I have all of the body work and painting done. Both cars will be black in 2012. The parts are on order and the rollers will be finished by Thanksgiving. The only thing we’ll be waiting on is getting the engines rebuilt. In 2012, we plan to run more 360 races with Sprint Invaders and 410 races with the Midwest Open Wheel Association. We’ll also be running as much 410 non-wing as possible. We’re planning to run races in Illinois, Iowa, and Indiana. We’re also going to try to get some weekly Knoxville Iowa 410 races in the schedule. We can’t wait for next season! We didn’t really get running strong until late in the season this year but, we’re going to try hard to get the momentum going early!
Thoughts
This is where my life took a certain path. It’s mid 1987 and my Dad decided to get back into racing. He bought this car and I thought it was the coolest damn thing I’ve ever seen. I can still remember helping him build this car in the garage. I’ve been hooked on racing ever since.
Sep 30 – Jacksonville, IL
Friday September 30th, we ran the season championship at the Jacksonville Speedway with MOWA. We didn’t get a good draw, but had a good car, and came from the last row of the heat race to finish 5th. This gave us enough passing points to get into the A main. We started 14th in the A main, and were up to 10th in the A, but lost some positions at the end of the race to end up 14th. All in all it was a decent season. We had some good nights, and we had some bad nights, but we know what we need to do for 2012.
Burlington, IA – MOWA
Saturday September 24th we ran a MOWA 410 show at 34 Raceway in Burlington IA. We time trialed for heat race starting positions. I cut a decent lap but the car was on the loose side during time trials. We got up to 6th in a “loaded” heat race but they only took 4. In the B main I was up to 5th one spot out of a transfer, but got stuck behind a slower car which allowed another car to get by us. This kept us out of the A main. It was disappointing to say the least, but we found some things during maintenance this week which we think are the reason the car wasn’t as good last Saturday night. We may run one more race before 2011 comes to a close: either MOWA championship at Jacksonville Friday, or Farmer City non wing on Saturday.
Sep 17 – Tom Knowles Memorial – Spoon River Speedway
Saturday September 17th we ran the 410 car at one of our favorite races of the year, the Tom Knowles Memorial at Spoon River Speedway. We had a bad draw for a heat race starting position starting us 9th, but we had the car dialed in once again. We were able to go from 9th to 6th in the heat race earning enough passing points to start 11th in the A main. On the start of the A main we were able to get up to 6th place with a fast race car once again. We ran the whole race in 6th place making charges for 5th many times throughout the race. Unfortunately, about 3-4 laps from the end of the race the center section casting on the rearend literally broke in half ending our night. It was a shame because the car was so good! We definitely had a top 5 car in the 27 car field! We will be running the $4000 to win 410 wing show in Burlington Iowa this Saturday night!
Sep 11 – MOWA
Sunday September 11th, we raced the 410 car with MOWA. We started the heat race 6th and got up to 4th with a car a little on the loose side. A caution came out halfway through the heat race, and I just didn’t have the car tight enough to hold off a couple guys giving us a 6th place heat finish. I just went too conservative with the setup. In the B main we started outside of the front row and had the car dialed in! We would go on to win the B main by almost a straightaway! In the A feature we would start 16th and we were up to 9th or 10th about 9 laps into the race with a good car once again. One corner I got the front of the car into somebody just a little bit, but it was enough to break a support off the nose wing. The car was a little trickier to maneuver with the broken nose wing, but we came home 12th in a 31 car field. All in all it was a good night and we feel like we’re on the right track for what that car likes. This Saturday night we’ll be at Spoon River Speedway for the Tom Knowles Memorial!
Lincoln Speedway – MOWA
Friday September 2nd, we ran Lincoln Speedway with MOWA. We had a good draw and we were on the pole of the 2nd heat race. With a dialed in car I took the lead right away. Unfortunately, about 4 laps into the heat race a competitor thought it was necessary to slam into my left rear and crush the wheel flattening the tire. We held 2nd place even with a flat tire for a couple laps, but I had to pull it off the track before I tore it up. This would have us starting deep in the B main, but that was no issue with a good race car. Starting 9th in the B we surged forward to 4th earning an 18th place starting position in the A main. In the A we got up to 12th before a bleeder on the right rear stuck open at about the halfway point. On a yellow the right rear started going flat and I faded back to 16th where I would finish. Going back to the pits after the checkered flag the right rear was completely flat. After talking with the outstanding folks at Midland Performance earlier this week on our 410 program, we kinda started from scratch with our baseline chassis setup for the 410. This proved to be the best thing we have ever done, because we haven’t had the car this dialed in all year long! It was a blast driving such a good handling race car! Even though it seems like we haven’t been able to catch a break this year, I’m still very excited about the things we learned and tried on Friday night. We’ll apply this to our future races and get that 53H up where it belongs. If we can have the car rolling through the corner that good again we’ll be tough to beat!
Farmer City, IL – August 28th
We ran a open Non Wing 410 show at the Farmer City IL track. Starting 2nd in the heat race, we were having some setup issues and faded to 5th one spot out of a transfer. In the B main we started 6th and had the car better dialed in running 3rd, but they only took the top 2 and we ran out of laps to get the last transfer. We hope Farmer City has more sprint car shows at their facility because we really liked the track, and figured out what we were doing wrong. We’d like another shot at it! This Friday night we’ll be running a 410 Wing show at the Lincoln IL Speedway.
Aug 19 – Jacksonville Speedway
We took the 410 car to Jacksonville Speedway for another MOWA race. We had a good draw, but unfortunately some of the competitors we race with have more money than talent. A competitor behind me didn’t have the talent to pass me clean so he made an attempt to spin me out. He instead only spun himself out and I continued on. Due to MOWA not enforcing their rule book, this person was given his starting spot back right behind me. A few laps later he again tries to spin me out, but this time is successful and tears up the front end of my race car, takes himself out, and also makes another car get upside down due to his lack of brain power. We were able to get the car back together just in time for the B main. We were running a solid 3rd in a transfer spot until the nose wing collapsed halfway through the race. This made the car very tight and it wanted to wheelie the whole length of the straightaway. We ended up finishing one spot out of the transfer in 5th place. It was a crappy night, but it’s in the past, and we’ll move onward and upward to the next race.
Aug 13 – Putnamville, IN – Canceled, Weather
We were going to run 410 non wing at Lincoln Park Speedway in Putnamville Indiana, but unfortunately the races were cancelled during the heat races due to rain. We will be running the 410 car with the Midwest Open Wheel Association this coming Friday night at Jacksonville Speedway.