Specials, Specials & More Specials

The season is starting to wind down and it's that time of year for all of the "Special Events". This weekend, we will head to Tri-City Speedway for the Oil Region Labor Day Classic. The FASTRAK Late Models will run for $2000 to win, with heats on Saturday and B-mains & Feature on Sunday. Butch will also compete with the e-mod both days, with complete full shows on Saturday and Sunday, each paying $1000 to win under the UEMS sanction. It's always fun to race when the World of Outlaw Late Models are in town, and this event will be no exception. There is always a huge party and bonfire Saturday night, so as long as Mother Nature cooperates, it should be great!

Butch is heading into the weeked on a high note after finishing 3rd in the FASTRAK Northeast Tour race at Eriez Speedway in our first ever trip there on Sunday, August 24th. It is a career best Tour finish for him, and considering I started him out in a hole by drawing the last pill available for the heat race (#66) that's pretty good. He also put in a strong performance Saturday night at Mercer Raceway Park, charging from his 10th place starting spot to a 5th place finish.

The emod should be back together in time for this weekend's race. We debuted a new engine last week at Tri-City, but a lifter came apart and junked the cam, so the motor had to be pulled this week to be repaired. We hope to have it back tonight.

Points are over at Tri-City and Butch finished in 7th place in both the Emod and the FASTRAK Late Models. That's pretty good considering he missed opening night in the crate and 2 nights in the emod due to engine failures in hot laps. He is currently sitting in 41st in the National FASTRAK Weekly Points but they are a little confusing and he is actually a little higher up than that. Despite only having run a handful of shows at Mercer Raceway Park, he is 1 point out of 10th place. Since we will be running there the rest of the season, he should easily move into the top 10 in points there as well.

That's all for now - have a fun and safe Labor Day Weekend!

I don't know what to do...

these road trips lately have all but killed our racing budget, but it sure has been worth the experience.

This last trip to Eldora was probably the best and the worst. First, we got to do a fundraiser at the local WalMart Supercenter for the Children's Miracle Network. That was very cool to be a part of.

Then we qualified 23rd out of 49 cars - pretty good for a first year FASTRAKer with a low-budget team. The worst was that he didn't even get to make a lap in the heat event because someone got sideways or something and all hell broke loose. Guess who was right in the middle of it? I saw the guy that was above him (how did he get up there if Butch started on the outside??) get sideways, Butch checked up and then got hit. After that, he was a like a ping pong ball! We tried to get the car put back together for the b-main, but to no avail. I was literally begging the official to give us one more parade lap but they threw the green flag just as Butch was pulling to the track entrance, so no dice - Load it up boys, we're going home.

Oh well.

So, the trip only cost us like $2500 with nothing in return - they did not give tow money. I guess that is the price we pay. At least we can say we raced at Eldora! Needless to say, I have two new missions - finish our website redesign, and start looking for sponsors for the 2009 season! If we are going to do this thing right, then we are going to need some serious financial backing.

The next couple of weeks will be the calm before the storm as the regular season winds to an end and the specials start up. We will be at Mercer Raceway Park and Tri-City Speedway this weekend. Next weekend we will be back at Mercer and make our first ever trip to Eriez Speedway for a FASTRAK Northeast event. Labor Day Weekend we will be at Tri-City Speedway all weekend for the Oil Region Labor Day Classic, featuring the World of Outlaw Late Models, emods, stocks and a $2000 to win FASTRAK Northeast Tour race. There is always a monster party there Saturday night too! Should be a fun one, but all it really means is more work for me....more on that later!

Taking the Green!

The lights are out, the flags are up and I have a new blog!

I have lots of things that I think about saying, but don't, ALOT. Here I can, and will, talk about these things. It might have to do with racing or family or work, who knows!

We had a helluva a weekend - packed the whole fam up in the motorhome because Mercer Raceway was having an event in support of the American Cancer Society. Needless to say, we didn't make it far before the motorhome overheated. We sent Butch ahead with the racecar and headed back for home and plan "b". We eventually made it, but the excitement didn't end there. Let's just say the racing was good and we were happy with our finish. I'll have more to add on the night later. As Liz said, we always find new ways to define adventure!

This week I am stoked that we are racing at the famed Eldora Raceway! Yee haw! Let's hope we fare a little better than we did on our last road trip!