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March 8, 2012 |
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I admit I haven't been running great this season and I was more than
happy to accept the offer for assistance from Ryan Cotrell and Austin Black
for night two. They were all over the car making changes and
after packing on an even muddier track I was ready for the heat.
They, again, didn't let me draw so I lined up shot gun on the field.
The track was very wet-slick and narrow for the heat and I got caught behind
a car early with nowhere to go. Finally got by and ran back up
to the field, managing to finish in the 6th spot. They decided
to run one B main but chose to run us LAST, after every single sprint car
and World of Outlaw event. Our B main hit the track after
midnight and I managed to run 6th which put me 22nd in the A main.
We rolled out after 1am for the feature and I was exhausted.
Ryan told me to try running the top to get some experience and I was excited
about doing it. Managed to ride the high line well early but
then jumped a cushion coming off turn 2 and wacked the wall with my right
rear. Stuck with it and ran the rest of the race high picking
off a few cars here and there to run 15th. Overall not bad.
It was good to get a different feel out of the car and to have a couple of
different eyes checking things out.
Thanks to Mom, Blake, Ryan, Austin, Jerry, and Robert for their help
in the pits! I appreciate it. |
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March 7, 2012 |
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A short turn around and a busy work schedule made getting to the mid-week
events at LVMS a tough chore for us. Everyone was working and we
wound up getting to the track late each night, missing the draw.
So I lined up way at the back of my heat, last. The track was a
muddy, muddy mess each time we headed out to pack. Holy cow
there was slop everywhere. I managed to run from 9th to 5th in
my heat and that put me into the B main. Raced my way up to the
lead in the B main with a couple laps to go but lost the lead and finished
2nd to transfer. In the main the car ran pretty well but I made
a few errors driving which cost me a top 10. I made a decent
charge towards the end to move into the 11th spot, not too bad from 18th.
Thanks to Mom, Blake, and Jerry for the help in the pits.
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March 3, 2012 |
Changed the motor during the week and was ready in time for the Saturday
afternoon event at Pahrump Valley Speedway. The line up
for the heat put me on the pole but I didn't really think that was fair so I
decided to tag the field. I was alone in that sentiment, but I
went to the tail. The back up motor isn't the same as the other
but it was going pretty good. The only issue I was having is
that the front tire was way up in the air. WAY up there.
Managed to work my way up to third in the heat race by the finish on the
very fast and heavy race track. Decided to do the box
races for some kids at PVS for the first time and it was a lot of fun.
The fans seemed to enjoy it for sure. The feature line up again
had me on the pole but I chose to tag again. The track was a lot
different than I thought it would be and again the car was carrying the left
front tire. It's not like I can't drive it like that, but I just
don't enjoy the bucking and slamming to the ground that come with it.
Got up to challenge for the lead and was alongside a couple of times but
couldn't make it happen. Wound up falling back and brought the
car home in 2nd place. Overall a good run, but the handling
wasn't what I had expected. Afterwards I decided that it was a
long week for everyone so I chose to head home rather than pull the double
with MVR.
Thanks Mom, Blake, and Jerry for their help in the pits! I
appreciate it. |
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| February 18, 2012 |
Mohave Valley Raceway (night)
Loaded up quickly and made the trek to Mohave Valley Raceway after
the feature at Pahrump. Made a little better time this trip and
pulled into the pits as heat one was in staging. Everyone
pitched in and got the car unloaded and fueled as I put on my gear and
strapped in. Tagged the third heat. The track was
heavy and fast. Managed to pass two cars and finished up in the
3rd spot. Lined up 5th for the feature and slipped by two cars
early in the race to move up to 3rd coming out of turn 2.
Followed around in the 3rd spot for a few laps and finally got into the 2nd
spot. Fought to keep up with the leader but just wasn't doing
the job. Eventually I fell back to 3rd and ran there for quite a
while. Heading down the back stretch just after half way the car
made a loud bang as a large vibration ran through the car. I
pushed in the clutch and tried to pull off onto the track exit.
Just as I turned right I was shoved from behind sending me sailing sideways
onto the exit road. Fortunately I reacted quickly to the
unexpected wild ride and calmed the car down as I entered the pits.
I cannot even think of the last time I had motor issues, going back to 2008
I cannot really remember a blown motor. This engine had over 30
shows on it, running really, really hard to boot. Sorry to see
it go. But a back up is already on tap to be bolted between the
frame rails soon. Thanks Mom, Blake, Jerry, and Kjester
for their help and support in the pits at MVR. Also thanks to
MVR officials for helping get us signed in, etc as we showed up late.
Pahrump Valley Speedway (day)
Blake's family was in town so his niece could race her Outlaw Kart at MVR so
just mom and I made the haul over the hump to Pahrump. Another
small field was on hand but the talent was good. Started 3rd in
the heat and was three wide exiting turn 2 as I slid into the 2nd spot.
Rode in 2nd for several laps on the lightning quick quarter mile.
Got along side the leader and we raced side by side for two laps before I
got a little too far into turn 3 sliding up forcing us both out of the gas.
I recovered and took over the lead. Led the final few laps for the
heat win. Started outside front row for the feature and managed
to stay side by side entering turn 1. The inside moved up just a
bit and my left front had some contact with their rear quarter panel.
No harm and we continued on. The car wasn't setting as hard as I
had hoped in turn 3 but I was able to make up some ground in turns 1 &2.
It was an intense race that got even more intense as the 3rd place car took
advantage of our hard racing and blew by me on the top. I
managed to work back into 2nd and we diced it out for the remaining laps.
On the last lap I got a good run out of turn 2 and pulled alongside the
leader. He fought back on the outside and we bumped and rubbed
all the way to the checkered as he nosed me out for the win.
Great race. The fans had to enjoy it, I sure did.
Thanks to Mom and Jerry for their help in the pits, I appreciate it.
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| February 4, 2012 |
Mohave Valley Raceway (night)
Minutes after tech the car was loaded up and we piled into the truck to make
the 180 mile trek to Mohave Valley Raceway. Arizona doesn't
change time during daylight savings so we lose an hour as soon as we get
into the truck. However, we were going and hoping to make
something. We were making great time until we hit a long, VERY
long, slow moving train on the 95 approaching the 40. It put us
about 15 minutes behind. As we rolled into the pits, the final
modified heat was taking the green. So we unloaded the car and I
went out on the front stretch to run the box races for the kids.
It was fun and gave me a chance to look at the track surface. It
looked fast up high and a little greasy below. I lined up in the
12th spot for the main. The track was really quick and it was
hammer down for the first several laps. I had made my way up to
the 6th spot within the first 8 laps or so and was there when the first
yellow waved. A car had pushed up the track and then came
roaring back down as me and another car narrowly shot by. Close
call. On the restart I tried running the same line but it
wasn't working. I was falling back quickly and not doing well.
So I decided to diamond off the corners and while the bottom was a little
greasy, after a few laps it started to get better. I moved up
into the 5th spot and then slipped by into 4th. As we approached
lapped traffic I knew the laps were winding down and the lead trio was a
ways ahead. As I got alongside a lapped car going into turn 1
the brake pedal went to the floor. OH NO! I narrowly
escaped slamming the lapped car as I shot off the top. I tried
pumping the brakes but it was to no avail. Something was wrong.
I decided to run around the top and use the cushion to slow and turn the
car. That wasn't working too well but I hung on for a few laps.
I fell back to 6th at the finish, overall not too bad. Thanks to
mom and Blake for making the trip to MVR to help me out. It sure
made for a long day.
Pahrump Valley Speedway (day)
4 years and 2 days after my father passed away, we loaded up and headed out
for another double race day. Planning to make the races in
Pahrump and Mohave again, just like in the 'glory days' of traveling years
ago. A short field was on hand for opening day but it seemed
like it would still be fun. I lined up 4th for the heat race and
was a little concerned as I had my bigger track gears in for the race at
Mohave. The car was a little lazy in the couple of hot laps they
gave us, but I thought it might be ok if I kept it freed up. At
the green I went in high as a couple of cars ahead slid up in turn 2, I
ducked under only to have another car peek below me. Three wide
off turn 2 with me in the middle, the leader shot high and I ducked under
him. 4th to the lead in by turn 2. I went in a
little high into turn 3 and 2nd passed me back. Into turn 1 and
the leader pushed high and I ducked under and took back the lead.
Over the final few laps I had to hold off some pressure for the lead but I
did win the heat. The track was drying out quickly in the
60 degree sunlight. I lined up 4th again and managed to get a
jump off turn 2 to take over third place. A lap or two later I
used an inside move to take over the 2nd spot. Pressured for the
lead for a couple of laps and a yellow waved. On the restart the
leader began to walk away from me leaving me struggling to keep up.
With nothing working, I chose to try a newer line. Slowly but
surely I began to reel in the leader until I finally got to his bumper.
Close racing for the lead saw us exchange a little rub and a wiggle here and
there before I finally made the pass. A yellow with 2 laps to go
erased a little bit of cushion I had but I managed to stay in front for
those final two laps to capture the first win of the '12 season.
Thanks to Mom, Blake, and Jerry Jr for their help and support!
It was fun. |
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| January 15, 2012 |
Victorville Auto Raceway
Made the slow crawl across the desert into California early Sunday morning
heading to Victorville. I say slow crawl because California
enforces a "trucks with trailers 55mph" speed limit. It sure
does seem slow next to passenger cars going 70-80-90mph on what has been
called "The Autobahn of the United States." At times I felt like
I was a hazard going that slow.
Anyway, only 12 cars showed for the event and I lined up inside the last row
for the heat. The track was slick and dry in hot laps but they
kept watering the surface and it was very hard to prepare for.
The car was pretty good in the heat but it was hammmer down.
Used an outside in move to get by 4th and then ran door to door for third
for several laps before finally running it in hard to slide up and into the
spot. Wound up 3rd in the heat. The invert put me on
the pole for the main. More work on the track made it even
faster and smooth. I was good early in the race but the track
started to rut up a bit and I was a little soft in the shock package.
Wound up wearing myself out banging through the ruts and eventually just
couldn't cut it anymore. Missed the entry to turn 3 a couple of
times and wound up falling further back. Finished a
disappointing 6th after a good beginning of the race.
Thanks to Mom, Blake, Jerry, and Felicity for their help in the pits.
I appreciate it. |
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| November 10-12, 2011 |
The Duel in the Desert, the biggest race of the year in
our neck of the woods. The biggest pain and stressor for me.
The event is great, however the stress and pressure surrounding it for me is
just too much. It's the one event where my family, friends,
neighbors, etc all come to watch and I feel the pressure to do well.
However with 240+ cars and many excellent racers on hand, that isn't always
easy.
Jerry was nice enough to get the car through tech and replace a tooth-less
flex plate on the car Thursday while I worked. He drew for me and got
211. That put me in the 5th row for the heat race.
Fell back in the heat and managed to move back up a few places to finish 7th
in the heat race. That put us into the B main with the top 2
transferring into the feature. I moved up a few spots and
finished in the 4th spot. No transfer to the qualifier.
Started off Friday by drawing from the 'good' box, 1-150. My
drawing prowess continued as I drew 148! Ouch. Lined
up in the 4th row and raced my way up 3rd spot, just missing the transfer.
The put us outside pole for the B main. I got the good jump at
the start and took the lead going into turn 1. The track was rough and
coming apart in the turns. I was bouncing around and holding the
lead. However around 1/2 way a car went high and took the top
spot away. I stayed with it on the bottom and narrowly
transferred into the A qualifier by finishing 2nd. The A main
was 30 cars, 20 laps, top 4 to the Big A main. The track was
rough and I chose to run high putting my left sides in the rough.
I managed to get up to 15th. Then I got a flat going for the
green. I pulled to the infield to not hold up the event with another
yellow. The final day had us 49th in points for the weekend, not
bad out of 240+. We lined up inside row 3 for the last chance,
with the winner only advancing. I underestimated the track by a
lot and had the car WAY too tight. I was a liability out there
as the car wouldn't turn and when it did it would snap loose terribly.
I wound up narrowly escaping a wreck and decided to call it a race.
Really disappointed that I didn't do a better job of reading the track and
readying the car for the race. I think I could have given it a
better run for the transfer spot. |
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| October 15, 2011 |
| Jerry took the car back to Pahrump after the last race
and worked on the chassis to get things ironed out with the broken bar, etc.
It turned out great and will work out just fine. We loaded up
and headed down to race in the Western Modified Nationals at Mohave Valley
Raceway. I drew miserably as usual and realized pretty quickly
that the car was a little over geared. I was hitting the chip
pretty early down the straights and just having to lift to keep it from
banging off the limiter. Finished the heat in the 3rd spot and
headed to the pits to prepare for the feature. Jerry chose to go
with a tight set up for his car whereas I went a little loose. I
was probably a little too loose but was making some progress from my
mid-pack starting spot. It wasn't until I got behind someone
taking up multiple grooves that I decided to go up top and hit the cushion.
That line really railed the car through the turns and I was making some good
progress towards the front. Finally cracked into the top 5 and
had just adjusted my line to the bottom of 3 & 4, while still running the
top of 1 & 2. As I entered turn 3 the car slid up the track off
the bottom a little and I hesitated to get back on the gas just a touch.
WHAM! The wheel was ripped from my hand and a car was climbing
over the left side of mine. A couple of hits from behind and I
limped into the infield. Drove slowly off the track with a bit
of damage, done for the night. Overall a pretty good run, but
another MVR race where I left with a tore up race car.
Bummer dude. |
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| September 3, 2011 |
| Headed off to Mohave Valley Raceway for a regular show
for the first time since before the summer break. The car had
been tore to hell during my previous visits and I wasn't too incredibly
excited to go, but I was making an effort. Lined up at the back
of my heat race and had quickly made a move into the 2nd spot.
The car was a little on the loose side but I was able to hang with the
leader. A yellow came out and bunched us back up.
The car had an odd vibration and I was trying to decide if it was just mud
in the right rear or if it was mechanical. As they flashed the
lights for 1 to go until green the car quit moving. Driveline.
Pushed into the pits to work on it, however as we looked at it, there were
more serious problems. A bar had broken in the suspension and
caused a lot more damage. It was actually a blessing that the car
broke, had we gone back to green it could have gotten ugly. So
we loaded up and made it home early for a change. |
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| August 6, 2011 |
With all the issues surrounding the team it was a tough
decision to head back to PVS but it was best for everyone that I put it
behind me and headed over. It was nice to have mom and Blake
both back in the truck for company on the way and in the pits. I
know it bugs some people, but I know the IMCA line up rules and I just can't
let it go when things are wrong. I had missed two races which
meant I went back to being a 'new' driver and should have been lined up
behind those who had raced the previous races. So I let them
know which placed me back in the line up. Another car missed the
races too but stayed up there. Oh well, it was off my
conscience. The track was pretty heavy for the heat race and a
little sloppy about a foot or two off the bottom. There was
several 'new' cars so I still lined up inside row 2 for the heat.
Got into 2nd on the second lap but then pushed up high and got shuffled back
to third. The top three were nose to tail and all over one
another. Had someone bobbled, it would have been ugly.
The only wild part was the last lap when the leader got pushed hard from
behind crossing him up. I got alongside second but as we squeezed into
turn 3 I hit a puddle of water low and pushed up into the door of 2nd.
Wound up third for the heat. The track slicked off really
quickly after our heat and the track was losing traction fast.
We put as much traction as we could into the set up and the rest would be up
to my patient right foot for the feature. The line up put me
into the 7th spot for the main. I didn't get the car turned well
going for the green and fell back a spot as I had to hit the brakes to avoid
pushing into the car alongside. However as we entered turn 3 a
car spun. I moved up a row on the restart and got a much better
run at the green putting myself alongside the 3rd starting car into turn 1.
Came off turn 2 in 4th and stayed in that spot for the next lap.
Again entering turn 3 the 2nd place car spun bringing out the yellow.
Third on this restart I got a good run low off turn 2 and drove up alongside
2nd place entering three. The tires squealed on the slick surface but
the car stuck and I passed. However the other driver didn't agree and
shoved on me for the next couple of laps showing his displeasure.
I gradually pulled away and tried to reel in the leader who was a good 4-6
lengths ahead. Turns 1 & 2 were getting incredibly dusty and
visibility was getting to be non-existent. We approached a
lapped car entering turn 1 and it made a sharp move up after entering low.
The leader slowed and I closed the gap exiting two to right on his bumper.
I started showing my bumper low off the turns and the leader slowed his pace
considerably to hold the bottom. It surprised me and I gave him
a couple of unexpected shots to the rear bumper. A couple laps later
he slipped high in turn 2 and I drove by on the bottom. With
about 5 to go I could not see a thing in turns 1 & 2. In fact I
had no idea where the entrance to the turn was so I would simply turn in
when I got to end of the grandstands. I could hear the gravel
from the infield that had been drug out onto the track (the cause of the
dust) under the car. The car would go into a 4 wheel drift for
about 6 feet. I was off the gas until it quit sliding and then I would
point the car towards the green light at the end of the back stretch and go
back to the throttle. When it was all over, we WON!
On the cool down lap I was given a nice door donut by the guy who was
displeased with me. I hate being hit when not 'racing.'
But, as I see it, he got even so I'm not owed any more. A busted
rear bumper, two wore out quarter panels and a door donut should be enough
to make up for the pass entering turn 3. My car owner, on the
other hand, isn't as pleased. There is video of the 'pass' on the Pahrump
Speedway facebook, for those interested. Enjoy!
Thanks to Mom, Blake, and Jerry Jr for their help and support in the pits.
It was fun and we kicked some butt! |
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| June 14, 2011 - June 18,
2011 Ironman Challenge Series |
Tuesday: Winnemucca
Regional Raceway
Had my own issues getting started but I finally headed out on tour about 4
days later than scheduled. We won't get into it, but I
finallyl pulled my head out of my butt and headed north. Met
up with Jerry at the Pahrump turn off and it was just him and I for the
trip up. I drew a last row start for my heat and got a little too
high on lap 1 and fell back. I was only in 7th on lap 6 but
rallied past a few cars in the last few laps to finish 5th relegating us
to the B. Ran a good race in the B and got up to 2nd which
earned us the 16th starting spot for the feature. The track
was a bit of a one lane track being really fast on the bottom so it took
some time to find my way down there. My downfall was being on
the outside on every restart except the last one. However we
were good against a solid field moving up to the 10th spot in the last few
laps. Top 10 is a solid start to the tour for
us.
Wednesday: Battle Mountain Raceway
Drew my best start, outside row 2 for the heat and got up to 2nd pretty
quickly. On a restart I chose the outside and tried to take
the leader on the outside going into turn 1. He slipped up and got
my left front with his right rear. He flew up and over me and
I ducked under still in the 2nd spot. I held on to narrowly
take the 2nd and last transfer spot. Got the #7 spot on the
redraw and headed out with a slightly different set up for the
feature. Fought my way up to 4th on the narrow track and
really had to fight for the bottom on those double file
restarts. Got quite marked up on the right side trying to hold
my own. Slipped into 3rd during the last 1/3 of the race and was all
over 2nd place in the closing laps. Just unable to make the
move around. Finished a solid 3rd earning trophies from both
the Wild West and the Ironman tours. Awesome!
Thursday: Battle Mountain Raceway
Started 4th in my heat and settled in early. The top 3
transferred and it became heated for the 3rd spot as I got under him at
about lap 4. We ran side by side for several laps trading a
tire mark or two before finally slipping by with about 4 laps to
go. Once into third I actually ran right up to the leaders as
the car was pretty darned good. As I went up to draw I was the
last of the 12 drivers to draw. The only pill left in the bag
was #1. Woah, we had the pole. At the start the car was
a little too snug and didn't turn well into turn 1. I lost the
lead and eventually was struggling to hang on to the top 5.
However as the fuel burned off the car got better and I began to charge
through the field. Had a tiring door to door, lap after lap
battle for the third spot. It was pretty thrilling racing that close
without touching once. Amazing. Finally passed for
3rd and had the leaders in sight. In fact it seemed that the
lead duo was coming back to me but the checkered flew on us as I ran in
third a few car lengths back. Another awesome finish for the
Phat Chassis team. YAY!
Friday: Great Basin Raceway
Made our way to the track and Blake had made his way up there for the
Friday evening show. The track was different looking than any
other and since it was our first trip there we were unsure of what gear to
run. Made a choice and I was concerned it was a little too
much. Started 4th in my heat and made a split move in turn 2
to jump into the 2nd spot. Was right with the leader but the
track was incredibly tricky. It was greasy, slick, rough, and
tacky. The car was a handful and while I had chances at the
lead I could never make it work. However I did transfer
to the feature. I was the next to the last driver to draw for
the redraw (top 12 starting spots). I knew there was a #2 and
a #11 in the bag. Well, drum roll please, I
drew#11. The track rolled in good by the time the feature hit
the track. Before we rolled out Jerry and I threw a whole lot
of changes to the set up. The track had improved two seconds
per lap from the heat to the feature. At the green the car was
a rocket. I flew by cars going into turn 1 and then off turn
2. By the completion of lap 1 I had come from 11th to
6th. I was 5th the next lap and 4th by lap 3. On
the 6th lap I passed for 3rd and the yellow waved a lap later.
On the outside for the restart I quickly took over the 2nd spot and set my
sights on the lead. I was unable to work into the lead and
began to change my line to work on the top spot. Tried to use
momentum to get the lead but that didn't work. However on lap
18 I was finally able to sneak to the inside off turn 4 and take the
lead. Once in front I guess I was able to drive away from the
field. As the laps wound down it finally hit me, I just might
pull this off. I was in a great rhythm and the car felt
great. However any hopes at an easy finish would be soon
forgotten as the yellow waved with 5 to go. On the restart I
started to struggle getting off turn 4 and that allowed the 2nd place car
to get alongside. We rubbed and bumped a bit and he got
alongside going into turn 1. I wanted to win so bad I drove it
in hard and fought back on the outside taking back to lead on the back
stretch. I managed to hold on for the win! Clearly
my biggest win in years! So awesome.
Saturday: Great Basin Raceway
The track was in much different shape for Saturday's race.
Much more dry and slick than Friday. Worked at putting back in
some traction for the heat race. I was mired back early and
got only to the 3rd spot knowing that two transferred. As we
rounded the track with a few to go the leader pulled up limp on the inside
of the track. Sometimes it is better to be lucky than good, so
I transferred. Picked a three on the redraw and headed out for
battle on a slicked up and black ice looking race track. This
hadn't been quite our forte lately but we were working at getting better
on the ultra slick. At the green the car was good and I was in
a three way battle for the lead. Got into 2nd briefly but lost
the early and settled in. The race went caution free and while
I fell back from the leaders I was still in third. With about
4 laps to go Jeff Taylor and Zane Devilbiss rode by on the outside showing
there was a line there. I kicked myself for not moving up, but
we still finished in the 5th spot. Overall an amazing few days
with 5 top 10's, 4 top 5's, and 3 top 3's. We also made a lot of
progress with the set up and look forward to more challenges in the coming
months.
Thanks Jerry for all of his help and support and to Blake for making the
trip up for the weekend. I appreciate it.
Way to go Phat Chassis team!
Above photos by Shelly Hansen & Karen Renbarger Jr |
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| May 28, 2011 Desert
Thunder Raceway |
After using a personal day to take
off work last Friday for the rained out WWMT race in Price, I couldn't get
off in time to go for the make up event this Friday. However I
was able to load up and head that way early Saturday morning.
It's a 402 mile trip from my house to the hotel and another 5 miles to the
track. A field of 39 modifieds were on hand for the
Saturday night race and I drew #32 from the 200 numbers in the
bag. Headed out to hot lap and boy was the car
loose. The heavy tracks around here lately really got us away
from our dry set ups. Came in and made a few adjustments for
the heat. I started outside front row for the 6th heat with
the top two finishers transferring directly into the A main.
At the green I got a nice jump on the inside pole car and settled into the
lead. The track was getting really slippery but the car did
feel better. On the third lap I was pressured and passed by a
car in a line just slightly higher than mine. I was feeling
pretty comfortable in second and was able to hold off the third place car
for the transfer spot. I was the last person from the top 12
to redraw so I got what was left, #7. Made a few more changes
for the feature and headed out to see how we could do. The car
felt good and I was hanging tough with the front pack of cars.
It was very competitive and we were fighting for places to run, although
there was no contact. I fell back to 8th, then climbed back to
6th and was fighting hard with the cars 4-5-6-7-8th in line. The
double file restarts made things even more interesting. On the
third restart I got a great run on the outside and moved past a bunch of
cars. However we bottled up a bit entering turn 3 and ran out
of room causing my left rear to touch the right front of another
car. The result was a flat for me. I limped off
the track, resisting the urge to cause my own caution. The
crew fixed it but I was not able to return until the yellow
waved. It finally did on lap 26. I restarted at the back
of the field and passed about 6 cars in the closing laps, but was 15 laps
down or so. A good run, making the A main was a
highlight. The cars I was running with finished in the top 3
to top 8 spots, so I'm thinking we were certainly a top 10 car if not top
5.
Thanks Blake, Jerry Jr, and his daughter Sala for their help this
weekend. |
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| May 7, 2011 Pahrump Valley
Speedway |
Both 'local' tracks were
running on the same night this time around so a choice was
made. The fact that we had to install a few new parts on the
car at Jerry's shop led to the ultimate decision. A new fuel
pump was the major chore as we switched over from the mechanical pump to
the belt driven pump. This was the scheduled fix for the
occasional bogging and fluttering of the car in the turns when the track
is fast. A couple of minor set backs put us at the track
just a few minutes after the driver's meeting started. The
crew got the car unloaded as I jogged over to hear what was being
said. We also debuted the new crew shirts and had the t-shirts
on hand for sale for the first time. Got a few shirts sold and
headed out to pack the track. Lined up 6th for the heat race
and headed out on a fast yet greasy race track. The groove was
a little narrow and we were all really close going for the
green. As we raced off turn 4 towards the green flag the car
in front of me pushed and got close to the wall. Heavy on the
gas, I found it difficult to get whoa-ed up in time to avoid nudging
him. However we both moved on without any
harm. Was 4th coming off turn 2 and used the outside to
take over the 3rd spot on the next round. Once into 3rd
the leaders were battling and I was waiting for someone to gain an
advantage. A slip up the track allowed two of us to slip by
the leader and into the 1-2 spots. A couple of laps later I
took over the lead with an inside move and led the remaining laps for the
win.
During intermission I headed over to the stands to visit with two teachers
/ friends from my school who made the trip up to watch me race for the
first time. They were really excited and having a great
time. I was happy to see that. Also visited with a few
other friends while over there, it was nice to see everyone.
Fueled the car and headed to line up inside row 3. The track
was still pretty quick as I watched the street stocks go before
us. Narrowly avoided a very loose car in the first turn
and slipped into the 4th spot early. The next lap I slipped
inside for third as the top 2 made their way around turns 3 &
4. A couple of laps later the 2nd place car got a good chunk
of the wall going down the back stretch and I narrowly made it by on the
inside. Caught the leader just as the first caution
waved. I peeked inside a couple of times and it became
obvious that I was going to have to go around on the outside.
As I went outside the third place car poked his nose in the empty
space. We were really going at it when the yellow waved
again. Back to racing I began working the outside but couldn't
get by. Yellows disrupted the action a few more times and on
one of the restarts I got alongside the leader but it was called back
because someone jumped the start. On the next restart I got a
good peek alongside the leader and took the lead going into turn
3. From there I was able to hit my marks and keep the car
straight on the way to the feature win.
The team will now hit the road for races on the Wild West Modified Tour
and on the Ironman Series in northern Nevada. We will miss
seeing our local friends and fans, but we are also excited to be part of
the two modified tours.
Thanks Mom, Blake, Jerry Jr, and the rest of the Phat Chassis / JEM Racing
Engines team. |
|
| April 23, 2011 Pahrump
Valley Speedway |
It was Spring Break for
me this week and most of it was spent in the garage pounding out crash
damage to the body from the most recent outing. After
that was fixed, I spent a few hours preparing for Saturday's race by
stuffing over 100 plastic eggs with candy. The track was
scheduled to host an Easter egg hunt for the kids and wanted drivers to
bring in supplies to help out. I ended up with egg-actly
87 pastel colored plastic eggs for the kids and then bought a box of
NASCAR eggs to take the tally over 100. While the car
count hasn't been very good at the local tracks, it was nice to see
several additions to the field this weekend, Jason Pike and Jon Jensen
most notably. Jason was raised around the track and has many laps
and wins there. I lined up inside row 2 for my heat and as we
went out the track gave us a couple of hot laps before taking the
green. I narrowly missed one car as it flew by me and the
started to spin. A lap later a car spun collecting
another. All before the green. Yikes.
Once the race was underway I was able to take the lead on the outside and
rode the high line to the victory.
During intermission the kids swarmed the infield searching for the over
1000 eggs that were spread out for them. I milled around and
found a little guy all upset hovered over some eggs. I asked
if I could help and he said, "yes, carry these so I can go get some
more!" LOL, so I wound up carrying around his eggs for a
while. It was great to see the kids having such a good
time. Nice family activity for the track.
It was hot and I was already sun burnt and slightly dehydrated before the
feature rolled out. I lined up inside row 3 for the
feature. The track was rumored to be watering the top of the
track before our feature but instead elected to water the whole
track. They gave us laps to roll it in but it wasn't rolling
in all that great. The middle of 3 & 4 had some standing
water in it and starting on the bottom I knew I was in for some
trouble. So I decided to hug the berm until I could get up
top. At the green the cars on the outside went pretty well and
it took a couple of laps for me to clear the cars and get to the
top. The bottom of 3 & 4 was tricky. Finally
got to the top and battled the other Phat chassis for the
lead. Got a run on the top side off 2 but didn't have enough
of my car there to hold it. Tucked back in and then did a
cross over coming off turn 4 to get alongside again. Suddenly
down the front stretch his car just dropped out of sight out the right
side of my car. Next thing I know there is a red for a
fire. Blown engine. Found myself inheriting
the lead and was clicking off laps on the tricky surface. Had
to continually adjust my line to the changing track conditions that went
from slippery, to fast, to slick and dry. Found myself at the
bottom of 1 & 2 and in the middle of 3 & 4. A late
yellow erased a healthy lead and put Jason Pike on my tail. I
could hear him hounding me those final laps until I suddenly saw his
bumper to my outside in turn 3. As we exited four the white flag
waved. Just one more lap. Kept telling myself to
stay focused, stay smooth and let him go around the long way.
Managed to hold him off and take the win. It felt like old
times, 87N
and 23 battling it out at PVS. Jon Jensen held on for a close
3rd.
Thanks to Mom & Blake for their help in the pits and to the Buesig
family for their support as well. Great day for family, fun,
and racing. |
|
| April 16, 2011 Mohave Valley
Raceway |
Loaded up and headed down to
Mohave on Saturday afternoon under clear skies with a slight
breeze. It was 90 degrees as we pulled into the pits with 13
cars on hand to do battle. Went to pack in the track and it
was muddy. Normally it packs in pretty well, getting a nice
line going early and moving down. Cars were slipping all over
and it just wasn't coming in. After about 15 minutes with only
5 or 6 other cars on the track I came in with mud everywhere on the
car. Several competitors sat in the pits with sparkly clean
cars. Cleaned it up and headed to line for the heat. I
started 5th of 6. The track had only one lane up high packed in and
the bottom was too wet to even try. I moved up early as a couple of
cars slid off the top of the track and then I made a quick outside move
entering three to take another spot. As the leader slipped off the
back stretch I made a move to pass as he got traction and shot across the
track. I had to decide between a broadside hit or try to
avoid. I pitched the car down and hit the sloppy mud at the
bottom which made me slide up and into the other car. Our back
wheels touched sending me up into the air and around. The
contact tore off the right rear quarter panel and damaged the
decking. I restarted at the tail and drove back to
3rd. I was quicker than the leaders but had nowhere to pass on
a one lane track. Once again the amazing 87N
team went to work on the car repairing the damage and cleaning off the
countless pounds of mud. Lined up for the main in the 8th spot
and the track wasn't much wider as we rounded the track during the pace
lap. It was crazy. One false start yielded a
restart and my row moved up. Got a great start and coming off
two we ran out of room and got together with another car which shook the
steering wheel from my hands violently. But I managed to get
going. Yellow. They forced us to start single
file. The cars all got into the conga line and raced like a
high speed train around the top. We were heavily on the
throttle inches off one another when a car bobbled a few ahead slowing the
pack. I clipped the left rear of the car in front of me and pitched
the car to avoid heavier contact. The car stumbled to get back
going and snapped to the right and stopped. Seconds later a
car flew over the left side of the car which was followed by two very hard
hits from behind. My left hand was whipped around inside the
car and clanged off the interior sheet metal sending a sharp pain up my
arm really getting my attention. I contemplated getting out
but I had a sick feeling in my stomach that the car was
destroyed. So I sat there. Glancing over my
shoulder I saw the front bumper of another car just inches from my
shoulder sticking out of the left rear of my car.
Ugh. I held the brake as they yanked the car from
mine. To my surprise they said I only had a flat
tire! WHAT?! I actually drove the car off the
track. My fantastic team got the tire changed and then had to
do some work on the header which was all messed up. I returned to
the track just in time for the green. Drove from around 10th
to 5th and found the leaders about 1/2 a lap ahead of me. I
ran down the pack but just had no room to get by. I was all
over the brakes not to hit anyone and just couldn't do anything to get by
as the track wasn't wide enough for racing. 5th place with a
tore up racecar. Yuck.
Thanks to Mom, Blake, Jerry Jr, John, Michael, and Zach for their help and
support in the pits. I made them work very, very
hard.
 |
|
| April 9, 2011 Pahrump Valley
Speedway |
I took a couple of weeks off to
attend the drag races with friends and family but got back into the swing
this Saturday. The price of diesel is keeping me close to
home, but there's no place like home right? Think I heard that
somewhere before. :) The weather was very odd on
Saturday as we headed over the hump to Pahrump. Hit some snow
on the way to the track, then wind, then rain, then sun before hitting the
track for the heat race. They changed the heats as we went
onto the track so I wound up outside row 2 for my heat. What
an intense race it turned out to be. Three of us battling for
the lead lap after lap. The only issue was my car was laying
over every now and then in the turns. I made an inside move
making it three wide coming off turn 4 and it turned into 2.5 wide as we
all fought for room. My right rear locked with the middle cars
left rear sending me up in the air and around. It wasted the
sheet metal on both of our cars, my RR corner and his LR
corner. Oops. Restarted at the back and finished
2nd in the heat. In the pits Blake, Jerry Jr, and Dusty worked
like wildfire to get the car buttoned back up (thanks!) while mom shined
it up for battle. I was a little annoyed with myself for
staying out there with a car that wasn't running 100%. Not
smart. Jerry looked it over and found that the fuel pressure
regulator had come loose causing an inconsistent fuel
pressure. While we waited for the feature the wind came up and
that was followed by a pretty decent mist of rain. It was
downright cold for April too! Back to racing and the track was
in decent shape. A little tricky, but good. Got
myself to third early and the slick yet tacky surface caused the leaders
to slip up coming off turn 4 and I slid by and into the lead.
I fortunately led the rest of the laps for the win.
Thanks to Mom, Blake, Jerry Jr, and Dusty for their help and
patience. |
|
March 19, 2011 Pahrump
Valley Speedway & Mohave Valley Raceway
After a busy evening working on the
car I had an even busier morning before loading up and making the tow to
Pahrump Valley Speedway. It was friend and sponsor Kim
Reason's birthday and she was in town to celebrate with us. I
was breaking in a new gear so I went out for packing and stayed out on the
greasy track to 'hot lap' a little bit. The hot lap session
was the perfect fit for breaking in the gears the way we like
to. So it was all good. The new look vinyl and wheels
adorned the car for this race and it was looking quite sharp on the
track. Was scheduled to start outside row 2 for the heat but
moved to outside pole when someone moved to the rear for the start.
The inside car slid up a little in the mud down low and took up a lot of
space. I fought back on the outside and wound up scraping the
right side against the wall as I took the lead into turn 1.
The track was in great shape and the car was flying around the
track. Wound up leading every lap to take the heat
win. Filled up the car for the main and headed
out. Was going to line up 4th and then moved to third when
another car tagged the main. The pole sitter led the first 1/2
lap but spun in turn 3 on lap one causing a restart. I
inherited the pole and led wire to wire for the feature
win.
Loaded up quickly and hit the gas station for some $4 diesel before making
our way over the hump back towards Vegas and onto Mohave Valley
Raceway. It was about 4pm when we left the track and after a
nice ride with the family and friends we arrived at MVR just after
6:30pm. I lined up 6th of 6 for the heat race. The
track was quick and the car was really moving. It felt great
to feel the speed of the bigger track. Was in the lead pack of
4 when I made an attempt at a pass high in turn 1. Just missed
the top of the track and flew over the side. Managed to get
back on in 5th but a car spun and I got back to 4th. On the
restart I made a low move to take third and finished there.
Made some changes to tighten up the car for the feature and headed out 9th
on the grid. Just a couple of laps in and I got alongside another
car entering 3 when another car got inside me and made me the meat in a
modified sandwich. The race got more and more physical and
before too long the pitch of the motor had changed. The pitch
change was because of the right side door being caved in over the
header. As I fought my way back I narrowly clipped the
left rear of a car that was spinning and spun myself. This
marked the third time that I would start at the back. However
I was determined to make a better showing of it so I buckled down and
marched towards the front. 8th, 6th, 5th, 4th, and finally an
inside move netted me 3rd. Once into third the leaders were a
bit ahead of me. I gained some time and then began to lose
some. So a slight line adjustment in turn 2 was needed and I
began to reel them back in. At the checkered I was right on
the back of the 2nd place car and finished a respectable
3rd.
Thanks to Mom, Blake, Kim, Jerry, Jerry Sr, Julie W, Kelly, Walter, Zach,
Julie, and Michael for their help and support this
weekend. I really appreciate it!
BEFORE
AFTER
DURING
 |
|
|
March 4, 2011 Pahrump Valley
Speedway
Exactly three months after our last outing in
the Phat Chassis, the 87N team returned to the
track. A lot has gone on since that last race so it was nice
to get back out. The original plan was to go and pick up the
newly prepared car from the shop and head to the track to
test. Mom was unable to attend, but Blake felt good
enough to travel along although it's advised he not lift or do anything
too strenuous.
The previous race had only 1 modified show up, so it seemed like a good
place to go to get some laps on the car. We needed some laps
because the entire car was disassembled in order to powder coat it blue
and to change the body to a new blue one. However after we got
to the track a few more cars showed up and a we were pretty much forced
into racing. I drew outside row 2 for the heat race and
put a lot of faith into myself and the car as I went into the heat without
any hot laps. The door opened up in the middle of turn 2 and I
slipped inside the outside starter and into the 2nd spot coming off turn
2. The track was still a little greasy so the bottom was tough
to get any traction. I was fighting to get alongside the leader but
the momentum from the top was too much to overcome.
Finally got an opening when the leader slipped up off two and took the
lead. From there I was able to move up the track to the
quicker line and run off with the win. The car felt great and
it was fun. It felt faster than I remembered.
Lined up 4th for the feature and fell back early. Was racing
hard on lap 2 or 3 when I got into turn 2 too hard and spun myself rather
than hit the car in front of me. I guess that caused quite a
murmur in the pits as people couldn't remember the last time I spun
out. LOL. Got myself going and began to work my way back
into contention. The middle of the track was pretty good
but I was having to use the bottom to make up any ground.
Worked my way up to 2nd and found myself battling with the 2nd Phat
Chassis, the 86 of Todd Nunnally. Todd was running great
in the middle and I was working the bottom for all it was
worth. We were door to door for 15 or 16 straight laps with
just inches separating us most of the time. The fans sure we
enjoying it as were the crews on the sidelines. It felt great
and was a ton of fun. I was finally able to nudge
ahead. Maneuvered lapped traffic over the last few laps to
pick up the win. A great test for the new ride and a
testament to the hard work put into the car over the off season by the
Phat Chassis team.
Thanks to the Phat Chassis team and to Blake for their help and
support.
Photos courtesy Phat Chassis, Denise Morris Pryor, and Donald Gott.
 |
|
December
4, 2010 Pahrump Valley Speedway
It felt like old times on Friday as I unloaded the 2J into the driveway at
my mom’s house to do a little bit of work before the make up race at
Pahrump Valley Speedway on Saturday.
The drop light, extension cords, the cold concrete, it was great.
Changed the gears, mounted some weight and made sure it was all
shined up for the track. Saturday
was a pretty gloomy day as far as the skies were concerned which made us
think it could actually rain again.
It was cool enough for us to turn on the heater in the trailer for
everyone to hang out around.
The cooler air and the lack of sun made for a heavy track for the
heat. A decent 14 car
field was on hand for the event that started straight up on track points.
Missing some events this year I was surprised to see I was 2nd
in points still earning an outside front row start for the heat.
They normally give us a few hot laps before the heat and oh boy was
I in for a treat. I
thought I was hallucinating but I could have swore the car lifted the left
front when I put it in high gear.
Really? Powering
out of turn 2, it was for real.
The car lurched in the air several feet.
It was Wild! Taking
the green the car lunged into the air and the car beside me completely
disappeared. It
was like a bucking bronco and I was hanging on for the 8 seconds, or 8
laps in this case. As I
set the car in turn 2 I could see the team on the sidelines and I was
waiting (maybe praying) for them to motion for me to come off, that
something was rubbing, was missing (like a right rear spring?), etc.
But no, they seemed to be content.
So I shocked myself and everyone else by riding it out all 8
seconds (laps LOL) for the full ride and won the heat.
I think everyone was too scared to pass me or something.
The car came up so high that when I would lift entering the turn,
the left front would shake really badly, kind of similar to how airplane
landing gear smokes at first touch down.
So we really didn’t intend for the car to do what it did.
In the pits again, we scrambled to get things changed for better
feature handling. Again
lined up outside pole for the feature and the track wasn’t as heavy this
time. Oh boy, little
changed. The car was
still hiking up the left front about 2 feet in the air making ‘being
smooth’ darned near impossible.
I hung onto the lead for a few laps until the transmission finally
gave up the ghost going down the back stretch.
All that twisting and lifting was just too much.
Looks like a different driveline combination is in order to give a
little more room for it to move.
I’m old school, one of the few mods still running a regular three
speed instead of the Bert, Brinn, or Falcon transmission.
Thanks to mom & Blake for their support this entire season in the
pits, and to the Phat Chassis team for allowing me to wheel their car
these last couple of months. It
was fun. I appreciate it.
|
|
Friday,
November 26, 2010 Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Did the racecar shuffle between the garage and the trailer to get the JEM
Engines / 2J Phat Chassis loaded before making our way out to LVMS.
We arrived to find over 50 sprint cars and about 22 modifieds on
hand to compete during the evening.
With freezing temperatures in the forecast we all bundled up for
what was going to be a chilly night at the track.
The heater was blazing in the trailer as we headed out for our heat
race. I lined up 10th
of the 11 cars in my heat race. The
track was really fast but tricky in spots.
At the green a car from the low line pushed up and kept coming.
I backed off as he slid up the track and then got by as he chased
the car back down the track. The
car was very good and I was able to pass several cars early, getting up to
6th or 7th.
I carefully picked off cars and got myself into the 4th
position. The third
place car was in my sights as the laps wound down.
I caught him with 2 to go and then slipped up falling back.
I was about 6 lengths behind when the white waved and closed it to
his rear bumper coming into three.
As he pushed up I cut under him and beat him to the line for 3rd.
10th to 3rd, not bad.
Lined up straight up off the heat finishes which placed me inside
row number 3 for the 20 lap main.
I got a good jump at the start and was running 4th
pretty quickly. Made a
pass on the 3rd place car only to have the yellow negate the
pass. Grabbed the third
spot again and was running a few lengths behind the lead cars but
maintaining their speed. I
worked the bottom of the track and was able to briefly get alongside 2nd
place before settling for 3rd at the finish.
Just after the checkered flag the car bogged down and finally
slammed to a stop on the back stretch all locked up.
After a tow to the pits we discovered that the transmission had
locked up. Not good, but
good timing, just feet after the checkered.
Saturday, November 27, 2010 Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Blake and John helped me power wash the “magic mud” off the car on
Saturday morning and I headed to the track soon after to work on the
transmission. Got
the broken one out and the new one slipped in rather quickly if I do say
so myself. (haha)
Again lined up 10th of 10 for my heat race and made
solid progress through the field, eventually settling for the 4th
spot at the finish. Good
run. Returned to
the pits to find a steaming radiator.
Seems that a rock had punctured a small hole in one of the rows
allowing water to spray onto the hot engine.
Luckily Eric Shenberger allowed us to borrow his to run the feature
with. Thanks Eric!
The track was
beginning to become very much a one line track when the sprinters were
running their B’s. So
the officials watered the top with several passes and pushed the tires up
onto the racing surface to block us from using the bottom line.
This created an unusual problem for us as the line became very
narrow, something we aren’t used to on that track, it’s normally very
wide. My initial problem
was the fact that the tires weren’t aligned in a true arc around the
turns. It actually
turned turns 1 & 2 into more of a 1,2,3,4,5, and maybe 6.
It seemed like I was turning several times to get around the turn
and avoid the tires. The
cold air didn’t allow the top to pack in very well and two cars were
heavily damaged when they got too high and slipped in the wet top groove.
I wasn’t brave enough to walk the
fine line of moisture up top and settled into the lower line.
We did go from 7th to 4th by the time the
checkered flag and drove a perfectly good car onto the trailer afterwards.
Good outing for the team.
Thanks so much to Mom, Blake, Jerry Jr, Eric, Dusty, John, Kory,
Kelly, and Amber for their help and support and for braving the chilly
temperatures to let me do what I enjoy most, race!
|
|
|
Thursday,
November 11, 2010 Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Headed to the track bright and early so we could get the car through the
long tech line. Was
about the 25th car in line and although tech opened late, we
made it through rather quickly.
I drew 206 for the heat race and wound up starting 7th.
Used the inside line to
try and move up and did but once the top side regained their momentum I
fell back. Got to the
top but just couldn’t use the bottom enough to get by.
Wound up 6th in the heat race but only 2 transferred.
Lined up inside row 4 for the B main and moved up a row when
another car didn’t show. The
car was really liking the bottom and I moved right up to the 2nd
spot a couple of laps in. Once
again the top side was working well for others and the 01 car slipped by.
It was a great match up as I would pull ahead off the turn and he
would fly by about ½ way down the straight.
Yellow. Got
shuffled up off the bottom and fell back to third before cutting back
across and getting back into 2nd.
Kept the pressure up by staying in the sights of the car on the
high side and it finally paid off with him slipping up off the cushion
allowing me to pull ahead. That
transferred us into the qualifying A main with some very good racers.
Started 27th of the 30 cars and was really making a move
towards the front. Slicing
and dicing high, low and round the middle allowed me to make some passes
on a few quality cars. When
the yellow waved 11 laps in I had moved from 27th to 15th
on the grid. Just as we
were going back to green disaster struck, flat left rear tire.
Darn it! I
had to pull off and call it a night.
Friday,
November 12, 2010 Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Got to the track around 10am and began going through everything to make
sure it was all ready for another day of battle.
With 230 cars in attendance you don’t want to have a mechanical
failure put you behind. I
drew outside row 2 for my heat race, right behind Benji Lacrosse whom I
finished 2nd to in National Points in 2006.
Got a good jump at the green and pulled into the 3rd
spot off turn 2. The
next lap I went in low and slid by into the 2nd spot and was
right with the leader. All
of a sudden the car began to bog down exiting the turns.
Fuel problems. It
felt like it was flooding over and killing the power.
However the car would pick up and run again down the straights
although it was sputtering like it was hitting the rev limiting chip.
I was doing all I could to hold on as the top 2 transferred into
the qualifying feature. The 3rd
place car was getting closer and closer and I could hear and see him both.
Going down the backstretch I could see the scoreboard counting down
the laps. I knew I only
had to hold on a few more times.
Luckily for me the 3rd place car was trying a little too
hard and over drove the turn falling back at the end allowing us to
transfer onto the A main. We
made a few changes for the main and I lined up 16th on the
grid. I chose the wrong
line early and fell through the field quickly.
At one time I believe I was clear back to the 27th spot
under caution. However a
furious charge up through the field late in the going put me into the 15th
spot at the checkered. Considering
the great cars and drivers that were in the field, that was an awesome run
for us.
Saturday, November 13, 2010 Las Vegas Motor Speedway
The final day of
the Duel in the Desert is lined up on points earned during the week.
The good news is we were 20th in points for the week so
far earning us an outside front row spot for our last chance race.
The bad news, only the winner advances on.
Ironically I lined up next to Mike Johnson for the last chance with
me in the 2J and him in the 11x.
When I raced against him years ago he was always #2J.
The groove had moved way outside and some people are more brave
than I am. It took me a
couple of laps to head out there to try it.
It’s hairy running next to the wall like that considering I get
nothing like that at any of my ‘usual’ tracks.
When the checkered flag waved I wound up 5th in the last
chance, not transferring. However
considering the car is a homebuilt car, with just a handful of events on
it, I think we did awesome. Making
each day’s A main was huge for the team and I think everyone should be
proud of how things turned out.
Thanks to everyone for their help and support in the pits all weekend.
Mom, Blake, Jerry Jr, Brandon, Kory, Dusty, Jerry Sr, Julie, Kelly,
Cheryl, Jimmy, and Robert. I
appreciate it. Also
big thanks to JEM and Phat Chassis for allowing me to wheel the 2J all
weekend. It was fun.
|
|
| OCTOBER 23, 2010
PAHRUMP VALLEY SPEEDWAY |
| I
was given the opportunity to head over to Pahrump and drive the Jerry’s
Extreme Machine PHAT Chassis #2J on Saturday.
It’s really weird to get ready to race without hooking up the
trailer though. I really
have to think about everything that I need to get out of the trailer to
put into the truck. Helmet,
gloves, suit, shoes, neck brace, head sock, tear offs, etc.
They all have their place in the trailer, but when you drive
someone else’s car, no trailer.
The other thing that’s in the trailer is some spare jackets and
sweatshirts. Wound up
wishing I had one of those, it was a little chilly.
Mother Nature brought a
lot of rain to the area during the week and a heavy racetrack was to be
expected. Jerry was
hoping to test a dry set up, but that was not going to happen.
I lined up 6th for the heat race and went down the
middle at the green. Got
up to 2nd pretty quickly and was right on the leader’s tail.
Pulled beside him a couple of times but the bottom was a little too
wet for me to go into the turn alongside.
When I did go in alongside I wound up slipping up and slid
into his side. Fell back
behind before making the pass a lap later without contact.
Led the last ½ of the race to pick up the heat win.
Hoped that the track would slick over some but it seemed to get
better and a little wider.
Again lined up 6th for the main and it was a fun
start with cars all over the place.
I was searching all over for a way around.
Got up to 3rd fairly quickly and was right there for the
lead. Second place
slipped up coming off turn 4 and I sneaked by on the outside and took the
lead coming off turn 2 as the leader pushed high.
The track was so good that the motor was bogging down quite a bit
in the center of the turn. It
also made me work really hard to muscle the car around.
A yellow waved for what turned out to be the first of a trend.
Seems another car hit a rut in turn 1 and got 3 of the 4
wheels off the ground, almost flipping over and nosing into the wall.
During the next yellow I took the car out of gear to clear it out
and when I went to put it back in gear (it has a regular 3 speed trans
with a triple disc clutch) the clutch pedal slapped the floor with no
resistance. Uh oh.
I slowed almost to a stop as I struggled to get the car in gear.
It finally went into 2nd gear and as the flagman gave
the one to go I was still stuck in 2nd when I needed to be in 3rd.
Thankfully I was able to get it to 3rd gear before the
green waved. Whew, I
almost blew it. I was
just catching the back of the field as the checkered waved.
The car right in front of me raced into turn 1 as I slowed behind
him. He caught a rut and
tipped up onto the passenger door, WOAH!
The car came back down as I went by and then the RED came on as I
idled down the backstretch. I
looked up just in time to see Jerry’s nephew & Kelly’s son finish
the final of what was 3 ½ rolls coming off turn 4 going for the
checkered. Parts were
strewn all over as silence settled over the track.
The silence was broken quickly by someone screaming like a girl
from a horror flick. It
made me sick to my stomach.
Oddly enough it wasn’t Kelly as I could see her on the pit
side. Soon after CJ
emerged from the car unscathed.
All was well. Thanks
to Jerry Jr and his team for the ride in the 2J, it was fun.
Also thanks to Mom & Blake for helping out in the pits.
|
|
| OCTOBER 16, 2010
MOHAVE VALLEY RACEWAY |
| Headed off to Mohave
Valley Raceway for the $1000 to win special that was added after Walt
Carter took back over control of the speedway. A nice field of
22 cars swelled the pits and some heavy hitters were among
those. I didn't draw very well and wound up inside row 3 for
the third heat race. The main would start straight up so
moving forward would help my position for the feature. The
track was left a little wet on the bottom and the cooler conditions left
the rest of the track pretty heavy for the heats. For
the most part cars finished where they started in the heats in front of
me. A car chose to go to the rear for our start so I moved up
to inside row 2 for the heat. Started 3rd and finished 3rd in
the heat race. Had a little too much gear in the car but
couldn't get my hands on the gear I needed during the week.
The car was hitting the 7200 rev chip quite a bit. Was able to
get alongside 2nd place but the slippery bottom line wouldn't give me the
boost off the turn I needed to complete the pass. Lined
up 9th for the feature and the track was interesting. Still
slippery with some standing water in turns 1 & 2 but it was slicking
off in turn 3. I found out pretty quickly that I missed the
set up for the feature. The car was pretty good the
first few laps but with the caution coming out every other lap the car
faded quickly with the fuel burn off. I was a little
frustrated and just didn't do a good job of driving. I did
manage to pass a few cars but the caution would restore them to their
spots back in front of me. Overall it was one of those nights
where the 87N just wasn't that competitive. It
happens.
Thanks to Mom & Blake for their
help in the pits! I appreciate it. |
|
| OCTOBER 9, 2010
PAHRUMP VALLEY SPEEDWAY |
Early this week I got a
message asking if I would drive Jerry Jr's car at Pahrump Valley Speedway
this weekend. Jerry has successfully built his own modified
called a PHAT Chassis and wanted my input on the car. He and
his family has been such a big part of my success in the last 8 years or
so, it was a no brainer that I was going to help him out and I headed out
to the track to get fitted into the car. He's a bit
taller than I am and he moved the seat up and the pedals back a little
bit. I didn't realize that the track was open for hot laps
early on so I missed out on a chance to get in the car and feel it
out. So the next best thing is to line up for the heat and see
what happens. The line up was reshuffled after a car chose to
tag and I wound up moving to the outside of row number 2. The
track was pretty heavy and was a little rutted up in the turns but had
slicked off in the straights. Struggled early getting the car
set going into the turns but was able to use the wheel and the throttle to
get the car turned and moving forward. It was certainly
fast and I really felt the speed on the little 1/4 mile track.
Passed for the lead early in the race and took the heat
win. Debriefed in the pits afterwards and after checking
out the track I decided to run a full fuel load for the
feature. Started 4th in the main and got to third on the
first start going into 1 but a quick yellow forced a
restart. Saw an opening down the middle on the next
start and went three wide in the middle entering turn 1. Got
through the middle pretty well and took the lead coming off turn
2. I knew immediately that the car was a little too tight and
it was carrying the left front off the ground a bit. Bad
call on my part putting all the fuel in. We had worked on the brakes
and they did feel better, although not as abrupt as I like.
Overall the car felt great and I could run both high and low, through the
rough, and through the slick. Managed to stay out in front for
the duration and pick up the first feature win for Jerry and his new
chassis. There are a couple of minor things that I felt he
could work on, but overall the car was great. He's done a
great job getting his own chassis up and running. I appreciate
the opportunity to drive the new PHAT Chassis. It was a lot of
fun.
Thanks to Jerry & his team for their help and support in the pits and
to mom & Blake for heading up to hang out with
me. |
|
| OCTOBER 2, 2010 MOHAVE
VALLEY RACEWAY |
Spent most of Saturday
watching the radar as showers went through and around Mohave Valley
Raceway. But no cancellation notice so I was out the door and
on the road by 4pm. Immediately was cut off by a car wanting
to get in front of me before the stop light. It's tough to
stop a 40 foot trailer people! Then was passed on the shoulder
getting onto the freeway by another intelligent and patient
driver. Now onto 95 a guy cuts across several lanes and cuts
me off to make an exit. Sheeesh. As I approached
Henderson a guy had his Uhaul trailer dancing back and forth just moments
from crashing. He continued to wander and jerk so I
stayed well behind him, slowing way down. Finally
at the track and out for packing. As we enter the slop in turn 1 a car
slowly comes to a stop pinning me behind him, stuck in the
mud. Got out of the mud and packed some more before hitting
the pits where following a car down the isle he decided to just stop
dead. Slam on the brakes and kill my car. DAMN,
those were my signs, I should have loaded and watched. Lined
up 4th for the heat race and got up to 2nd quickly. The track
was fast and I was on the throttle hard. The leader had a good
one turn lead on me and that was how it stayed most of the race.
With two to go lapped cars were ahead. I was able to catch the
leader at the white and as he chose low I chose high going into
3. The lapped car pushed up so I cut down to avoid him
thinking I was clear. However the leader and I made contact right
front with left rear and he spun, I won. I didn't make
any friends so I decided to tell officials to give him the win and tag
me. They wouldn't reverse the call saying it was a racing
incident. So I, myself, gave up an outside front row start and
tagged myself. The track was heavy and passing was
tough. It also makes things happen so fast that it's hard to avoid
one another. You are on the gas so hard and the cars are so
damned fast. I made it up to 4th and stalled out, couldn't get
any better. I was right with the lead cars but couldn't do
anything with them. Probably could have stayed out front had I
started up there. Darn it. Good night to come up through
the field. Afterwards the wrong lights were left on in the
trailer and it drained the battery, killing the wench. So in
blackness I tried to load the car by driving it in. Hit the
wheel well and bounced a couple of times before ending up crooked in the
trailer. UGH! Took me forever to get the
crooked car out of the trailer this morning, and then I see the car sprung
an oil leak overnight flooding the trailer floor with oil. Son
of a not very nice lady!! After cleaning up the car and putting it
on the stands today I was so happy to close the garage door on this
weekend of racing.
On the ride home I had a lot of time to just think and boy did my thoughts
run out of control. I think that sometimes, as a racer, people
hold me to a very high standard, which is great. I've worked hard
over the years to try and separate myself as one of the better teams and
drivers. However at times I think that holding me to that standard
also makes them forget that I, too, am human. I actually
keep notes on how long things last me. My front bumper is the
one that came with the car when I picked it up in October of 2008.
It has been on the car for 42 races. My last body lasted
over 30 shows and still looked fine. I do avoid contact at all
costs, but at times it comes down to inches being shared by fast cars on
inconsistent surfaces driven by, humans. My apologies to
anyone who I may have angered this weekend. Nothing was or is
ever intentional. I make mistakes too.
I'll give the drama and frustration a few days to pass before deciding
whether or not to make my next race the 16th at MVR or just skip it and
head to LVMS for the Duel.
Thanks Mom, Blake, and to John & his father for their help and
support. I appreciate it. |
|
| SEPTEMBER 25, 2010 THE
DERBY part 2 of 2 |
| After going through post race tech
with the modified I arrived at the trailer to the greeting of several crew
members from the JC Motorsports / BomberNation.com team ready to help me
suit up in the derby car, the Wagon! Climbed aboard and headed
down to the land of the unknown. Was the 2nd car in staging and was
soon lined up alongside a few others. Got a nice little whack
from behind as we lined up and I thought, 'there's my initiation
shot.' LOL. It was all still a little surreal as I
headed out onto the battle field and lined up into my starting
position. I nervously awaited the green and contemplated my
plan before realizing quickly that I didn't know what the heck I was going
to do. At the green I was in reverse and making my way
towards another car. The sound of the first crunch was loud,
much louder than my experience of watching these from the
stands. I hit a car and before I knew it another one flew to
my left and plowed into my side. My senses sharpened quickly
and I went into defense mode looking out for everyone. I
scanned the field and picked out my next hit. They didn't all
go as planned as the mud made maneuvering difficult. Into the
battle a little while and off to the side trying to line up another hit
when it happened. I got it in reverse and started to head back
when I looked out the back window to see the other black station wagon
making a full throttle run at me across the field. Before I
could move 3 feet he plowed into the back of me.
WHAM! It was like a sneak ninja attack on
me. WOW. But it seemed that his car absorbed most
of the impact and I was ready to go. Cars had bowed out here
and there and it looked like there was 4 of us left, 2 of which were
teammates of mine. One team mate, Billy Grasser was stuck
together with another car motioning for us to hit him free. I
tried to no avail but I did manage to make a good hit on another car
remaining. His radiator began to smoke so I lined up another
hit. It finished him off but I was now stuck with
him. My stuck teammate was giving me the 'rock it' motion and
I was going back and forth between drive and reverse to get it
free. Finally my car pulled away to see my other teammate JJ
Nunn as the only other car left in the field. I was so nervous
because I felt like the sacrificial lamb that he was going to kill off in
front of the cheering crowd. He has experience and I was the
rookie. Uh oh! Visions of my ultimate humiliation
began running through my head. He had just finished off another car
and I backed into him. His car was stuck and I was trying to
finish him off. However he got freed and we began to chase
each other around the little derby field. After a few laps
around the other mangled cars it finally happened. We managed
to line up across from one another with nothing between us.
The bull was scratching the ground facing the matador. I
felt as if I was about to get gored. Both in reverse and before I
knew it here he comes flying across the field.
WHAM! As I looked back through the window opening (where the
groceries would go) I could see his car shoot up the back of
mine. Oil began to spill from his car and I shoved it in
drive and drove away lining up a hit on his right front. As I
backed up he shocked me by pulling his flag! Making me
the winner. Holy cow, I
won! It's true, God really does protect
idiots! LOL. Beginner's luck prevails and I upheld the team
tradition as the two other teammates in the group had also both won their
first derbies. How cool, huh? Thanks to Gary
Wyatt, JJ Nunn, Billy Grasser and all of the team for their help and
patience with me, it was a blast. It was actually $500
to win but I felt the money would best be spent by the team so it was
turned over to them. I did selfishly keep the trophy though as
it was my first d-derby one. :) |
|
| SEPTEMBER 25, 2010
PAHRUMP VALLEY SPEEDWAY part 1 of 2 |
So I pulled into the driveway at
2:45am on Saturday morning, was in bed by 3:10am, but for some freakish
reason I was up at 7:10am. Exactly 4 hours of sleep, darn
it. We had issues with the hinges on the trailer door so I
headed up early for day 2 of Harvest Festival to stop by Jerry's for a fix
up of the door. We worked for a couple of hours and by 3pm we
were leaving Jerry's for the track. (Thanks Jerry Sr & Jerry Jr).
It was a warm one and we spent most of our time in the shade waiting for
the earlier 6pm start. This was not only night 2 of Harvest
Festival, it was also the day of my first Demolition Derby, or D-Day as I
called it. I took quite a bit of ribbing from fellow
racers and friends who were eerily too eager to see me in that
event. LOL. Anyway the track started off
pretty hard and it was obvious it would dry up quickly. So I
tightened up the car with more fuel and headed out for my
heat. I started 6th of 6 in heat one. At the green
cars scrambled everywhere and I used the outside to shoot up to
3rd. Coming off turn 2 the leaders got together causing
another scramble but we all continued. The slick surface
made it exciting and we were running really close together.
Moved into the 2nd spot on lap 3 and made chase on the leader.
He was moving away from me a bit so I began to move my line until the
yellow waved. Back to racing and it was like you turned the
clock back 10-15 years as Jason Pike and myself battled hard for the
lead. We were running nose to tail until I was able to
peek inside off 2 going into three side by side. So close
fighting for the lead, where we barely traded a few licks from a tire rub,
made it exciting in the car. Jason pulled back ahead going
into turn 1 and snagged back the lead. As he fought a push
exiting the turn I was able to set up the pass for the lead with two laps
to go coming off turn 4. Led the last two laps to
win. For the feature I knew passing would be
difficult at best as the track was slowing greatly. I lined up
9th for the main and moved up to 7th when another car failed to make the
call. The lower line start helped me greatly and I slipped up
to 5th on the first lap before sneaking by another car the next lap to be
4th. Two more laps later and I found myself ducking below 2nd
place entering turn 1. The leader was a few car lengths ahead
and I patiently reeled him in. Got a good bite off the
bottom of turn 2 somewhere around lap 7 or 8 and drove alongside the
leader and into the lead. Kept the car straight and my foot
easily on and off the throttle to stay ahead and pick up win number 2 on
the weekend.
Thanks Mom, Blake, Jerry & Jerry Jr for their help getting things
ready for Saturday. |
|
| SEPTEMBER 24, 2010
PAHRUMP VALLEY SPEEDWAY |
After a long day at work
I headed home to load the trailer and head over the hump to Pahrump for
night one of the annual Harvest Festival. Mom had taken the
day off work and Blake was able to get off a few hours early so they were
both waiting to help load. After loading I figured with it
being 4pm rush hour traffic on a Friday, I should probably head the back
way around through Indian Springs. It was a nice and traffic
free ride that way but it takes longer so we pulled into the pits around
6:30. The track packed in nicely and was really quick for the
heat race before mine. I started outside pole for my
heat and used the high line to move into the lead. The car was
handling great on the sticky surface and I was able to lead all 10 laps
for the heat win. The main event line up put me outside
row 5, way back in the field. A first lap yellow of the
feature shuffled the field and I took the next green in the 6th
spot. Slipped by 5th on the outside going into turn 1 and
ducked under 4th coming off turn 2. As we entered turn 1 on
lap 2 the 2nd place car spun moving me up to the third
spot. There was still some moisture in turns 1 & 2
but 3 & 4 were dry and slippery. Taking the green again
the front two were battling hard for the low line. As they
battled I decided to test the waters up high. Their fight was
slowing them just enough that I was able to drive up beside 2nd place
exiting turn 2. Stayed even through three and four before
driving it in alongside the leader entering turn 1. We exited
door to door down the back stretch and into turn 3 I took a small peek at
the lead. Coming to the flag I pulled ahead and into the
lead. Several yellows slowed the action and bunched up the
field but I was able to stay ahead and take the first night
win.
Thanks to Mom & Blake for their help in the pits! |
|
| SEPTEMBER 18, 2010
MOHAVE VALLEY RACEWAY |
Seems like I'm taking more time
off than I'm racing. My last race came after a month off and
this one comes after about 5 weeks off from the sport. Spent
the morning grinding some tires and siping them for the first time in
hopes of making these aging tires more useful. Picked up my
newly painted helmet from Charlie Wahl @ Off the Wahl Designs and headed
south to Mohave Valley Raceway where we met up with the Golden Valley gang
of Walter, Julie, Zach, and Michael in the pits.
The track packed in pretty good and I started outside row 2 for the heat
race. At the green the outside moved quickly and I followed
into the 2nd position. I was right with the leader and just
trying to find a way around as I felt out the track. About 3
or 4 laps in I tried to go high and made slight contact with the leader's
rear bumper sending him into a half spin into the infield. As
he headed in the infield I backed off to let him gather it up.
To my surprise I wasn't passed by right away and the leader got back onto
the track into the lead. I got back on the gas figuring I had
righted the wrong but was passed on both sides by 3rd and 4th.
Back into 4th I was able to slip high on 3rd going into 1 and cut under
him exiting turn 2 to make the pass. An outside pass netted me
2nd and I was on my way to catching the leader. As the laps
wound down I slowly closed the 4 or 5 car length gap until I was on his
bumper at the white. He went low and I shot outside getting
alongside entering turn 1. Off two I had the momentum and took
the lead. Rounded turn 4 successfully and took the heat
win.
Lined up 8th for the main event and the race was red flagged before it
began as a fight broke out in the street stock pits. Once
underway it was an intense battle. A lot of good cars right
there together trying to get by. My car was good but I just
couldn't catch a break. The other issue I was having is my
least favorite thing, dust. Cars were hanging their right rear
off the track a bit and the dust cloud was making cars disappear in front
of me along with the racing surface. Caught myself being a
little tentative and may have missed a few opportunities to
pass. A yellow just after 1/2 way for visibility or lack
thereof allowed me to move closer to the leaders as I was up to
4th. Used the inside to get by 3rd and had to work the inside
pretty hard to finally get into 2nd. Once into second the
leader had padded his lead pretty nicely. I was able to close
in but wasn't close enough to challenge as the checkered
waved. A nice 2nd place to knock the rust off.
Good run.
Thanks Mom & Blake as well as Walter, Julie, Zach, and Michael for
their help and support. I appreciate it. |
|
| AUGUST
7, 2010 PAHRUMP VALLEY SPEEDWAY |
After
a month layoff we loaded up and headed off to Pahrump Valley
Speedway for another night of racing. During the time
off I changed the mounting points of the motor and the pull par as
well. Lots of changes and I have to admit I was
pretty nervous about it all working out. Most of the
week was spent staring at the car looking for things that may be
different now that things had moved. But it was time to
let the rubber hit the dirt. The night was a
neat one as it would be our 600th start in a modified.
To go along with the milestone I was debuting a new graphic scheme
on new doors, quarter panels, and sail panels as well as the cool
new blue wheels. Since Pahrump Valley Speedway was the
site of my first start, it was fitting that it was the site of my
600th. Chad, PVS promoter, had all the mods go on
the front stretch prior to racing to have them talk about it being a
special night for me and my team, very nice gesture. The crowd
was very kind in their applause and cheers.
Lined up outside row 1 for the 2nd heat race. The track
was really tacky for the heat race so I dialed in a little rear
brake to help it turn. Got a good start and took the
lead off turn 2. The car was really hooked up and felt
great. The feel of the changes was quite noticeable from
the seat. Moved around a little bit and saw what the car
had in different places and it was good in most places.
Won the heat.
Lined up 5th for the feature. Lightning, wind, and the
smell of rain forced officials to move our main event up in the
order and we scrambled to get things ready. Was really
unsure how to set the car up for the feature as the track had been
watered during intermission. Made a decision and went to
line up. The track was a little slicker than I had
anticipated but I was going to have to deal with it. We
rolled around under yellow awaiting another car that was having
trouble and needed a few extra laps to get out there. As
we rolled around I scoped out a line I wanted to run early to try
and make some headway. At the green I used
the low line to creep up to third going into turn 3. Lap
two was pretty exciting as I got a run in the middle of the two
leaders. We exited turn 4 with me in the middle and it
got a little bit narrow. Amazingly we all made it
through with just a little touch on my driver's door. I
escaped in the 2nd spot and I got alongside the leader entering turn
3. He got in a little high and spun handing the lead
over to me. Felt some pressure during the next couple of
runs but managed to stay out front. The last green flag
run had some excitement as I caught the rear of the field and had to
fight my way by some lapped cars. As the race
ended the team had earned yet another win. Awesome!
Thanks to mom & Blake for the help getting the car ready to go
at home and at the track and to Carly & Brett for their help and
support in the pits tonight! |
|
|
| JULY
3, 2010 PAHRUMP VALLEY SPEEDWAY |
With
the temperatures nearing 110 degrees, the 87N
was loaded up and headed to Pahrump Valley Speedway. I
had made a couple of changes to the chassis and wanted to test them
out on the track. The heat was pretty miserable in town
but once 'over the hump' it wasn't too bad. Pretty
tolerable. Lined up 5th for my heat and the inside row
got going pretty good. Was up to third pretty quickly
and then slipped into 2nd on the next lap. When the
leader pushed high in turn 4 on the 4th lap I had the car turned and
was able to drive by on the low side. Was able to
lead the final handful of laps to the checkered. Was
able to watch a little bit of the other races for the first time in
a while. I really miss being able to take in the other
classes, the racing is often very good. Decided to
add some fuel and some weight for the feature. The
motor sounded a little funny all day but the pitch seemed to change
as I headed out for the feature. The gauges were good
and it didn't seem to be down on power, so I went with it.
The track was very slippery by the time we took to the track and I
really tip toed around for the first few laps and took my time
slipping by cars. Finally got to the bumper of the
leader and he was holding the low line pretty well. I
decided to drive in on the high line and just as I did he slipped up
off the bottom some. Tried again the next turn but again
I wasn't able to get by. Followed in low and was able to
sneak by on the exit and into the lead. It seemed like I was
going so slow around the slippery track but I kept it straight and
on to victory lane. The car was really miserable to
drive, such a handful. I really don't care for the
changes I made to the ride. So back to how it was before
or maybe I'll put those back and try something else.
In the pits I had Jerry come over and take a listen to the car.
He agreed with a problem but didn't know what side to check.
I knew it was the driver's side and as soon as we removed the valve
cover we discovered a push rod with a broken tip.
Changed it and all is good. Whew.
Thanks Jerry!
Now I just need to find some place to race this month.
Nothing is really jumping out at me, well nothing closer than 400
miles away anyway. We'll see.
Thanks Mom & Blake for their help and support in the pits. |
|
|
| JUNE
27, 2010 BATTLE MOUNTAIN RACEWAY |
Got
to the hotel around 2am after the races on Saturday.
On Sunday Battle Mountain Raceway was having a rain-out make up race
for their regular weekly program. It was to start at
noon. Headed out to the track on about 4 hours of sleep.
The line ups were done on point average and I started 7th of 7 in my
heat race. The track was watered heavily before we went
out and it was a mess. Our heat race was sent out to
pack it and after slopping around for a while I pulled off.
Bad mood. You couldn't even tell what color the car was!
So I was wondering if I should even bother. Skipped the
heat, got out of my suit and stewed a little.
However after thinking about it, I decided to go ahead and run the A
main. There was just enough cars not to run a B so I
lined up in the 21st spot for the main. At the
green the dust was so heavy that I just hugged the bottom.
Wound up getting by a couple of cars and then picked off a few more
before the first yellow. The dust got better and better
as the race went on and the cars blackened the track surface.
While the track was slick, slick, slick, it was fun. I
tip toed my way all the way up to 6th place by the checkered flag
for another good run on the weekend. Glad I decided to
run. Hit the road by 5:30pm and arrived safely home just
after midnight Monday morning. What a LONG
weekend!
Thanks to Blake for his help today! |
|
|
| JUNE
26, 2010 BATTLE MOUNTAIN RACEWAY |
I
cannot sleep in hotels so after about 4 hours of sleep I was up and
ready for work again. Waited around a while for Blake to
get up and going before heading off to wash the car. Got
it all spiffed up and then stopped by the store to replenish the
coolers, the gas station to fill up the generator, and then McD's to
get a bite to eat. At the track I had to pull the gears
and take them to be teched. They were marked on Friday
and they wanted to see them Saturday morning. Got
the car up on stands and had the gears out and to tech by noon.
From there we went over the car, greased it and then fired up the
BBQ. Finally headed over to draw and got #163,
worse than yesterday! That placed me 6th of 7 cars in my
heat needing to be 2nd to transfer in. Some heavy
contact at the start off 2 had me scrambling to avoid it.
Wound up getting trapped in 5th but was able to move into 4th the
next time by. Worked my way up to third and was fighting
hard for 2nd. I didn't want to run the B.
Kept showing my nose to the car in front hoping to put the pressure
on. It finally paid off as the he looped it in turn 3 a
couple laps from the end. Finished 2nd and made the
main. That allowed me to head over to the tower for a
webcast interview with Chris Martinez, WWMT announcer.
After that I hit the tour trailer to redraw. I got 10th.
The track had a cool fireworks show for us as we rounded the track
before the A main. Picked up a few spots
early in the race using the outside and then moved to the bottom to
get a few more. The track began changing so I started to
use the outside. But with the level of competition as
soon as you move your line someone else fills the other.
I was fighting hard and actually got myself up to 3rd before a
yellow moved me back to 4th. Fell back to 5th late
in the race but made a last little charge to finish in 4th.
Another great run for the team!
Thanks again to Blake, Robert, Holli & family for their help in
the pits! |
|
|
| JUNE
25, 2010 BATTLE MOUNTAIN RACEWAY |
The
original departure time of 6:00am turned out to be more like 8:00am
as I took my time getting things going. But we weren't
on the road long before we had our first flat tire on the trailer.
A short pit stop had us back on the road and headed north.
Managed to take breaks here and there and enjoy some of the cooler
weather along the way to make the trip more tolerable.
Arrived around 3pm and headed out to the track. The pits
aren't very large at the small town track and the large haulers of
the tour competitors really makes them smaller. So I
wound up pitting next door at the motocross track parking.
Saved a few spots for the Delaney group with their stock cars and
modified. My draw for the heat was 131, ouch.
Started in the third row of the heat and needed to finish 2nd to
transfer to the A. At the first green I got a great
start cutting across the track off turn 2 and shot into the 3rd
spot. Yellow. Didn't get as good of a start the
next time but had a great battle for the top spots. Got
up to 3rd then slipped back to 4th at the very end in a competitive
race. Lined up 3rd for the B main needing 4th or
better to advance. I wasn't very aggressive at the start
and slipped into 4th. Didn't really want to ride in that
spot so I put a little pressure on to move up at least 1 spot.
Made the move inside of third and then got myself into a safe
spacing and rode out the remainder of laps to transfer.
Made a slight stagger adjustment for the feature and headed to line
up. I was 19th on the star studded grid with 30 laps of
racing ahead. The small track is fast enough to be scary
and tight enough to be even more frightening but I was ready for
battle. It was INTENSE on the opening lap.
Three wide many rows deep early and heck broke loose entering 3.
Cars stacked up and slipped through without a scratch.
The double file restarts make it so exciting (scary) that your heart
rate never comes down. The car was great and I was
moving right through the field. It felt great to finally
break the top 10 by half way. Had a great three
way battle going on for 7th place two cars nose to tail on the
bottom and me on the higher line just inches between us.
After many laps of side by side the unfortunate thing happened.
The front car got a little loose into 3 and I was right there.
The corner of his car barely scraped my roof post and that was
enough to send him around. Nothing intentional, but he
wasn't happy with me. Really worked hard those
last few laps to use the outside and got myself up to 5th by the
checkered flag. A run from 19th to 5th is awesome for
us. Congrats to local racer Ryan Cotrell for winning the
feature! He's followed the tour all year and is running
great.
Thanks Blake, Robert, Holli and their family for their help and
support in the pits. |
|
|
| JUNE
19, 2010 MOHAVE VALLEY RACEWAY |
The
final event before Mohave Valley Raceway's summer break brought out
some extra competition as 4 visitors from El Centro's track as well
as two others added to the mix of modifieds in the pits.
I had spent a lot of time this week reading articles, measuring,
reading set up sheets, as well as looking at and messing with the
suspension on the car. Made the decision on a direction to go
and was anxious to test it out. While I have been doing
pretty well, I haven't been happy with the overall traction with the
car. I started inside row two and at the green the
outside two rows jumped by and I slipped by the pole sitter and got
back to third place. The car was really good and I made a
diamond off the corner to jump along side second place.
Yellow. Back to third and a double file restart, leader
out front. Second chose the outside so I took the bottom
and got a great run to the green putting me solidly into 2nd place.
Put the pressure on the leader on the bottom and used another
outside in move to slip by and into the lead. Moved
around the last few laps seeing how the car was in different spots
and it was great. Won the heat race.
Mom BBQ'd a few hot dogs for the team during the downtime and I had
to decide what changes I was going to make for the feature.
I knew the track was going to dry out even more and wanted to make
sure I compensated for it. Changed a couple of
tires, added some fuel and headed off to line up. I was
lined up in the 5th spot meaning I would be locked to the bottom for
the first few laps. The action heated up quickly as we were
already three wide off turn 2 on lap 1 with me peeking inside.
Waited going into three and the door opened up. The car
turned great and shot off turn 4. The next lap I was up
to 2nd and approaching the leader as the caution waved.
With the leader alone I chose the bottom on the restart.
Got a good start but it was called back due to some jumping a few
rows back. The next start was a great one as I was
right on the bumper of the leader as we headed off into turn 1.
He chose the middle line and I shot to the inside and into the lead.
I was loving life as the car was turning and driving straight off
the turns like it had never driven before. It was like
the stars had aligned, one of those nights where you can't do any
wrong. My lead was built up to a comfortable distance as
the laps wound down to less than 10 to go. A yellow
going into turn 1 quickly turned red as the backstretch was littered
with cars in various states of position and condition.
All but one of the cars drove off under their own power while just
one needed to be pushed off. Got back to work on the
restart and was just waiting and waiting for someone to pressure me
on the topside. That never developed and the 87N team
drove to the win!
Thanks to Mom, Blake, Zach, and Michael for their help and support
in the pits. Hopefully the MVR fans enjoy the
break. We'll see you once the racing starts back up.
Happy Father's Day dad, this one's for you! |
|
|
| JUNE
5, 2010 MOHAVE VALLEY RACEWAY |
Who
left the heat on? Man it was hot heading down to Mohave
Valley Raceway on Saturday afternoon. The AC was on
blast the whole trip and the first 110 degree day greeted us as we
entered the pits. The heat just really takes it out of
you, especially when you don't have a few days of 100 degree
temperatures to get acclimated to it all. But we braved
it out. Got my gear on and headed out to pack the track.
It was pretty wet and looked like it would be in good shape for the
racing. Lined up inside row 3 for the heat race and the
car felt pretty good. Jumped up to the third spot and
was pressuring for 2nd. However the groove I needed was
the groove he was running so I started to hunt around.
Didn't really work out and I wound up losing ground to the leaders.
Finished 3rd. Made a couple of chassis adjustments for
the feature and filled it with fuel for the feature. It
had cooled off a little but I think it was a little mind over matter
if anything. Again lined up inside row 3 and the track
had developed a black line around the middle in the turns.
Tried the bottom early and got a spot moving up to 4th.
Finally got a run inside the 3rd place car and used the inside line
to take over that spot entering turn 3. Tried using the
bottom to move up on the leaders but wasn't making up any ground.
Instead I moved up a line and the car got better. Slowly
began to real in the leaders and as they battled the 2nd place car
got real loose off turn 2. I jumped to his outside and
we raced side by side into turn 3. The car stuck really
well and I went by into the 2nd position. Just after the
crossed flags I was getting to the bumper of the leader.
Was trying to adjust my line to find a way around. A
couple laps later the leader slipped up just a bit off turn 2 and I
slipped by on the inside. The other car slipped back to
my inside and kept the pressure on. Got a little
bit of room between us as the laps wound down and picked up the win.
Thanks Mom, Blake, Zach, Julie, and John for their help and support! |
|
|
| MAY
29, 2010 MOHAVE VALLEY RACEWAY |
Had
a busy week with getting exams graded and final grades figured out
for my classes. Still have two more days of exams (3
classes), but it's almost over! The busy week kept me
from working on the car and on Friday night I decided I would work
on the car Saturday morning and hope to be done in time to go to
Mohave Valley Raceway for a rain-out make up race. A
trip to the bank and Autozone got the day underway. The
car was due for an oilchange, etc. Blake worked on the
oil change and the usual maintenance while I changed the rear end
gears. We've all changed gears so many times over the
years we have it down to about 15 minutes. The best part
is we know exactly what we need before getting under the car, so we
aren't constantly bugging others for tools, etc.
Hit the road at 4pm and arrived at the track just a bit before track
packing started. Went to pack the track and was
surprised when they threw the green for hot laps! YIKES.
I like to pack the track as it allows the car to roll around, warm
up the engine oil, warm up the gear oil, etc. I tried
staying out of the way on the high side while trying to build heat.
Again the car count wasn't great, but I came to race, so I did.
Lined up 7th in the heat and got up to 2nd pretty quickly.
The car was skating quite a bit and just wasn't driving off the
turn. But I finished 2nd about 10 car lengths behind,
maybe more. I had a great support team in the pits as
Mom, Blake, Kelly, Julie's husband Zach and her brother all lent a
hand in getting the car ready for the feature. I decided to
change the set up completely, had no idea how it would react.
Started 5th in the feature and going into the turns on the first
lap, it was obvious the car was much different. I was
surprised how well it was biting off the turns and it took me
several laps to get it figured out. Caught up to the 1st
and 2nd place cars and spent too much time trying to pass on the
bottom of the race track. Should have trusted the car
and went high earlier. Once into 2nd the leader was
long, long gone. I wasn't losing ground, but I wasn't
really gaining ground either. The crossed flags had been
out about 5 laps earlier when suddenly the leader lost power and
left the track on the backstretch, gifting the lead to me.
I led the final 5 laps to steal one of those wins I certainly didn't
deserve. Felt really bad for the leader for his
misfortune, he had us all covered. After the race
I was greeted at the fence by a young man wanting me to sign his
cast. Unfortunately I didn't have a pen, so instead I
posed for a photo and let him take the trophy home.
The fans are always really cool to me there. It's
moments like that which make me appreciate having the means and the
ability to race my car.
Thanks to everyone for their help and support! Also
thanks to the fans for their warm welcome during driver intros. |
|
|
| MAY
22, 2010 PAHRUMP VALLEY SPEEDWAY |
So
we loaded up the car and I put my new class A license to good use
towing us over the hump to Pahrump. The car count was good at
the beginning of the year, went through a lull and then was picking
up. The competition was good, the track conditions have
been great, and the pay is decent, so what the heck, right?
Well it seems a few drivers had prior committments so the count was
down some. But hey, we were there and the fans were
braving the chilly, windy weather so those of us who were there
headed out there. Up first, heat race.
Lined up inside row 3 and everyone seemed to want the bottom so I
slithered my way to the outside going into turn 1 and the car railed
around the outside. Hard on the car, left front in the
air I was rounding the 2nd place car coming out of turn 2 when he
caught some of the slime on the inside and pushed out.
His right front went right in front of my left front and I climbed
up and over it sending me heading right for the wall. I
narrowly avoided slapping the wall as the car slammed down and I
kept going. Got through 3 & 4 ok and was right there
in 3rd spot, just inches off 2nd. Going into 1 my brake
pedal went to the floor and I just missed tagging the car in front
of me as my car shot straight up the track. I pulled
off, disgusted with myself for being so impatient.
Should have waited to make a move. I found the extra
brake line and Blake got it taken apart so we could get it squared
away for the feature.
The track was in great shape for the feature, very smooth and quite
heavy still considering the wind. Decided I needed to
take my time and not rush anything in the feature.
Didn't need to wreck myself again. The car was pretty
good early and before too long I was up to 3rd, then slipped inside
2nd place coming off turn 4 and set my sights on the leader.
Caught up to the leader and ran behind him for a couple of laps to
decide where I could slip by. After a couple of laps I
moved to the outside coming into turn 3 and made the pass for the
lead. Survived a couple of restarts and led the rest of
the way for the win.
Here's some video of my heat race the race before this one.
I start around the 1:00 mark. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ByYVNPbSzu4
I know the economy is bad so, of course, car counts won't be high.
In Nevada they are terrible. Lovelock has gone from 14
to 5, Elko has had no more than 5 in its first 3 races, and
Winnemucca had only 4 last night. Mohave Valley had 7 at
their last race and I read where a track in Kansas had 3, while a
track in Iowa had only 7. WOW! It's just a
product of a lot of things. Some tracks are still
getting 20-30, but those are few and far between. Just
gotta keep having fun and hope for the best.
Thanks Blake & Mom for your help and support! |
|
|
| MAY
8, 2010 PAHRUMP VALLEY SPEEDWAY |
Whatever
the bug was I had, it really threw me for a loop. The ER
said I could only let it 'run its course' (lovely) so I just tried
to get some rest and went on with my daily routine.
Several days consisted of making it through school, coming home, and
going to bed for the night. I really don't like sleeping
that much so it wasn't my kind of thing to do. Still
cannot eat much as the food just doesn't taste the same and I really
have no appetite. But I needed to get out, so I decided
to go racing.
Lined up outside row 2 for the first heat race and the track was
really heavy and a little greasy in places. Tip
toed through the turns for the first couple of laps before finally
slipping into the lead. The track was changing every lap
and the car was becoming a handful. Normally the tracks
are slick and we work on adding bite. Well I had too much and
the car was very light on the front wheels. Steering was
an issue. Had a couple of near misses with the wall and
was actually losing my lead because I couldn't get the car to turn
very well. A yellow with a couple of laps left bunched
us back up and while the car was tough to turn I did hold on for the
win. Went and watched the next heat and those cars were
flying, they looked really good. Decided to watch the
track for a while to see what the feature set up would be.
I was light on fuel so I decided to put some in and remove some
weight from the car for the feature. I'm always over on the
minimum weight so I have some to room to spare. Lined up in
the 4th row for the feature as a couple of new cars moved me up in
the lineup. The track was in amazing shape with
just a small strip that wasn't packed down very low in the turns
which I tried to pack under yellow. Went into turn 1 in
the middle of the track and had to cut hard back low to turn under
some cars. We were three wide off turn 2 and down the
back stretch. As we exited turn 4 I had already slipped into
2nd place with the leader already several car lengths ahead.
Yellow. Back to racing and I was trying different lines
than the leader as he was just too good in his line for me.
Steadied the difference between the two of us but was still not too
close. Just in the middle of turn 3 the leader picked up
a push and headed right for the wall off 4. I slipped by
and into the lead. Shortly after taking the lead the
yellow waved. I, like last time, could hear and feel the
pressure from behind. It was relentless.
Lap after lap, turn after turn, inch after inch. My new
line was very touchy coming off 4. I had to be careful.
After two near misses with the front stretch wall I finally got a
good piece of it. WHACK. Had no choice but
to bury it in the 1st turn and hope for the best. Seemed
ok. Lapped traffic became the next obstacle on the short
1/4 mile track. Took a couple cars low and then another
on the outside. White flag! Heavy pressure
from behind. I sounded like 5 cars were on my rear bumper.
Exiting turn 2 the car bogged down and layed over.
Second place had hooked bumpers and I was dragging him off the turn.
A slight wiggle and still to the floor we released. Tip
toed through 3 and off 4 to the win. Whew, I finally got
to breathe for the first time in about 15 minutes.
Amazing.
Thanks Mom & Blake for their help in the pits.
Happy Mother's Day Mom! |
|
|
| APRIL
24, 2010 PAHRUMP VALLEY SPEEDWAY |
After
a brief hiatus to get myself out of the point race at Mohave Valley
Raceway and to attend the drags at LVMS, I loaded up the car and
headed 'over the hump' to Pahrump Valley Speedway's 4th sanctioned
race of the season. It would be their first night race
of the season so I was concerned if I would be able to stay awake
that long! haha. Considering I have raced for so
long, it is kind of strange that I am so out of the loop with
everything. I don't really email, text, call or talk to
any racers outside of the track. So I was
surprised to see it was a memorial race for a gentleman who had
helped out many racers through the years, most recently my friend
Levi Kiefer. It was nice to see so many people
there. Levi was there, Wyatt Ehrp, Jason Pike, Sam
Stringer, etc. Levi was one of the lead cars during the
ceremonial pace laps before races began as the family read a eulogy
and released balloons in the man's honor.
The track was in great shape for the heats. Smooth and
very, very quick. I watched the first heat from
staging and watched Levi put on a show. He flat flew
around that place. As I sat there I thought to myself,
'there is no effin' way I have ever gotten a car around a track that
quick.' Damn! I wanted to tag my
heat but the starter wasn't having any of that so I got the jump
from the outside pole and was hanging on for dear life as the track
was just really really tacky. I had left fuel out and kept the
weight off hoping it would loosen the car up but it was a handful.
Yanking up the left front and forcing me to really back it into the
turns. Even though I think I'm too old to go that
fast, I managed to hold my breath for enough laps to win the heat.
Lined up for the feature oddly enough on the front row. (I
don't think it was a correct line up, but I've stopped trying to
worry about that anymore) Levi was on the pole and
was there to win one for his fallen friend. It really
got me to thinking about my dad as we sat there waiting to go out.
I knew what Levi was racing for and I couldn't help but empathize
with that. The street stock race took quite a while to
complete so my thoughts were racing like crazy. Everyone's
crew was back and forth to their cars but my friends and crew were
at the other end, so I was there to drive myself crazy. (LOL).
Before too long something took my thoughts away from everything as I
had to pee really really bad. I was ready to unbuckle
and bolt but held it together and turns out I should have gone.
The track was really dry by the time we rolled out and I fell behind
at the green as we went into turn 1. Got a good run on
the outside but ducked in behind Levi as we entered 3.
He pushed up in the center of the turn and I got turned under him
and slipped into the lead. A quick yellow for a
spin slowed the action but once back to racing it was intense.
I knew I was being hounded and soon enough I saw Levi on the outside
entering the turns. I would slowly inch away off the
turns and he would return to my outside going in. A few
laps later I saw him inside my driver's door exiting turn 2.
Lapped traffic. We caught a car running right in my line
and followed him into turn 3. Levi jumped outside and it
was going to be close. Where would the lapped car go?
I was ready to push if I had to but the bad part was it was Kelly's
son and Jerry's grandson CJ in front of us. OH NO!!
He moved up slightly and I jumped inside and drove in a little hard
narrowly missing putting tiremarks down his door.
As the laps wound down I thought I may have pulled away, but NO!
The next lap I could feel the compression of his motor in my gut.
Rumbling my innards. White flag, one to go.
Held my line and crossed the line just ahead for the win.
Great to win, but I felt like crap. I know how much it
would have meant to everyone for Levi to win and I kind of felt like
a heel. It happens I guess.
Thanks to Mom & Blake for their help and support at the track!
My condolences go out to everyone who lost their family member or
friend. |
|
|
| APRIL
3, 2010 MOHAVE VALLEY RACEWAY |
Sixteen
modifieds checked in for race #4 on the season at Mohave Valley
Raceway on Saturday. I lined up outside row 2 for the
heat race and had a little different set up than I had the week
before. Transferred some weight in the car and was
anxious to give it a shot. We braved some pretty nasty
wind gusts on the way there and those winds seemed to dry out one
side of the track while leaving the other side pretty tacky.
Into turn 1 on lap 1 the car was really good. Got a
great bite off turn 2 and was having to ease up not to run into the
cars ahead of me. Got up on the outside off turn 2 the
next lap to take then used an outside in move in turn 3 to take the
lead. The car was pretty good and it felt great to
ride out the last few laps at the front to win the heat race.
Waited out the time between the heat and the feature chatting with a
few racers and hanging out with the team. The line up
had me inside row number 4 for the feature but I moved up a row when
another car started scratch on the field. The first few
laps were pretty tight as we raced in a large group.
There was nowhere to slip by and I was stuck with a faster car
without a line by. Managed to hold tight until cars
moved up off the bottom allowing me to slip by. Actually
slipped into the 2nd spot and began to chase the leader.
Yellow. The odd timing of the yellow put me back
all the way to 5th spot on the restart. One car slowed
on the next restart and bottled up the field. I shot up
to 3rd before the yellow waved again. On the next
start I was outside and coming off turn 2 the leader pushed up
higher on the track as I looked high. I cut back and
with a car to my inside I tried to split the gap. As I
got door to door with the leader we ran out of room and hopped
wheels. It was all elbows trying to gather it up but I
did and found myself in 2nd going into 3. Quickly
grabbed the lead and the car was great. Running the high
side in 1 & 2 and the low side in 3 & 4 I had built a
sizeable lead when the yellow waved just after half way.
Managed to lead a couple more laps after the restart but got passed
on the high side off four with a few laps to go. Jumped
up behind and gave chase but could only make it close for a couple
of laps. Wound up 2nd. Not too bad.
After the race I had my a$$ chewed by another driver for splitting
the gap early in the race. It was an aggressive move but
nothing too extreme from my point of view. However at
times it seems I'm held to a higher standand when it comes to
rubbing or touching other cars while racing. Took my
lashing and hope to be better next time. Hey, I'm human
right?
Thanks to Mom & Blake for their help and support in the pits. |
|
|
| MARCH
20, 2010 Mohave Valley Raceway |
Headed
out to Mohave Valley Raceway on Saturday for their third race of the
2010 season. The regular six division card was expanded
to 10 as some traveling divisions were added to the night's events.
The heats were divided up a little small and just 4 cars were in my
third heat which had me lining up outside row #1. My
lower than normal point average gave me the better start and I
jumped to the lead early. The track was black from top
to bottom with a little bit of moisture very low and very high.
Didn't really get much pressure from behind so I tried to move
around and try different lines in the heat. The car felt
good and was running great. Won the heat race.
Kim was out from Iowa and Zach and Julie were in the pits from
Golden Valley so we all visited during the down time and had a great
time. Fueled the car and headed out for the feature.
Started 6th and got to the bottom early moving up a couple of spots
quickly. The car was pretty good but wasn't all that
great, loose. Worked my way into the 2nd spot and the
leader was just steadily pulling away. A couple of
restarts allowed me to close in briefly but I couldn't keep up.
Eventually lost the 2nd spot to the eventual winner with about 6
laps to go. Brought the car home in 3rd spot.
Good run.
Thanks to Mom, Blake, Kelly, Kim, Zach, and Julie for their help and
support in the pits. |
|
|
| MARCH
13, 2010 Pahrump Valley Speedway |
So
obviously I wasn't thrilled with the goings-on at Mohave Valley last
weekend and felt like I was at the end of the rope with the racing.
However I woke up Sunday and went right to work, like usual, washing
the car at 7:00am in the driveway. Once I was finished
the car went up on jack stands and I started working through things
on the car. As the week went on we slowly went through
the engine, the carburetor, the brake system, the gears, the
driveline, the suspension, and I spent a little time trying to fix
my attitude. The latter is thought to be a lost cause.
Started the car on Saturday morning thinking I might go to Pahrump
to test the car, however one of the fuel delivery pieces had a small
leak due to some grinding I had done to gain clearance for the
secondary squirter. So a trip to American Racing Supply
in town got us the part we needed and all was well.
Decided to load the car up and go for it. I knew there
wouldn't be a lot of cars and I wasn't really concerned about that.
My main concern was finding out if the car was going to run and make
it through the afternoon. I really couldn't ask for
special test sessions as it was a real race for them, so I had to
line up for races. Lined up outside pole for the
heat race and the car was good. It lurched out there and
was really getting around the track. The track was
pretty heavy for an afternoon race and I was really having to muscle
it around the track. A little tricky exiting turn 2 as
it was heavy entering and then glazed off exiting.
Managed to win the heat race. Lined up on the pole for
the main and led every lap to win that. The interesting thing
in Pahrump is that the pay scale calls for $300 to win if there is
1-10 cars. So I might pick up some money for our
troubles. The car was great and the hard work this week
for us paid off. Hopefully we can keep it up and make it
through next weekend's race at Mohave Valley.
Mom couldn't make it, but that might not be a bad thing as it was
brutally cold with everyone braving 40-50mph winds all day.
BRRRR!
Thanks to Blake, Jerry, and Kelly for their help at the track and to
Blake for his help in the garage this week and every week. |
|
|
| MARCH
6, 2010 Mohave Valley Raceway |
Lined
up 3rd for the heat race and came out of turn 2 in 4th and slipped
back into third when a car slipped off the back stretch.
The motor had an odd sound to it like it had a broken header or
something but it was running decent and all the gauges were fine so
I kept going. Developed a mild vibration about 1/2 way
and wound up finishing the race in the third spot. Check
out the rear of the car and found an issue with the right rear brake
caliper. Took a while to get something rigged up to
'fix' it and as we buttoned up it was time to line up.
They had moved the mods up in the order as rain was on the way.
No chance to check the motor issue. Lined up in
the 7th spot and gave a little room on the opening lap as it was an
aggressive start. Moved by a few cars and knew there was
a problem with the car. It was just odd, can't really
explain the problem. But going into turn 2 the car just
kind of bogged down and I shot off the track. It bogged
down again and then that was that, I was on my way to the pits.
I'm not sure if the RR was locking up or binding up or what, but it
was enough to call it a night. A DNF. I'm
about out of parts right now and am not sure if I even have the
motivation to search out the issue. Maybe a yard sale is
in order. Then I can retire and get my new dodge
challenger!
To make matters worse I was called out at the driver's meeting
(something I dislike greatly). When we got home
and tried to start the car, it wouldn't turn over. The
carburetor leaked over the whole way home filling the engine with
raw fuel. Lovely! But as long as I'm
having fun, right?
Thanks Mom, Blake, Kelly, Zach, Julie, and Ralph for their help.
Lots of hard work on their parts for a few laps in the feature.
Something tells me they got the short end of the stick. |
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| FEBRUARY
26, 2010 Las Vegas Motor Speedway |
Headed
out to LVMS around 4pm to avoid the pole day traffic exiting the
speedway. Just as I got there the Highway Patrol shut
off the lane I needed to get directly into the speedway.
Wound up taking the scenic route to get into the dirt track but made
it, a few groans here and there, but I made it. At least
33 modifieds graced the pits for the one week notice event, while
only 28 World of Outlaw teams were on hand. The mods
packed the track and the track was sloppy. I chose to
skip the first practice. Got to go out after the WoO
cars qualified and the track was really heavy. The car was
stuck like glue and a handful to drive. Made a couple of
changes for the heat as I had nothing to lose. I started 11th
of 12 in my heat with 6 transferring to the A main.
Managed to move up and was running pretty decent around 8th.
The car was decent but still a tad on the tight side.
Was playing it pretty safe and managed to get into the 5th spot.
The car, again, started to lose fuel pressure but picked up in time
for me to finish off the last two laps and transfer.
Adjusted the fuel pressure regulator and made a couple of extra
chassis adjustments as we would be running after the WoO feature
event. The track was in great shape for the feature.
I started 14th and was picking off cars one at a time.
Made my way to the bottom and found that the car was really good
there. The track was fast, carrying quite a bit more
speed than I have experienced this year. That coupled
with some really close racing bit me. While racing right
around the 6-7-8 spot I got into a car going towards turn 1.
He got side ways and into the sloppy inside line. That
put him right in line with the tractor tire and he shot up and
wacked it a good one. I spun to avoid it and still hit
him myself. Damn, big screw up for me.
But we both kept going and restarted at the tail of the LONG 22 or
23 car line of racecars. Back to racing and I was having
a blast. Using the 2nd lane and the inside I was able to
drive by quite a bit of the field to wind up in the 10th spot as the
final checker waved. Great run in a tough field of
cars.
Thanks Mom, Blake, Jerry, Carly & Brett for your help and
support out there. Also thanks to LVMS for putting on
the show for us. It was fun! Maybe we
can race there monthly now? hmmmmm |
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| FEBRUARY
20, 2010 Mohave Valley Raceway |
After
a busy week at school we loaded up and made the trek to Mohave
Valley Raceway, again, with rain in the forecast. Canyon
Speedway Park's winter series race rained out earlier in the day and
a couple of cars from there swelled the car count to 19 by the time
we had arrived. How exciting to have so many cars
there. I had been pulling my hair out trying to figure
out the issue with the replacement motor. It certainly
wasn't as powerful (good) as the one I took out so many adjustments
needed to be made. I had to jet it down almost 20 jet
sizes, and had to go up 33 gear points just to get the car to run.
The motor last ran in early 2008 when it suddenly filled with a
cylinder with water between the heat and the feature. We
then drained the water, raced and won the feature that night.
Anyway, I volunteered to start at the back as I didn't really know
what the car would do. The track was heavy in the
cool conditions and wasn't packed all the way down leaving it pretty
narrow out there. A good start had us slipping into
third and right on the leaders. The car was pretty good
with just a touch of bog coming off the turns. However I
was trying to just get the car to clip the slop on the bottom to get
the car spinning the tires early. It was a very fast
track and I was all over 2nd place. The leader slipped
and we were all over him. I shot to the outside coming
off turn 2 only to slip off the top trying to give the inside room.
I stayed in it and shot back onto the track in third.
The leader slowed in turn 2 on the next lap and we narrowly slipped
by. I would stay in second and finish there, right
on the leader's rear bumper at the finish.
Jerry Jr came over during intermission to check out the jetting on
the car and said it seemed to be good. So I left the car
alone hoping the track would slick off some and free the car up.
For the redraw I actually drew a number good enough for the pole.
However I really wanted to work my way through the field so I asked
to start at the back of the 12 inverted spots. I knew
this would put many cars that would be tough to pass in front of me,
but after last weekend I needed to have some fun and try to pass
some cars. Took to the track in the 11th spot
actually and it was wild and crazy at the green. Lots of
switching lines and quite a bit of leaning on one another was going
on. My car was working great but with the extra gear it
was really screaming around there, just slightly hitting the rev
limiter at the end of the straights. I was using the
bottom when I really wanted to be up top, but it was crowded up
there. Made some progress and had a few bumps and rubs
before slipping into the 7th spot, then 5th. Finally got
into the fourth spot as the car was on a rail when I got to the top.
I was right on the 3rd place car when hit motor locked up going into
turn 3 and he spun. I was all over the brakes, elbows in
the air to avoid him and narrowly escaped hitting him as I shot off
turn 3. Whew! Oh no, there was another car spun
off the track that I had to quickly react to avoid.
On the restart I was able to slip into the third spot and was slowly
reeling in the 2nd place car when the yellow waved. I to
the outside of row two for the start and the inside car go the
slight jump allowing him to crowd me out going into 1 where he took
the top groove and the 2nd spot. A few laps into the run
he had distanced himself from me but I adjusted my line a little and
reeled him back in to put on the pressure. He slipped up
in turn 2 and spun to the infield. I was now in 2nd but
the leader was a ways out in front. Yellow.
I chose the outside as I felt it was my only shot at taking the lead
with the leader out front by himself. The same car
started inside of me and I knew I would need a better start to keep
him from moving up. Got a great start and was able to
fight my way by the inside car as he pressured me by moving up
alongside me. The leader got away a little but as the
laps wound down he began to move down and my run on the top side was
allowing me to close in. Got right to his bumper and was
trying everything to make my move. With two to go I was
right there with him going into turn 3. I got in a
little hot and the car twitched just enough to send me scooting off
the top of the track. I recovered, amazingly, still in
2nd where I would finish. EXCITING!
Once in the pits the car had a sizzling sound coming from the right
bank of headers. Water again in the motor.
It appears there is a crack somewhere that must open up when the
motor heats up. Back out of the car it comes.
Ugh! The little motor ran its guts out and almost picked
up another win.
Thanks Mom, Blake, Kelly, Zach, Walter, and Jerry & Eric for
their help and support this weekend. |
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| FEBRUARY
13, 2010 Pahrump Valley Speedway |
| Following
the last race at Pahrump Valley Speedway I was advised to change to
the back up motor because the primary one sounded a little weak and
it was obvious it was losing a cylinder. After over 37
races, I guess it deserves a break. So Blake and I
switched motors and all was well. Showed up to Pahrump
to one, yes one other modified. Within the next hour
another two showed up bringing the grand total to, (are you ready
for this), FOUR modifieds. One was unfortunate and break
before the heat leaving three of us for the heat race.
After hot laps I leaned the motor down as it was very rich.
That was a sign of things to come but I headed out for the heat.
Had a decent race in the heat race as the three of us stayed close
and competed pretty well. My problem was the car was so
sluggish and flat. It just wouldn't get up and run,
seemed really stuck in the track. Wrong gear.
This motor isn't as 'good' as the primary one. In fact it's a
motor that is pushing 3 years old. It's smaller and the
combination requires more gear to get it moving. I don't
run a lot of gear so I always err on the side of less gear.
So all things considered I just loaded up after the heat and headed
home. I was sick to my stomach over the lack of cars and
the lack of performance from the car. Stinks. I
know times are tough, but there is something going on that is
keeping cars from showing up. Very sad that we cannot
get together, support the track, and race so close to home.
I am hearing a song becoming louder in the background......what's
that Willy......"on the road again...." you say? |
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| JANUARY
30, 2010 Pahrump Valley Speedway |
I've
really had a lot on my mind these last few days and it really got my
down. In fact, I was in a real funk on Saturday morning
and contemplated just staying home, not racing. The
school district has been updating us, via email, that budget cuts
are imminent and have hinted that pay cuts are coming.
Anywhere from 10% to 25% is being thrown around. With
that, the racing won't exist. So that coupled with a few
other issues simply stressed me out. But I decided I
cannot worry about something that hasn't happened so on with the
racing. Went out to pack the track and then lined up for
hot laps, which I RARELY do, to check out the fuel issue with the
car. Good thing I did as it fell on its face
immediately. Off the track to adjust the fuel
pressure regulator and back out for 3 courtesy laps. It
again fluttered at first but then got to going for the rest of the
time. Lined up inside row two for the heat race
and myself and the outside front row car both slipped by the pole
sitter for 1st and 2nd. Once in second I just didn't
have the car set up tight enough and I slowly lost ground to the
leader. With a few laps to go the leader's rear end
wobbled and the car came to an abrupt stop in turn 2, handing the
lead over to me. From there I led the last couple of
laps to win the heat race! Our first checkered of 2010.
Fueled the car for the feature and added some weight to tighten it
up a little bit. The track was a little abrasive and was
chewing at the tires pretty good. With my DNF last
race I was scheduled to start a little closer to the front than
normal, outside row 3. However a feature scratch and
another car electing to start in the rear put me outside row 2.
Some contact between the front row made the first green a little
hairy and I went down the middle to come out of turn 2 in the 3rd
spot. Just out of 4 the 2nd place car pushed high and
got loose heading back across the track. I knew I
wouldn't make it by so I slowed up to let him spin by in front of me
at which time I was hit hard in the back. Managed to
keep the car straight and out of the spinning car to drive by.
Whew. Restart. On the next restart the
inside line got the jump and I was able to get in behind them to
pass the outside pole sitter. As I settled into 3rd the
battle for the lead was close in front of me. Coming off
turn 2 the second place car climbed the left rear of the leader and
they were briefly stuck together. I shot to the outside
and slipped by them both and into the lead. We
raced for another lap before the yellow waved. During
the caution there was a huge scuffle in the pits and people were
running to crowd around a car parked in the pits. A few
caution laps later the sheriff's cars sped in and the action outside
was better than that on the track. So much so I almost
missed the flashing of the lights to go back to green.
False start as the yellow waved coming out of 4 for the green.
Finally got back going and the car was good and actually kept
getting better. I was in a great rhythm and I
wasn't getting any pressure from behind. Was catching a
glimpse of the back of the field as the laps wound down and a lapped
car moved over to let me by easily. With about 10 to go
I got into turn 1 and the car got really tight. I wacked
the throttle to bring it around and the car snapped loose quickly.
I managed to save it and keep going although my heart skipped
several beats in the process. Led the remaining laps and
picked up our first feature win of the 2010 season.
The 87N team is proud to say we have wins in the 90's, the 00's, and
now the 10's! Dang, I'm old.
Thanks Mom, Blake, Kelly and Jerry Sr for their help and support in
the pits this weekend. |
|
|
| JANUARY
9, 2010 Pahrump Valley Speedway |
A
decent 16 car field of IMCA modifieds were in the pits at Pahrump
Valley Speedway on a beautiful 60 degree afternoon!
At the draw Todd Nunnally (car #86) showed me the chip he drew, #87.
We laughed. A few moments later I pull my chip out and
it's #86. Just some fun stuff for you fellow number
crazies. The track was pretty heavy for the early
races and it was still heavy as I lined up inside row 3 for my heat
race. One car pulled off after the short hot lap session
before the heat so I moved up to 2nd row. At the green
we got going quickly and it was pedal to the metal the entire 10 lap
distance. The car was a little tight and was
carrying the left front a decent amount of the time. But it
was a nice ride after a few months off. Finished
2nd in the heat. Elected to skip the dash for
cash. While working on the car for the feature I was
notified I was one of two cars up for the $50 best appearing car
award. Oddly enough, it was Todd Nunnally!
We went to the front stretch to have the fans scream out for their
favorite. I was worried going against the home-town
driver, but we ended up in a tie! Thanks fans!
Todd and I split the $50.
While driving off the track from the award ceremony I noticed the
car sounded funny on the left side. I looked for an
exhaust leak, a broken header, when Jerry arrived. He
found the culprit. The end had broken off the end of a push
rod. Changed it and all was well, whew, thought we might
have lost a cylinder.
I drew #15 which put me outside pole for the feature.
The track was a TaD bIT BuMPy out there but I was optimistic about
our chances. The pole car didn't make the initial call
so the inside row moved up. We raced side by side into
turn 1 and the inside slid up in front of me to catch the moisture.
I checked up and lost 2nd just as quickly. Once into
third it was hard to make a run as the yellow waved every other turn
it seemed like as the racers were having a hard time keeping it
going. Finally able to go a couple of rounds I was able
to take 2nd on the outside of turns 1 & 2 and finish it off
going into 3. Yellow. But I retained 2nd.
Got a good outside inside run on the leader and took the lead only
to slide up in turn 3 and lose it again out of 4. I
fought back and was taking the lead again as the yellow waved again.
Back to green I worked my way into the lead off turn 2 by making an
inside cut after setting the car high in turn 1. Once in
the lead I began to get heavy pressure from behind in the form of
Levi Kiefer. The yellows weren't helping as I couldn't
get away from him at all. We fought side by side
for some time before he was door to door with me going into turn 1.
He inside, myself outside. His car pushed right at
the exit and collided with my car just behind the left front tire
sending me up in the air slightly and flattening his tire.
I managed to hang on and maintain the lead. The lead,
yellow, lead, yellow trend continued. As we raced along
the car began to stumble off the turns. It got worse,
and worse and worse. Finally on a restart with just more
than a handful of laps to go the car gave up the ghost and I
puttered around and off the track, giving up the lead.
Bummer dude! I wound up 9th as attrition took its
toll on some of the field.
But hey, I lead some laps, got some dings, rubs, and bumps and
worked my sick, tired butt out some. :)
Thanks Mom, Blake, and Jerry Sr. for their help in the pits. |
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