Saturday May 9th
Well the first night was not too bad overall.
We ran some hot laps and the car had soft brakes and ran hot. When
we took the hood off after hot laps we had oil everywhere under the hood.
A bolt had been left out of the front of the block and sprayed oil on everything.
Of course, on a dirt track, dirt stuck to all that oil making a huge mess
(I spent hours cleaning it today!) We opened the front a little to
help the cooling, then bled the brakes and that fixed them, and we put
a bolt in the front of the block and that fixed our oil leak. The car handled
well in hot laps on a tacky track.
We lined up 6th in the heat race and moved to 3rd
on the first lap. About mid-race we moved past the 2nd place car
and began working on the leader. The car really was not that good
as it was so loose off the turns I could not get a good run off the turn.
I would pull along side the leader going in the turn, but could not get
the car off the turn and he would pull away. I got a good run on
the last lap and we crossed the line nearly door to door...but he won by
a nose.
We drew the pole (number 1 starting position) for
the feature and the track was VERY dry slick. Starting in the front
on a track like that is the best. But even with a wedge and air pressure
adjustment the car still was way too loose off the turns and I lost the
lead right at the start. I did get door to door a few times but could
not get by. Late in the race my tires really started to overheat
from spinning while trying to get traction off the turns and I got passed
by the 3rd place car (3R) with just 3 laps to go. The leader (78x)
then lost a cylinder on the last lap and 3R won the race. The 78x
car held on for second and we came home a respectable 3rd with a very poor
handling race car. The front did prove to be the place to be as there
were 6 caution flags in the race for spins and crashes behind us.
This was the first race of the season and we have shaken down the bugs
and can start fine tuning the handling. We did run hot again in the
feature so we made some modifications to the nose today to tunnel the air
better and that should help.
Saturday May 16th
We made several adjustments to the car this week
to try to make it better and it worked. We are still a little loose,
but with 85 degree temps outside we did not run hot, so that is fixed.
We will take a little more stagger out this week to tighten it up just
a touch more and it should be even better. We started 6th in the
heat race and after 2 laps were running a strong 5th. But I had 4
very good cars ahead of me and they only take the top 4 to the main.
The track was VERY dry slick and I tried running high, low, and in the
middle, but could not get a line to work past any of them. Finally with
just a few laps to go I decided to go really low, I had to try something,
I had nothing to loose as I was not in a transfer position. It worked,
I found good bite and moved up to third by the end of the race.
I drew the number 8 starting spot for the feature.
The track was as black as pavement and slippery as wet ice for the feature.
I felt if I could get to the bottom like I did in the heat race I could
get to the front. I lost a couple spots on the start as I looked
for an opening to the bottom of the track. I got down to the bottom
as soon as I could and started making my way to the front. I got
to 4th before the only caution of the race came out. On the restart
I moved to 3rd and started after the leaders. They has started 1st
and 3rd respectively. I caught them with just a few laps to go and managed
to pull along side the leader in the turns a few times, but they had the
momentum off the top of the turn and would pull back out on me. But
I was making up ground every turn. I was very disappointed to see
the white flag. I needed more laps. At the finish I was door
to door with the second place car, but he beat me by a nose. Third
is not bad though, especially coming from eighth on a dry slick track.
Saturday May 23rd
As of tonight, our car is not as pretty as it was
the first night! First war wounds of the season. The track
was not very well packed at race time and there was basically only one
lane to run on. I started outside the front row of the first heat,
I knew that if I had to run the first heat this was the place to be because
I was in the one good line and could get away early and lead the race.
Well, the pole sitter knew I would do this so he jumped the start and slid
up in front of me in turn 4 coming around to take the green flag, he tried
so hard that he crossed it up in front of me, I checked up and 3 cars went
by. I flew down the front stretch and into turn one but one of the
cars spun and the car ahead of me hit him, I had nowhere to go and ran
into the back of that car, his nose whipped around and hit the door of
my car. It basically bent in the right front corner and passenger
door. I made a quick stop at the pit and my dad pulled the fender
off the tire so I could continue. But they threw the green before
I got back to the front row, so I ended up starting 5th. The race
went caution free from there and I made it to third. The damage
appeared only cosmetic as the car ran well. We spent a couple hours
in between races bending the bumper and fender back enough to get the hood
back on right and keep the fender off the tire. We also checked the
front suspension out and checked toe out to make sure nothing was bent.
I went right under his car and it even bent the hood pin over on the right
front, but did not crack the fiberglass hood, it bent quite a bit without
breaking.
I started 5th in the feature and moved up to 3rd
within a couple laps and ran most of the race in 3rd, before falling to
4th. The car was not hooked up very well off the turns and I was
trying to run too low on the track. I moved up a lane on the restart
and the car was much better as I was pushing the leaders, but could not
get by. We managed a 3rd and a 4th with a bent up car, not too bad
for the night. Still trying to find the elusive first win of 1998,
it is coming. We spent all day Sunday and Memorial Day rebuilding
the door bar, nurf bar, and front bumper. We got the body looking
very close to new and the car looks good and is race ready again.
We also performed our standard weekly maintenance which is a list of about
30 things that we do and check. But that keeps us at the front each
weekend. I may try a softer right rear spring this week to get the
car to roll and transfer more weight to the right rear and see if I can't
plant that tire better coming off the turns.
Saturday May 30th
We led only one lap tonight...the last lap!!!
The night started with a 6th place start in the
heat race and I ran 6th most of the race. With 2 laps to go I moved
to 5th, and coming off turn four to the checkered flag I managed to make
the pass for forth. This was the last transfer spot to make the feature.
We lined up 14th in the 20 car field for the feature.
Our class is an extremely competitive class and nearly everyone in the
feature is capable of winning on any given night. I really figured
I would be happy to stay out of trouble and make the top ten starting so
far back. But the car was flawless as I started picking my way to
the front. At a mid-race caution I was up to 6th and really felt
like with the car working so well I could make it to the front if I did
not run out of laps first. These are only 15 lap features and I started
14th. The caution again flew with 2 laps to go and I had made it
to 2nd. When the race restarted I moved up along side the leader
and we were door to door at the white flag. I got good bite off both
turns and was a car length ahead at the checkered flag. This was
a great way to win our first race of the year. I have never won a
race from so deep in the field, but the car handled fantastic and the track
had come to me and my setup just worked.
Saturday June 6th
We started 3rd in our heat race, and we had a very
fast heat race as 7 of the top 10 in points were in our heat. The
7 of us put on quite a show too with only the top 4 transferring to the
main, all 7 of us wanted to be in the top 4. I fell to 4th, then
moved back up to 3rd, and then fell back to 4th and held onto the spot.
A dirt track is much different at feature time then it is at heat race
time. I have my car setup for the feature, not the heat race.
So we struggle a little in the heats as the car does not handle the best.
By feature time the track usually comes to me and my setup works.
We had to start 16th out of 20 cars in the feature.
With only a 15 lap race, I had to pass more then one car per lap this week.
It did not start out well as I got boxed in on the start with a slow car
in front of me and one inside me (and the wall outside me.) I fell
all the way to 19th in the first three laps before I finally got a hole
and managed to get under these cars and in the clear. Now I only
had 12 laps left and had to pass 18 cars! I moved up to 15th before
the caution came out on lap 5. Then on the restart I got by a couple
and a few laps later was up to 9th, but the 8th place car was nearly a
half lap ahead of me! I drove as hard as I could and really needed
a caution to bunch us back up, but it did not happen. So in 4 laps
I made up the distance and started working on the 8th place car, I managed
to get by him and the 7th place car and get up beside the 6th place car,
but could not complete the pass and ended up 7th. The car really
was flawless again, but we just had too much ground to make up and spotted
the field a few laps getting boxed in at the beginning of the race.
But that is the risk of starting that far back and at least we made the
top 10 and avoided any accidents. We are looking forward to next
week and hopefully a better starting spot, that is two weeks in a row that
we had to start toward the back.
Satuday June13th
You would have thought tonight was Friday the 13th.
We did start out with a pretty dominating run in the heat race. We
started 6th and quickly moved up to second. The I got my nose under
the leader once so he moved down to block me because he knew I always run
low on the track. But to his surprise (and mine) I decided if he
was going to take my line away I would move up to the top of the track.
I used the cushion and ran around the outside of him to take the lead.
It was smooth sailing from there.
The feature was a different story. I started
6th in this race also and the track was just the way it has been the last
couple weeks so I was felt that I had a real good chance at winning.
But as we were coming down the back stretch double file (before the race)
I started to get this bad feeling inside like something was going to happen.
Well as we started to accelerate through turns 3 and 4 the driver on the
inside of the row behind me decided he was going to win this 20 lap race
on the first lap. He drove in way to hard and slid up, pushing me
off the top of the track, I lost about 5 spots before collecting it and
getting back in line. All of a sudden right at the green flag the
same guy that pushed me off the track lost it and turned sideways right
in front of me. With nowhere to go I hit him right in the passengers
door, two cars hit me from behind and sent me spinning toward the infield.
Two more cars hit me as I spun. The only part of the car still straight
was the passengers door. The front of the car was all smashed and
the radiator was broken. All the front suspension was bent and broken
including ball joints, A-arms, tie rods, etc. The rest of the damage
was mainly sheet metal and tubing that did its job and bent to protect
the frame and driver. A couple of the tires and one rim were destroyed.
I did try to pull an Earnhardt move. As the wrecker was preparing
to hook up the car I walked around it and noticed all the tires still held
air (some were leaking though), so I waved off the wrecker, got back in
and fired it up. But when I tried to go, the front suspension was
so broke it would not steer. Good thing because the radiator was
also leaking. We stripped the body and straightened everything back
out, ordered a bunch of new parts, and unbolted the front bumper and will
bolt on a new one. A couple nights reassembling this week and setup
the car on Saturday and we will be ready to go again this coming Saturday.
Saturday June 20th
This was a very gratifying night! After spending
about 30 hours and several hundred dollars rebuilding the car from the
big crash last week, we needed a boost in our moral and confidence.
We spent all day Saturday running the car through a complete setup, but
I was not real happy with it because 2 of my "golden" (the combination
was perfect) of tires that were working so well were cut in the crash.
I worked out a combination that was close, but could not hit the exact
same stagger. I got my percentages where I wanted them, but the ride
height is off in one corner.
We ran hot laps and the car handled absolutely terrible.
I came in and we re-squared the car and reset the toe out. Then took
a turn of wedge out to loosen it up. We started on the pole of the
heat race and led it flag to flag with no cautions. This was a fast
heat too with 6 of the cars being top competitors. The 1996 points
champion gave me a good run and managed to get his nose up along side of
me twice, but I was able to hold him off. The car was still off,
a little loose now.
After a little more adjustment on the chassis, we
started 3rd in the feature and I felt comfortable with all the guys around
me as all the front 3 rows were top competitors and I knew we would get
a clean start. But I also knew I had my work cutout for me in such
company. I jumped to the bottom on the start hoping for a run under
the front row and into the lead, but the pole sitter went for the same
line. He did not get a good run down there and we both dropped back
to 4th and 5th respectively. I ran 5th the first half of the race
and just could not get the car to work like I wanted it to. But as
the race went on my tires got better and my setup came to me as the tires
changed with heat. The leaders tires came on too strong and his car
started pushing badly. This caused the cars behind him to have to
check up and in 2 laps I had passed them and was in the lead. My
car was working pretty well, but is still a tick off from how good it was
before the crash last week. But I was able to pull out to about a
12 car length lead by the end to take the win. We are going to run
the complete setup again this week and try to get it dialed it to where
it was before the crash. It is OK now, but it can be better.
Saturday July 4th
The heat race should have been a good one for me.
I started 8th and shot to 4th, but coming off turn 4 it felt like something
broke and my tach went way up, I went into turn 1 and it still felt really
funny and had no bite, I figured I either spun a tire off or broke the
rear end. So I pulled off. We checked EVERYTHING, even pulled
the center section in the rear and found no problem. What happened?
They had sprayed water on the track right before our race and I was spinning
in the water and it felt like something was broke.
Started 5th in the consolation race. This
was to be a very strong race as all the top 4 in points (myself in forth)
had not transferred and were in this consi. Only 2 were transferring
to the main, so I told my dad "I have to win this race." On the start
I shot to the bottom and took the lead on the second lap and held on for
the win and the transfer to the main.
They always run the UMP Late Models or Sprints first
after intermission so the track is dry slick when we get out there and
that is what my car is set up for. Well tonight was a big UMP show
so I expected nothing different. But at the last minute they called
us up and wanted to run us before the UMP show. They had over watered
the track and this would have been a problem for the big show, so they
made us go out and race on a track that was nowhere near race ready (very
muddy!) You could not even touch the gas pedal without spinning,
it was that bad. Well we started the race and everyone just followed
each other around the track slowly for the first half of the race, then
one line had become race-able, but only one line so you could not pass.
It was not fun racing for us and could not have been a good show for the
fans. It was not racing, just 20 cars sliding around in the mud trying
not to crash.
Saturday July 11th
Much better racing program tonight! Started
on the pole of the heat race and won it with no major problems. We
drew the 9th starting spot for the feature. I was happy with this.
I would like to have started closer to the front, but at least I was on
the inside so I could get low and into my grove right away. Moved
up to 6th fairly quickly and worked on 5th for 2 laps and just when I got
around him the caution flag came out. I had not been ahead of him
for a complete lap so I knew he would be put back in 5th, but to my surprise
they put two more cars in front of me that I had passed 2 laps earlier.
I think the scorers in the tower got a little confused, so this dropped
me back to 8th. On the restart I shot to the bottom and started moving
toward the front. At the next caution I was up to forth, the points
leader (started 6th) was now leading the race. When the race restarted
I was held up for 2 laps by a car trying to run low, he finally slid up
and I got under him and moved up to 2nd. The leader was running the
high line so I had the bottom clear to make a run at the lead, but the
caution came out again. Here is where I really messed up. We
do not have mirrors of any kind, so you cannot see who is behind you.
Everybody I race against knows I run the bottom line when the track gets
dry and slick. Well, I decided to play a little mind game and psych
out the leader by pulling along side him under caution to let him know
I was there in hopes that he would try too hard and make a mistake.
Well, that cost me the race! Instead of psyching him out, he knew
I was there and moved down to block me and ran low the last 3 laps of the
race so that I could not get under him. I knew I could not run high
with the track that slippery, so I just pushed him real hard down low hoping
he would slide up. He gave me a couple small openings, but closed
them before I could get a good run on him. My car was running really
well and I know I could have got passed him if I had not let him know it
was me behind him so he could block me. That was very smart racing
by him, and a very poor plan by me. You can bet I will not try that psych
move again, it took my element of surprise away.
Saturday July 18th
Another good night for racing, warm and sunny.
We started outside the front row for the heat race and jumped into the
lead right away. The race went caution free and we lead it start
to finish for the win. I drew number 9 again for the feature.
The driver on the pole is one of our better drivers and has a real fast
car. So I made him my focus for the race, I needed to catch him first,
then try to pass him. I moved up to 4th fairly quickly, but by the
time I got there the front 3 had broke away from the pack and I knew if
I did not get a caution I could not catch them before the end of the race.
The caution did finally come out for debris on the track after 10 of the
15 laps. I needed the caution, but it would have been better if it
had come out one lap earlier. On the restart I moved up to 3rd, then
took a couple laps to get to 2nd. The leader was now in sight, but
several car lengths ahead. I was making up a car length per lap on
him, but the white flag came out and I was still 2 car lengths behind him.
I pushed it to the very edge on the last lap and coming off turn 4 to the
checkered flag I had about a half car length lead, but he had the momentum
on the outside and nosed me out by 6 inches at the finish! I needed
one more lap to have completed the pass and take the win. Not a bad
night overall taking a first and a second with no damage to the car.
I have to say the last few weeks have been extremely clean races and shows
that this class has a lot of talented and smart drivers. It is fun
to be able to run a clean race, finish well, and still have all the fenders
on the car.
Saturday July 25th
The weather was a little chilly for a July night
and this made for a fast track. With the cool temps the track stayed
fairly tacky all night. We ran in the first heat race and it was
really a one groove race track. We started 5th in the heat race and
I made my way to 3rd, but the front two were waging a pretty good battle
for the lead and using most of the track, so I just sat back and waited
to see if they would take each other out. They didn't and I ended
up 3rd, but that did transfer me to the feature.
Started 5th in the feature also, and I really felt
we had a very good chance of winning this race. On the start I followed
the car in front of me low and under the pole position car, I was in 3rd
already. But coming through turn 3 and 4 to complete the first lap
a rookie driver in a truck tried to put his six foot wide truck in a two
foot wide hole under me and pushed me up the track, I had to check up to
keep the car under me and then got tagged from behind. No major damage
to the car, but this did cost me 5 spots and sent me back to 8th.
Now I was playing catch-up the rest of the race. The rest of the
race was pretty clean and I worked my way back to 5th.
Saturday August 1st
Tonight was a pretty special night. It was
my fathers birthday for one thing, but it was also Charlie Vareeke Memorial
night with trophies to the winner. Charlie was the long time track
photographer who died a couple years ago from Cancer. I knew Charlie
well and have a lot of good memories of him laughing, which he seemed to
be doing most of the time. I really wanted one of those trophies
with Charlie's name on it.
We started 2nd in the heat race and the track was
a one lane track. We all just stayed single file for the entire race.
We started 8th in the feature and the track was very dry and slick.
I got to the bottom groove right away and was not making much progress
at first. But then my tires got some heat in them and started to
stick well. I quickly started moving up, but time was running out
and the race did go caution free after one complete restart. I got
to second and passed the leader, but on the next lap he worked back up
next to me and we were having a good side by side battle. Then we
came up on lapped traffic and they were running his line. We got
passed a couple and then came to the white flag still door to door.
But we came up on 3 lapped cars going into turn one, I shot under them
and they held him up enough for me to pull away and take the win!
We won on fathers day this year and now on my fathers birthday. And
I got that trophy on my mantle with Charlie's name on it, I am sure he
was smiling!
Saturday August 8th
The track was pretty wet tonight, we had 7 inches
of rain in the last 3-4 days and there was standing water everywhere.
This also meant the track had a lot of moisture in it. We started
2nd in our heat race and the track was a one lane track again, we just
had to get in line and run. We drew a 3rd place starting spot for
the feature and I had high expectations. Given that we have won features
from 14th and 8th starting spots this year, I really expected to be able
to get to the lead pretty quickly. But much to my unpleasant surprise
I fell from 3rd to 7th in the first 3 laps. On a typical night the
track gets so dry slick in the top groove and the bottom groove is run
in pretty well. The top looked fairly dry slick, so I jumped down
to the bottom. The track was good on the bottom except the exit of
the turn was still pretty wet and slippery, so I could not get a run off
the turns and the outside line just drove by me like a freight train.
I jumped up in line as soon as I got an opening and I got back around one
car and then the third place car hit the wall and the leader broke, so
I ended up in forth. Not a bad run, just not up to my expectations.
The track did not come to me for the setup I run. All the moisture
made it a different track then we have run on all year.
Saturday August 22nd
Pretty hot and sticky tonight with skies threatening
to open up. Started 6th in the heat race and got a great jump on
the start and was zipping around the outside. I got up to 3rd on
the first lap and was outside the second place car when he slid up and
pushed me off the top of the track. I saved the car and pulled it
back in line in 6th position. The race went caution free and by the
end I had managed to make my way back to 4th which I needed to do to make
the transfer to the Feature. This would, however, relegate me to
the 13th starting spot.
Feature- rains did come and washed us out!
Features to be run next Saturday night followed immediately by Championship
night for all divisions. Check back next week for the completion
of this nights racing and of the Championship races.
Saturday September 5th
Last night of the season. We first had to
run our makeup features from 8/22. I started 13th in that race and made
my way to 3rd by the end of the race. This was a very sloppy race, too
many guys getting stupid on the last night of the season and there were
ton of crashes. I managed to avoid the carnage and only had to pass
about 5 cars to make up 10 spots! But that is part of racing, staying
out of trouble.
Started 5th in the nights heat race and moved
quickly to 3rd. I caught the second place car on the last lap and
tried a pass on the bottom, but could not get by and finished 3rd.
I started 5th in the feature and tried to go to the bottom of the track
on the start, but to my surprise the officials had watered the bottom of
the track just before we went out and it was soupy! I lost a couple
spots and then another car drilled me in the left rear and sent me into
a spin. Luckily nobody hit me, but the hit must have damaged something
in the drive train as the car developed a vibration that got worse as the
race went on. I had to restart the race in 19th. I was not
real happy to say the least and drove the wheels off the car. Again,
being the last feature for the year the drivers were getting a little stupid
and I only had to pass about 10 cars and I made it to 5th with just 4 laps
to go and we had a caution. The vibration had gotten worse, but the
engine was fine and the car was handling well. On the restart the
leader pulled off with a cut tire, I went to work on 3rd place now, but
with 3 to go the vibration became very violent and I knew something was
going to come apart if I pushed it, so I backed off and nursed the car
to a 4th place finish. We have not looked to see if we can find a
problem yet, but I think I might have had a U-joint going bad.
I have not talked about points all year, but we
were in a very tight battle for the championship! To find out how
we finished the points, check out our Season
Wrap-up page to read about the points battle and get an overall summary
of how our season went.