2007 News

 

New Era Begins For Prairie Dirt

Prairie Dirt (2005) website is about to kick off it's 7th season on the internet and with it came the promise of the beginning of a new era. Webmaster and open wheel enthusiast Greg Cybulski says that the new era begins now.

"I know it's an old cliché about taking things to a new level, but for myself, it is true. I couldn't be more thrilled."

Like a wild grass fire, news of the inaugural "Prairie Dirt Classic" is spreading quickly across the Canadian prairies.

The Alberta Sprint Tour race event in the neighboring province of Saskatchewan is promising to be one of the most talked about race weekends of the summer. The first race will be held on Saturday, July 7 at Speedy Creek Raceway in Swift Current, as well the AST is also currently working with Flatlanders Speedway in Kindersley for an event slated for the Sunday of that same weekend.

Having worked on Sprint Car races together with Estevan Motor Speedway and Red River Co-op Speedway in Winnipeg the past three years, Greg feels the new opportunity of working together with the Alberta-based 360 sprint organization will be beneficial in the long term.

"I have learned a lot about our sport and about working with different people, but I feel the most important thing I learned was about who I am as a person. With my experiences to draw from and my willingness to explore new ideas and learn more, I think that my association with the Alberta Sprint Tour will be an exciting chapter in my life. Hopefully I can help bring something to the table that will enable us to make our sport grow in a positive way."

Cybulski of Prairie Dirt website, who is being honored with the event title by the AST, plans on making this race weekend memorable in his own way.

"When you are honored with a race like this, you want to make sure that the reason for the honor is upheld. The Alberta Sprint Tour is recognizing my efforts to bring Sprint car racing across the prairies. Having said that, we are going to put the "Prairie" in Prairie Dirt."

"To get things started, I am very pleased to announce that the provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba will be represented when the AST arrives at Speedy Creek Raceway on July 7. Kyle Fedyk of Estevan, SK and Richard Rogers of Winnipeg, MB have announced their intentions to participate in the inaugural "Prairie Dirt Classic"."

This will be Fedyk's first experience racing with the AST. For Rogers, this will be his third year racing with the Alberta group. In 2005 and 2006, Richard's #RX sprinter made the ambitious tow from Red River Co-op Speedway in Winnipeg on the Thursday night from the NAPA Auto Parts Mid-Canada Sprint Car Challenge to Castrol Raceway in Edmonton to participate in the annual Gold Cup for the Friday and Saturday night races.

Due to prior commitments, Mr. Cybulski will not be able to attend the inaugural race, but that will not deter him from carrying on with his dreams.

"I may not be there physically, but I know that I will be well represented at the Classic. I guess I'll have to wait until 2008 to enjoy the party."

For more information on the "Prairie Dirt Classic" check out the Alberta Sprint Tour website at http://www.albertasprinttour.com/ 

Prairie Dirt (2005) website at http://ca.geocities.com/prairiedirt/home.html 

 

 

 

 

2006 News

 

July 28, Greenbush

Heat: started 5th and on first lap got a good run going into turn 3 and had some contact with the 31 car resulting in a spin, since we stopped we were sent to the back, started 7th and on the green flag we were working good on the bottom, up to second by second lap, with 2 to go I tried to get a run on the 1 car and hit a tire, bent up front end pretty good and slowed down, the car held together and the 11 car got by us at the flag, finished 3rd

Feature: due to fixing the front end we didn't have time to set the car up, the track was dry and we went to the back right away, held in for all the laps and finished 13th

July 27 , grand forks

Heat: started 4 and slid back to 6th, car seemed off, one car rolled and we got back to 4th

Feature: started 6th and car was a handful, tried the top and the bottom and wouldn't work anywhere, stayed out and finished 17th.when we got the car back to the pits it didn't look right, the left fraimrail was so low we couldn't get it on the trailer, once we took it apart the left torsion bar had twisted a 1/4 turn.

TESTING: Winnipeg
went to our track to see if we could fix the car, since the Winnipeg show the motor has been way off, we completely went through the fuel system and checked out everything mechanical, were down to the mag and mag switch, fired it up and it still ran terrible, changed the mag switch and it came to life instantly, richened it up a bunch and did some laps and came in to check it, we were still lean, got it to run good on the main and set up the high speed and secondary, after about 50 laps the car was running better than it ever has, a 10$ switch had been our cause of troubles for about 5 races well we finally found it, we are going to grand forks to see how it works.


NIGHT 2: GOLD CUP < Edmonton Alberta

Qualifying: went out and did our laps but were way off the pace, paid a 100$ to re qualify, bad idea now 3 seconds off, car not running good

Heat: started 8th and slowly made our way up to 3rd, on the last lap the car died before taking the checkered, resulting in a dnf and a last spot, now we have to run the b main

B main:
started 8th and slowly picked up spots, the motor was way out on power but due to conditions it was easy to drive, it lost all power twice but started running after a few seconds. finished third

A main:
started 20 th, (checked mag and wiring in pits, changed coil left everything the way it was, the motor would only run at 6500 rpm and had 150 degrees in it but didn't seem to be hurting itself, so we went out) slowly made some headway and kept out of trouble, after 30 laps we were in 13th.

NIGHT 1, GOLD CUP< Edmonton Alberta

Qualifying: (car running terribly, started in Winnipeg but due to no time we haven't looked at it since yesterday) set up was ok but no power, qualified 26th

Heat: started2nd and ran good for 5 laps, reeled in the leader and was ready to make a move and the motor went flat,2 cars got past by the flag but we finished 4th and transferred to the a main

A main : started 20 and ran ok for a 7 or 8 laps, there was a red for a roll over and when we push started the car would barley run, we took the green and on the second lap it stalled, coasted to the infield, finished 19th

Hotel: went to get some much needed sleep, woke at 7 in the morning and went through the car, worked on it till 4 in the afternoon and couldn't find anything really wrong, mechanically the motor was fine so we headed back to the track for night 2.

Mid Canada Sprint Car Challenge, July 13, Winnipeg, Manitoba
we have been looking forward to this race all year, Winnipeg is the best facility we run at all season and it is our hometown, due to the fact we are running Edmonton tomorrow we have to run restrictor gaskets and a restricted injection which results in a 35% power loss and since this our little 360 we will be at a huge disadvantage against the 410 cars if its tacky, we are hoping the water truck will not start today!

Hot Laps : Oh oh, water truck worked real good, in hot laps the car was slower than a street stock, went back to the pits and loosened it up a bunch, due to lack of power the car was real tight and a handful to drive

Heat: started tail end and stayed there, not enough power for this type of track, everyone pulled away from us quickly, finished last

Feature: the track is starting to come around, it slicked off through the middle, the bottom was ok and there wasn't much of a berm on the top, we started 12th and took the green, car was running good, due to lack of power we could run flatfoot all the way around and everyone else had to lift. started making ground, we found yourself in 6th with about 7 to go, the # 8 in front lost it in turn 4 with 2 laps to go and we had to brake hard to avoid piling into him, it was real close, this resulted in 3 cars getting by us, I got back by the 8 car the next corner but the motor started missing real bad and I had nothing left to catch the 3 other cars that got by as they were 8 car length ahead.
finished 9th in one piece and we are headed to Edmonton for the gold cup.

NATIONAL SPRINT TOUR, Grand Forks, July 8 (36 cars)
Qualifying: 20th
heat :started 8th and played follow the leader till the end, finished 8th

B main :
started 12th and the car was working good, slowly got by some cars and found ourselves in 6th with one lap to go, tried everything we could but couldn't get by the 34 car, finished 6th and missed the transfer by 1 spot

NATIONAL SPRINT TOUR , Grand Forks , July 7 (37 cars)
qualifying: 28th
heat: started in the 4 th row, we had Steve kinser and Jason sides in our heat, it was a one lane track and we finished 7th with the leaders only 1/2 a track ahead after 10 laps

B main: started 10 and worked the bottom, not much room to pass but squeaked by a couple and only got to 7th by the end of our 12 laps

Grand Forks, June 30
heat: started in 2n row and slid back on the start, lit the tires up on the dry stuff and went back to 7th by turn one and that's were we finished

Feature: started 16th and went to the bottom, trying a different set up to run down here that worked real well last week, made ground immediately, we were passing 1 car a lap and no one could run as low as us, we were slowly catching the front runners. there was a yellow with a couple to go and we were in 8th, I got by 2 cars at the flag and we finished 6th

Grand Forks, June 30
our first time here this year, man does this place look small after running half mile tracks, it happens to be mid season championships so we have to start at the back
heat: started 8th in the heat and it was a single file deal, since I was at the back I went all over the track and tried some different lines, finished 8th

Feature: started 20, we tried a set up to run the bottom where no one was running and it worked ok, we made good progress and ended up 13th

 

 

 

 

CASTROL RACEWAY

Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

2006 Gold Cup

We made it!!! Left Winnipeg and got here at 3:30, hot laps at 4:30, very tired.
Hot laps ok, we fixed her up for qualifying but got 24th, then finished 4th in the heat and got our time back and transferred to A Main. Started 20th got to 12th and had fuel problems, heated the motor a bit but still good to go. Must sleep, updates tomorrow. Pay for tonight $1300.00

Second Night

Uphill battle all night but it worked in our favor.

hot laps: sucked

time trials: sucked, motor wouldn't  run, 1 second off, qualified 28th, 2nd time trial (for a $100 you can re-qualify) waste of a GOOD $100, 2 seconds off now.

heat: motor still a bag of crap, started 8th and got up to 4th, last lap it stalled and we coasted to the infield without taking the checkered, ended up 7th,forced to run b main

B MAIN: started 8th motor still sucked but track slicked off so it was like having traction control, worked like hell and got third, a main here we come

A main : started 20th got up to 17 by lap 15, track was a one lane follow the leader race, went yellow, picked up a couple of spots by the next yellow, 10 to go, got by a couple more and finished 14th, lot of work and effort by the crew this evening, it all paid off in the end, once we figure what is wrong with the motor were going to be unstoppable.

Rich and crew, later

Friday June 27, Grand Forks

Heat

Started on the second row and tried some different lines on the track, car was a bit off but better than hot laps, the motor was actually getting some temperature in it and running strong, but still not enough power for the tacky stuff.

Feature
started outside row 6 and went to the bottom of the track after a couple of laps, the track was dry and our car was working on the very bottom. we were able to run right on the berm where no one else was running and started making up ground. We got up to 6th place and got close to the #31 car in turned into the infield, I managed to gather the car up and pulled back on the track loosing 4 spots. We got back 3 spots in 3 laps and then went yellow, we started in 7th single file and went green white checkered, once we got back on the bottom we gained one more spot to finish up in 6th place, everything was still in one piece so it was a successful evening.

Grand Forks, June 23

Due to busy schedules we are going to run grand forks for a couple of weeks before going and doing some traveling, the weather looks bad but we might get the race in.

Hot Laps
First time at Grand Forks this year and it certainly seems small after running 1/2 mile tracks, it took a few laps to get use to the bullring again, wow what fun!
Since this was the Mid-Season Championship we lined up by points, and since we didn't have any we started at the back.

Heat
We used the heat to try some different set up since we were at the back, we ran the top for 4 laps then went to the bottom for 4 laps, there wasn't much on the top it was still all marbles and the bottom was still greasy with nothing but dry slick in the middle.

Feature
Started 22, dead last and went down to the bottom since the car was working good down there. The set up was excellent and the car was a rocket. We went from dead last to 10th in 12 laps. This was by far the most passing we've done in one race. The traffic was pretty hectic down there after a while and we tried to go to the top to get out of the congestion and got caught up behind some traffic and dropped down to 13th, then the rain came, and the race was red flagged. It took us an hour to get off the track because it was so slippery the push trucks couldn't move us but eventually after 5 or so tries we got back to the trailer.

B MAIN BLUES

By far the worst start of a season one could have, we've traveled 2500 miles and done about 40 laps, after greenwood, Nebraska I was hoping things would turn to our favor, but it was another trying weekend, we showed up and needed specific mufflers for this track, we found someone with a welder and got the mufflers welded on just in time for hot laps and found out the muffler was to close to the left side tire so we had to fix the problem, after some help from the safety crew (borrowed there chop saw) we welded the muffler back on and went for hot laps.

Did one good lap and the car fell off, it loaded up and dropped to 5800 rpm, we came into the pits and went through the fuel system, checked filter, tail tank and pick up, everything was in order so we went to run the heat, same thing, motor still wouldn't run, went through everything again and got ready for the "B" main.
 

The car was still sluggish, on start it was a duck and stalled on the first lap, we pulled off the track without causing a yellow for the rest of the field and watched from the pits.

Once we got back to the hotel and took everything apart we found the spud on the back of the cam was gone. In the morning we had to push the car to the local dealership to borrow some air tools to change the spud and we were ready to go racing again.

SATURDAY

Went out for hot laps and was not bad, we leaned it out a bit but this motor is still way down on power, we ran the heat and it worked ok, we had a rough heat, we were lined up with Chuck Swenson , Jake Peters , and the R-19 of winters, we finished 4th but didn't make the "A" on the first lap of the B we got tagged going into the corner and spun to the infield, our day was done, the rear bumper was smashed, the torque tube pulled out, jacobs ladder was never found, top wing was toast, left rear rim was bent but everything from there forward was good.

Next race is Tuesday but we don't know if well make it yet, were putting the heads off the good motor on since there is a slim chance of getting it done this year, and the motor we have is not to good on power, will update next race, take care, rich and crew
 

I 80 SPEEDWAY

Wednesday night, 7 30 pm
loaded the car on the trailer to go over to the gas station parking lot to fire the car for the first time and set timing and run up to temperature, everything went fine but we noticed the chassis was cracked on the torsion tubes when we strapped it down without the chassis stands.

Thursday 5 30 am
all loaded up and ready to go picked up crew and out of town by 6 am
we had to stop all over for parts, Grand Forks, Drayton, and Fargo, while we were there we got the chassis welded up. No problems other than some bad weather, and the carb on the van was running poorly and we were getting 5 mpg, but we made it to Lincoln Nebraska by 11.00 pm

Friday morning
woke up to rain and cold weather, worked on the car, mounted all our tires and odds and ends and they cancelled the race early in the afternoon
went to SPEEDWAY the largest circle track parts warehouse that I know of, some of the crew went on the museum tour and we stayed in the lot to fix the van, by time we had the new carb on for the second time and tuned and running (6 hours later) it was 7 pm and time for dinner, went and had some grub and retired to the hotel early

Saturday (69 car field)
weather was good, got to the track in the afternoon and waited in line to get in, the track was awesome, about the size of Fargo but twice as wide, got out and did some hot laps and the car needed tuning, this motor has a new injection and ignition system that we haven't run so it was running a bit rich and loading up.
tuned on the motor a bit and rushed to get in line but couldn't get a push truck, by time we got up to the starting area we were behind 15 cars and didn't make it out on time, we were relegated to the back of the b main, we managed to make it up to 13th but they only took the top 2 cars out .got some laps in, we still need to do some motor tuning but this was the best this old motor has ever run, by next race we should have the good motor back in and we will probably run grand forks once before the next ASCS race in Jackson on June second
loaded up and were back in Winnipeg Sunday morning in one piece, and the new carb produced about 12 mpg.
take care, rich and crew
http://www.hoseheads.com/dhub.html 

NEW ADVERTISER:
We would like to welcome SHANDRON MECHANICAL & FIRE SYSTEMS
on board our car for the 2006 season, they are a Manitoba based company in St Andrews, 204 338 8100

UPCOMING EVENTS:
We have been invited to victory lane speedway on Friday may 12th to do some hot laps for there press release, starts at 1 pm and is open to the public
 

Pro X Sprint Team travels to I-80 Speedway

Brown Bags ASCS Triumph in I-80 Speedway's Spring Sizzler

By Lonnie Wheatley,

GREENWOOD, Neb. (April 8, 2006) - Missouri's Brian Brown proved to be the cream of the crop as a whopping field of 69 entries filled the pit area for Saturday night's American Sprint Car Series Midwest Region vs. Northern Plains Region clash in I-80 Speedway's 25-lap Spring Sizzler.

While Brown gridded the feature field in sixth, it was polesitter Dustin Lindquist jumping into the early lead. With Lindquist setting the early pace, Brown quickly moved Tim and Gina Doog's Ostrich-powered No. 21 Maxim into second by the third round.

Wading through several cautions along the way, Brown kept the pressure on Lindquist until successfully making the race-winning slide for the lead on the 21st lap.

Brown fended off a late bid from Check Swenson to secure his fourth career ASCS Midwest Region feature victory as Swenson settled for the runner-up slot.

The lead pair were chased to the stripe by a set of drivers that made impressive charges through the field, including Tony Bruce, Jr., who raced from 15th to claim the show position, with 17th-starter Jake Peters and 16th-starter Jeff Mitrisin on his heels.

Completing the top ten were Dusty Zomer, Lee Grosz, defending ASCS Rocky Mountain Region champion Gary Taylor, Eric Jobe and Lindquist, who limped across the finish line with a depleted fuel cell.

Taylor, Lindquist, Jason Linnell, Steven King, Brown, Mike Chadd and Swenson topped heat race action for the rugged field, with Bruce, Jr., Mitrisin and Peters splitting victory honors in the three "B" Mains.


ASCS Midwest Region vs. Northern Plains Region Results:

First Heat (8 Laps): 1. Gary Taylor, 2. Bruce Divis, 3. Toby Chapman, 4. Kevin Hulse, 5. Eric Lutz, 6. Scott Broty, 7. Joe Riedel, 8. Tige Jensen, 9. Stu Snyder, 10. Ryan Anderson.

Second Heat (8 Laps): 1. Dustin Lindquist, 2. Justin Jacobsma, 3. Jeff Lowery, 4. Jeff Mitrisin, 5. Jon Freeman, 6. Rick Halverstadt, 7. Jack Dover, 8. Robby Ross, 9. Scott Winters, 10. Luke Cranston.

Third Heat (8 Laps): 1. Jason Linnell, 2. Lee Grosz, 3. Eric Jobe, 4. Dusty Ballenger, 5. Don Droud, Jr., 6. Doug Lovegrove, 7. Josh Riggins, 8. Brent Vonk, 9. Dave Glennon, 10. Troy Vink.

Fourth Heat (8 Laps): 1. Steven King, 2. C.J. Johnson, 3. Curt Lund, 4. J.D. Johnson, 5. Garry Lee Maier, 6. Mike Peters, 7. Ryan Bickett, 8. Ryan Voss, 9. Richard Rogers, 10. Mark Schmidt

Fifth Heat (8 Laps): 1. Brian Brown 2. Tony Bruce, Jr., 3. Jake Peters, 4. Chad Humston, 5. Jake Martens, 6. Ken Klabunde, 7. Rick Ideus, 8. Bill Boles, 9. Jason Danley, 10. John Nelson.

Sixth Heat (8 Laps): 1. Mike Chadd, 2. Larry Pinegar II, 3. Bronson Maeschen, 4. Gregg Bakker, 5. Shawn VanWyhe, 6. John Klabunde, 7. Brett Geldner, 8. Bobby Becker, 9. Michael Woodruff, 10. Roger Sundquist.

Seventh Heat (8 Laps): 1. Chuck Swenson, 2. Dusty Zomer, 3. A.J. Selenke, 4. Jesse Drost, 5. Brian Herbert, 6. Seth Brahmer, 7. Kerry Grabill, 8. Ryan Roberts, 9. Jeff Griffis.

First B Feature (10 Laps): 1. Tony Bruce, Jr., 2. Dusty Zomer 3. Gregg Bakker, 4. Garry Lee Maier, 5. J.D. Johnson, 6. Ken Klabunde, 7. John Klabunde, 8. Mike Peters, 9. Ryan Anderson, 10. Bronson Maeschen, 11. Chad Humston, 12. Ryan Voss, 13. Richard Rogers, 14. Tige Jensen, 15. Kerry Grabill, 16. Ryan Bickett, 17. Stu Snyder, 18. Jason Danley.

Second B Feature (10 Laps): 1. Jeff Mitrisin, 2. A.J. Selenke, 3. Jake Martens, 4. Jon Freeman, 5. Don Droud, Jr., 6. Scott Winters, 7. Brett Geldner, 8. Shawn VanWyhe, 9. Jack Dover, 10. Brian Herbert, 11. Rick Ideus, 12. Kevin Hulse, 13. Bill Boles, 14. Roger Sundquist, 15. Joe Riedel, 16. Michael Woodruff, 17. Robby Ross, 18. Luke Cranston, 19. Mark Schmidt.

Third B Feature (10 Laps): 1. Jake Peters, 2. Larry Pinegar II, 3. Curt Lund, 4. Jesse Drost, 5. Seth Brahmer, 6. Eric Lutz, 7. Dusty Ballenger, 8. Scott Broty, 9. Josh Riggins, 10. Ryan Roberts, 11. Rick Halverstadt, 12. Doug Lovegrove, 13. Bobby Becker, 14. Jeff Griffis, 15. Dave Glennon, 16. Brent Vonk, 17. John Nelson, 18. Troy Vink.

A Feature (25 Laps): 1. Brian Brown, 2. Chuck Swenson, 3. Tony Bruce, Jr., 4. Jake Peters, 5. Jeff Mitrisin, 6. Dusty Zomer, 7. Lee Grosz, 8. Gary Taylor, 9. Eric Jobe, 10. Dustin Lindquist, 11. Jeff Lowery, 12. Justin Jacobsma, 13. Mike Chadd, 14. Steve King, 15. Toby Chapman, 16. C.J. Johnson, 17. A.J. Selenke, 18. Bruce Divis, 19. Jason Linnell, 20. Larry Pinegar II. Lap leaders 1-20 Dustin Lindquist, 21-25 Brian Brown.

ASCS Midwest Region Points (Top Ten): 1. Brian Brown 150, 2. Chuck Swenson 146, 3. Tony Bruce, Jr. 144, 4. Jake Peters 142, 5. Jeff Mitrisin 140, 6. Dusty Zomer 138, 7. Lee Grosz 136, 8. Gary Taylor 134, 9. Eric Jobe 132, 10. Dustin Lindquist 130.

ASCS Northern Plains Region Points (Top Ten): 1. Brian Brown 150, 2. Chuck Swenson 146, 3. Tony Bruce, Jr. 144, 4. Jake Peters 142, 5. Jeff Mitrisin 140, 6. Dusty Zomer 138, 7. Lee Grosz 136, 8. Gary Taylor 134, 9. Eric Jobe 132, 10. Dustin Lindquist 130.
 

Mid Winter Update

Hello and happy new year

It's been a long while since we've updated , but we haven't stopped working. since the seasons end in Edmonton we have been doing our winter maintenance. The J & J chassis was sold and we are running the eagle again as we like this chassis way better. The car has been stripped down to the frame and everything is being replaced, new front end, diff, wheels & tires, shocks and springs, a new body and some much needed wings, we got one motor ready to go and the second one we are waiting for some parts but will be ready in a month or so. We are currently getting the car ready for some car shows at the convention center The first one for SYSCO Winnipeg Food Services, and we have also been invited back to the world of wheels car show from march 31 to April 2nd.

Our race schedule for this year will probably be with the ASCS series, they started a Northern Tour this year including, Minnesota, North & South Dakota, Nebraska and Wisconsin. We plan on running some NOSA shows as well but have no schedule at this time. We do know that there is a race in Winnipeg on July 13 that we are looking forward to. There will be a little more traveling with this series but since we have just run where ever we wanted and never worried about points or series this will be a lot different.

We are really looking forward to this year and seem well under way, well still be using the same trailer but still need a tow vehicle of some nature, we also sold the quad and picked up an older Kawasaki mule for a pit cart which will hopefully be ready for next year sometime.

Will update some pics as the work progresses on the car.

Thanks and take care, Richard and crew

Wednesday August 24 BUDWEISER GOLD CUP
We began our journey west about 5 pm ,we were loaded up with everything we had for spares and as long as the van made it we were gone racing.
We arrived in Edmonton at 3 pm the next day, we towed into a storm in at the Saskatchewan border and followed it all the way there, we were going into a 40mph head wind and were down to towing at 75kph.we had to pull over in medicine hat for a couple of hours due to hi-way conditions and heavy rain. We arrived 20 hours later in one piece.
We went to the racetrack to check it out and it looked like they had work to do. The storm we drove through was there the day previous and dropped lots of water. We went to the hotel for some sleep.

Friday August 26
Worked on the car in the morning, cleaned and went through everything and went to the track. At this track you have to unload all your equipment and parts in the infield and pull your truck/trailer out and you cant get out till the end of racing.

Hot Laps
First lap in turn three when they threw the green flag my right front torsion arm broke. We weren't up to full speed yet so it didn't roll but it slid into the wall fairly hard.

PITS
Went through the car to asses damage, front rim/tire, front axle, torsion arms, radius rods, jakobs ladder, rear tire.
Bought all the parts we needed and put it back together, we left the bent axle in due to time. We missed qualifying and heats.

B-MAIN
Started 15 in the b main and the car was a handful, due to the front axle it didn't steer to good, and the motor was so rich due to elevation change it was down on serious power. We ran as hard as we could till the end but only finished 10th,only 4 went to the a main, our night was over.

Races finished at 1 30 in the morning and we were back at the hotel by 2 am and went to work on the car. We changed the front axle and went to sleep at 3.30.

MORNING
Started working on the car at 8 am. Went through the car, squared everything, replaced some more parts, changed the torsion bars and some basic set up, did regular maintenance, changed over some tires washed everything and made it to the track by 2 30pm to unload.

HOT LAPS
The car felt a lot closer today, we were in the ballpark for the set up and the motor was running better, we leaned it out a bit more for qualifying.

QUALIFYING
Went out to qualify and the car was fast, we were a bit tight and the motor was still rich and not pulling very hard, it was still good and we knew we had more in it. we qualified in 10th ,finally some good luck I was looking forward to racing.

PITS
After qualifying I pulled into the pits not realizing we were suppose to scale, we were disqualified and had to run in the back of the heat again. We leaned out the motor some more and some changes and were ready to go.

HEAT

Started at the back and got a good start, passed a couple of cars and out
came the yellow. The car was real close on set up and we got ready for a complete restart again.
On the green flag we didn't get a good start but caught up to the field immediately, going into turn 3 I was going to go in high to make a pass but this is where I new something was wrong, I was covered in oil and we lost steering, I braked as hard as I could and the steering wheel was locked so I hit the berm and went into the wall, when we got back to the pits we couldn't find where the oil was coming from, we went through the lines took the pump off and everything looked good. We cleaned everything and inspected the steering gear, the oil was coming out of the side of it, I put the steering wheel and turned it, when I put load on it you could see the crack, the steering gear case was split in half from top to bottom.
our night was over,

Our trip was still fun, we met a lot of great people, the management and staff were excellent, the racers and crew were top notch and went out of there way to help us out, the facility is awesome and it is a great place to race, we are going to make this a stop on our schedule next year.

Grand Forks, Aug. 19, Gold Cup
Arrived early thinking there was going to be lots of cars, line up wasn't bad but competition looked fierce, Sammy and Kevin Swindell as well as Justin Henderson were already in line.

hot laps:
First lap was good but I got carried away on the second and went way to hard and way to high on the track and ended up in the pits, it was still a fun ride

heat:
Took the green and on lap one there was a rollover, went to hit the brakes and there wasn't any at all, rolled to a stop and waited for yellow, on the yellow we push started and took the green before pulling into the pits.

pits:
Once I got back to the trailer to see what was wrong we didn't have to look far. Due to the roughness of the track on the first lap when it bottomed out it ripped the inboard caliper out of the rear end, it broke both bolts, broke the outer bell of the diff, and as it fell onto the track somewhere it managed to drag all the brake lines with it.

We removed the rotor off the rear which also sustained damage and got ready for the b main.

b main ;
Due to the fact we had no brakes we tagged the back of the field and took the green and pulled off to fix the car

pits:
By one in the morning we had the car fixed and went to the gas station to fill up and grab some food before retiring to the van for rest.


Greenbush, Mn
hot laps:
Car was good, track was a bit greasy but brakes seemed to work ok.

heat:
Started outside pole and had a good start, followed Casey Mack (8) for most of the laps but screwed up on the last restart and slid way high and Lou Kennedy Jr. (21k) got by so we finished third.

feature
Started outside row 6 and made some progress but a red came out right away. after 3 starts everyone got going and we were moving up. all the other cars were real tight and we got under most of them and were running 5th till the red came out, after a 10 min wait we got going again, the track seemed to dry up fast and we started moving back steadily, on the next red with 9 to go we were in 14th,we took air pressure out and moved the wing up but it wasn't enough, the track went from tacky to dry/slick in a matter of 6 or 7 laps, with 4 to go I moved up to the top of the track and found something, it wasn't much but we started moving up again, we were up to 12th on the white flag and were fast but it was to late, if I got up there a few laps sooner we might have done better well that's racing.

Since the car is still in one piece our next stop is Budweiser motor sports park in Edmonton, Alberta for there 2 day gold cup event, providing we make it there and back with the old van we will update you on our adventure middle of next week. see ya later

Grand Forks, ND. August, 5

hot laps:
Car felt ok, the track was a little greasy still so we were a little loose, partially due to the different top wing, it has no dish compared to the old one we wrecked in Winnipeg.

heat:
Started outside pole and didn't get a good start, the car is still loading up on starts a bit so we lost few car lengths but when it finally got wound up it was working good. we held 2nd for a few laps before mark Dobmeier(13) got by then we held our own in 3 till the end. On the checkered flag lap when I lifted the car came out of gear and bobby martin (10tr) got into the back of us and spun us over turn one into the trees backwards. The car never hit the trees but a big branch had punctured the tail tank and went through the bladder, there was fuel everywhere.

pits:

By time we finally got into the pits I was ready to load up ,we don't have a spare fuel cell and a new one was to expensive to get for the feature. When we got the car off the hook Mike Dobmeier was in our pits and offered up the fuel cell off of there spare car so we could make the feature. By time we got our old tank off mark and his crew had there tail tank off and over to us to install. With the help from the 13 crew, the 41, the 17 crew we got it back together in time for the feature, and bobby had his car together also.

Feature:
No time for a set up again ,not even air pressures, and we didn't get a chance to even look at the track so we were going out with what we had, which was better than the bleak outlook from an hour ago.
We started outside second row and ran with the lead pack for a while. on the first yellow I lost a few spots and tried the high line since everyone was on the bottom, I couldn't make it stick up there and lost some more ground.
On the next restart I went back to the bottom, the car was working great, it was really hard to pass but we were finally making headway. we got by 3 or 4 cars and going into turn one got together with Tim Mulvaney (3) while racing for the same ground and we both spun.
There was only 2 laps to go on the restart and they started us on the back of the lead lap, we held on here till the end and finished tenth.

I would like to thank mark Dobmeier and his crew for the parts and all the help getting us in the feature, I would also like to thank everyone who helped get everything back together in time 17 and crew, 41 and crew and everyone else, see you next week!
 

Grand Forks July 29
hot laps:
Sure nice to be back in this car again, car was working ok but not pulling enough rpm, we haven't run this car since the rollover in Winnipeg, but everything seems ok.
heat:
Started outside pole, the track was good. on the green flag the steering started shaking and by time I was entering turn 1 something broke. the right front dug in and I thought the car was going to go over so I put the throttle to the flour and this brought the nose up and I went off the track backwards but on all 3 tires still

       Tim Johnson Photo

pits:
The right front hub broke but everything looked ok. the right front tire launched into the pits and took out Jade's top wing(41), I was glad nobody got hurt but I felt bad about jades car. Both cars were fixed for the feature.
We had a spare hub in the van and aside from a small dent in the rim and some scrapes on the tire it looked usable.
feature:
Due to time spent in the pits fixing we didn't have anytime to do a setup so we ran it the way it was and hoped for the best. the car was working pretty good but we had some motor problems, anytime you would get out of the throttle the motor would load up and wouldn't clear itself out for a half a lap.
we passed a few cars and a few crashed but we managed to finish the feature in 12th.

Warren July 23(J&J car)
hot laps:
First time at this track, went out for hot laps and got hit with so much mud I couldn't pull my tear offs off, so I had to pull off due to lack of vision. This is by far the muddiest track I've ever been on (see pics)

heat:
Started 5th and ran single file till the end, we were way off on gear and were spinning 8600rpm at the middle of the straightaway, so I couldn't catch anyone. finished 5th
feature:
Started at the back and on the green flag I went to hard into 1 and slid off the track, when I came back up and started for turn 3 all I saw was a pile of cars wrecked, im glad I went off because I was right in the middle of that group of cars. after they cleaned the track we started again and ran for a few laps. the car was good, actually better than this car has been, it was as fast as everyone else's car but not faster, on the second restart we started single file and stayed that way for 10 or so laps everybody was running the same line and there wasn't much place to pass.
we went yellow again, this is where the problems started, the motor was coughing and wheezing and I could really smell raw alcohol. I couldn't see it leaking by my feet anywhere so I stayed out for the green.
on the green the motor went up to 4500 rpm and was popping and backfiring., so I pulled off and went to the pits
pits:
After looking over the car we found plug wires on the right side had been knocked off. better than needing a new motor but still frustrating.

Grand Forks July 22(J&J car)
hot laps:
Trying a new set up, went out for hot laps and it seemed good
heat:
First lap of the heat I spun out, something seemed wrong , the car wouldn't stick. started at the back and going in to turn 1 again the car just spun, got pushed into the pits to see what was wrong.
pits:
Went through everything, checked ,looked ,re blocked and nothing seemed out of the ordinary, only thing was to bring it back out and see what brakes.
feature:
Started at the back and the car was the same, it seemed to lay on the right rear to the point of hitting the frame then would go loose. managed a few laps then pulled into the infield to watch the remainder of the race. when we got the car back to the pits the right rear torsion stop and bar were stripped, problem solved, just need some new parts and off to warren.

Grand Forks July 8th

Hot Laps

Went out for hot laps with a completely different bar set up in the car to do some testing, due to the track conditions we didn't learn much.

Heat

Started 8th, the car was terrible, wouldn't turn, finished 6th.

Feature

Started 18th, we tried some stuff with the car and it was a little better but still a hand full to drive , made it to the end and finished 15th

Greenbush July 9th

Hot Laps

Track was very greasy, due to the rain they had, and the water they put on the track, we had a hard time staying on it.

Heat

Started 7th, on the first lap I got by 2 cars, and the car was finally working like it should. We were a bit loose and had the wing all the way back in the first lap but managed to get by 1 more car to finish 4th.

Pits

The track seemed to get tackier for the features, racing here for the last 4 years, I have never seen it stay so tacky for this long, so we took a chance and changed gears and set up for the tacky track. Something like we would run for Grand forks.

Feature

Started 10th and the car was fast right from the start, the car was a little tight but was working good in the lower part of the track. We were making good ground and were passing Scotty (33) for the 5th place position. I got by him and he hit a rut and came down a bit and we touched resulting in me spinning. The yellow was on me, so on the restart, we started at the back. We started 16th on a single file start. Once we got going again the car was still working great and with 3 laps to go we were in 7th. We held this position till the last lap when I got in the ruts a bit, and Dave (17) got by me, so we finished 8th.

V.L.S Sprint car Challenge

The week leading up to the spring car challenge has been a busy one. After 2 days of racing we had to have the car in car show condition for the press release on Tuesday. This went over great with the press, we fired the car up for them in the parking lot and got some interviews. This resulted in a 5 minute interview on CKY and Global news, and our picture in the Winnipeg Sun. Wednesday I dropped the car off at Topline Auto Supply for the day.
That night we did all of our regular maintenance, plus got the old car out and clean for display at the front gates of Victory Lane Speedway (VLS).

Thursday VLS

We got to VLS and dropped the car off at the front gates and got to do a live interview with Duncan from 92 Citi FM

Hot laps

The car was working real good, the track was smooth and we were close on gearing so we left it for the heat race.

Heat

Got a great start with drawing in the front row. Started beside Mike Balcaen driving the K9 car. The second time i've raced against Balcaen, the first being a dash for cash 4 years prior (my rookie year) at Winnipeg, and started beside Balcaen that night too.
When they dropped the green, Balcaen got in front of me and we raced hard for 5 laps, then a yellow came out. I could catch up to him but in turn 1&2 there was only 1 1/2 lanes to race on and turn 3&4 was so dry the only place was on the bottom. On the green, I lost a couple of car lengths on him but caught up with 2 to go, I tried getting on the inside but it wasn't working so I went around the outside on turn 4 and made a clean pass and took the checkered for our second heat win this season, WOW that was fun.

Feature

Started on the pole, but things went down hill from there. In the first corner the 33 car ran over my left side with his right rear and bent the steering all up, I had about 3" of travel out of my front tires, and couldn't turn the car. We dropped to last in about 2 laps. The car was still manageable to get around the track, so I was going to stay out for points. The fact was that I didn't want a DNF(did not finish) at my home track. We nursed it around for about half the race with no problems, then Shane (31) spun out and I had no where to go. I thought I was clear of him but must have touched him with my right rear because we flipped it pretty good. The car isn't in bad shape, the frame and diff are ok but all the parts that held them in, plus the wing were junked. It will be a while to fix this car up so we will have to run the old car for now and save up for parts for the good car.

Grand forks July 15th

Hot laps

We were running short of time to get the old car ready and were running late, plus we were at the border for an hour and a half. We showed up and unloaded the car and got ready. By the time we push started they wanted us out for hot laps, so we went out on the track with no heat in the motor, and no set up what so ever.

Heat

Started near the back and the car wasn't working to good. One of the biggest problems is getting use to this car again. This car is totally different from the eagle chassis. About 4 laps in on a restart all the cars in front of me started spinning and my only option was to go off the track at full speed to avoid them. I jumped off turn 3 and landed with my right rear on top of the 44S's right rear tire and bounced onto the return road, the safety crew said there was no visible damage so we push started and went out to continue. When we got on the track, the car didn't seem right, so I pulled off.

Pits

Jakobs Ladder was bent and bound up the torque tube resulting in no rear suspension. Fixed the problem and got ready to go racing.

Feature

Started at the back and only lasted 3 laps before the car wasn't working. The left rear frame rail was dragging on the ground all the way around the track so I pulled to the infield. We will have to fix up this car for next week and do what we can with it because we will be racing this one for a while till we fix the good car. See you next week.

Friday July 1, Fargo, ND

Hot laps;
Got the car ready and went out for some laps, on the first lap we broke the front wing stand so we didn't get enough time to get a good run on the car. Fargo is the largest track we run on and due to the high speeds any weak part usually brakes.

Heat:
Started third row and one lap in we had problems. The car was winging down so hard it was on the frame rails all the way around the track so I pulled into the infield immediately. We checked all the shocks and everything appeared to be good so we changed some shocks add raised the ride height a bit to keep it from bottoming.

Feature:
Started at the back and ran around for a couple of laps, the car was terrible, I could barley keep it on the track. there was a yellow about 3 laps in so I let everyone by and started right at the back for the restart incase anything went wrong I didn't want to take anyone else out. to the green flag the car dropped to the frame rails going into the corner and stayed there, so I pulled into the infield. Upon further inspection we found the left front torsion bar was twisted and the graymail was dragging on the ground.


Saturday July 2,Fargo

Hot laps: After doing some shopping we had installed new torsion bars and shocks and the car felt great, it wasn't bottoming out and was very easy to drive, we only got a few laps so we just checked everything out and went to run the heat to see how it felt.

Heat.
Started inside row three, got a bad start hitting the ruts in turn one and when I got it gathered up I was in 8th.the track dried out so even with the wing all the way back it was really loose, we ran single file for the rest of the heat, I could get a run out of 1 and 2 on the car in front but had no where to go when I caught him and I was burning off my tires spinning them so I was stuck there till the finish.
When we pulled into the pits we figured everything was kobo soon after one of the push truck drivers came and told us he saw water spraying out of the bottom. since the temp gauge never got over 160 we would never have realized this without his saying so and could have done considerable damage and for sure never finished the feature. We changed the lower rad hose which had a small hole in the bottom and went back to the pits for some set up changes.

Pits;
Since the track was dry and getting worse we set it up for dry/slick conditions. we changed blocking, shocks, tire pressure and gears. Filled it up with fuel and got ready to go. I went up to take a look at the track one last time only to see they were pulling out the tractor and water truck and completely tearing up the track. I went back to the pits and changed everything back to the way it was and set it up a lot looser than we had it before because the track was going to be real tacky.

Feature:
Started outside row 9 and got a good start, went for a couple of laps and the track was a bit greasy so I moved the wing back and that helped a bunch, then out came the yellow. We started single file and went for a few laps until the red came out. on this restart I lost a spot and got into turn 4 only to almost hit the xxx car which was in the air above me. We restarted again and went for a few laps. the grease was blown off the track and the car was getting tight off, so I moved the wing all the way forward, this worked a bit but was still to tight for ml liking, we were making progress and catching the 3 cars in front of us when the 4 got sideways and rolled in front of us, red flag again. Due to the time we were taking we were told that the next yellow we were going green/white/checkered. on the restart I went up to the high line and the car was better, earlier we changed the gears for dry conditions and never changed them back, this was why the car was tightening up, we were only spinning 7100 rpm on the tacky track. On the high line we caught the car in front and got around him after the cone but someone spun into the sippy hole in the bottom of 3 and was buried up to the axles. We lined up for a green white checkered but due to the time it was taking to get the car out of the mud they sent us off the track and we finished there. we ended up with a respectable 12th with everything intact. we had a lot of fun and after Friday we made a lot of progress on this new chassis.

OLD SHAKEY RETURNS

Friday June 24/05
Dragged out last years car for some testing. we put a new stove in it and went through the chassis replacing whatever needed replacing to get it racing again, we haven't had time for decaling or putting the new body on it which we've had for 2 years so it doesn't look so good, but is mechanically sound. we fired it up on Wednesday night to see if it started, which it did, the only concern was the mice, its a good thing I never set the valves because during the 2 months sitting under a tarp in the field some mice made homes in the headers, but by time we got the car in the shop they had evacuated. after a successful run in we loaded it up to bring to the city for set up and track maitenence.we had everything ready to go for thurs night due to a cancellation at victory lane Winnipeg) where we were going to do a shakedown run and make sure everything worked before going to grand forks, but this was not the case. I hate towing to a track with a untested car but we had no choice so went anyways.
hot laps
This car is defiantly slower, by time the car got wound up to speed the flagman had the checkered flag out so I had to get on the nonexistent brakes and pull into the pits.
heat
By this time the track was dry again and we never really got this car working good on dry so we tried some different stuff to see what it would do. it seemed to work but it was follow the leader so we finished near the back .
Feature
This was the worst track I have ever seen, I think we got up to 25 miles/hour. the track was so dry you had to stop for the corners. we started in the back and finished there, we burned off a set of tires but had a surprisingly good set up, this was the best the car ran on a dry track, everything was in one piece so we headed to Ada.

Ada Minnesota, June 25/05
The last time we were here we destroyed our first car by rolling it 5 times along the gaurdrail,but I felt better with this car.
hot laps
Went out to see what the track was like and we were way off on the gear. the car was floating the valves past the flag stand so I pulled it in.
heat
Started on row 2 and got a good jump, went 3 wide into turn one and got into second, coming out of the corner I got together with bobby(10tr),noboudys fault just close racing but something on his car must have got my rim because going back into four I heard this awful loud noise like a helicopter trying to land on my wing, thin I felt the left rear violently slapping my arm, it popped off the rim! by this time I was just along for the ride so I held on and hoped for the best. the car went off turn 4 and spun backwards right into the fence at full speed, ouch.
I was worried about fuel cause I could smell it so I was unstrapped by time the safety crew got there and got a view of the damage. the tail tank was pushed right up to the diff,the left rear rim was folded in half,nerf bars were gone and the diff looked crooked, we got work to do.
pits
Got the car back and started working on it. Fred and bob were my only crew so they did a fabulous job of piecing it back together in time for the feature. we got some parts/tools and help from the K9 crew to get it running, we managed to fix the tail tank good enough ,put on new nerf bars, Jacobs ladder, left rear rim/tire and bund back the seat.
we put a set up in the car and I strapped in.
Feature
Started tail end. track was dry slick at the beginning. we got a good start and got by a couple of cars ,then fell into line. we ran about 15 laps in single file till the first red, the 2 leaders got into it and rolled. on the restart we made some changes and the car tightened up considerably, plus the track started taking rubber. I could catch up to the cars in front of me but couldn't get a run to pass, with a couple laps to go the guy in front got a little high and I got underneath, that was the only remotely exciting part of the feature. the old car was the best we ever had on a dry track but was still a handfull,we started 14 and finished 8th,not a bad night

Double features, Grand Forks, June 10/05

We got hot laps right away for our make up feature from the 3rd.we went out with the same set up as before because the track conditions were similar and it was pretty close, we only changed some air pressures and got ready. We were starting on the pole so we got pushed off first to warm the car up and got into line.

When the green flag dropped we got a good run out front and were in lap traffic in 3 laps. The car was working good and we were making clean passes till the yellow came out. The track was fairly smooth and racy with some ruts coming up in turn 4. On the restart we got another good jump and maintained the lead till the next yellow. on the restart we were good again and sailed along for a few laps until I missed my line by about a foot in turn 4 and hit some ruts and had to gather it up, by this time Dobmeier(13) and Bobby(10) got by and I got back in line with them. A few laps later Chris(1) got by and it went yellow. On the last restart I followed the guys up front till the end with a couple of hard charges from Scottie(33) but held him off to finish fourth, our best finish ever, but no time to celebrate yet, we had to run the heat for tonight's feature yet.

Heat June 10

We started on the inside behind Jeff(12) and he spun on lap 1 so we got the pole for the restart. We held the lead for 4 or 5 laps and I got low in the dry stuff and a few cars got by so we finished 5th out of 10 and went to the pits to make some changes.

Feature June 10(second)

After some changes we got ready for the feature, the track looked heavy with some big holes forming about 2/3 up and slick on the bottom. I figured it would slick off some more so I left it for a medium track, boy was I wrong. Somehow I ended up with the pole again with Kennedy on the outside. During parade laps I realized how heavy the track had gotten and the holes and ruts were barely drivable just following the pace car, and there was nothing on the bottom. My only chance was to tuck in behind Kennedy on the start and run high above the ruts. This worked perfect on the start and we missed all the holes and had a great run to be greeted by the yellow! Second try, Kennedy ran lower on the track for the second restart and I was lined up for the ruts, nothing to do but hold on, I put it to the boards and hoped like hell it would go through but it didn't, I hit the biggest hole and it felt like it was going over, when I opened my eyes I was still on the track and no where near where I started. I lost about 6 spots and for the rest of the race just held on for dear life. The car was so tight the only way to turn it was to lock up the brakes and turn the car so sideways to break it loose I was looking at oncoming traffic! A few times I thought about just pulling off, but even on a bad day a sprint car is still a blast, so I stayed out, didn't roll it and finished 8th.

June 11, Greenbush

Got to the track at 12.00 and unloaded to do maintenance. Car was in good shape, went through everything, set valves, changed tires, bars, gears, oil, and got ready to go. The weather was fine until 5.30 then the rain came, and never stopped. Good thing it was on the way home cause we were short on gas money.

June 17, Grand Forks

Hot Laps:

We were in for a treat tonight, I've never seen it go dry for hot laps, after 3 laps we were peeling up the track, the parking lot was smoother!

Heat:

Started third, our first night on this car with a dry track, there was a bit of moisture on the top so I went up there and was ok for a while till I messed up and lost a couple spots, we finished 5th, good enough to make the "A" main, good thing ,the track was terrible and there was lots of good cars.

"A" MAIN:

By this time there was nothing left of the track but dust and craters. We started 17 and played follow the leader for a while. We went to the top side for a while and the car was working good. After about 10 laps hitting all the holes we were moving forward. The ruts were the fast way around tonight but I killed the shocks and they started going away (I think ill send them back to pro shocks for warranty cause they are only six years old). We had to move to the inside of the track for the remainder of the race if we wanted to finish. No traction what so ever, I hit the front straightaway wall and it hooked pretty hard but I figured that would be hard on parts so we settled in for 13th and continued on to Minot.

Minot , June 18, day 2

Hot Laps:

Another dry track

Heat:

30 degrees, I've been so sick for three days this the first time in my life I didn't feel like getting in the car, but we didn't drive all these miles to watch, so I put on the fire suit, took some cough medication (lost my voice Thursday at Victory Lane, couldn't speak till Sunday) and hopped into the car. We were junk, the car went from 3 to 6 in 2 laps and I couldn't get it to hook no matter what I did. Since there were 30 some cars we had to run the "B" main.

"B" main

Made some changes, hoped for some luck and went out, started 8 moved up to 7,last transfer spot was 4th.no feature for us. We got lots of work to do!,. watched the race and went out to the parking lot to get some sleep in the van so we could work on the car early for tomorrow.

7 am Sunday

Woke up went to the gas station for a shower and breakfast. Came back to the racetrack and washed car and started doing maintenance. Time for some drastic changes! the best part of racing is the friendships, we went out seeking help and went to talk to nygard(9) for some help. Wade and Billy gave us some tips of what to do, just like they always do. Next we needed to find some parts, Dobmeier(13) came through with the right torsion bars and Chris Burke(81) gave us a left rear tire the size we needed. Kennedy(21) came through with the last bar, we changed everything over and went into the track .

hot laps:

Everything felt fine for the first lap, until turn 4,lost power steering, locked up lost control and ended up on the pavement in front of the grand stands, where the motor made a terrible sound and died. I thought the worst, and waited for the push truck. They made me sit there until the second round of hot laps and I decided I would try to fire on the way to the pits, nothing happened.

Pits:

We took the pumps out because I feared the cam broke. Upon further inspection we realized it was just the cam spud that broke and replaced that and hurried for the heat.

Heat:

No time to change set up so we were going to do what we could. started on row three and followed everyone single file till the end, finished 7th, oh well "B" main again

"B" main

started 6th , the car was working good, we held our spot for about 7 laps and I decided to go to the top and see what was up there, as soon as I did that I had 2 cars go underneath me, back to 9th.lots of work now since there was only 6 going to the a. I got by the first car right away but it took till 2 laps to go to get by the last to get the last transfer spot to the feature.

Feature:

Started 24 an a dry track, but it wasn't dry. We went out for driver introductions and they started farming the track. I looked at all the other cars and other than having the wrong setup we were the only car with used tires, oh well when you start at the back the only way is forward. We raced until we burned the tires off, we got up to 16th but with 5 laps to go we were out of tire and slipped back to 18th.car was in one piece, we learned a lot ,had fun and only got lapped twice by Donny Shatz!

Monday 6.30 am:

Arrived home in time for work.
 

Grand Forks May 27 / 05
RAIN

Minot May 29 / 05
RAIN

Minot May 30 / 05
finally racing

After a weekend of touring the states to watch it rain we finally got a chance to hit the track. After all the rain the track was fairly heavy so we went out with a loose set up to see what it was like. The track was really fast and we didn't have enough gear but still kept with the pack. Loosened it up for the heat and the car worked better but lost all tear offs on lap 5 and lost concentration and that cost 4 spots and we finished 6th.

For the feature we tried a different set up to see how it would work and I didn't like it much. We hung in there for about 18 laps before I got hit in the helmet with a rock the size of a potato and it cracked the helmet and knocked the visor off, pulled off the track when it cleared on lap 19 with a 19th place and we started 24th. Went home in one piece.

June 3 / 05, Grand Forks
RAIN

Sat at home and debated weather to go to Fargo or not. To race Fargo we needed 1 new tire, WISSOTA license, Fargo track fees and if it rained out we would be in the hole $500 plus 3 hours of towing.
WRONG DECISION
Fargo ran and we were sitting in the driveway in Winnipeg, my fault.

June 4 / 05, Devils Lake

This time we didn't look at the weather, loaded up and left. The old van wasn't running good so it took us 4 hours to get there but when we arrived it was 24 degrees and sunny. The track changes there were amazing. The banking is awesome and the straight-away's were wider, it was going to be a fast track.

For hot laps the car worked all right, we had a bit to much stagger and not enough gear so it was a bit hard to drive .

We left the car the way it was for the heat because we thought it would stay somewhat tacky but it didn't. It was like driving on ice, we started in 6th and finished in the same spot. By time we were done the track was glazing up pretty bad.

Feature: back spot heat = bad spot feature

Started 24 on a dry track. We have never been good on a dry track. With the old car we tried everything and none of it worked. With this car we figured we would roll the dice and try a set up from the guy we got the car from, which wasn't far off from the old car set ups.

We started 24 and stayed there for about 10 laps, no one was real fast it was pretty much follow the leader. We held our own and managed to pass 3 cars, and one spun out so we finished 19th. I was real happy with the progress because this was the first time on a dry track and the car felt really good, we know were going in the right direction, plus I had a blast driving, it was the most fun I've had in a long time in the car, which makes it easier to keep on going. Other than burning up three new tires we went home in fantastic spirits with a lot of good information for a dry track.

P.S. The van is almost dead, anyone wanting to sponsor a tow vehicle please contact us, thanks.

Double features in Grand Forks June 10/05
We start on the pole for the first Feature, see you there.

Friday may 20, grand forks
A good night for racing add a lucky night for rain

     The night started fairly good. We pulled into Grand Forks to the wail of the sirens going off because there were a couple of tornadoes in the area,  but since we can't compete with mother nature we just pulled into lineup at the track and watched the commotion.

     The weather cleared up and we got into the track and unloaded for hot laps. we had fixed all the problems from the previous race and were looking forward to trying the new car out.

     We went out for hot laps and the car was a rocket, we only got about 3 laps in and there was a red for a roll over, but the car felt good so we came in and prepared for the heat. The car was a bit lazy so we leaned it out a bit and loosened it up a bit because the track was tackier than I have ever seen it.

     We started on the front row in the third heat and had one of our best runs so far. We got out front and pulled away from everyone. the car was running wide open but a little tight, so I moved the wing forward all the way, this is the first car I've driven with an adjustable wing, so I have had a hard time remembering to use it, this was the first time and it loosened the car up enough so it wasn't bicycling so much. As the race went on the track was getting so tight it was hard to hang on so I moved down to the middle with one lap to go and got in the grease and almost spun it out, but it straightened out right away and we went on to take our first checkered in a heat. This has taken us 4 years to get this checkered and I am very proud of my crew. So many people have given up so much time and energy to help me achieve my dreams and I couldn't do this without any one of them. Thank you to my sponsors and everyone who has helped me out.

     The reason we were so lucky is that when I went over the car on the weekend we found the right front spindle was cracked all the way through and if we did make the feature it wouldn't have lasted and certainly caused a roll. We are almost fixed up now and got the van running again so we are off to Grand Forks again for double features, we start on the pole, then to Minot for a 2 day show. see you at the track

FINALLY RACING !

     Well we finally got a race in on Friday, what an exiting trip. our day started out with melting a couple of plugs and a head gasket out of the van, but with a patch job we continued on to grand forks in the morning. we made it to the race track with no problems but that is where things went downhill. We had brake problems which we thought were fixed, but when we got to the track and went out we completely lost brakes, I ran the car to the first yellow and pulled off for fixing. We had already replaced the master cylinder and then changed the rotor and bled them both and were ready to go. We push started off for the heat and as soon as it fired we lost all brakes again, I pulled off on the first yellow to fix the car. We thrashed until the feature to get the car ready. It turned out that the rotor bracket was bent and that's what caused the whole problem, but we made the feature. We never had time to set up the car so it handled like a 68 Impala with two flats so we only ended up with a 15th place finish when we only started 18th, but I did mess up a couple of times but we still finished.

     On the way home we completely melted the motor out of the van, but managed to make it home. I've been thrashing all weekend and got the motor out today but we will be towing with Fred's or Bobs truck for the next week but we will be there. Thanks for all your help this year, you will have to come racing this year you will have a blast!!!!