Critical Mass Racing

We're moving

2009-04-27T07:55:00.002-07:00

I will no longer be posting on this blog. My driver blog can be seen at www.Myspace.com/Drjacksonfeelgood and all team info can be seen at http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/Critical-Mass-Racing/60898651311?ref=nf

Update

2009-02-04T08:50:00.002-07:00

We have the new car. There is still some debate over which car to run. I think the old one is shot and should be crushed. Bill wants to use it and save the new car for next season. I will post a few pics when I can.

New season approaches

2009-01-10T13:09:00.002-07:00

I would like to welcome back Strickland Flooring for the 09 season. This will be Stricklands 4th year sponsoring the team. This coming season we will be bringing out a new car. The old car was to damaged to the point it was going to cost the same either way. The team will also have two Hornets joining us. Carl Martin (20) and David Vandresser (88). Should make for an exciting season.

In other team news, we have begun the start up of the 100 mph Heroes Foundation. The goal of the foundation is to assist families and individuals with medical needs with transportation assistance. As with all charities, we rely on donations to fund the program. I will announce more on this when we have a plan to set in motion.

That's all for now. See at the swap meet.

What! It better be made of gold!

2008-11-13T09:47:00.003-07:00

Well, I was in the market for a new car to run the 09 season. But, evidently there has been a lot crack smoking going on in the class. I just find it hard to buy a rolling chassis less engine for $3500- $4000 grand. Especially ones that are unproven. I guess maybe I should sell mine with engine for $8000? I mean really, it's a proven winner unlike some. Hell, I think it would be a sweet deal. Then I can build a new car and stick the other $4000 in my pocket.

Lets get real

2008-10-07T11:35:00.002-07:00

Why are we trying to wussify racing?

I mean really, you are going to have fans and crews who are going to cheer for you and those that are going to jump up and down when you wreck or break. It's just part of the sport. I can give you an example. I was watching one of the DVD's and I had won the dash and in the back ground someone yells that I suck. I actually found it rather funny. See the thing is is that I understand how it works. I was raised knowing that nothing is fair. Not everyone is going to like you or cheer for you. You are going to lose and you are going to win. If that dose of reality is what bothers you then I suggest you find something else to do.

It just floors me when I read how this person was cheering when such and such wrecked or what ever. I don't care which angle you approach it. This is a competitive sport and a very passionate one. So, please don't ruin it because Billybob might get a complex.

Yeah! last night

2008-09-30T08:18:00.003-07:00

Congrats to Kyle on your championship and Troy for ROTY.

For the night we timed in at 14.900 and started 2nd in the dash finishing 3rd. For the main we started 11th and DNF'd somewhere. I really didn't bother to look. For the season we finished 7th in points with 2 Dash wins, 3 heat wins and 1 Main win.

The season as a whole was a mixed bag. The disappointing part was leading in 2 Mains and snapping an axle in one and blowing a tire in the other. Finishing those 2 would have shot us right into the middle of the points race. I guess you can sit here and if and but it to death and it really wont change anything.

I can say that I have never seen such bad driving and officiating then I did on Saturday. The driving part I can understand with the points being as close as they were. The officiating to me was just pathetic. For example, I come out of 4 on the start and have the bottom groove and all the sudden the 8 is coming down. My front tire is outside his door and I have position but nope like he always does he keeps coming and spins. So, what happens? I get sent to the rear. How about the 30 and 20 Hornet? The 20 has position going into 1 and backs out as the 30 chops him. Then the same thing going into 3 and this time the 20 doesn't back out. The 30 spins and the 20 goes from passing for 2nd to the rear. I could keep going but I wont.

For the 09 season we will be back in the Streets. I had hoped to move up but I am not going to gamble on the money being there to do so. Our sponsorship with Wish Upon A Hero will continue and we will be starting the 100 mph Foundation to help people pay for automotive repair costs. I will give out more info as this develops.

In closing I would just like to say good luck to those running in Wyoming on the 11th and to those going Sandia and Las Vegas later this month.

Here we go again.

2008-09-15T12:20:00.003-07:00

Man! Someone just shot me and get it over with! LOL

We timed in 10th and won our heat by a country mile. Then fate smiled on us again and put us on the pole for the 50 lap feature.

In the main we stretch out about a straight away lead and slowly the handling starts to go to the loose side. After awhile, the 11 (Dewberry) caught up and I battled him as long as I could until he was outside and I let him go to keep from wrecking both of us. I then followed him since we were still pulling away from everyone. Then on lap 30 something we blew out a tire coming out of two. I tried to move the car to head to the pits for a quick change but, the car wouldn't move leaving me waiting for a tow and the guaranteed damage to my car.

Once in the pits we were done. The tire had wrapped itself around the diff and wasn't coming off with out a fight. We ended up 15th after leading a little over half the race.

Not much else to talk about so, see ya the 27th.

What can you do?

2008-09-08T07:48:00.003-07:00

Man! I really don't know what to say. All I really can do is shake my head and just laugh. Saturday night really just summed up our season. If it wasn't for bad luck I wouldn't have any luck at all.

When you sit back and look at the night as a whole, all one can really do is laugh. The car timed in ok at a 15.03 which like usual put us a in the back of a heat race. Then the heat itself took what 4 or 5 restarts just to get the race going? Then, the trip over Gary's front tire. Once things got going we ended up third.

Then the main line ups. I am not even going to comment on that. We go from starting inside 7th row to the pole. I don't even want to figure that one out.

In the main we take off and everything is fine. I think we had about a straight away lead when we came through 3 and found the 93 starting to come out of the infield right in front of us. I snapped the car low to the infield but instead of continuing he stopped and hit him. The car was ok just had some bumper damage. On the restart we started to build our lead back up when the 24 and the 39 tangled and brought out the second caution of the night. During the caution we some how lost our over flow can. I assume it came loose on the hit with the 93. Anyways, we go back to green and again start to build our lead back up. I remember coming out of 4 and checked my mirror and saw we had around a half a straight lead when coming out of 2 the rear lifted and I thought someone hit me. I looked in time to see my right rear tire go bouncing behind me. From there on it was a lot of squealing and the all to familiar sound of hard hits. I guess the one thing that went our way was that no one hit us. We pretty much had that one won. But, I guess it was to good to be true.

We will have the car back out next weekend. Just need to replace the axle and the brake hardware we lost. See ya Saturday.

8-9-08

2008-08-11T07:34:00.003-07:00

Our team would like to send a huge thank you to the 88 team of Kyle Shanahan for the assistance in pulling the frame back out and the parts to put the car back together to run the main.

As of right now I still don't really know what to say. I am still torqued, the damage to the car is extensive and I am not sure if we will be back. All I do know is I lost a lot of respect for a couple drivers and trust me they will never gain it back. I am sure you know who you are and don't bother to contact me as to why. If you are that blind and arrogant to not see then man save some people and find a different hobby.

Due to the tracks lack of time management we were placed by point average. This put us 6th and on the pole for the dash. The car was really loose on exit. I managed to hold on to it for a couple of laps and then on lap 3 I tucked low on the back straight so to give room on the outside and to my amazement people were still trying to get under. So, I decided I would get through 4 pull to the outside and let the field by. I exit four and the car kicks out and just as I start to have it under control I get slammed in the left rear and it sends the car back out and I spin right in front of the field collecting the 11 who had nowhere else to go. This sent the left front frame rail far enough to the right that the steering box jammed the power steering pump, bent the upper control arm, outer tie rod end, brake rotor, and a spindle.

With the help of the 88 team and tweak, we were able to get the car back together in time to make the main. Due to the damage to the car I made my first mistake of asking to start in the rear. I didn't want to have a reply of the dash and knock someone out. In hind sight I should of stayed in my starting position.

We made our way up to 10th and found our selves in 9th when the 6 car (Smith) was sent to the rear. I let him back by on the next lap since I was still playing it semi safe. What amazed me was the battle in front of me between the 6 and the 29. If you wanted to see aggressive driving this was it. To watch a driver with about 3 times the experience as the rest of the field has trying to basically wreck a car just made me sick, and then when confronted in the pits state that you ran clean. Unreal! you better buy a DVD and watch it.

Anyways, eventually we catch up to a pack cars and the 6 moves to the outside behind the 57 and 39. From there I am not sure what happened. I just see the 57 bobble a bit and the 29 checks up and in the process I end up going under the rear of the 29. I have my suspicions as to what happened but now it really doesn't matter.

We will be down on Saturday to spectate, to race?

Just Unloading

2008-08-01T07:41:00.002-07:00

Troy sorry you lost your motor but, welcome to racing.

The "money men" that the track highly covet are the ones cheating.

Flag guy in turn 2. Sorry man I don't know your name but it is obvious that you are out of place. I loved the baulk on the yellow last Saturday during a Hornet race. Your lucky you got it back before you caused a problem.

Thanks to whoever shortened our main by 5 laps. That cost me 1 possibly 2 spot. I am in a points race ya know. Some say it is already decided who the track wants to win. I used to say bullshit to that idea but............. It's not my fault that you want to go home as quick as possible.

It's amazing how a driver can get spun usually once or twice in a main and the yellow comes out. But, some else has the same issue and it doesn't. Then you have a guy who beats the shit out of you to get by and nothing is ever said. Then a guy goes in a little hard bumps somebody and gets warned........

Let me quote the King of milk "We put professional money and effort into these cars to get an amature result." So true!

No matter what name you put on it, clean it, paint it, or change it's clothes. It is still going to be Beacon Hill until the right parts are changed.

7-26-08

2008-07-28T11:36:00.002-07:00

In a nutshell! Qualified 8th won our heat of 4 yippee! on lap 6 of the main we were trying to pass for the lead. Went into 3 to hard and spun. So, from the rear moved up 2 spots in a lap and a half. Went into 3 and hit Troy's oil slick and into the wall. Went off for a water leak and came back on the track to finish 5th. Fell to 3rd in points 6 points out of second.

One long day!

7-19-08

2008-07-21T07:41:00.002-07:00

There is nothing like having your hands full in a race car. We were so loose I was surprised that we made it through the night with out incident.

During hot laps the car was all over the place. So we paid a visit to the 33 and 46 teams to get some spacers and a spring rubber. This helped some but not very much. We also had a new tire on the right rear with only 1 heat cycle on it so, it wasn't up to size either. We made the adjustments and then sat and waited for qualifying.

In qualifying I held on to it for the first lap for a 15.1 and then the second it broke loose and it was a 15.6. This put us 8th in time and second row inside of the 2nd heat. In the heat we sat in second and I should have just stayed there. But, I can't, I am the type of person who doesn't bag. If I can pass the car in front of me I will. So, I just jump to the outside and I couldn't get it to stick at all to save my life. So, we drop back down to third and sit. I tried several times to get under the cars in front of me but, the 24 was hugging the bottom really good and really never gave me an opportunity.

In the main we started outside 3rd row. we managed to get down to the bottom rather quickly and then I went back outside to get by the 29 to try and take 2nd place. After a couple laps I really wasn't making any progress and I couldn't drop back down because the 8 moved in and filled the hole I left. What really surprised me was going into one and 2 the 8 just started driving into me to get me out of the 2nd groove. If he would have been patient I was slowly going backwards anyways. So, of course I get passed by 2 or 3 cars before I could get back down. We sat ther for awhile until we caught back up to the 8 and the 29. The 8 went outside to pass the 29 and I slide right up under him and made the pass for 6th. In was last attempt to pass the 29 I went outside. I had my hands full for what seemed like an eternity but I managed to pass him and finished the race in 5th.

We moved up to 2nd in the points but lost some ground to the 39.

Is it just me or has everybody noticed how bad the officiating has been lately? Any more I just sit and scratch my head. There is no consistency at all. At times I wonder if someone isn't trying to get fired. I better stop there before I get fined.......

See ya Saturday!

My Space

2008-07-18T07:09:00.002-07:00

I now have a Myspace page thanks to my Rosie and Kelly. The link is on the right hand side.

Big THANKS

2008-07-10T09:42:00.002-07:00

I want to shout out a big thanks to Gary Cortese for helping us with parts so we can stay in contention.

7-5-08

2008-07-07T07:27:00.002-07:00

I really don't know where to start. I guess the good news first.

We qualified 6th and won the Dash from the pole giving us 2 dash wins so far this season.

Now the fun stuff.

We start the main inside 6th row behind the 33 (Moo man). We take the green and go through 1 and 2 with no problems. As we go in to 3 the 8 (Mills) comes down and hits the right front tire crushes in the fender and rips the nose free. To show my displeasure I thought I would give him a little shot out of 4. Nothing new everyone has done this at some point. Except we end up locking bumpers. So, we head down the front stretch and I let up a little and I feel the pull on my car telling me we are hooked. I then decided I would drop into 1 early to try and free the car. One problem, Mills turned before I did. So, the obvious happens and he spins. I go to take my place at the back and to my to amazement there was the black flag. To say I was upset was an understatement. I didn't know that hooking bumpers was considered rough driving.

In the pits I am approached by Mr. Sparks and after being very good at listening to me and letting me blow off some steam, I explain to him what happened. Later on he came back to me and said that Mills' story was pretty close to what I had said. What really added to my disgusted over the officiating is I had a 10 year old kid come up and he asks "Why did you get black flagged for hooking bumpers?" I am sorry but something is seriously wrong with the officiating when a 10 yr old kid can make the right call and a group of adults with far more racing experience can't. Even the car behind us said we got screwed. He knew we were hooked and he backed up some because of it.

I had fans coming up afterwards asking the same question. It is sad to just think of a fan knowing what they are seeing and the guys getting paid for that same purpose don't. Then, one of my crew members comes over and says one of the late models "intentionally" took out another car and was sent to the rear.

When I left the track I saw Robert and in civil manor and a calm voice I asked if he had time to talk. In a very defensive and rude voice i get "Sure, what do we have to talk about." I told him we hooked bumpers and so on. The reply was just amazing. He told me he saw it then didn't see it and he saw it. Needless to say I just walked off. There was even other people standing there and I am sure they were amazed at your rambling.

The body posturing and the tone of voice combined with the fact you wouldn't look me in the eye tells me that you knew you blew that call. The funny part is that all you had to say was that you missed that call or something along those lines and that would have been the end of it.

Update

2008-07-01T09:35:00.001-07:00

Ok, I forgot that they screwed up the points earlier in the season. So, we are in 2nd 1 point out of first.

6-28-07

2008-06-30T07:29:00.003-07:00

Nice hot muggy day. I timed in at 14.998 or in that area. Several people heard 14.849 but, when the times were posted I was 8th at the 14.99. That put us inside 2nd row in the 2nd heat.

In the heat we made 2 attempts to start the race when the 93 jumped the green early. Other then taking us to the green a little on the fast side, I felt he jumped about the same place as everyone else does. I guess the track thought other wise. After the second time Troy was sent to the rear and the 39 dropped into the pole position. We finally got the green and the inside row shot out and we basically ran the race with about 3 car lengths between each car. We finished 2nd.

When you looked at the line up for the main, you could see what was looking like one heck of a race. You had the top 3 in points in the first 3 positions and the the top 10 in time all up front. Unfortunately it really didn't turn out that way. When we took the green everybody lined out. The 39 had the lead followed by the 29, us, 11, 14. This was pretty much it until some where between lap 15 to lap 20 when the 39 cut a tire and the 11 took advantage and jumped outside and started to move forward. I quickly followed suit along with the 14. I managed to hold on to the car for the few remaining laps and finished 2nd.

As of right now the points haven't been posted but, I believe we are in a tie for the lead.

See ya on the 5th!

6-21-08

2008-06-23T08:03:00.003-07:00

We timed in 8th at a 15.15 and started our heat outside second row. During the heat I tried to push the 29 car to help him get by the 21. After a few laps with little movement I fell back into 4th behind the 28. A few laps later I had a good run out of 4 and moved along the inside of the 28 heading into 1. After some contact and the proceeding caution I was sent to the rear. Now I felt that I had position. I had always been told that if I had the door I had position. But, of course this is I25 and hell who knows what they are thinking. I was told the explanation over the PA was that I didn't have a preferred line to make the pass.... Preferred line? What the &^$^ is that. I believe as long as you stayed above the yellow, you can make whatever line you wanted. Anyways, there are no hard feelings towards the 28. It was just racing. We managed to make it back to finish 4th.

In the main we started 13th and slowly worked our way up a few spots when I drove into 3 way to hot and spun the 29. So from the rear with 10 laps left I went on a mission. I drove the living s&#t out of the car and made it back up to 6th and was trying to get by the 33 on the outside on the final lap but ran out of time.

So, this week I will put the bumper back together and piece the nose back on and see you on the 28th.

6-7-08

2008-06-09T07:17:00.002-07:00

The 7th wasn't a super exciting night. We timed in 5th at 15.08 and start the dash on the front row outside.

During the dash we tucked in behind the 24 and just played follow the leader. About three laps in the car became evil and I managed to hold on to it and finished 2nd. In the pits we found a broken sway bar link and that was the source of the handling issues.

For the main we started 4th row outside and Bruce decided to make a few changes and see what happens. He hit on something because that was the best that car has handled so far this season. In the main we managed to run the outside with Mills (8) for a few laps and the car was sticking pretty good. Though we weren't getting any where, we were holding our own. Other then a couple cautions for spins there really wasn't much to the race. We finished 6th and were the lucky recipients of the mystery guest for tech. No biggie there either.

As of right now the points haven't been updated but I believe we went from 5th to 3rd. See ya!

HUH? Say what?

2008-06-04T07:39:00.003-07:00

The last few weekends have had a few DQ's that were questionable to some. So, I posted a few rules that might clear up a few issues or bring some up.

I25 Speedway General Rules:

1T: All racing Vehicles at I25 Speedway are subject to inspection at any time and to any extent or degree, as determined by officials in their sole discretion. The decision regarding a specific race car to be inspected, as well as the timing, scope and extent of any inspection is final and is binding and can not be appealed.

3T: Any vehicle or equipment are subject to the approval of I25 Speedway track officials.

4T: Any vehicle or equipment which does not conform to the specifications and tolerances of these rules and regulations during the season will not be eligible for approval.

5T: Violations not observed during inspection by the track official will not be considered as having been approved.

8T: In the event that tech officials disqualify a car, that driver will not receive points or money for that date.

Really Good Night!

2008-05-27T10:18:00.002-07:00

Were to start.....

During hot laps we were super loose all around. The first mistake was trying to fix the problem myself..... Yeah that worked wonders! LOL

Bruce had to work late and didn't make it to the track until after we timed in at a 15.2 which was good for 9th. Once he did show up and was told what the car was doing and what I had tried to do to fix it he said "You did what?!?"(Clean version) and just shuck his head and went to start fixing the car.

In the heat we started out in the lead right off the bat and as we went the car slowly loosened back up but, we managed to win the race.

The lighter side of the night was seeing the line up for the main. When you took into account everyone that scratched their time, Rookies, and broke out that left 3 cars from both heat races to put on the front row. It was really funny to watch people trying to make sense of it. When all of the dust settled we were on the outside front row.

In the main we took the lead going into 1 on the first lap and other then some bumper banging and a "Racing incident" that almost put us into the wall and still has people asking "what?" we lead from flag to flag.

Points wise we moved from 7th to 5th.

Good Night

2008-05-19T11:50:00.002-07:00

We got out for hot laps and made it down the front stretch to the exit. When I stepped on the gas the front of the car started shaking. We found a bent brake rotor that we missed when fixing last weeks damage. Thankfully Kyle had a spare rotor and we were able to continue.

In the heat we started inside 2nd row and once the green dropped we started making a run on the outside for the win. I had a good run going down the back stretch and went into 3 and as I turned I lost my power steering. Not a good thing. The return hose had a hole in it and we lost the fluid out of the system. We had enough though to finish 2nd.

In the main we started outside 2nd row. But, as usual in this class I was stuck behind a slower car and was freight trained back to about 10th before I could get down. Through attrition and passing we made up to the top 5 when we were able to get under the 11 and raced him for a few laps when the brake just got hot and I decided to let him by. Then the 33 made his way from the back and I let him slip on by so I didn't cause a wreck.

On the last lap we passed Gary (33) trying to modify his car using the back stretch wall. That moved us back into 6th with one to go and finished in the same spot. We moved to 5th when the 57 failed tech and was DQ'ed.

We moved from 9th in points to 7th.

Nothin a little Bondo wont fix

2008-05-08T07:26:00.002-07:00

The damage is minor. We escaped without bending the frame or any control arms. It is safe to say we will be back out for the 17th.

I would like to thank Gary and Kyle for the body parts. I am still looking for a right front fender but other then that we are in good shape.

Opening night

2008-05-04T14:23:00.003-07:00

Damn it was cold!

We started off the night in great shape. We qualified 6th and ended up on the pole for the Dash. We won it but were challenged every lap by Bud. If you didn't see it I am sorry because you missed one entertaining race. Again I have to say thanks to Bud for a good clean race.

As for the main. Well, that didn't turn out to well. I was having a good side by side battle with Tim Alma (28) when in turn 2 I spun out and ended up facing the wrong direction. What all happened after that I couldn't tell you. I saw the hit coming and closed my eyes.LOL I thought that I had drove in to hard but was later told that a GAM had lost a motor earlier and ran thru the general area. Once I had time to think about it I think I hit some oil. The car snapped really fast I didn't have anytime to try and catch it which in most cases I do. Either way I hope everyone is ok and can get back out for the next race. I hope we will be.

I will post up dates as we get things figured out.

Waste of fuel

2008-04-27T14:49:00.002-07:00

Due to the wind and the cold we really didn't accomplish anything on Saturday. The track was cold enough that you couldn't get any heat built up in the tires to make them stick to the track. We ran in the low 15's and should be in the 14's when the weather conditions are better.

No damage or issues to report. So, see ya Saturday!

4-25-08

2008-04-25T09:24:00.002-07:00

Everything is fixed and ready to go for tomorrows hot laps. See you there!

I have added a picture of the logo on the shirts from Wish Upon Hero.

Hot laps update

2008-04-19T18:21:00.003-07:00

It never ceases to amaze me how a car can sit and run for a couple of hours and never have a single leak. But, put it on the track...........

Our first run on the track was just to get some laps on the motor and see if everything was working like it should. I wasn't turning hard laps just around 4,000 RPM's by the end of the straights and cruising through the corners. Well, I noticed a nice trail of smoke. Nothing new for us, so I really didn't think much about it. I dropped into the infield for Photo's and the car filled with smoke. I am sure it will be in the picture's. Probably looks like something out of a Cheech and Chong movie. LOL! So, we get the leak fixed and get back on the track. They stopped me in 4 and said we were still leaking to get off the track. Well, we weren't leaking. Just burning oil off the header.

The 3rd time out was pretty much uneventful. I just ran medium laps not really pushing anything. We finish that session with no problems and no leaks. Up to this point we have been running with both tires toed out and the same air pressure in all the tires. So, no real setup of any kind.

I adjusted the air pressure's and Bruce and dad adjusted the tow and the sway bar so we can see what we have. I fired up the car in staging to move up and something didn't sound right. But, when I raised the RPM's it smoothed out and sounded fine and I really didn't worry about it. I was lucky enough to run 10 laps by myself and quickly realized I had a dog. Our fast lap was a 15.6 about 7 to 8 10ths off of last year.

Back in the pits we took the temp gun to the headers and found one cylinder about 200 degrees lower then the rest and one that was just dead. We soon found that we had snapped a rocker arm stud on the dead cylinder and just put the car back together and headed home. Considering the above, 15.6 wasn't that bad.

Good to go for hot laps

2008-04-18T07:13:00.001-07:00

See you tomorrow!

More pics

2008-04-16T09:42:00.002-07:00

We are still up in the air for Saturday. I probably wont know for sure until Friday. So, in the mean time here are some more pictures.

My young fans

2008-04-12T18:32:00.002-07:00

Top: My god daughter Elizabeth
Left: My youngest Mac
Right: My oldest Kelly

No hot laps

2008-04-11T09:59:00.002-07:00

Well, the powers that be have said no to hot laps and looking at the extended forecast for the 19th we wont be out then either. So, hopefully we will make it out the 26th. If not this should be real fun.

Media coverage

2008-04-09T14:52:00.002-07:00

Did you read the post from MidKnight? Pretty interesting....We get to see more driver's squirming and looking totally out of place on camera again.....LOL

But, you have to admit that this can really help the track and team's with sponsorships.

Anyways, The car is ready to go. We are thinking about hot lapping this weekend. Right now it's about 50/50. I am ready to go!!!! I will post more later when I know for sure what we are doing.

Still the best video

2008-04-09T10:23:00.000-07:00

It's alive!

2008-04-02T07:34:00.002-07:00

We finally set the motor in the car and had it running. We will probably have it out for hot laps either the 12th or the 19th. We are still working on funds to purchase tires since we stayed with Goodyears last season. See you then.

Pics

2008-03-24T11:49:00.000-07:00

Running out of time

2008-03-04T16:15:00.002-07:00

WOW! March already!

At this rate we should be ready to race come the 2nd night of racing. With hot laps a mere 31 days away we are way behind. The shop has been busy and we haven't had room to put the car inside so the work is kinda controlled by time and the weather.

Being busy is nice but man I need to get the car done also. I foresee some late nights coming. I did get some needed parts ordered on Monday for the engine but we are still waiting on the heads to be finished.

We added a Hornet to the team. It is owned and driven by Carl Martin. I am not sure what the # is going to be. I will let you know. We found Carl on Craigs List looking for help with the electric on the car and Rosie told him to call us. After several aggravating days and several words of encouragement we have it running. He asked if he can use the team name and I didn't see an issue with that.

I have been dying to say this and decided I should say it here and not on the forum because some would see the humor and some would get offended and I don't feel like dodging a bunch of Late Model drivers. So here it goes!

THE PREMIER CLASS DOES RUN 14 NIGHTS!!!!!!! LOL

OK enough emails

2008-01-12T12:42:00.000-07:00

Ok, since I have had nothing but complaints on the subject. The yellow and black will stay. So, just do me one favor. Come up with some better bee jokes.LOL

Our sponsorship with WISH UPON A HERO is off and running. If you haven't checked out the site yet, take the time a do so. There is a link to the right and also one on the tracks website.

I would like to thank Mike from Invision Designz for his donation. To me that was above and beyond. Thank you! (oh! and thanks for answering the phone) Mike owns Invision Designz, Invision Photographix and Certified Carpet Care. So, if you need photos, graphics or your carpets cleaned. Give him a call. His links are to right as well.

We are currently working on a couple more sponsors. I will announce them as deals are finished.

Wish upon a hero

2008-01-11T13:31:00.000-07:00

I have added a new link to the right for Wish Upon a Hero. This is a site that people can go to and make a wish and other people can help grant them. Go ahead and check it out. Maybe you would like to wish for something or maybe be a hero! No, they can not grant you a championship! LOL

Is it time to race yet?????

2008-01-11T12:50:00.000-07:00

I hope not!!! my car is still in pieces and the motor as well.

Of course what else is new. We alway's seem to be waiting to the last minute to get ready.

I posted a picture of the car from last season so you all can get one last bee joke in. Because the yellow and black are going BYE BYE!

NO I am not going to tell you what the new colors will be. You are just going to have to wait.

The Milkman is still up to something. I heard he had picked up a "Military ranked" car. I think this brings his count to 4 or 5 cars. HMMMM! Can cows drive? Maybe we need a bovine intervention?

But anyways, we are at the stage of hunting sponsors. (HINT) The team is going to have to rely on more sponsor money this year since business has been slow and then Mac getting sick kinda crunched the budget. I will post an update after the swap meet on the 26th.

This and that

2007-11-20T08:55:00.000-07:00

Just sitting here pondering some thoughts.

The banquet was ran like a night at the track. So, if you weren't there you know what it was like.

150 lbs. weight penalty????? That's not a penalty. I weighed 136 over all season and I was still a top ten car. The added weight actually made the car faster..

Is the Milkman trying to corner the Street Stock market? Or is he trying to get enough cars to start his own class?

I guess I will just flat out say it.

I have ran in this class for 4 years, and every year people start complaining that the track needs to get control of this class, the purse needs to be bigger, we need more cars and so on. So now the track takes control and people act dumb founded and surprised. Come on! You have been asking for it and now you whine and moan when it actually happens. Maybe instead of saying you weren't coming back or you felt screwed you should have offered suggestions. All I know is that for those of you who are going to run your motors from last year with the weight penalty you should find and thank the 2 or 3 drivers that made suggestions instead of complaining and made it possible for you to run that motor one more year. They stepped up when you didn't.

Yeah last night

2007-10-01T06:53:00.000-07:00

Yeah it is over!!!!!!!!!!!!

Man it was nice to have a complete motor for a change, Or at least I thought. For those who didn't know we had cracked a cylinder head around mid season and had to use a spare. We were running a 64 cc head on one side and a 74 cc head on the other. During the break between the last 2 races we finally got the head back and went ahead and put it back on the car. Hind sight being 20/20 I would suggest throwing the head away. I will explain later.

I went out to hot lap and took it easy running the second groove so we can give the engine some run time and then go check the adjustment on the rocker arms. Well, I spun it and the 87 almost cleared my left front tire but not quit. The contact bent the center link.

In the pits we borrowed a center link from Kyle's team (88) and put the car back together to make the the last hot lap session. The car felt great and nothing came loose so we made a couple more adjustments and waited for the rain and time trials. I timed in at a 14.74 which but us 7th and the last car in heat 1.

During the heat race the outside row shot out front quickly. I was starting to work the outside to pass Almaa (28) when I ran into the back of the 01 car coming out of 2. I thought I had room to run beside him but didn't notice the 87 was right there and I found myself in the infield. I finished 5th.

In the main I started 16th and after a few wrecks and a few passes I had made it up to 10th. Around lap 10 or so the car started acting like it had a rev limiter on it in a couple of corners then it went away. But, you could tell that the car had lost power. I wasn't losing any ground but I wasn't gaining any either. On lap 12 the caution flew again and the car just filled up with smoke. I reached turn 4 and the flagman was frantically motioning me toward the infield. It dawned on me to get the hell out of the car when I saw the fire extinguisher come out.

The crank case had filled with water and pushed the oil out onto the headers and caught fire. The cause of this I believe is the repaired head. I guess it happens. I think I ended up 16th. What truly amazed me was that I managed to finish 9th in points.

9-15-07

2007-09-17T07:02:00.000-07:00

Before I start I want to thank the turn 2 flag man for not doing his job and showing how truly incompetent you are. It proved why cameras are needed in the corners.

I finally had to put a Hoosier on the car. I really didn't notice a difference between it and a Goodyear during the first hot lap session. During hot laps a lot of cars were loose including ourselves. We made a minor tire change and the car ran great the second time out.

We qualified 8th at a 14.93. This landed us outside 3rd row for our heat. The car handled great and I passed a couple cars on the outside. That was the first time all season I could do that and be somewhat comfortable in doing so. I made it up to third and started working the outside again bit ran out of laps and finished third in what I thought was some good racing between the top three drivers.

Our third place finish put us third row outside for the main. I made my way up to 3rd when I mad my first mistake. I wasn't paying attention to who was behind me. I was running a wide line with the top three when I came out of 2 and was surprised to find the 14 beside me. I was then past by 8 as well. After that I started to watch my mirror more and follow them and just waiting for them to get someone off the bottom and follow them by. Doing so got use up to fourth. Later on the 99 cleared traffic and was slowly gaining on us. I got a little loose coming out of 2 and slipped up behind the 39 and was then passed by. So, I settled back into 5th. going down the front stretch around lap 20 the leaders lapped the 95. I was the last car in this train and started to go by in the middle of 2. I don't know what happened to the 95. I assume he got loose. But, he came down on us and spun. I had position and did nothing wrong. But, true to the form of BEACON HILL I was sent to the rear.

With this call it became very obvious that the turn 2 flag man is not doing his job. Which doesn't surprise me. I have seen several examples of total incompetence from this corner. I guess it explains why the track has to resort to putting in cameras next season.

By this time I am pissed to say the least and my brakes are almost none existent. We take the green and I get by one car and start to pass the 23. Know this really confuses me. I go to pass this car on the outside. I am 1/2 way out of the 2nd groove about 10 feet from the wall and he drives right into me. WTF is up with that? This brings out the caution with 3 laps to go. I take the white flag and head into 1 and realize I have no brakes. So, of course I spun into the infield. By now I am boiling and by lack of judgement I just head off the track with out taking the checkers and finish 13th with a DNF. The only bright spot was I managed to stay in the top 10 in points.

Picture of damage from 9-8

2007-09-12T07:38:00.000-07:00

9-8-07

2007-09-10T07:49:00.000-07:00

Before I go into the details of the night. I just want to say I was happy no one was seriously hurt in the accident during the main. Particularly Dale.

At the track I couldn't wait to get on the track to see if all the handling work we did was going to help. I was happy that the car was better then what it was but we still needed to fine tune it. In between sessions I changed some springs around and made the car a little better. We were close so I made one last spring change and went to time in. I soon realized I shouldn't have changed the springs. We timed in at 15.01 and the handling was worse. So, I quickly changed the springs back around. We had a brief pow wow and decided what changes to make.

In the heat race we snapped a rocker arm stud when we took the green. Being on seven cylinders we couldn't tell if we made the right changes. Though on the plus side we finished 4th.

During the time before the main we fixed the stud and decided to not make any changes to the car except for tire pressures since the night had quickly cooled down. We started 14th in the main and soon found out the car was handling a lot better. We had made our way up to 9th when the shit hit the fan. I was passing the 1 car of Dale Giest when either by contact or just simply breaking we snapped the right rear axle. This sent the rear of my car up into the air and side ways towards the infield. The 87 was right behind me and had no where to go but head on into the side of my car sending me back the other direction. But, the concern was for Dale who ended up hitting the wall pretty hard. I was glad to see him walking around later. A little sore I am sure but it could have been worse.

What surprised me was how many drivers, crews and fans came after the races to see if I was ok and if we needed help to load the car. This told me who my true friends and supporters really are and what a great group we race with. To everyone that came by I say a big thank you and look forward to seeing you on the 15th.

Hot laps

2007-09-06T07:42:00.000-07:00

I wanted to thank some people for their help during hot laps yesterday.

Mike Michrina for noticing that we had a push/loose condition. Rachelle Thompson for calling Charlie Wilson and Charlie himself for setting up the car via cell phone.

With the help of the above mentioned and my crew we were able to keep the car going in one direction and gain back the speed and lap times we had earlier in the season.

Oh and a big thanks to my wife for letting me stay out past my curfew...LOL

8-25-07

2007-08-27T07:21:00.000-07:00

Since we had a really loose car last week we decided to replace the rear differential which was bent several weeks ago in an encounter with a cow. The hope is that this would be the cause of our loose off condition. In the process we did some tune up work on the engine.

At the track we were getting canopies up when we called for our fist hot lap session. I start to set tire pressures and Bill said to start getting ready he would finish. So, I climb into the beast and head to the track. Here is were the fun starts...... I made a few slow laps to warm up the motor then jumped on it going into one. As I exited 2 I quickly lost all forward vision when my hood comes flying up and slams into the windshield. So, looking between the bottom of the hood and the dash I make it back to the pits and found the hood pins. With the help of the 20 Mini Stock team we screwed down what was left of the windshield and waited for the 2nd session.

On the track the car was everywhere. I thought we were loose last time out. The car was just wicked. It didn't matter how slow I rolled into the the throttle the rear wheels would spin and kick the rear end out. Back in the pits we took some stagger out and made a few other adjustments to tighten it up. We were able to get a 3rd hot lap session and the adjustments barley helped. I decided I would time in with the current set up and work on it from there.

We timed in at a 14.95. I didn't push the car because I needed points and spinning out wouldn't have done us any good. The time was good enough for 8th and the last spot in the 2nd heat.

In the heat I made it up to 2nd and started telling myself to stay here and just follow the 23. But, if you know me I always 2nd guess myself. The problem was the fact I was getting off the corner faster and would have to go outside to not run into the back of the leader and knock us both out. I got a really good run out of 2 and decided to try and take the lead. Well, in the heat of the moment I forgot how loose the car was and just mashed it in 4 and did a really nice 180 and managed to finish last.

While waiting in between races the crew decided to but our smaller carb on the car and leave everything else alone. We started the main in 15th. I worked the car up to 10th or 11th when my car decided to have a fireworks display inside. Remember the broken windshield. The kill switch started to hit the dash in the corners and acted like a rev limiter. About 2 or 3 laps later the car died when the wires started to melt and finally grounded out and put an end to our night.

It was one of those nights were you wanted to be so pissed off but all you could do was laugh. If you came back to see me after the races I am sorry I wasn't there. Rosie had to be to work at 6:30 the next morning so I took her home.

Congrats to BB for her first main win. And again sorry for hitting you Bud. I was trying to reach my kill switch.

8-18-07

2007-08-20T11:58:00.000-07:00

A nice hot humid day. Felt like it was well into the 100's in the sun.

We finished 2nd in our make up race from the last rain out nobody really seemed to be trying that hard and pretty much lined out and just ran.

When we went to stage for timing a nice storm moved in and the wind really picked up sending all the cars back to the pits. During this it is announced that we are not going to time in and then all the sudden we are told to get to staging to time in. The track was in no shape to run on but they sent us out anyways. We managed to run a neck snapping 15.43 good for 13th fastest.

We started 3rd in the 1st heat and finished 4th. The car started to lose power during the race and we were lucky to finish were we did.

In the main we started outside 4th row and finished 10th. The car started good and held the outside line for several laps before we were able to get down. As the race progressed the car became wicked loose and just seemed to get worse with every lap.

We managed to stay 6th.

8-4-07

2007-08-08T10:05:00.000-07:00

Sorry I just remembered to update this.LOL

If you didn't know we were rained out early in the night. We qualified at 14.995 which was good for 10th and put us in the 2nd heat race. I should have not second guessed myself before we timed in. I debated on loosening the car up but didn't and I paid for that.

We staged for our heat and the rain came for the 2nd or 3rd time and they ended up calling the races. We will run our heat race before qualifying on the 18th.

Enjoy the time off. See ya on the 18th.

7-28-07

2007-07-30T07:38:00.000-07:00

Not bad.

We didn't do any damage, didn't lose any points, of course from what I heard it didn't rain either.

The cancellation for the "potential" for rain was ok by me. A lot of teams including us needed a break. Instead of having our BBQ in the pits we did it at the house which was fun and more relaxing.

Well, see ya on the 4th.

Lost?

2007-07-25T07:59:00.000-07:00

I know some of you are lost on what is going on between myself and my wife. So, let me try to answer some questions.

I failed as a husband to acknowledge my wife when she meet me in the infield after winning the main. To say the least she was really pissed. I openly admit that I messed up and she has every right to feel the way she does and if part of that process is airing her anger on the forum then that's fine. After all that was her first main win as well and I robbed her of her moment.

My wife has sacrificed a lot and put up with a lot of late nights and everything else that goes along with running a race car. I have made the mistake of never thanking her for supporting me even when things weren't going so well at the track and keeping me in reality. For this I am truly thankful.

Wont forget this anytime soon!

2007-07-23T07:40:00.000-07:00

Were to start?

Ok we get to the track and make the first hot lap session. The car is missing a little at high speeds. Bill decides to adjust the carb some and adjust the timing. We missed the second round of hot laps but, we were lucky enough to have a brief 3rd. The car was better but not quite there. So, during the time leading up to qualifying the crew pulls and check the plugs and wires hunting for the problem. It wasn't a major issue really. The car was still fast it just wasn't accelerating like it normally would.

We went out 5th to qualify and ran 14.8 or a 14.9 I really don't remember. But, it was just good enough to land us on the pole for the Dash. Now here is were the fun really begins. This week the dash had a 6 car field for 6 laps. If you ever wanted to see dirt tracking on asphalt this was the race to watch. No one could pass because we were all pretty much sideways. We lead the Dash from start to finish. I was excited because this was my first win were I actually got to go to winners circle and get out of the car. If you remember my first dash win was on a rain shortened night and I received my trophy at the pit shack.

In the main we started 5th. In the early stages we were in 4th following the 88,24, and the 57. I managed to get the car to stick an the outside and we passed the 57 for 3rd. I don't remember what lap it was but we were coming up and the 38 and we came out of turn 4 and the 38 and 88 got together in a pretty good wreck. I know I had pucker marks on my seat and I wasn't involved. I was glad to see both drivers were ok. That left us in 2nd following the 24. I tried to get by on the outside but I couldn't get it to work. I was finally able to get by on the inside and took the lead while going through 3 and 4.

After taking the lead I started to run a faster line to try and get away from the field. I was succeeding and then of course the caution came out with 4 laps to go. You want to talk about a caution that took forever. On the restart I paid close attention to the board to see were the 8 car was. Lucky me he sitting in 4th. Why the 8 you ask. Ryan has the fastest car on the outside. If you watch him race you would know how good that car is out there. I managed to get a good restart and pulled away for the last four laps and won my first main.

See ya next week.

7-14-07

2007-07-16T09:29:00.000-07:00

This is by far the most screwed up day by far.

Saturday Morning I go out to check the car over and do some cosmetic work. Bill decides to change the oil around 10. Well, when he pulled the drain plug about 2 gallons of water came with it. Just what we needed to see when we are leaving for the track in a few hours.

I get on my phpone and start calling everyone to let them know we are not going to be running. While doing this it is decided to pull the heads and see if we just lost a head gasket or something simple.

So, we rally up the troops and I head to the shop to grab a set of heads and some tools. When I get back they had found were the water had been running out of the exaust on one of the heads. When we pulled the head we checked the cylinder and didn't see any cracks. So, we pulled the exhaust valve and notice a small hole in the side just above the seat. Knowing that we are crunched for time we decided to change the one head and run it that way for the night.

I finally arrive at the track around 4:20 and catch the end of the drivers meeting. The car showed up about 30 minutes later. So, here we sit with a car with 64 cc head on one side and a 76 cc on the other. As I was getting ready to time in Bill said if I hear anything bad to shut the motor off. Ok not a problem...... Problem, I had 2 different exhaust tones in the car. Man that sounded weird.

Anyways we go and time in. My first lap I notice the car was surging while it accelerated. The first lap was a wicked 15.02. Once I saw that I started to push it harder and felt I turned a good lap except they didn't get it. So, I went back around and took my last lap and ran 14.85 which put us outside pole for the dash.

Once we were back in the pits the crew started to adjust valves to try and cure the surge. So, of to the dash we go. Well, like always pretty boring and uneventful. We started 2nd and finished 3rd. The surge was still there so the decision was made to work on the carb. Shortly after it started to rain.

In the main we started 10th. After we take the green the 33 and the 99 hit and the 99 spins. This sent the 33 to the back and the 99 went of with a flat. Cool! we already gained 2 spots. So we finally go racing and sat behind the 1 car the whole race. With the surge all I could do was follow and hope someone in front of us broke or spun out. The 88 was meat balled I believe and that moved us to 7th were we finished.

Over all it wasn't bad. We moved to 9th in points. We should have the surge fixed by next week and the heads corrected.

Update

2007-07-13T08:36:00.001-07:00

The car is back from the body shop and should be ready for tomorrow. See ya there.

Car counts and purse money

2007-07-10T08:00:00.000-07:00

I feel it is time for the track to start spreading the love to the classes that deserve it. By deserve I mean the classes that are growing or maintaining numbers. Lets face it, the Late Model class just needs to be shot and put out of it's misery. This class pays more for first place then the top 5 as a whole in most classes. I don't know about you but I have no interest in watching a 7 to 9 car train. Then you have the GAMs. This class went from around 30 plus cars last season to only being able to field a main of 14 even after 16 showed. I will concede the fact the GAMs basically try to destroy each other every night and that chases a lot of drivers away.

Ok, call me prejudice. I drive in the Streets were our numbers keep growing and are going to increase even more with the new engine rules coming out. This class is also the second lowest paid class next to the Hornets. To win our main nets a whole whooping $175 last pays $20. Hell, at least you could give the driver his money back from the gate fee.

I would just like to see the purse distributed more on car count.

New crew cheif

2007-07-03T09:48:00.000-07:00

Critical Mass Racing would like to introduce Mackenzie (Mac) Good as the new Crew Chief of the CMR 66 Olds. Mac comes to the organization with youth and new ideas. His main motto is "If your not on the board, your not doing good."

New motor rules

2007-07-03T08:33:00.000-07:00

I am one of the few that is actually glad to see that the track is finally taking some control of this class. When I first joined this class in 2004, I never expected that I would go from running $1000 motors to $5000 ones. It is kinda funny when you sit here and think back. In 04 a 15.9 car was super fast. Now a few years later we are running in the low 14's.

Let me clarify my numbers. I have included the labor involved in putting these motors together. If you remove the labor then you are actually looking at $500 and $3000. Yes I know there is a discrepancy there. You have to remember with a more high performance motor there is more attention detail.

My concern is that this unseen rules package is surly going to bunch the cars back up making for tighter racing. With this in mind are we going to be allowed to make the cars them selves more durable? Lets use Saturday as an example. When we hit the 1 car it wasn't a big hit but it did bend the frame on my car. I have hit the wall harder and did less damage. I just don't want to see it go the other direction were you lose cars because of the damage they sustain not the cost of being competitive.

6-30-07

2007-07-02T11:04:00.000-07:00

50 laper night!

Nice hot day. I guess it could have been hotter but it was hot enough. During hot laps we worked on tightening up the car a little. If you haven't notice we have been loose off and the condition only worsened as the tires warmed up. With the new setup we qualified 4th and finished the Dash in 5th place. The car handled a little better then it had been.

During the down time between races, the crew continued to work on the setup and prepare the car for the main. Lucky me. We started dead smack in the middle of the field for the main. During the first 25 laps or so we gained a few spots and lost a few when I over drove the car. As the laps went by we slowly made our towards the front of the field. On lap 39 I was behind the 11 and the 1 battling for either 4th or 5th I am not sure which. We came out of 4 and the two of them were a little out of shape and going towards the wall. I drove the car under them. That's when like usual all hell breaks lose for us.

The 1 car pulled down while trying to save his car and we hit pretty good sending us to the infield. I brought the car back on the track and spun in 3 and 4. i figured I had cut a tire. I later found that the hit slide the radiator over into the fan and we slide on our own water. We ended up watching the race from the infield. I am not sure were we finished. I really don't want to know. If I were to guess I would say probably our usual 15th or 16th. But, we did manage to stay 10th in points.

Sunday afternoon we went to check the damage and as we knew the radiator was gone. But, we didn't expect to find the bent frame. We will have the car to the body shop this week and have the car ready for the next race on the 14th.

Before I go I just want say a big THANK YOU to Les and Troy from General Lawn Care In Pueblo. These two guys have dumped time and money into this team like no other sponsor I have had. At times I feel the are just beating a dead horse but, sooner or later we will start to get those breaks in our direction and it will start to pay off. Again Thank you.

6-23-07

2007-06-25T08:22:00.000-07:00

Damn I am tired of body work. We qualified 7th at 14.89 which put us outside pole for the dash. We tangled with another car and we were both sent to the rear were we finished 6th.

In the main we started 8th and sat in 5th or 6th for the majority of the race. On lap 21 we were pinched down in the 3 and 4. I did what I could to back out and the car coming down spun. The caution for some reason didn't come out until we were already going down the back stretch. I was sent to the rear for reasons still unknown. On the last lap I went into 3 to hard and spun finishing the night in 15th. We went from 9th to 10th in points.

I would like to welcome our newest sponsor CJ's construction to the team.

6-16-07

2007-06-18T09:49:00.000-07:00

Rough night! We qualified at a personal best 14.55 which put us 4th in the dash which is the same place we finished after a nice train race around the bottom of the track.

In the main we started 12th and found ourselves in 6th after 5 laps. the opportunity to move into 5th presented it self but, we ran short of real estate on the first try and backed out. The next time we tried we were slammed to the infield even though we had position. After spinning out and being at the rear we quickly started to move back through the field and had the same thing happen again by a different car. When I did manage to get up beside the car I had already blew my temper and slammed into the side of the car. This was uncalled for on my part. Shortly after we caught the Field and a caution came out. I hadn't been paying attention to my gauges and all the sudden I couldn't see out the windshield and pulled into the infield ending my night with an extremely over heated motor. We finished 16th.

It has come plainly obvious that we have some people who insist on mirror driving and flat out not giving anyone a chance to get by them. It's plainly obvious when you change your line and the car in front of you does the same. I know pass outside. That's kinda hard to do when the person in front of you decides to drive in between the grooves and not give you room to race.

Several drivers have decided this is going to be a demo derby season and are starting to prepare our cars for it. I don't want to go back to being the aggressive driver I was a couple years back but, it looks like I am going to have no choice. So, if this is the route this class is going to take then I suggest you stock up on spare parts because I already have.

Ready to go!

2007-06-13T12:54:00.000-07:00

The car is fixed and ready to go for this Saturday. We had to replace the upper control arm and upper ball joint. This afternoon I will put some goodies on the car that were purchased by Les from General Lawn Care. No I am not going to tell you what goodies.LOL See ya Saturday.

New Picture

2007-06-05T10:01:00.001-07:00

6-2-07

2007-06-04T14:55:00.000-07:00

We timed in at a 14.8 which put us 7th and outside pole for the Dash. After a few laps the pole car wasn't present so I acquired the pole. We took the green and I was in the lead. Mainly concentrating on staying smooth and not spinning out and looking like a fool I noticed Bruce hanging over the railing telling me to slow down. I then looked in the mirror and noticed the considerable lead of about 3/4 of a straight over the 3 car. We went on to win our first Trophy Dash. The only downer was having to go to the pit shack to get my trophy thanks to the rain.

In the main we started about mid field. On lap 2 we had gained a couple of spots then going in to 1 we were spun and hit a couple of times. No one can say for sure what or who caused the accident. I started the car back up and noticed the steering was of course out of whack. But, it still turned left and the only thing I could feel was what I thought to be a bent rim. After a few laps the 88 pulls up beside me and points to the tire. I assumed it was going flat. I proceeded to stop in 4 to have the corner flagman take a look. He said the tire was fine but leaning in. So, I took my place in the restart and went back to racing.

The car was handling great and we caught back up to what was left of the dash cars. I then thought I saw a Meatball. So, the next time around I looked again. Yup! Shit! So, I went to the pits. Come to find out we bent the upper control arm all the way to the frame. We finished a wonderful 19th and fell to 10th in points. But, Hey we won the DASH!

Update 6-1

2007-06-01T08:28:00.001-07:00

The new parts for the motor are here. We will pull an all niter and have the car ready to race tomorrow. See ya Saturday!

Damn!!!

2007-05-28T08:35:00.000-07:00

My dad asked me Saturday night if I had planned on working Monday. I said yeah, I planned on working on the car. His reply was not what I wanted to hear. He said Good! You can pull the motor out.....

Well, on Saturday he cut the oil filter open and found a lot of metal flake in it. Now, I get the special privilege of pulling the motor and seeing what went wrong. I will update this when I know more. If all else fails I will ask Chad if I can borrow a motor.......LOL

May 19th

2007-05-21T08:13:00.000-07:00

A day to forget! I really don't want to talk about it so here's a quick recap
Qualified at a blistering 15.2 on seven cylinders.
Scratched our time.
Took out the 19 in the heat and was black flagged. (Sorry Mitch)
Started 15th in the main and finished 10th. We did make it back to the mid 14's during the main.
No my car didn't appreciate the mud facial after spinning in 3 and 4 and going through lake I25.

May 12th opening night

2007-05-14T06:53:00.000-07:00

WOW! That was a blast!

We qualified 2nd with a 14.7 and started the Trophy Dash on the inside of the last row. After spending a few laps watching Chad (99) having some handling issues, I decided to go ahead and try to get by him. A few donuts later we managed to finish 4th out of an 8 car dash. Which to me was pretty good.

The fun part was the fact that this was one of the rare times when my crew had nothing really to do to the car before we staged for the main. At times it seemed like they didn't know what to do. LOL. Guess you had to be there.

In the main everything we going alright until somewhere between the first and second caution. The car started missing and sputtering coming off the corners and down the straights. This left me with enough car to defend my position and nothing else. We managed to finish 8th after starting 9th. Once in the pit we started to look the car over and we found the problem. The spring that holds the secondary butterflies closed broke. This allowed the secondary metering rods to stay open and just dump fuel. So, that will be an easy fix.

The night went really smooth for opening night. I was really impressed. The track was good but, the second groove right now doesn't seem to be much better then last year. That should come around in a few more weeks as some rubber gets laid down.

Well, Have a good week and we will see you Saturday.

Hot laps May 5th

2007-05-07T07:04:00.000-07:00

We have the car set up! I think....... We managed to get the car into the 14's this weekend. But, I am not sure of it yet. Saturday was a mix of sun and clouds and the track was a lot cooler then the previous weekend. Makes you wonder how the car is going to handle on a hot track. We had one solo lap at 14.5 and the rest were in the 14.9 range due to running into other cars.

Good luck to everyone and see you Saturday when we can do this for real.

New Season

2007-05-04T07:19:00.000-07:00

Here we go! Now is the time of year that you start wondering how the season is going to shake out. You ask yourself am I fast enough? How fast am I compared to others? Is Gary going to be able to drive the 32 like LJ? How am I going to dodge all the rookies?(All vets ask that question)LOL

A lot of these questions will be answered for many by the end of the last practice session tomorrow. Some will be happy and some will realize they have a ways to go. But, one thing is for certain in this class. Regardless of where you fall in the scale of speed or experience you will find yourself in some of the tightest door to door racing this track has to offer.

4-28-07

2007-04-30T07:18:00.000-07:00

Well, we hot lapped on Saturday. We really were just messing around a bit and breaking in the motor. With not messing with the set up a whole lot we ran anywhere from 15.17 to around 15.4.

The track is going to take some getting used to. I think I spun the car around about 10 - 15 times. The problem was figuring out where to shut down for the corner.

I give the White Bros. congrats on an excellent job with the racing surface. This should be an exciting season. We will be out on the 5th and will work on the setup.

Update

2007-04-25T15:49:00.000-07:00

The car is semi together and should be ready for hot laps this weekend. I added a picture so you can see the one change that was made. See ya Saturday.

Update

2007-04-04T12:33:00.000-07:00

Congrats to the White Bros for getting the track done. This should be an exciting season.

Right now the car has progressed no further then the last time I posted. Currently we are waiting for the machine shop to finish the motor.

From my count our class has grown by 3 to 4 cars. Which is good. But, it's also 3-4 more cars that have to go home when they don't make the main. Maybe one day they will do something about that.

New Season

2007-01-16T08:10:00.000-07:00

I guess it is that time again. Sorry I didn't up date this like I had Promised.

The car is currently tore down and being prepared for the up coming season. The team has had some rather lengthy conversations on what setup to start with for the new track configuration. The new asphalt is going to make for a real exciting season.

I will post some pictures of the car as progress is made. As of right now there are no plans on changing the paint scheme.

I would like to welcome Good and Sons Automotive, General Lawn Care, Strickland Flooring, and Valley Bowl back for the 2007 season.

Finally over

2006-10-03T11:37:00.000-07:00

I have to say that I am happy to be done for the year. I don't remember having this much go wrong in one season.

Now the thanks

Thank you to my wife for putting up with so much this year. You were the one who kept me in the real world.

I would like to thank all of my sponsors.
Good and Sons Automotive Inc.
General Lawn Care
Dennis Blackwell Bail Bonds
Small House Blues Band
Valley Bowl
Strickland Flooring
Federico and Associates

And my crew

Bill - Engine and mechanical
Bruce - Set up
Les - Body
Zac - Floater
Last but not least Troy. Troy is the best crew member any driver would be proud to have. He ran after fuel,tires, scavenged for parts, kept me from flipping my lid when things didn't go right. Yeah he was basically my bitch. LOL

I will update this every now and then through the winter. See ya around.

BBBBRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!

2006-09-25T07:39:00.000-07:00

Damn it was cold on Saturday. We lost a shock during hot laps and fixed the problem to set a new best of 15.257. That was good enough for 11th in time. In the heat we found a spot in the lower groove were there is actually grip and stayed there. In the main we started 14th and finished 10th for the second weekend in a row. With no grip on the upper groove all you could do was sit and wait for someone to mess up and get under them. I sure hope something is done during the off season to help fix the problem. See ya Saturday.

9-20-06

2006-09-21T15:37:00.000-07:00

Ok fixing one problem cured the other. Its a weight transfer thing. See ya Saturday.

9-16-06

2006-09-19T07:53:00.000-07:00

Finally a chance to race. I am not sure what was wrong with the car. We had a loose/push condition. I think it was from the stumble in the carb on exit that threw off the weight transfer and caused it. But, I am not going to complain about a 10th place finish. The way the car was I thought that was damn good. We will take the car to hot lap on Wed. and see if we can get the carb straightened out and if that did cause our problem. I will update later this week.

Rain

2006-08-29T15:03:00.000-07:00

Due to the lack of dry weather, there is really nothing to update. I just don't like the fact that our class and a couple others have to sit for 5 to 6 weeks without any racing because the ownerships lack of wanting to do any type of make ups. We are considering running just the 50 laper and finishing the season running in the Frontier Classic at Big Country. The weather and lack of make ups basically eliminated us from regaining a position in the top 10. We would have needed every night possible to do so but at the time we felt we could do it.
Anyways good luck to the guys running in Wyoming this weekend.

Metrics

2006-08-12T11:55:00.000-07:00

I think the track will change the wheel base rule to accommodate the metric cars. I personally would rather have 6 or 7 upset drivers then 17. If they don't our team is prepared to jump to the supers and run at the back of their class for the remainder of the season.

I feel this all came as a surprise to a lot of people because nobody bothered to measure their wheel base. I know we didn't. The Olds is longer then last years car so we figured the wheel base was ok. Oh well such is life.

In other news, several drivers have made the suggestion of running 30 laps and going with a true inversion. I have absolutely no problem with this idea. But convince the owners is another story. I think the best idea is to go to an A and B mains. You just split the field in two by times and have 2 mains. You lower the pay a little for the A and pay less in the B. That way drivers would still want to make the A field. Or just pay the top 5 in the B. Ok enough rambling from me. Y'all have a good weekend.

Remember, you can't have 2 #1's because that's an 11.

Now that feels better

2006-08-08T13:24:00.000-07:00

Well finally our luck seems to have changed a bit. All of our problems occurred before the main this time. We arrived at the track in time to qualify and ran a 15.5 something. The car had a heavy balk when accelerating out of the corner and didn't help. The crew worked on the car and we managed to stay out of the last chance race for a change. In the main I ruined what would have been a good finish by being to aggressive and spinning the car. But eventually we hooked up to the rear of the 14 (Sopko) and marched from last to finish 14th. We should have finished a little higher but we took a shot in the left front in turn one and had to drive the last few laps with a flat tire. Right now I can say the car and the team are back to where we left off after the first two nights of the season. It was fun to know that we had the speed to follow Bud and not lose any ground on him. Catching him? Well that's a different story.
I hope the guys and lady in the class realized that it is a blast to run flag to flag and not wreck every other lap. It makes for a really fun night and allows you to actually pass and battle your way through.

ENOUGH ALREADY!

2006-07-31T08:08:00.000-07:00

Ok whoever has the curse on my car would you please remove it!

Well, I truly don't now where to start. We busted our butts to get the car ready to race. We hot lap with no problems and time in rather well. But, like usual it doesn't last. We have problems that are so weird I really can't explain them. I decided to pull the car out of the main so I wouldn't get into a situation were we would risk damaging the car or someone else's. I apologize to our fans and sponsors for the lack of a competitive car.

I and I am sure a few other drivers would agree that the "Heat is on" campaigns at the track is a total joke. I sat behind a car in the heats and watched as he literally beat the doors off the car in front of him to get by. This has got to be stopped. If it is the only way you know how to get by a car then you need to learn to drive or get the hell off the track and go sit in the stands. Because that is where you belong.

The track needs to step up and hold true on their word. Saturday night was bad enough and should prove a point. I just feel it is going to take something serious and its not going to be a heart attack.

Update

2006-07-28T11:52:00.000-07:00

We are ready as we are going to be. We basically replaced the whole top end on the motor. Replaced the left front upper control arm and the right front spindle. As hard as the hit into the wall was I am surprised at what little damage there was. See ya tomorrow.

July 15th

2006-07-18T10:28:00.000-07:00

Well after a mad dash to get the car to the track we managed to get in one hot lap session in before timing in. If you happened to see that session you would have heard what sounded like a John Deere tractor going around the track. In the rush to get the motor done someone forgot to glue in the rocker arm studs. So, the crew makes its first attack on the car so we can make it in time to qualify.

We qualified around 15.90 and went ahead and scratched our time because the car still wasn't running up to par. So, off to the heats we go. Now this is where the shit hits the fan. I was battling the 88 on the outside heading into 3 and 4 to my surprise run into a mass of cars down in the bottom groove. I drifted out to the wall to get by when I get slammed in the left front tire by the 88 and then into the wall. I guess he forgot I was there.

Now I have to hand it to the crew. We had a short turn around before the last chance and they managed to pull the car together the best they could and we made the race. I have never drove a car that handled so bad. If the race had been 5 laps longer the 43 would have caught us.

In the main we decided it would be best to sit back and stay out of trouble and gain what positions we could. We started last and finished 14th.

The motor was seriously lacking in HP. We will try to change that during the down time before our next race.

Update

2006-07-13T08:10:00.000-07:00

The machine shop work will be done by this afternoon leaving us plenty of time to put the car back together. Given we have no set backs we will be racing Saturday.

Rush Hour

2006-07-10T13:50:00.000-07:00

Well, with a little help from a couple of distant fans and a week of late nights we just might be able to run this weekend. I would like to thank Bill for some needed parts and my brother for the needed financial assistance to get things rolling. Everything is at the machine shop. With any luck we will have our motor back in a day or 2 and we will be on our way to putting every thing back together.

Out with a BANG!

2006-07-03T10:40:00.000-07:00

I don't mind blowing up a motor during a race but During hot laps that just sucks. The motor was running ok and didn't give any indications of having problem. I exited 4 and headed for the track exit. As I lifted off the gas I heard a pop and that was it. Here are some nice photos. The number 6 piston is in the cylinder wall and number five 5 has no cylinder wall. With the rods being bent and not broke we figured the cam broke and fell into the rotating assembly. The back of the cam went out of the motor taking a chunk of block with it. I am working at the moment to acquire a motor so we don't miss anymore nights. I will post more when I have more info.

HHHHMMMMM?

2006-06-28T10:43:00.000-07:00

Just trying to figure out whose Stroker parts those were sitting on the bench at the machine shop. Nice looking pop up pistons. It was mentioned it was for a street stock but the conversation stopped short of the name. HHHMMMM?

The car is back together and running. We have a lot going on today so hot laps are out of the question at the moment. So, we will see ya on Saturday.

Statement

2006-06-20T15:18:00.000-07:00

It is my belief that every car in this class is legal until proven otherwise. This holds true to the 99 and the 5. These cars simply used a right given to them by rule to decline being teched. Knowing full well the penalties of such actions. That's all. Some people are confusing this with a claim. By rule a claim or protest can only be filed by a driver or promoter. This was simply a tech issue nothing more. The decline to be teched does not automatically make one guilty. Hell, for all any of use know Chad and or Mike may have had plans and didn't have time to do a tear down. I know the question you are going to ask next. Yes some of do make plans after racing. Hey the last time I checked the bars don't close until 2am. Ok I will get off of my soap box now.

The parts to fix the car should be here this week. We plan on having it put back together so we can go hot lap the car on wed. to make sure we have fixed our problem.

Update

2006-06-14T11:54:00.000-07:00

Well its Wednesday and we haven't started on the car yet. It is still sitting on the trailer at home. Unfortunately it looks like we will be spectating this weekend instead of running. I did work on it a little Monday night. All we managed to do is confirm that we are still leaking from somewhere.

2006-06-11T18:03:00.000-07:00

This picture courtesy of Envision Photographix pretty much sums up our night. Though We did have some positives. We timed in at new best 15.47 which was good enough fro 10th in qualifying. We also won the last chance race by a cosiderable margin. Though that is not really something to be proud of considering we should not have been in it to begin with. Let me explain.

We started the heat race 3rd row inside. We took the green and we hit 1 and 2 and I get a push from behind which pushes the front of the car to the right and the 00 on the outside was pinching in a little and the result was what you see in the picture. So, We get a the car back together in time to catch the last chance and other then making sure I didn't break out was nothing of interest. I think we won by 4 or 5 seconds I'm not sure.

In the main we started towards the back and during the early part of the race I went high into 3 and 4 way to fast and turn the car around bringing out the caution. So from the back we were running down some cars and the car was running hot again. Hoping the race would run green it didn't happen. The caution came out when the 34 got turned around. The temp gauge pegged and we started pushing out water and that pretty much ended our night. I believe we finished last.

Running next week is up in the air. We need to find out why we are still over heating. We thought we had found the problem but evidently not. Plus, its the general consensus with the team we need to find more ponies to get away from the slower cars. Which would take money that we currently do not have. I will keep this updated with our progress.

Update

2006-06-06T18:41:00.000-07:00

As expected the car was trying its hardest to run on water. Which doesn't work to well. Unless something else pops up we will be out this Saturday.

Recap

2006-06-01T08:46:00.000-07:00

I really don't know what to say at this point in time. The car is hurt and we are not sure what it is. In away I feel it doesn't matter. When you get disrespected by the track it kinda takes some of the fun out of it. And when you bring the topic up none of the other drivers have the courage to support you. This is upsetting to me to know that so many people are willing to sit there and get kicked around and not stand up for anything. I guess I will have to start watching who I help at the track and who I don't. I just have to assume that they are afraid of setting the wrong image to the fans. If that's the case then the majority of the time you are lying to the fans and yourself which makes you look even worse.

Anyways back to the car. I believe we are going to try and make it out for the race on the 13th. I have family coming in for that weekend. As for future dates the subject remains up in the air. We have had a few discussions of running at other tracks or just calling it a season. I feel the $300 to $400 I spend a night would be better off somewhere else.

May 27th

2006-05-25T17:36:00.000-07:00

If the track returns to the two groove monster of the past. We will know by the end of the weekend what kinda car we truly have. With the track being basically one groove the past couple of weekends I think some people and drivers have been deceived into thinking they are fast or slow. I feel if the treatment for the track has more grip as advertised I believe we will be ok. The car has been really loose if you didn't notice on the 6th. More grip should play into our favor. But, only time will tell. Nothing major to report on the car this week. Just a little bumper work and some spray paint touch up is all oh and a new temp gauge. I was tired of looking at it on red flags and it peg out at 280. Which at that point you would be spewing water every where. Well, I notice Chad Nelson was given the track record for his time on the 6th. So congrats Chad! And hopefully we wont have to have a bullshit session in the infield this weekend. See ya all this weekend.

May 20th recap

2006-05-22T07:28:00.000-07:00

Well talk about a repeat performance. We won our heat race when the 59 car broke out about 3 laps in and I found my self in a familiar situation of running 1-2 with Gary Cortese. In the main I lead for 5 or 6 laps before the faster cars managed to break out from the pack and basically eliminate what distance I had managed to pull away in a matter of a couple of laps. After a couple long cautions I found myself chasing my car more then driving it. This lead to some hairy moments and a caution when while catching the car I was helped by another driver and found myself facing on coming traffic. Which was not cool at all. Of course my eyes were closed. LOL When it was all said and done we managed to finish 3rd behind the 32 (LJ) and the 99 (Chad). As a result we moved from 6th in points to 3rd.

Time again

2006-05-19T11:30:00.000-07:00

Well its time for racing again for the Streets. Basically today we are just doing a check over for tomorrows racing. Like it has been said "Its the little things". We are going to try a few things during hot laps to see if we can gain a 10th or two. To make up the ground to put us back in the top 10 like we normally are will take a more aggressive approach which will likely happen when we have the money to do it. Over all the car is good shape. Its nice not having to do any body work. I picked up some shirts for give aways so have your programs ready. And make sure someone is not sleeping on it. See ya tomorrow.

Good night

2006-05-07T16:18:00.000-07:00

I guess I will just start this from hot laps. I went out for the first hot lap session and the car was more controllable but still a little on the loose side. In between sessions we changed the some stuff to try and tighten it up a little more. This helped a little. We tightened it up just a twench more and went out to qualify. I cannot express the feeling of running a 15.6 lap and then find out you are sitting around 15th or so in qualifying. The car was more to my liking during qualifying and we decided not to change it for our heat race. On to the heats!!!! After waiting for a no show we moved up a spot before the flag even drops. In front of me on the pole is Jerry Odom the 43 car. We take the green flag and we head into 1 & 2. As we started to exit the corner the front cars started to slide up the track and I proceeded to take full advantage of the situation making us 3 wide going into turn 3. Late in the race the car started to push a little. The crew loosened up the car for the start of the main. In the main we started on the pole and had an amazing battle between myself, Gary Cortese and Kelly Balderston. Gary finally got me when I pushed out just a little to much on a restart. Since the track is basically a 1 groove track for our class there really wasn't much I could do except follow Gary and wait for him to make a mistake. Around lap 20 LJ finally appeared on the outside and placed me in third where we finished the night.

Thank you

2006-05-07T16:07:00.000-07:00

Before I get going I have to thank Mike Framel and Jason Leimkuhl for coming to the shop late on Friday to scale the car and help get our weight situated in the car. With out their help last night would have been a different story.

Here we go!

2006-05-04T20:14:00.000-07:00

I figured with the season getting ready to start in a couple days I would give a sneak peak at the car. The only thing missing is the graphic for General Lawn Care. I also want to plug a couple more sponsors for the season. Strickland Floors and Valley Bowl. Valley will actually have some nice give aways so pay attention. I will update this either every Thursday or Friday before we race and give a recap for the weekend on Sunday or Monday. So, needless to say its only Thursday but the juices are already flowing. Kinda starting to get pumped and ready to go. I believe we have all of our problems with the car fixed at this time. The only thing that we never got a chance to work on during hot laps was a true set up. I plan on getting to the track early enough to catch all of the hot laps prior to qualifing to work on that. The only thing that I'm bumb about right now is the fact that I wont have pictures to hand out the first night. This season should be really interesting. We 30+ regstered cars in our class fighting for a spot in a 20 car main. Then trow in a large number of rookies should make things pretty interesting to say the least. Now I'm not bashing the rookies because we all started out that way. You just have to understand that running around in hot laps is totally different then racing. People pass you cleaner and give more room in hot laps. That all ends when the flag drops.

The unibody gods must be pissed!

2006-05-01T08:40:00.000-07:00

The unibody gods must be mad at me for switching to a metric car. We went Saturday to run and the only highlight was getting my graphixs from Mike. I took the car out and it was basically a pile. Our miss came back to visit us. We made a few runs and then loaded up to go work on it. While working on it we notice we had pulled four rocker arm studs on three cylinders. Knowing the cause of our problem all I can say was we had the fastest 5 cylinder out there. With very little sleep we went out Sunday to run it and did rather well with the exception of spinning 5 or 6 times in 3 & 4. If you must know (and most of you only want to know this part) we tip toed through the corners averaging around 15.9 then proceeded to cook the tranny. Just think the season hasn't even started.

Update

2006-04-28T12:36:00.000-07:00

Well, as I type this the rearend is having new gears installed. If the weather behaves for tomorrow we should have somewhat of an idea as to how good of a car we have. After I get done with this I will probably decide what tires and what setup to use to start the session off with. I will post information Sat night or Sunday on how the session went. As of this moment the plan is to be out for both sessions this weekend.

Critical Mass Racing

We're moving

Update

New season approaches

What! It better be made of gold!

Lets get real

Yeah! last night

Here we go again.

What can you do?

8-9-08

Just Unloading

7-26-08

7-19-08

My Space

Big THANKS

7-5-08

Update

6-28-07

6-21-08

6-7-08

HUH? Say what?

Really Good Night!

Good Night

Nothin a little Bondo wont fix

Opening night

Waste of fuel

4-25-08

Hot laps update

Good to go for hot laps

More pics

My young fans

No hot laps

Media coverage

Still the best video

It's alive!

Pics

Running out of time

Sponsors

OK enough emails

Wish upon a hero

Is it time to race yet?????

This and that

Yeah last night

9-15-07

Picture of damage from 9-8

9-8-07

Hot laps

8-25-07

8-18-07

8-4-07

7-28-07

Lost?

Wont forget this anytime soon!

7-14-07

Update

Car counts and purse money

New crew cheif

New motor rules

6-30-07

6-23-07

6-16-07

Ready to go!

New Picture

6-2-07

Update 6-1

Damn!!!

May 19th

May 12th opening night

Hot laps May 5th

New Season

4-28-07

Update

Update

New Season

Finally over

BBBBRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!

9-20-06

9-16-06

Rain

Metrics