MOHAVE VALLEY RACEWAY, February 25, 2006
Still working on making the car and myself faster, we made some suspension changes to the "old" car this week in preparation for the season opener at Mohave Valley Raceway.    A solid and full 24 car field rolled through the gates for the opener and I drew #49.   Made a few hot laps with the car and it felt pretty solid.   Responsive to the throttle and was moving forward and straight.   I was pleased.  The draw landed me inside row 2 for the heat race.   At the green I had a good three car battle for the lead.   At the first caution I was in 2nd place and began working low on the leader.   The top was still a little quicker but if you could work it right I felt I could get by.   A slip up in turn 2 allowed me to get inside and then a push high sent me by and into the lead.   From there I survived a restart and won, first heat win in a while.   The top 12 qualifiers had to redraw for the front 1/2 of the feature grid.   I drew #50, which was good enough for 8th position.   While dry and slightly dusty, the track was pretty racy.   I  moved to the outside on the opening circuits and climbed up to 5th by the first yellow.   Being a little too cautious hurt me a couple of times as I let a few open doors slam shut on me, but I was still in 5th.   A couple of restarts in I got some pressure from the outside so I decided it was time to get a move on.   When we took the green the car picked up a vibration that I wasn't able to pinpoint.   Flat tire?  Suspension?   The car was going, just not as well.   At the next restart, I committed low and was just a couple of feet shy of being door to door with the car on the outside when the car in front of us began to spin.   Brakes weren't enough, WHAM!   I climbed up the LF of the car outside me and 3-2-1 we have lift off.   As the car slammed down on the left side I thought I was going over as it didn't bounce up off the racing surface, it jammed into the dirt jarring everything inside my body.   In fact I'm sure I'm a few inches shorter because of it.   (Not to mention sore).   I kept going and limped off the track as I just knew that there was heavy suspension damage to the rear.    Arrived in the pits and heard that it was only a LR flat.   They changed the tire very quickly (Thank you!) and I was back out to an incredibly long line of cars.   I was first from the wrong end.    At the green I was just having fun.   Knowing that about 1/2 of the race was over, I was just trying to see how many spots I could salvage for the team.   Picking off cars high, low, and somewhere in between, I found myself in about 11th at the next caution.   When the field took the green all heck broke loose on the back straight.   The two car pushed, then got loose and was clipped on the front bumper in front of me.   Spinning both cars back up the track.   I was trying to sneak by while keeping my eye on another spinning car.   Then I saw something red spinning wildly out of control heading right for me.   It was the front bumper off the 2 car and I was a good 10 feet or so off the ground.   I gunned it quickly and barely missed having it land on my car.   Lined up about 9th on the next start and before I knew it I was fighting for 4th when the final caution flew.   A three-wide battle for 4th ensued at the green with myself being at the bottom.   I slipped into 4th and was thrilled to be in the 'claim area' spot!   Taking the white I got a good run off turn 4 and got side by side with the 3rd place car.   Going into 3 the leaders were just in the middle of 3-4.   I saw the leader starting to spin and moved to the outside.   We almost hit as I went by, but I raced to the line and went by 2nd.   As I pulled into the claim area I couldn't believe how well we moved back up in such a short time.   Low and behold the track BF'd the car across the line first for rough driving and, well what do you know,  I was declared the winner!  Talk about stunned.   I didn't know what to do or say.   I feel bad about the circumstances leading to the win, one car spinning and the other being BF'd.   I kind of just stood there looking for something to do or say.  But the rowdy "Dan fans" knew what to do.   They just celebrated the moment.   I think with that luck, I'm going to go play the lottery.  

Thanks Mom, Dad, and Blake for their help and support at the track this weekend!  

 
MOHAVE VALLEY RACEWAY, February 11, 2006
The final round of the Mohave Valley Winter Series began with wind whipping its way through the pits and chilling us to the bone early.   It also wreaked havoc on the racing surface as the sun and the wind tend to suck the moisture right out of the track.   Lined up 7th in heat 1 and just couldn't get going very well.   Fell into the #5 spot and was anticipating another B main kind of day with the laps winding down.   A late yellow bunched up the field and the leader spun in turn 1 on the restart triggering a mad scramble to avoid the spun racer.   I went up and off the top of turn 1 but the cars in front of me had a little contact, while the car behind me hit the stopped car really hard.   All said and done and I was up to 3rd, the transfer.   Managed to hold on for the last couple of laps and transferred into the A main and a 9th place starting spot.  

At the green the field disappeared!   Dust, dust, and more dust.    When we entered turn 3 on lap one I could see the two at the front of the field beginning to spin.   Just at that moment, someone either closed my eyes or turned off the lights as I could no longer see a thing.   I could just hear cars on and off the gas, someone hard on the gas, and I was trying to move, yet not too fast.   When I could finally see I was headed right for the back of a spun car and managed to swerve at the last second to avoid the collision.   WHEW!   They watered after the second false start and we were off.   I knew at the start I wasn't going to do well as the car just wasn't reacting like I need it to be.   Either that or I wasn't giving it the proper commands as I struggled to move up any at all.   Managed a couple passes low and one high for the 4th spot.   Then I began to falter more and more and fell back to 5th where I would remain over the closing laps.   Not a good run for me at all and I feel like I need to step it up big-time.   While I did move from 23rd to 4th in points over the last 3 events, I still feel like I ran horribly in the series.   Never really felt like I competed at the high level I've come to expect for myself.   Now we'll see how much heart I really have as I try and dig myself out of this performance gap.   
 

Thanks Mom, Dad, Blake and Kelly for their help and support this weekend.   Also to the fans on the fence and in the stands for the cool signs, thumbs up and cheers of encouragement.   Hopefully I can pick it up soon.
 
MOHAVE VALLEY RACEWAY, February 4, 2006
Round 3 of the Winter Series and I got right to work shooting myself in the foot.   Started 7th in the heat race needing a top 3 finish to transfer directly into the A.   NOT!   Tough racing as cars were everywhere and I slipped into the 4th spot early.   When the car in front of me slipped by 2nd, I tried to follow him through.   The car came down as I was going for the same piece of real estate and wham we hit door to door and he spun, I continued.   Fell back to last but the caution came out and I was restored to 3rd.   Stayed in third until going into 3 on the last lap and lost the spot to a pass on the outside.   Dag gum it! 

Another B main, my third straight.   Lined up on the pole and they had watered the outside groove so I wanted to get there quickly as there was a slight cushion up there.   Got the jump at the green and moved right to the top.   From there it was smooth sailing and I transferred into the A winning the B.   My first win of anything this season.   :)

Lined up 15th for the A main and again the track was watered at the top.   The racing was tough in the pack fighting for racing room as well as avoiding the spins and pushes from everyone.   Steadily moved my way up until I was in about 9th or 10th and I moved to the outside.   Up to 8th, then 7th and finally into 6th.   Late in the race I capitalized on a couple of errors from other drivers on the top and slipped into the 4th spot, where I would finish.   The car seemed to not be as good the last 10 laps, so we'll have to look into what caused the difference.   But overall things went better than expected and we are starting to move in a positive direction this year.   The best way to get out of a slump is to work harder and pull your way out of it.  

Thanks Mom, Dad, Blake, Jerry, Kelly, Carly, Tara and my rowdy fans for their help and support this weekend!!  

Photo by Curtis Pilgreen
 
MOHAVE VALLEY RACEWAY, January 28, 2006
Greatly improved track conditions met us this week as round 2 of the Winter Series rolled into Mohave Valley Raceway.   About 40-45 cars checked in this time and I lined up inside row 3 for my heat race.   Raced into 3, the transfer spot early an was trying hard to get into 2nd.   Got inside once or twice but couldn't get by.   Going into turn 1 on about lap 4 I got in much harder than 2nd place and locked up the brakes to avoid hitting him.   It became the quick decision of hitting 2nd and taking him out or spinning myself.   I chose the latter.    To the back of the line I went, 11th.    In the last 4 laps I was able to pass a few cars and climbed back up to 8th.   OUCH!   First shot in the foot. 

Back to action in B main #3 where I lined up 6th in the 15 lapper which transferred 4 to the A main.   The race hadn't hit the starting line yet when the car inside of me got sideways and his right rear jumped over my left front spinning us both in front of the field.   I went spun to the outside and off the track in turn 1.   The car wasn't too damaged, just changed the position of the wheel inside which normally means toe-out problems.   On the next green I settled into 4th and although in the transfer I wanted to go forward.   Got into 3rd and began to settle in.   The groove was against the tires at the bottom of the track and at times I was good.   Other times I was about 3 or 4 inches too close and whacked the infield tractor tires.   A couple of really hard hits made me think I had torn the LF off the car.   It ripped the steering wheel out of my hands in the car.   Lucky for me it seems the car was carrying the LF enough that it would hit the tire and go over the top of it.   WHEW!   With about 5 laps to go I slipped into 2nd and safely qualified for the A main.  

Lined up 18th for the 30-lap feature.   At the green the track did kick up quite a bit of dust, but everyone kept their cool and the race clicked off a few good laps.  I had moved past a few cars on the inside and one on the outside early.   A rut was developing low in between turns 1 and 2 (nothing near as bad as last time though) and one wrong hit sent me sailing into the darn tractor tire coming out of turn 2.   WHAM!   The car took an abrupt right turn and right off the track onto the track exit.   I figured something was way wrong as I hit it horribly hard.   Came off just as the yellow waved.   No apparent damage so I returned to the back of the long 20 + car line.   I was a little frustrated with myself for pulling off and giving up the 7 or 8 spots and it showed early as I was just all over the place.   A couple of yellows later I took a look around the surface and began to change my line in an attempt to get to the front.    Slowly but surely I was passing 2 sometimes 3 cars a lap and making a good charge to the front.   Up to 18th, 14th, 11th, then 8th.   During this time I had already hit the tractor tires another 3 times to bring my grand tally to 6 for the day.    Late during the race I was able to get inside of 7th and was about to get by when the caution came out.   The next run saw the car in front of me clip the tire and it jumped out just as I went by and WHACK again.   Ripped the wheel out of my hands a good one and I fell back quite a ways.   Raced back up to the pack, but ran out of laps.     A solid run for us, just too bad I shot holes in my foot  and kept us at the back fighting our way up all day.  

We'll take the LF suspension apart this week and change all the parts damaged from my hair-brained hitting of the tractor tires.   IDIOT!  GOSH!

Thanks Mom, Dad, and Blake for their help this weekend.   

 
MOHAVE VALLEY RACEWAY, January 21, 2006
The season opener at MVR began under clear skies and temperatures hovering around the 70 degree range, although a brisk wind began to steadily blow by the time things got underway.   Almost 60 cars were competing for the 24 starting spots in 6 eight lap heats.   I was in heat #6.   By the time my heat rolled around many people had come over to tell me that the track was rutted up and there was one slim line with limited ruts.   I lined up inside row 2 for the heat race and on the second start I got a good jump and slipped into 2nd spot.   They weren't kidding about the ruts.   The car was bouncing and moving over almost a car length on its own at times.   I settled into the bottom groove which at the time had the least amount of ruts.   Slipped by the leader on the high side when he got into the infield briefly, but hitting the ruts up high in 1 allowed him to slip right back back.   I then set up a pass coming off turn 2 but just as I went to pass I hit a rut and back by he went.   As laps wound down I was still right on the leader's bumper attempting a pass when 3rd place came barreling between us and wham all three of us were on top of one another in the infield.   I wound up with a broken tie rod and was done for the race.  

Dad, Jerry, Blake, Kelly, mom, Carly and myself went to work fixing the damage and cleaning the car.    I was to race in the 3rd B main, with about 16 cars trying for 4 transfers into the A main for the night.   Holy Baja 1000 batman!!   The track when we pulled onto it was a nightmare.   It had cornfield like rows in turns 1 and 2, and huge holes all through the exit to turn 4.   At the green the cars in front of me hit the hole and things went dark as they threw dry dirt from the holes into the air.   I couldn't see anything for a few seconds before finally seeing that I was already onto the front straight away.   I tried to scope out the best line but wasn't really able to take it all in during the 1 parade lap before the green.   So I tried the middle of 1 and 2 only to be bounced off the back stretch but I managed to wrestle the car back onto the track carrying the LF about 3 feet in the air.   Yellow.   I had fallen back to 5th, out of the transfer.   So I began to wonder if it was worth it.   Decided that I would drive the line with the least amount of ruts and if I did well great, if not, at least I would save some suspension parts.   I found the best route was to go as low as possible in turns 1 and 2 and to split the ruts down the middle going into 3 and let the car slide up and high above the huge hole exiting turn 4.   Going for the restart everyone went right through the midde and banged the holes in turn 4, while I rode the rim and got a great run off 4.   Shot all the way up to 2nd going into turn 1.   The next lap I was able to drive by the leader on the outside of turn 4 and into the lead.   A couple of cautions at the end bunched us up.   It was only a 15 lap race, but about 12 laps in I realized I either need to get in much better shape or get much younger really fast.   I have always driven left handed and one-handed.   About 3 laps from the finish my left arm cramped up and locked up and my right hand had to take over.   Lets just say my right hand has no idea what it is doing behind the wheel.   It's used to just hanging out and going for the ride.   Just going for the white flag, the 55 came bouncing through the ruts in turn 4 and got beside me.   Since I was going to transfer safely I let him go and wound up 2nd.  

Lined up around 16th or 18th for the feature and had already talked to a few people who were contemplating either not starting the feature or simply starting and pulling off to get their starting money.   I led most of the B main so I was unaware of the visibility problems for the people far back in the pack.   Told the crew I would go and at least take the green and see what happened.   At the green I was just going into turn 3 and instantly the cars in front of me disappeared.   I continued forward as quite a few cars were behind me and could finally see as I went by the flag stand.   Again cars disappeared going into turn 1 and as I limped down the back stretch the entire turn 3-4 area was enveloped with dust so thick I couldn't see.   I went to the bottom as all the dust seemed to be coming from the bottom up.   I could then see, except for the setting sun was glaring at you as you came off turn 4.   The big infield tractor tires would disappear in the glare not to mention the other cars.   I then found that the hole exiting turn 4 would lift all 4 wheels off the ground.   Very Dukes of Hazzard-esque.   Finally the first yellow came out and I could actually see that going into turn 1.   I stayed in it coming off two and began waving my hand to slow.   As I entered the cloudly glare of turn 3 I could hear cars still under full power coming up.   One just glanced by me on the left side while the next one came right across the nose of my car.   UNDER CAUTION.   I decided then if I made it to the back stretch that I was coming off.   I made it, pulled off and ended my day early.    I apoligize to my friends and fans for not being able to compete at a greater level, but I didn't feel conditions were conducive to good, safe racing.  

As always, thanks to Mom, Dad, Blake, Kelly, Jerry, and Carly for their help and support this weekend!
 
DUEL IN THE DESERT, LAS VEGAS NEVADA NOVEMBER 4-5, 2005
A record 168 cars in the pits for the annual event at LVMS on Friday.   We weren't 100% ready which is why the site said we weren't coming, didn't think we actually would.   Lined up outside row 1 for the 7th heat race and was hoping to take advantage of the good draw.   It lasted about 3 laps as I held onto 2nd until about then.   After that the handle went away and I was left behind.   Wound up falling clear back to 8th by the finish relegating me to the D main event for Saturday night. 

Spoke with Darrick and Bird from BMS and got a list of changes to make for the Saturday portion of the race program.   The D main was the first main event out after hot laps and I had a deep in the field start.    Lined up 17th for the D main and was just hoping to move up a few spots and drive the car into the trailer.   Needing to finish 4th to transfer in only 15 laps seemed like a tall task.   Jumped by a couple of cars on the first lap and was running the bottom as most of the other cars were running the high line.   Their momentum would carry them much faster down the straights but I was making up some territory in the turns.   At the last caution I was up to 5th and set my sights on the transfer spot, which turned into a 4th, then 3rd, and then into 2nd.   As the laps wound down I began to fight for the lead as he was way high and I was way low.   In the end I wound up inching ahead and won the D main.  

The D main win from 17th placed me into the C main starting 21st.   15 laps, 4 transferred to the B.   Again stuck to the bottom as the majority of the field raced up high.   Was up to 10th on the first caution at lap 3, but they decided to move me back 4 spots right before taking the green again.   I raced my way all the way up to the 4th spot and was in the transfer spot when the caution waved on lap 13.   I bobbled coming off turn 2 on the restart and lost the transfer spot.   Then fell back another spot but coming off 4 going for the checkered I passed back for 4th only to have the rim riding car come flying by just inches before the flag stand.    Finished 5th and just missed transferring to another main.   Fun run and far better than I could have hoped for starting so deep in those races.  

Thanks to everyone for their support, it was nice to have such a great cheering section in the pit and main stands.  

Thanks Blake, Jerry, Mom, Dad, and Kelly for their help as usual.  Also thanks to our special guest & sponsor from Clear Lake, Iowa, Kim Reason.   My uncle Rick, cousin Lloyd, wife Stacie, and his son Brock came out for the first time this season, great to have you there.  I also understand that sponsors & friends Dick & Joyce were back at home listening to the race broadcast online cheering us on from their desktop.    Thanks for a great 2005 season and hope to see you in 2006.