|
April
20, 2008
Hopefully
third time is the charm as Winchester was canceled this week and postponed
until Sunday April 20th.
April
12, 2008
Anderson
canceled due to rain and maybe even a little snow.
March
30, 2008
The
team headed off to Nashville for the Spring Opener only to be disappointed by
mother nature. Practice on Saturday was hit or miss and only a few laps were
run on Sunday.† The race has been postponed until Sunday July 20th.
I don’t think we should have to worry about any cold weather then. Not
sure about the rain.
December
15, 2007
The
team officially announces it intends to run the full season with the CRA
Super Series and contend for rookie of the year in 2008
August
5, 2007
The
team completed its third CRA Super Series Race of the season this weekend at
Anderson Speedway in Indiana. We looked to improve on our previous finishes
of 14th at Angola Speedway and a 13th earlier this year
at Anderson Speedway. A top 10 seemed to be within reach as the long 250 lap
race came to a close but it would slip a away at lap 208 when brake failure
and contact with the turn 3 wall would end the night for us. The race proved
to be hard on the other competitors as well as we were still able to come
away with a 16th place finish even with the misfortune. We have a
little bit of a break until we head to the Milwaukee Mile for the first time
on August 24th to attempt our first ASA Late Model Series
Challenge Race. The weekend is scheduled to be a double header for us as we
will also attempt to qualify for the Super Late Model Race at the Mile on
Sunday.
October
16, 2006
An
exciting weekend came to a close Sunday afternoon as the team completed the
final laps of its first Winchester 400. The weekend was filled with lots
learning and first time experiences for the whole team. An early practice
crash on Friday left the whole weekend questionable as the whole rear of the
car suffered severe damage resulting from hard contact with the turn 1 wall.
With
the help of some of our fellow competitors and the handy fabrication work of
crew chief Dave Serchuk and the team, we had the car on the grid for first
round qualifying on Friday evening.
Additional
problems from the crash became evident in qualifying Friday night when the
car would not come up to full power. Once analyzed, it was determined that
the force of the earlier crash was enough to stress and bend the throttle
linkage which effectively only allowed the car to run at about half throttle.
With
the poor qualifying time, we would start the event from the rear of the field
in 33rd position.
The
race strategy for us quickly became patients and survival. We knew that if we
could save the car and the tires we would be in a favorable position in the
closing laps. The strategy paid off as we found ourselves up to 11th
position in the closing laps of the event. The end came just in time as we
lost power steering with just 2 to go. We posted an 11th
place finish at the close of the event.
We extend
special thanks to Matt Freitag and MF Lewis Products for all their support,
also to Glenn Luckett, the CRA officials and the Winchester Speedway staff
for a great weekend.
October
9, 2006
The
team’s decision to run the Oktoberfest weekend at Lacrosse Fairgrounds
Speedway this weekend proved to be a great learning experience for myself and
the team. The migration from a quarter mile track to a 5/8 mile track was not
an easy one but throughout the weekend we were able to diagnose problems and
improve our performance. The experience will certainly prove to be valuable
heading into the 400 at Winchester this weekend with the CRA Super Series.
The
team welcomes a new primary sponsor for the race this weekend and we would
all like to thank Matt Freitag and MF Lewis Products, LLC for their support.
MF Lewis Products, LLC is a provider of premium metalworking fluids and
specialty chemicals and they are located in Delevan, WI.
We
encourage all of fans to call on Matt for all of their metalworking fluids
and specialty chemical needs.
September
25, 2006
A
wet Saturday at the NSTC in Rockford looked as if it would spoil the weekend.
The rains came most of the day on Saturday but subsided long enough for a
couple of practices and qualifying for the CRA cars.
After
qualifying we found ourselves as the first car not locked in the show on time
sitting in 21st . This lead to a little longer evening with
a 20 lap qualifier race to get into the show. We were not overly
concerned about our chances until we learned that 2 time NSTC champion, Eddie
Hoffman would be in the field along with CRA regular front runner Eddie
Vanmeter and the Wisconsin hard charger Tony Strupp. That’s a
recipe for a tough race.
Luckily
we had great track position starting on the pole inside the 68 car of Jeff
Way. At the drop of the green flag Way eased ahead slightly going into one
and held ground in the middle of the track forcing me to brake earlier and
tuck in behind. Way held a good enough pace to stay out front and we were
able to get a 4 car break away from the rest of the field. The second place
finish was enough to lock us into the show on Sunday.
We
lined up deep in the field in the 22nd position for the feature
race on Sunday. In first 100 lap segment we had a tight condition in the car
but managed to steadily climb into the top 15 before the break.
The
second session was looking better as we were able to make some adjustments
and work our way into the 12th position. As luck would have it, we
cut a right front tire down and had pit under green which cost us several
laps. Once able to resume we were able to hold pace and finish the day in 15th.
September
10, 2006
Races
called due to rain. Not re-scheduled.
September
3, 2006
After
extensive repairs, the car was back at the track for the Port-A-John 100. A
25th place qualifying effort would not be good enough to make the field
on time and would also result in a mid pack start for the Semi Feature race.
The night ended with a 6th place semi feature finish.
August
21, 2006
The
hits just keep coming for the 18 team this season. What we thought was a
solid feature starting position turned into a deep starting position in the
semi feature event. After having mechanical problems in practice, Conrad
Morgan made a late qualifying attempt and ended up bumping us from the
feature event by less than a tenth of a second.
We
started the semi in the 8th position and quietly worked our way
towards the front keeping our fingers crossed the whole time that there would
be no incidents with the cars still ahead. This season so far has told us
that there a would be a high probability that problems would happen with this
particular group of cars. I told the crew I figured we had about a 50% chance
of getting through this with no damage.
We
moved into third place with 5 to go and set sights on second place for the
final transfer position for the feature event. Less than a lap later, our
fears came true as the 20 car of Jim Schmittinger, lost control exiting turn
2 and slammed into our right front, destroying the suspension and effectively
ending our day.
Thanks
to Behlings Racing Equipment for the Hard Luck Award and also to Sno-Way for
their support.
The
team will rebound like we always do and be back at the track for
Sunday’s event.
August
13, 2006
The
team put together a solid run on Sunday in the Pepsi 100 qualifying for the
feature event on time and bringing home a 12th place finish.
Thanks
to Pepsi for their support of the event.
August
6, 2006
After
more then a year, we were able to put the car back into victory lane after
capturing the win in the Great Lakes Underground Equipment Company semi
feature event Sunday night. A rough practice and qualifying session left us
scratching our heads with handling problems but we were able to find some
positives for evening coming through the semi feature with the victory.
We
started the race on the inside of row 2 and found some momentum in the early
laps in the bottom groove behind the 52 car of Jim Jesowshek. Once I
cleared the outside cars, I went to work on the high side of Jesowshek and
worked my way into the lead. The 72 of Randy Schuler followed close behind
and we checked out to a pretty good lead over the rest of the pack. We were
able to maintain a 2-3 car length distance over the 72 car to the checker
flag.
We
elected to transfer to the feature event starting 19th. The car
handled fairly well early and we worked our way as high as 12th
but through several cautions the handling began to fade late in the race and
we finished 18th.
Thanks
to Great Lakes Underground Equipment Company for their support of the event.
July
23, 2006
We
wrapped up a busy two weeks Sunday night on a positive note qualifying 12th
for the Parker Store 75 Late Model Feature. The lap was the best this season
at 11.528. Overall the race went pretty well and we managed to ease in
to the top 10 at one point in the race. Unfortunately we gave up some
positions after some late cautions and some mechanical problems with the car
of Mike Strupp. We ended the night with a 15th place finish on the
lead lap.
Thanks
to the Parker Store for their support of the race.
July
16, 2006
After
a long week of hard work by the crew, we made it to the track Sunday just in
time to take 4 practice laps and qualify.
The
damage from last week’s mishap was very severe and required a front
stub along with a multitude of engine and body parts. Thanks to the folks at
Pathfinder Chassis, we were able to get the car back to shop Wednesday night
to begin the reconstruction. The crew was hard at work right up until the
last minute on Sunday.
We
had thoughts of sitting this weekend out but decided to use Sunday night as a
test to see if we had everything back the way we needed it for
Tuesday’s Miller Lite Nationals. Luckily everything turned out ok and
we even managed a top five finish in the late model semi feature. We found a
couple of minor issues but we will be there to race on Tuesday
July
9, 2006
The
long streak of bringing our car home in one piece was ended Sunday night with
a hard impact with the turn one wall and the 92 of Conrad Morgan.
I am
still not sure what all transpired ahead, but we had a strong charge going on
the bottom of the race track passing 3-4 cars very quickly.
As
we were going into turn 1 the 20 car of Shavlik, directly ahead of us at the
time, lost control and began to spin. As I slowed up to avoid the
incident, I believe the 92 of Morgan caught us in the right rear which
tuned us straight up into turn one wall. After hard impact with the wall by
both cars, the 92 came to rest on the front of our car. Needless to say, both
cars suffered significant damage with ours getting the worst of it.
The
inversion decision by the track and significantly slower cars at the front of
the field was definitely the key contributing factor to the incident.
Inversion s are good when the cars a fairly equal but when you have cars
nearly a Ω second slower at the front of the field, its always going to be
trouble.
We
are still surveying the damage and the next race is uncertain at this point.
We are going to do our best to have the car back in shape for the Miller Lite
Nationals on July 18th.
July
2, 2006
After
a some what frustrating first part of the season we finally showed that we
were down but not out on Sunday night. High temps and some chassis changes by
the team led to a 12th place qualifying run, which was by far our
best this season. It could not have come at a better time since this is
typically the biggest race of the year aside from the Slinger Nationals. From
what I could tell, it was standing room only in the stands.
After
a interesting invert selection, we found ourselves sitting in the pole
position with 17 of some of the best drivers in the Midwest in the rear
view.
The
car was a little tight in the early laps and difficult to keep on the bottom
causing us to loose some positions but we held in there for a while.
We
suffered some damage to the right front due to some contact with the 3 car of
Tommy Hromadka as he came down on us entering turn 3. It was not serious but
enough to affect the front toe which loosened the car up. After the
contact we lost several positions and had to try and work our way back from
the back of the pack.
Things
were looking good as the lower groove began to advance and the cars on the
outside began to fall back. Contact once again in turn 3 and 4 from the 51 of
Teske sent us into the infield and was significant enough to damage the right
front wheel.
We
were able to finish the race but had to settle for a 17th place
feature finish.
Thanks
to Keith’s Marina for their support and to the Slinger Speedway for a
great night of racing and fireworks.
June
25, 2006
We
were almost back to normal after a race cancellation last week and engine
problems the prior 2 weeks. Qualified 29th and finished 7th
in the semi feature
June
18, 2006
Race
canceled due to weather.
June
11, 2006
After
the broken rocker arm last week the 18 crew was ready to get back to business
Sunday night. Practice started out a little rough and we had to make some
quick changes. Some of the things that we changed at the shop did not work
out so well when the car hit the track.
After
getting the problems taken care of, we went on to post the best qualifying
time of the season with a 11.564 missing the feature on time by 2 cars.
We
started the Semi-Feature race on the outside of row 4 next to the 12 car of
Tony Strupp and things were exciting from the start. I quickly
maneuvered the car to the bottom and tucked up behind Tony. I figured if
there was not a hole there he would make one. We quickly got through
the slower traffic and into a 5 car breakaway from the rest of the pack.
There
was several laps of hard racing between the front runners I was able to mount
a challenge for second on Tony when suddenly the motor went flat and I began
to fall back slightly. Luckily the problem was not severe enough to end the
night early and I was able to limp the car to a fourth place finish.
We
still are not quite sure what the motor problem is but we should have some
answers on Monday.
June
4, 2006
Engine
Failure. Broken Exhaust Rocker Arm. DNS
May
28, 2006
Summer
seemed like it was definitely here over the memorial day weekend and there
was no shortage of cars and fans at the speedway for the annual Memorial Day
events.
The
effect of the high temperatures was evident as the cars hit the track and
began to slide around more than normal. Speeds were down about a tenth and
even more for us. We qualified 30th out of 40 cars and lined
up 12th for the 30 lap semi feature.
The
race started off ok and we stayed in line with the pack for the first few
laps. Around lap 7, we were just beginning to make some forward
progress when the 20 car of Jim Schmittinger had some troubles and began
falling back and the outside lane. Jerry Eckhardt and I both dropped
low to avoid the slow car but somehow the 20 came down the track and caught
me in the right rear wheel which blew the tire and sent me spinning into turn
1.
I
was able to limp the car back to the pits and the crew went to work removing
the damaged bumper cover and replacing the damaged wheel. Their quick work
allowed us to get back on the track while the field was still under yellow
and we remained on the lead lap. Unfortunately the rear end was not
quite as straight as it was when we started and the handling was gone. We
finished the day with a 12th place finish.
Thanks
to EH Wolf & Sons for their support .
Congratulations
to Lowell Bennett on his historical ride to 2 victories in one night.
May
21, 2006
After
a 2 week break, we were back to business at Slinger Sunday night . The super
lates had another good car count with 37 cars on hand.
We
made some good improvements on the 18 car this week in race trim and we were
about 1/10 faster in qualifying. We qualified 24th with a
time of 11.634. Several other cars which normally qualify for the feature
were a little off and it made for a competitive 19 car semi feature race.
We
started in the inside of row two behind the 20 car of Jim Schmittinger who
appeared to have handling problems from the drop of the green flag and looped
the car within the first few laps of the race. We narrowly avoided the
incident but the lack of a caution flag cost us a ton of positions as cars
blew past on the outside lane. After a hard fight from the back we were back
into contention again only to have the same thing happen again when the 7 car
of Matt Raudabaugh lost his car right in front of us causing us to loose many
of the positions we had just made up again.
Our
car handled great in traffic and we made our way back into the top five and
began a hard side by side battle with the 92 of Travis Dassow. After several
laps, The advantage went to Travis as we encountered the lapped car of Jim
Jesowshek and he was able to us the upper groove to take the position. That
effectively ended our evening with a 8th place finish.
After
all the incidents we were happy to put the car in the trailer in one piece.
Thanks
to Bob Fish Pontiac for their support of the event and the track.
May
14th 2006
No
events this weekend due to weather conditions. We look forward to seeing
everyone next week for the Alan Kulwicki Memorial Race.
May
7th 2006,
It was great to get back to the
race track after a week off due to the rain last week. We made some strides
on the chassis and found some areas that we could improve on. The car
was pretty good in practice compared to where we were a couple of weeks ago
and I was optimistic that we would have a decent qualifier. It turned out
that the new tires still needed a little something different in the chassis
setup to get us good qualifying time. We qualified 25th with a
11.708. I felt that we had a much better car than that and I was very
disappointed with the time.
We
ran a very heated battle in the semi feature, starting in row 2 and remaining
in the top 5 most of the race. Not sure what the fans thought about the new
format of double file restarts but it sure made for some excitement from
where I was sitting. Due to multiple accidents half of the semi field
did not make it to the end of the race. We were fortunate to avoid most of
the incidents and end the evening with a 6th place finish.
Thanks
to Brain Bertsch at Simply Suspension for the Shock work on the car and also
to Edens Meat Market for their support this weeked.
April
30, 2006
Unfortunately,
we were not the winners of the “Show us your Hog” contest but you
can still take a look at our video submission by selecting the link below.
Hog Video Entry
Slinger
Speedway was rained out this weekend.
April
23, 2006
The team
finally was able to get the brand new “102.9 The Hog”
Chevrolet on the race track this past weekend after many sleepless nights
over the past 2 weeks.
We spent
much of Saturday’s open practice working out the bugs and it would seem
we needed an exterminator with a power steering failure, carburetor issues,
brake problems and a broken trailing arm. The problem solving did not
give us a whole lot of time to work on the car and we really needed that with
the new chassis.
Another
night back at the shop got us ready for Sunday and things did start off a
little better but we were still too far behind on the chassis and we paid the
price in qualifying 36th. Since we were destined for the
semi feature race we decided to use the track time for some more testing to
see what we needed to do for next Sunday. They day ended with a 9th
place finish in the semi feature with the car completely intact. We think we
learned some things and we’ll be hard at work this week on
improvements.
Special
thanks to Miller Brewing and the speedway for a great opening weekend.
Back
to Main Page
|
