 for my heat and quickly used the bottom to jump into 3rd, then 2nd. Had a spirited battle for the lead. The leader was running just off the bottom and I was sneaking my nose inside of him a few feet lower. Just about 1/2 way I eased into the lead coming off turn 2. From there I kept it on the bottom and rode off with the first heat win in the new ride. Now remember that new car problem I wrote about earlier. Well, wouldn't you know, problem after the heat. Oil all over the underside of the car on the passenger side. Called Jerry over from the stands and he narrowed it down to a leaky front seal. Nothing that some carb cleaner spray, a hammer, a punch, and some silicone couldn't fix. The car was fixed and so was the Micro Sprint. However, another of the sprinters broke his car so they needed the one I was driving for him. I was canned that fast from my sprint car ride! haha. The track was black and slick from top to bottom come feature time and smooth as could be. I lined up 8th for the feature and decided beforehand that I was going to run high, or higher, or even higher at first to avoid the bottleneck at the bottom of the track. First start went in high, jumped to the middle and drove off turn 2 into the 3rd spot. Yellow. Second start I went high and drove by a lot of cars on the outside to come off of turn 2 in 4th spot. Yellow. Third start another great run on the high line into the top 3 and yellow. The fourth start would go green and wouldn't you know, it was my worst start of the 4. Mired back in the field I was struggling to see at times as the dusty from the daytime surface was a little thick entering turn 1. But I stuck with the plan of running high, higher, or even higher and started picking off cars. The best shot I had was off turn 2 and the car was very good. Three laps in a row I slipped by a car off turn 2, on time having to hang off the edge to avoid contact but I kept it righted and going forward. I was now into the third spot and the leaders were running different lines. The leader was up top in the line I was using and the 2nd place car was running the bottom and letting the car slide up upon the exit of each turn. I was able to just barely sneak by the 2nd place car high up off turn 2. It was close. Once into 2nd I began to hunt down the leader knowing it was going to take an inside effort to get by. Got a nice run off turn 2 and slipped inside entering three. Pulled slightly ahead only to get passed exiting turn 4. Ran the middle of turns 1 & 2 this time but couldn't get by. Again hugging the bottom in 3 & 4 I was just that close to taking the lead and moving back up top. Finally I drove it in a little deeper into 3 and pushed ahead. Slowly let the car move up the track and I made it, into the lead we were! Riding the high line I was keeping the car straight and really feathering the throttle as traction was not at a premium. As the laps wound down, no pressure. I could hear someone back there, but no noses peeking inside. It was all good. 5 to go, white nose down low. Oh no! Off turn 4, side by side. I may have even not led that lap it was close at the stand. Yikes. Got into 1 a little harder and made a nice drive off 2. More pressure. I adjusted my line to the middle of 3 to take some of the challengers run off 4. It worked. I was back into the lead and no pressure from behind. Off 4, white flag! Just one more to go. Hold on, hang on, keep on, get it done! No pressure off 2 and no noses coming into 3. Off 4 and checkered flag! We had won the feature in the new car. Never had we ever debuted a new car with a win. Thanks to Blake for helping get the car going this week, flawless! Also thanks to Mom, Jerry, Kelly, Robert, Rick & Cindy for their help and support this weekend. I appreciate it. Also thanks to the Micro Sprint guys for letting me try a heat in their car. MOHAVE VALLEY RACEWAY, March 15, 2008! Ending the week with 4 straight days of over 15 hours of work, I managed to get myself moving and got the car loaded while everyone finished their normal Saturday morning errands. In the truck by 3:30 and on the way to Mohave Valley Raceway. With diesel going all the way up to $3.99 a gallon in town, it is becoming an expensive 126 mile trek for us. Sixteen cars signed in for the 10th event on our race schedule and I lined up in the 3rd spot for the third heat race. That seemed to be a theme today! But anyway, I got moving quickly and slipped into the 2nd spot and began a furious challenge for the lead. I was trying high, diving low and all over the back of the leader. Just couldn't make it stick. Trust me, every groove, every line, every inch of available track was being used to get a run. Not able to get by, the third place car became part of the battle and stuck their nose to my inside. Trying to get a good set up high in turn 1 I missed the cushion slightly and before I knew it the horizon was a blur as the car snapped around in a full 360º spin off the top of turns 1 & 2. Whoops. Got the car going, but they had already thrown the yellow. Went back to last and quickly jumped by the two cars in front of me and set my sights in the lead duo. I slightly joined the battle for the lead but time had run out as the checkered flew on our heat race. After winning to retire my father's number I have noticed that the pressure is off and I'm having an amazing time just driving the car. Win or lose, it's a blast right now. Lined up 8th for the feature and used a strong outside run to fly into the 5th spot the first time by the flag stand. The next time coming off turn 2 the 3rd place car got loose on the outside and collected the 4th place car on the inside as I squeezed by on the very outside of the track. Close. Almost into 3rd as the 4th place car had managed to get back going so he regained his spot on the restart. Using the outside again on the restart I got into three just a little too high and once again took a tour off the track. Dropping 2 spots as the yellow waved again. This time I was back to the 6th spot. On the next restart the 3rd place car got really loose entering turn 1 and the scramble was on. I ducked high and just missed the back of his car as he collected the car just in front of me. Red flag as several cars were collected ruining many suspension parts on the cars in the process. Back to racing I was now in the 4th spot. The track was basically blocked with the two in front of me side by side for 2nd. I tried low, but he wasn't getting by, so I went high and he wasn't making much room. Finally I found the opening I needed and drove by the 3rd place car on the outside. From there I had a spirited battle for 2nd place that lasted a number of laps. He was on the high line which was quicker and I couldn't get the run I needed on the bottom to get by. Adding to the mix another car was nosing into the fray as well. Door to door, wheel to wheel it was exciting. We never touched, but I have no idea how we didn't as neither of us were giving an inch. I moved my line to the VERY bottom, just inches from grazing the tractor tires with the LF. Into turn 1 I drove it in a little too hard. In fact I got the quick sick to my stomach feeling. But the car held it's line and I slid off turn 2 just far enough ahead to get into the #2 spot. Once into 2nd a couple of laps the yellow waved. Back to racing I knew laps were running down and I knew that the leader was up top and staying put. So under the caution I decided that I would rather fall back trying than to finish 2nd following. I have nothing to prove anymore, so I need to go for it. At the green I jumped to the bottom and got a glimpse of the lead off turn 2, but the momentum of the top carried the leader by. Off turn 4 the third place car had gone up top and sneaked by. Obviously it wasn't going to happen on the bottom so I went to the top for the last 2 laps and finished third. A great top 3 run for us again, avoiding what was a carnage filled night for some. Hopefully everyone's cars can be fixed and ready to go next time. I apologize to any fans who missed us in the pits afterwards, but after my long hours this week I was dragging bottom after the races and needed to get on the road to avoid going to sleep at the wheel. Hopefully you understand. Thanks Mom, Blake and Kelly for their support in the pits! DEATH VALLEY RACEWAY, March 8, 2008! Another Saturday and another race at hand. We left at our usual 8:00am time and arrived at the track by 10:00am. Our friends from up north joined us with their car as well as 20 other cars (22 total for those counting). The weather was amazing, temperatures in the 60's and sun shining bright. Not an ounce of wind. Headed out to pack the track and it was in amazing shape. Very well packed in and not rough at all. Very smooth. Obviously they had worked hard during the off time. Awesome. I was rounding turn 2 packing when I heard a noise that was unmistakable. The driveline had become detached from the rear end. I put it in neutral to avoid having it beat the heck out of the underside of the car. Got out of the car and removed it from the transmission and got pushed into the pits. The crew went to work getting everything removed and installed all the new parts. Everything fixed and we headed out for the heat. The bad news was that the wind had started up and it was howling through the valley kicking up a lot of dust and sand from the valley floor. There's nothing out there to stop it. The sand was blasting any exposed skin and it was getting brutal. I started 4th in my heat race and got into 3rd coming off turn 2. Was into 2nd about 2 laps later and finally passed for the lead on lap 4. Once in the lead I managed to stay out front and win it. The track was black and slick, but very smooth. Couldn't have asked for better actually. While waiting for the feature to begin the weather just got worse and worse. I had to wear my helmet anytime I was outside the trailer. The wind was blowing so hard under the trailer that it was picking the back door off the ground. At times the dust was so bad you couldn't see the track from the pits. As I got in the car for the main event there was about 2 inches of sand and dirt covering the seat and floor of the car. Amazing. I was lined up 8th of the 20 cars remaining to start the feature. They watered the track before the main and gave us the green before it was all worked in. The slippery surface was tricky and I fell back like domino in a wind chamber. When the first yellow waved I was in the 9th spot and not doing well at all. Under yellow the track was finally packed back in and dried out. At the green I went to work and was doing much better. I finally cracked the top 5 by lap 10 and then the real fun began. We were racing in a huge pack three wide 2 or 3 rows deep and just inches from bouncing off one another. Changing lines, swapping positions, it was amazing. In fact it really showed what a great field of drivers were there as we were racing VERY hard and no sheet metal was getting tore up. Everyone was racing the middle and upper middle groove so it was clogged. I went to work hugging the bottom and while it was slick I was making some progress. I was moving up. Into 4th, then 3rd and finally into 2nd and into the lead. Yellow. Moved back to 2nd and went to work at the green. I slipped inside of the leader off turn 2 but couldn't hold it into 3. Again was just inches off the leader as we rounded 3 & 4. I stuck to the bottom and launched off turn 4 and into the lead. I was tip-toeing my way around the slick surface, but it was working. Once in the lead I remained glued to the bottom and continued to ease into the throttle off the turns. Finally we were coming to the white flag. Off turn 2 a caught a nose on the outside. Side by side off turn 4 and the white flag waved. I was had. The second place car was making the outside line work better than I was working the bottom. Off 2 I lost the lead and could only watch from a few feet back as the win escaped us! Darn it. I did all I could, stayed in the line that got me the lead and made them pass me in another groove. They did and deserve the win. I had an amazing time. The racing was so competitive and incredibly intense. I loved it! Thank you to everyone for their support in the miserable conditions weather-wise. Great job to the crew at Death Valley Raceway for coming up with a racey surface under adverse conditions. Thanks Mom, Blake, Kelly, and Jerry for their help as well as the "RAM" crew. Thank you! MOHAVE VALLEY RACEWAY, March 1, 2008! After a morning at LVMS checking out the Nationwide and Cup action, we headed home and hit the road to Mohave Valley Raceway about 2:30pm. Arrived at the track just in time for the driver's meeting. Sixteen cars had checked in and I lined up inside row 2 for heat number 3. At the green I got the jump and moved to the outside going into turn 1. Crossed over and was side by side for 2nd entering turn number 3. Out of 4 and I was into the 2nd spot. Chased down the leader and got side by side for the lead exiting turn 2 a lap later. Not enough to make the pass I pulled back in behind and made a run on the outside off 4. Went really hard into the turn at the top of 1 and got the bite I needed to shoot by and into the lead. From there I would lead the remaining laps to win the heat. The car was a little on the tight side for the heat race and I had to wrestle it through the turns a bit, but I figured that it would be good for the feature. The other feature events would dry out the track some and that would take some bite out of the track. Lined up 7th for the main event alongside last week's feature winner Bill Meyer. At the green I used the bottom to move by 2 cars and into the 5th spot. The bottom was a bit crowded and I still tried to use that groove to get by. Wasn't really making much progress on the bottom when the yellow waved for the first time. In the 5th spot I decided to move up top for the restart. Got a good bite up high and cut down to the bottom to make a pass on the 4th spot. Once into the 4th spot I moved to the middle as the pair in front of me were battling side by side. The middle wasn't working so I moved up to the very top of the track and made great progress on the exit of turn 2 each lap. It was tricky up there as there was a nice, black, slick spot, but I could tip toe through it and keep my momentum up. Moved by into the 3rd spot and made it to the 2nd place car fairly quickly. I dropped back down to try getting by on the bottom and actually got door to door for the spot. However I there wasn't enough room on the bottom so I again moved upstairs to make an assault on the runner up spot. Two laps later I had slipped outside and took over the 2nd spot. From there I worked the top side to make up ground on the leader. From about 8 cars back I slowly reeled in the leader and as he ran the extreme low line in 1, I ran the extreme high line. He would get out of 2 on me a bit but I would use the momentum to close the gap quickly on the outside. Got a little close on the exit of 4 once and I nudged the leader from behind. Finally I got into turn 1 side by side with the leader and used to the extra boost from the high line to move into the lead. I knew the laps were winding down and I didn't feel any pressure from behind. However I felt some pressure from within. I had let one slip away last time and didn't want to this time. The track was slicking off more so I was changing my line more and more. Lapped cars. Worked through the lapped cars fairly well and the white flag was in the air. Come on, one more! Slow and steady, keep your cool I told myself. Off turn 2, into the bottom of 3, off 4 and checkered flag! WE WON!! My dad's number 36N could be officially retired! The track picked up my family and friends and brought them onto the track for photos. It was an emotional yet well deserved celebration. I felt honored to be able to get that win for my father and honor him by retiring his number. Next time out, the 87N will again adorn the modified. This is the only win I have not with the number 87 on the car. Thanks Mom & Blake for their help and support during this difficult time and to Kelly for her continued support in the pits all this time! Also, thanks to Carly and Brett for making the trip to scrape some mud and cheer us on to victory! Finally, thanks to all the fans, crews, and drivers at MVR for their support and cheers. I hear the pit stands roared as I took the lead and the main stands cheered wildly as I crossed the line! Thanks everyone, my father would have been honored! DEATH VALLEY RACEWAY, February 23, 2008! The day started off much better than last Saturday, that's for sure. The car was already loaded on Friday night and ready to hit the road to Death Valley Raceway's 2nd event of the season. The track was much more wet than last time out and it was obvious that there would be some more bumps in it this week. We are back to starting off point average so I lined up 5th of 7 in heat number 1. The bottom had already burned off and the top was tacky. Tacky but quite rough. I stuck to the bottom as I have never been good at negotiating the bumps. Moved up to 3rd then 2nd. The leader was checked out and I could see he was using the rutted outside to get around. I tried it, YIKES! The car unloaded heavily on the left side and it felt like I bicycled a little bit. I moved back down and still managed to run 2nd, albeit half a lap behind the winner. The track was really starting to rut up even more so they brought out the grader during intermission. While it did smooth things over I feel the track was a little too wet which made it soft. This softness made it though to pack down and again it had rutted up for the feature. I started in the 7th spot and had moved up a few spots early. I was running the bottom just barely hitting the ruts with the right side of the car. However it became obvious part way through the feature that the outside banging the rough was the way to go. Cars were rocketing out of the top groove. I got up to 3rd and gave the top a shot. OUCH! I knew already that I wasn't going to like it and I immediately knew I still didn't. The car was a handful. I was out of control. I think I gave it at least 2 laps, but it may have been just one corner and I moved back down. I couldn't cut it running through the rough. So I fell back to 5th and that's where I would finish. Not too bad but I do have some problems with the car. It knocked several things loose, most importantly the header on the driver's side was just threads from falling off the car. YES, falling off. We did tighten it and make sure it was tight, but me hitting the ruts probably didn't help matters any. I'm not griping about the track, it was tough to get around though. They did their best to fix what they had and I'm sure it will be better next time. The races are running smoothly, it will take some time to get the track in shape. It's only the 2nd race. Thanks to everyone for their help and support in the pits this week! Enjoy your week. MOHAVE VALLEY RACEWAY, February 16, 2008! This last week was a busy one as we had a lot to fix on the car. Blake was able to get the left rear brake rotor changed as well as the chewed up brake pads that were on the car. On Wednesday I pulled the motor and replaced the clutch disks. One of them had all the teeth missing on it so that's where the noise was coming from following the Death Valley feature. Blake, Kelly, and my mom helped me get the motor back in and we started it to test out the clutch. All was good. Friday night we did the normal maintenance on the car checking things over and making one chassis adjustment. On Saturday I hooked up to the trailer and was ready to go over and load the car. I started at 9:00am and hoped to be done in time to catch the Nationwide Daytona race at 10:15 my time. While checking the air pressure in the trailer tires I found a spike in one tire and then found another that had a bad spot on it. So I wound up changing two trailer tires. Trailer backed up, door down, wench chord out and I went to warm up the car as I normally do. I do this to check for leaks and to make sure it is ready to go. The engine was locked up. Seems as when we jacked up the back of the car on Friday night, fuel somehow siphoned into the engine filling it with fuel. I pulled the plugs and turned it over to get the fuel out. Fuel shot out the 3rd and 5th cylinders and slammed into my legs. Drenching my pants and shoes with methanol. Finished spinning it over to get the fuel out, buttoned it up and went in to change clothes. Started the car and steam was coming heavily from the breathers. Problem. The fuel had contaminated the oil. Off to the parts store to buy a new filter and oil. Once the oil was changed the car was fired again. This time all was well........except for a leak in the radiator! Radiator change. With that changed we again fired the car and all was well. Loaded it in the trailer and got inside to catch the last 4 laps of the Daytona race. Left the house for Mohave Valley and we met in the pits this time by Carly and Brett. Kelly was in Alamosa, CO attending her track's year end awards banquet. Trying to open the tool box in the trailer the key broke off in the lock, of course it did right? Blake was able to fiddle with it and get it to open. I drew 65 which placed me outside row 2 for the heat race. At the green I followed the car in front of me on the outside and moved into 2nd very quickly. From there I was putting heavy pressure on the leader and was side by side several times off of turn 2. I just couldn't make the pass stick as the bottom of turns 3 & 4 was too slick. I would have to lift going into 3 as I didn't want to slam into the side of the leader. I ran a close 2nd and felt good about the car. In the pits we realized that the power steering fluid reservoir mount had broken. Another thing added to the mix of items to fix. Lined up 5th for the feature and slipped into 4th quickly at the green. From there I followed an intense battle for the 2nd & 3rd spots. The track was in great shape and I was running all over the place trying to get by the battling duo. Finally was able to slip into 3rd and set my sights on 2nd place. High, low, high, low, just couldn't find the line I needed to get by. Finally got the car set good into 1, turned hard and flew off the bottom which put me side by side with 2nd entering 3. Made the move and got the spot. Once into 2nd I could see the leader at least 1/2 a lap ahead of me as he started outside pole. Still no caution so I had to run him down, or at least try. Slowly I was starting to reel him in. Then he hit lapped traffic and quickly disposed of the first one. However the 2nd lapped car held him up for a little bit and I closed in. The once 1/2 lap lead was now just a couple of car lengths. With about 5 to go I was working on the leader. My emotions caught up with me as teared welled up in my eyes. I had a shot at getting the win and retiring my dad's number. Coming to 2 laps to go I got a great run inside of the leader off turn 2. Side by side we entered turn 3. I got in too hot and slid up and made contact with the leader. When we gathered up our cars I shot into the lead! Not for long, flat right rear tire. I blew it. Let my emotions get the best of me and I made a bad move. Luckily for me the race long leader was able to recover and win the race. I, determined, muscled the car around those final 2 laps with the flat and still ran 2nd as we had outdistanced the field by quite a ways. Bummer. I'll have to do a better job at controlling my emotions I guess. At the pit I was welcomed by many cheering fans and friends. It was great to have such support in the pits. We hope I'm able to get that win and retire the number sometime this year. Sooner or later I know we'll get one. Thanks Mom, Blake, Brett, and Carly for their help tonight and to the many fans and friends who helped cheer us on. DEATH VALLEY RACEWAY, February 9, 2008! After my father passed I was really wondering if I should continue racing. I knew he would want me to, but I just didn't know if it would be right or not. I considered quitting. At the funeral on Thursday I was still being told that I needed to continue, was still being asked if I would, and I just didn't know. I was waiting for some sort of a sign. As the casket was being lowered into the grave the funeral director gave us a map of the cemetery and the plot number of my father's grave for future reference. I glanced at the paper which had the "AC" area highlighted and the plot number 431 on it. I instantly got tears in my eyes. Not wanting to alarm anyone I waited until I got home to say anything. We had a celebration of life gathering at my house following the funeral. I knew it was true, but wanted to check first. I entered the garage and went to the driver's side of the current car. Bent down and peered under the header to check the chassis number. There it was, "BMS 431." To me that was all I needed to let me know my father was with me. We were racing. Changed my number without anyone other than Blake knowing as he is the one who had to put the vinyl on. (I don't put vinyl on well and it usually ends in some choice vocabulary). So the car was loaded and we hit the road at 8:00 am for the drive to Death Valley's opener. A packed pit area and 25 IMCA modifieds were on hand for the first event at the neat facility near the NV/CA border. Many were shocked, several didn't understand, but most noticed the number change right away. After some explaining, most thought it was cool. I can't draw worth a darn, however my dad could draw very well. This time the bingo cage rattled around and spit out B-1! WOW! Packed the track and went out for hot laps. I was pretty decent and really enjoyed the challenge of a new track. Lined up on the pole for heat 1 and they had watered the track just before we went out. The outside was wet and quite slick. So I stuck to the bottom and held on to win the heat race. It was great. The top 12 redraw on the opening night and I didn't draw well the 2nd time. It was "O-68." That lined me up in the 10th spot. Twenty-three cars took the green for the feature and the track was SLICK on the bottom, then a little moisture in the middle-high lines in one and two. Slick except for a cushion in turns 3 & 4. Green flag and we're racing. I had moved up a couple of spots and the yellow waved. Restart. Under the yellow the brake pedal was pulsing up and down under my foot. Something was wrong. It didn't seem too bad, but it wasn't right. Decided to give it a shot. Green flag and I was racing my way to the front. Up to 8th, then 7th, 6th and finally into 5th. The 3-4 battle was an intense one and I joined in to make it even more exciting. They were just inches off one another and I wasn't far behind. It took me a while to begin getting the bottom to work but when I finally did off turn 4 I was inside the nose to tail duo. Shot off turn 2 and had them cleared, or so I thought. A little push and shove and a slight lack of room led to me in third only to get hooked up with the 4th place car's front bumper. By the time I freed our cars I fell back to 9th. YUCK! Went back to work and used the outside, outside-inside, and inside grooves to slip and slide my way back to the front. With 2 to go I slipped into the 4th spot and that's where I would finish. Awesome!! Fun racing too. Can't wait to go back. Once at home we realized that the LR brake rotor was cracked in two places. YIKES! Thanks to all our family, friends, and fans for the emails, phone calls, visits, flowers, cards, gifts, and general support during this difficult time. While my dad will never be forgotten, we feel it is best to continue on. God speed dad! Thanks Mom, Blake, and Kelly for being there today and to Jimmy & Cheryl for hanging out with us today! It was nice to be able to laugh and relive some good memories with my father. MOHAVE VALLEY RACEWAY, February 2, 2008! I've had a hard time sitting down to do this, however I think I need to maintain my life as much as I can and this website is part of that. Plus my father would want us to continue on......so here it goes..... We left again at 7:00am and my father informed us that two of our family friends would be coming along. We all met up at my house and hit the road. Dad said he wasn't up to the trip and would stay home to rest. I again drew wonderfully, 75, so that placed me 6th of 7 cars in heat 1. I got the jump on the outside and was in 4th coming off turn 2. After following the battle for 2nd place for a few laps and fending off some inside peeks from 5th place, I was able follow the car in front of me by another car as he slipped off the track in turn 4. Once in third I could hear the pressure from behind, but I was holding him off. The car wasn't great, but it was good enough. Coming for the white I bobbled a bit off turn 2 and that allowed 4th place to my inside. The car was able to put the quarter panel on me and our cars bounced off one another. He got into 3rd and I slipped up the track now in 4th, where I would finish. That would put me into the B main. I contemplated tagging the B just to get some time trying different grooves on the track. I decided against it after figuring it would put me more at risk of getting into a wreck and the crew didn't deserve that. So I changed the set up and headed out for the B. Started on the pole and decided to run the bottom until I was passed up top. I could hear cars out there but no passing yet. My car was carrying the LF a little as running the bottom had it rolling over hard. Just as a yellow waved a car was ready to race by on the outside. On the restart I decided to go up top. From there I was able to pull away and win the B main. That had me lined up in the lucky 13th spot for the feature. Again I was in the bottom lane so I used it early and was moving up pretty well. Finally had to move to the top after the bottom got crowded. It was tough work trying to move by on the outside. However I was able to slowly pick my way into the top 10, then the top 8, then top 6. Just after 1/2 way I was able to slip into the 6th spot and had a tough time getting by the duo in front of me. They were working all the lines and I couldn't slip by. I had a couple of three-wide moments, always with me in the middle, but couldn't do it again here. Finally I was able to sneak inside of the 5th place car and got the spot when I yellow came out as I was a bumper ahead at the line. I needed to be high but the top 4 were there. I finally slipped into 4th and was running high in turns 1 & 2 but would dive low and hug the inside of 3 & 4. I could pull along side the other cars but the momentum would carry them by. The bottom lacked just that much. I did trade 3rd place several times before getting the spot for good a few laps from the end. Some slight contact happened when I tried another line, however I recovered and was able to track down the leaders for the last couple of laps. With the leader outside, 2nd in the middle and me down low I tried everything I could. Fell short, but still finished great. The racing was tough, which is great. Tough races early make you better in the season. I enjoyed the challenge. Here are some great J & E Photography Photos from the racing on Saturday! Enjoy! MOHAVE VALLEY RACEWAY, January 26, 2008! The week off was good, but it's always nice to get back to racing. I've realized that I do much better if I can race more and one race a weekend isn't really enough. However, the price of fuel says that once a week close to home isn't bad either! haha. Spent the week going over the current car while putting the finishing touches on the new one. Blake replaced the other two ball joints that hadn't gone yet during the week. The other one went in September at Mohave. So the car was all checked over and ready. The track turned out to be a little more wet than normal which led to a heavy heat. "Undo" all of the tightening to the chassis set up and line up for the heat. I started last of the 6 cars and got bottled up early in the race. When I finally broke free I was in 4th and about 1/2 a lap behind the transfer spot into the main. The car was fast and it was fun driving on the tacked up track, but I would have to run the B. Lined up 3rd for the B main and settled into the 2nd spot pretty quickly. Wasn't really pushing it but I was quicker than the leader. By about 1/2 way I had slipped under the leader and into the lead coming off turn 4. From there I survived a couple of restarts and ran away with the B main. At least we have one letter of the alphabet figured out huh? Tighten the car back up for the main event and wish I had gone a little more. But I started 13th, inside, and was committed to run the bottom early until things settled in. I realized quickly that I would be pretty good on the bottom and was picking off cars steadily using the low line. Granted the field is tough so while I was picking them off, it wasn't a quick and easy process. With less than 10 to go I had moved into the 6th spot and in the closing laps I would slip into the top 5. While I could stay with the 3-4 cars I really had nothing for them and wound up finishing in the 5th spot. Our first A main finish of the season and hopefully the first of many. Thanks to all the hard work of Mom, Blake and Kelly for sticking with it and not giving up. Lots of hard work has been done these last few weeks and today's performance was a result of that hard work and dedication. I appreciate it. Afterwards I got to stick around and chat with several friends and fans. Thanks to everyone who stopped by and offered encouragement and support. It's nice to know people are behind this team. Until next time.......... MOHAVE VALLEY RACEWAY, January 12, 2008! The day started off rather well with great weather and things seemed to go well on the way to the track. A little trouble starting the car, although it was started at the house the night before to make sure all was well. First sign of stubbornness. I drew 2nd row inside for heat #4, needing at top 3 to transfer into the A main. The track was pretty fast on the top and I was mired on the bottom early unable to slip into the preferred groove. That cost me a chance to move up and I fell back to 5th at the finish. That landed me in the always unpredictable B main. 15 cars vying for 12 spots in 15 laps. I started 8th and was content to ride there and just finish. I knew finishing would most likely get me into the top 12. However a couple of false starts had me thinking otherwise. Cars were sliding all over the place and I was uneasy being around them. The last false start saw cars thinking the green was coming out but it didn't. I ended up getting shoved down the front stretch and I had to fly off the end of the track to avoid heavy contact with the cars in front of me. Finally under the green I made a quick move to the outside and cut back across the track to get by the two cars that were making me nervous. Once in 5th I decided I would go to the bottom to play it safe. The leaders were way up high but I didn't want to risk going off the top of the track. So I found the bottom got better and I moved up. Was running third when the 2nd place car slipped off the top and into 2nd I went. That's where I would finish. Fixed up the car for the feature and was ready to go from my 14th starting position. At the green I soared into turn 1 and everything was good. On the gas and exiting turn 2 the car shoots directly to the right and I slam into the rear of the 81 car of Robert Miller. It sends him spinning and I fly off the track and to a stop. Turns out the right front upper ball joint snapped. The impact with the 81 broke the steering in the car. I apologize to that team for my problem becoming theirs. I wish it wouldn't have happened that way. All in all it was a frustrating day as I got all kinds of smart ass comments from other racers. My always clean race car, internet status, recent interview, and poor luck were all fodder for people during the day. I guess it must suck to be so miserable in their own situations they have to invade my own. The good thing about winning the race out of the race track today was that I made it home in time to order "The Chili Bowl" race on pay-per-view and was able to watch someone win it for the first time. Was pretty cool. Just need to keep a good attitude and hope for better luck soon! MOHAVE VALLEY RACEWAY, January 5, 2008! Although the skies were dark and the forecast was grim we all strayed away from the snooze bar on the alarm and headed off to Mohave Valley Raceway early Saturday morning. Along the way we drove through rain, heavy fog, and some more rain. About 15 miles from the track was came across a serious accident where a semi pulling doubles had exited the road and flipped over. The driver was out and in good condition. Just a little reminder to keep driving safely. Still misting the windshield a few miles from the track we were a little concerned about the weather. Arriving at the track we were pleasantly surprised to see that the rain wasn't a threat. The track was in excellent shape! Smooth and it packed in very very nicely. I was impressed. I drew #82 which lined me up in the 5th spot for my heat race. At the green I dropped below the car in front of me and the car sounded like it was hitting the rev limiter chip. I looked down thinking there was a HUGE problem if it was already hitting the chip. The tach showed just under 6000 rpm. I made it through turns 1 & 2 and again it was only getting to just below 6000 when it began cutting out again. It was supposed to limit the revs to 7000, not 6000. Yellow. Under yellow I wasn't sure what was going on. At the last second I ducked off the track and raced to the crew. I asked them to remove the chip as I remember a chip going bad on us back in 2003. Chip removed and the problem was solved. I needed a top 2 to transfer for the main and there was only 4 cars left of the 7 starting our heat. I got into 3rd and was riding there as the top 3 were pretty evenly matched. Then the leader broke and I was in 2nd of 3. I just rode around there and transferred. Lucky, yes! The top 12 redrew and I got #35 which was 4th best of the 12 drawing. The track was still in great shape for the main however we had at least 3 restarts to the main before settling in. I am always a little more give than take in the first few laps and I was in third but a whack in the driver's door told me to back off and settle into 4th. Riding in 4th the car was good. It took me a couple of laps to find a line and I was quickly knocking on the door of 2nd and 3rd. Their battle was making it tough to get by. Just when I would get a run on 3rd, yellow. Another great run, another yellow. Finally I got a great line on the outside and flew by 3rd and quickly ran down 2nd. Yellow. Darn it!! More racing and trying to get by and a red was displayed to clear the track for them to clean up an accident. When we went back to yellow the shifting linkage exited from the transmission and my day was done. I couldn't get it into gear. The crew tried to jack up the car and manually put the car into gear but the race had already gone green and with just a few laps left it was best to call it a day. Bummer. But I have only myself to blame. That it one of two things I can't remember checking before heading to the track. Oh well, the car is in one piece, it isn't that dirty, and the fix is an easy one. So the DNF isn't that bad! Thanks Mom, Blake, Kelly, Jerry, Cyle and Michelle for their help and support this weekend.