| Date |
Track |
Qualified |
Finished |
Race Summary |
| January 28 |
Orange Show Speedway |
5th |
4th |
The car felt great all day - never made
any changes. 25 cars qualified, 16 went straight to the A main, 9 cars ran
a B main with the top 4 transferring up to the A. Finished 4th in the heat race. The top
10 were
inverted in the main, so I started 6th. A few laps in, I got
knocked straight into the water barrels by the track exit and knocked a big piece of
the wall off. A little pull on the front bumper by Steve Werner and
Mike Smith (thanks!) and I was back on the
track, but in the back. Moved up through the field and ended up
finishing 4th! |
| February 3 |
I-10 Speedway |
8th |
6th |
Much better than the last race at this track,
thanks to some great coaching from Austin Murphy. I ran most of the
race by myself because I couldn't quite keep up with the cars ahead of me.
The rear end cracked a weld in turn 4 of the last lap, probably due to
vibration caused by loose bolts between the driveshaft and rear end earlier
in the day. A caution/checkered was out, but when the rear end broke
it caused me to spin straight into the 00 car, which had spun out near the wall just short of
the start/finish line. |
| March 3 |
Orange Show Speedway |
12th |
8th |
We made some changes to the car for this race
and they didn't work out very well. I got a good jump on some cars in
the first few laps, then ran with Fred Chavez and the 57 car. We ran
all 25 laps with no cautions and pretty much stayed in line. It was a
fun race, but it's time to put the car back where it was! |
| March 17 |
I-10
Speedway |
3rd |
4th |
The car really hooked up in the second practice
session and I qualified 3rd. Started outside pole in the trophy dash,
but the car was a little loose and I crossed the finish line backwards on
the final lap (still finished 2nd!). I tangled with Bree Brewer in the
2nd or 3rd lap of the main, spun out and went to the back. I managed
to work my way back up and after a lot of other cars wrecked, I found myself
back in 3rd. Someone leaked a lot of oil on the track and the last 6
or 7 laps felt like we were on ice. Bree got by and secured the
National Qualifier spot for semi-pros. This 4th place finish should
put us in a good starting position in the final I-10 race at the end of the
month. |
| March 31 |
I-10
Speedway |
(3rd) |
4th |
The last race of the season at the I-10
Speedway starts with a line up based on track points, so that put us
starting in 3rd. The car was a little loose in the trophy dash, so we
tightened it up a bit for the main. I got a good start and pulled in
behind Albert Flores to take third on the first lap. I ran there for
10 or 12 laps until Austin Murphy got by. Justin Hommel in the 17 car
stayed right on my rear bumper, but I managed to stay in front of him.
We finished 4th in the main, taking 3rd in the I-10 Speedway Legends series. |
| April 7 |
Orange Show Speedway |
5th |
DNF |
Started the night out pretty good.
Started 5th in the fast heat race and passed Ryan Schug when he got a little
loose in turn 4. Finished the heat in 4th! Started 5th in the
main as well and got a great start, pulling into 3rd. Ryan Schug
pulled out with something broken, putting me in 2nd. Darren Amidon got
up next to me coming out of 4 with Gary Schurell and Albert Flores right
behind him, setting me up to get trained. I took the corner too quick
and spun out. I restarted in the back, got by a few cars, and managed
to get hooked up with Justin Homell's rear bumper. I am not sure what
happened next, but I hit the wall hard in the air. I am sore and the
car needs some work. We will be back for the next Orange Show race!
See pics here:
Orange Show Speedway,
April 7, 2007 |
| April 14 |
Irwindale Speedway |
|
|
Not racing |
| April 21 |
Irwindale Speedway |
|
|
Not racing |
| April 28 |
Orange Show Speedway |
|
|
Unable to race - still fixing the car! We
will be at Irwindale next week... |
| May 5 |
Irwindale Speedway |
14th |
8th |
We finally got the car back together, but we
had to use a left lower A-arm on the right due to a shipping error.
That raised the right front by about an inch and the left front a half inch,
putting our set up out of whack. Started the first practice in the
middle of the pack, gained a little speed in the second practice, and
qualified 14th. I got by a couple of cars in the first few laps then
snuck by Albert Flores when he tried to avoid a wreck and the caution came
out late. He took his spot back pretty quickly, but after a lot of
wrecks we took the checkered under caution finishing 8th. This was my
best finish at Irwindale so far so we are excited to see what happens when
we have the right parts to set the car up correctly! |
| May 12 |
Orange Show Speedway |
6th |
DNF |
Another rough week. We did well during
practice and qualified 6th. Ran well in the heat race finishing 6th.
Darren Amidon and Tom Landreth dominated qualifying and the fast heat race.
Bree took the lead off the pole and kept it the whole race. The 17 car
(yes, again the 17), broke an axle, slowed down in the middle groove, then
drifted high right as I was passing him. I went skyward and came down
hard. Bent the steering rack plate and the steering column.
Apparently we need to start qualifying better than the 17 car to get some
distance... |
| May 19 |
Irwindale Speedway |
7th |
10th |
We started out pretty strong - 4th quick during
the first practice! We slowed down a bit during the second practice
but still managed to qualify 7th (best qualifying position at this track to
date!). Darren Amidon was fast qualifier and spun an 8 putting me on
the outside pole. I didn't get a very good start and got stuck on the
outside while 6 cars went by. I finally got down on the inside line
until Bob Landreth got me on the inside. We ran up on lap traffic and
I had to give up another spot to Albert Flores. I was able to stay in
10th for the remainder of the race and put the car back on the trailer in
one piece! Overall a good day of racing! |
| May 26 |
Orange Show Speedway |
6th |
2nd |
This was the most fun day of racing I have had!
With some coaching from Matt Hicks and the Schugs, we were running really
well during practice. I qualified slower that I had run in practice,
but still took 6th. Darren Amidon was easily fast qualifier and pulled
a 6, putting me on the pole. I jumped the first start and didn't get
on it quick enough in the second one. Gary Scheurell and Bree Brewer
both got by going into 1. Bree got inside Gary and I followed her by,
but the RA cars wrecked each other before we finished a lap and he took the
lead back. Bree and I went by again pretty quickly. Chad Schug
passed me coming out of 2 on lap 27 but I got my spot back on the next lap.
What a great day! |
| June 2 |
Irwindale Speedway |
10th |
8th |
We started strong running the 2nd quickest time
in the first practice and the 3rd quickest time in the second practice.
The car tightened up going in during qualifying causing it to be loose
coming off. This slowed us down enough to qualify back in 10th.
We started well and dropped in to the inside lane quickly. The 89 Wong
car beat on my bumper hard for a long time until he got by. Then
Andrew Anderson pounded on me and actually nailed me under caution. I
passed Bob Landreth out of turn 4 in the final lap to take 8th. I was
hit from behind so hard so many times that it actually tore the frame rail
and accordioned it back with the bumper tab. This is the problem with
starting that far back I guess. I am going to have to figure out how
to drive consistently and get up front where the driving is more clean. |
| June 8 |
Orange Show Speedway |
(9th) |
6th |
No qualifying tonight - we started by season
track points. We were running strong and the car was quick. I
got on the gas too quick behind Brent in the 98 car and turned him around,
sending us both to the back (sorry Brent!). We moved forward but I
spun out after over driving the car and went to the back again. Not a
great finish but we had fun! |
| June 9 |
Orange Show Speedway |
4th |
6th |
This was a great night of racing even though we
didn't finish well. Qualified 4th after getting a second qualifying
run when the track missed my times. Started on the pole in the dash
and watched Gary Scheurell fly by on the outside in turn 1. Still
finished second in the dash. Chad Schug pushed up the track and turned
me around in the main. We both got sent to the rear and my car stayed
strong while Chad's just pushed worse. Passed quite a few cars and
finally pushed Cody in the 62 car out of the way (blocking???) to take 6th.
It was a "tear apart your car" tech night, so not taking a top 5 didn't hurt
too bad! Still a fun night! |
| June 16 |
Irwindale Speedway |
|
|
Did not race |
| June 23 |
Irwindale Speedway |
8th |
22nd |
Tough day. Right front brake was not
functioning and I was driving too fast through the corners, putting me
around 18th quick in practice. Replaced the right caliper with no
change. Somehow we managed to qualify 8th. We replaced the
master cylinder after qualifying only to find out that is would not push
fluid out of the cylinder. We put the old one back in and had 3 brakes
at least. We started the race strong, running behind Cory Miles.
Under the first caution, the 89 Wong car slammed me hard from behind,
sending me into the back of Cory's car. I had to fight the car to keep
the steering wheel straight and started losing positions. I got a stop
and go penalty for my back bumper hanging off (thanks Wong). I don't
know where I finished, but not well. We found a seriously bent
steering arm on the left side causing about 1.5" of toe out. Oh well -
next week! |
| June 30 |
Orange Show Speedway |
7th |
17th |
Another odd day. Came off the track after
the first practice with brand new left rear tire flat. Replaced the
valve stem core and it was fine. Lined up for the second practice, but
when I started the car only 2 cylinders were firing. Replaced a coil
and it was fine. Qualified 7th but the cars in front of me are always
fast, se we were happy. Ran well in the heat race and started the main
strong. Cody Kutzner pushed me through the start right into the back
of Gary Scheurell, hard enough to shear the bolts holding on my front
bumper. The bumper fell off! Matt Hicks and Jonathon (thank
you!) helped out in the pit and put a new one on, but by the time I got back
out on the track I was a few laps down. With no pressure, I just had a
blast racing! And I never challenged Bree Brewer for the lead. |
| July 14 |
Orange Show Speedway |
--- |
DNF |
Tough day again. Another coil went bad
after the second practice. We replaced it, still wasn't firing on all
four. We replaced the red box, still nothing. It turned out to
be the 600 Racing fuel pump cut off switch we all had to buy that was
blowing the red box. We disconnected that and got everything running
again, but missed qualifying. Thank you Bob Blackman, Donny Teller,
and Tom Brewer for all your help! We started at the back of the slow
heat, the car felt great and we won easily. We started at the back of
the B main and won easily again, putting us in 15th for the A main.
The car felt strong and we moved steadily through the pack, finally making
it into 5th. Right after I challenged Bree Brewer for 4th, my rear
bumper fell off and I had to exit the track. With only 3 or 4 laps
left, there wasn't time to put another one on. If we can get our
bumpers to stay on, we might do alright! |
| July 21 |
Irwindale Speedway |
|
|
Did not race |
| July 28 |
Orange Show Speedway |
7th |
DNF |
I have called in the witch doctor to get rid of
the bad juju in my car. The car was strong even though we didn't
qualify well. We got a lucky break just before starting the race when
the 22 car directly in front of me had to exit the track to repair a
dislocated right front wheel. That put me starting in 5th. I was
right behind Chad Schug taking 2nd when Brent in the 98 came down just a bit
and turned us both around. We went to the back and were just getting
going when Cody Kutzner blew a motor. There was oil all the way down
the back stretch and I was sliding hard. I couldn't get the car to
slow or turn and hit Brent (who was up against the wall) hard. I did
challenge and even pass Bree Brewer though! |
| August 4 |
Irwindale Speedway |
|
|
Not racing. |
| August 8 |
Las Vegas Motor Speedway |
--- |
6th |
This track is FUN! This was our first
time in Vegas and we did pretty well. The line up for the main was
based on finishing position in each heat race. Heat races were lined
up based on track points, so we started in the back of our heat. We
finished 2nd in the heat, setting us up to start 6th in the main. The
pea pick moved me up to starting 3rd. After the 3rd restart, we were
running strong in 3rd until a caution came out and I had a bad start.
4 cars got by and I got one of those spots back, finishing 6th. What a
great time! |
| August 11 |
Orange Show Speedway |
3rd |
6th |
We had an interesting first practice when the
motor sputtered and died. Turned out it was just a loose wire on the
fuel pump. We qualified really well this week at 3rd with our first
lap time at OSS in the 14's! Unfortunately, Orange Show made a
horrible decision to invert 14 cars and bypass the normal pea pick
inversion. This put us back to starting in 12th. The car was
fast and we got up into 6th, narrowly missing a few wrecks. |
| August 18 |
Irwindale Speedway |
|
|
Not racing |
| August 25 |
Orange Show Speedway |
10th |
3rd |
We ran really strong all day in practice, but
qualified relatively poorly at 10th. The car was fast in the heat race
and we went from 7th to finish 2nd. We got a lucky break in the main
when Bree Brewer knocked the 98 car on the back stretch of the first lap,
sending her to the back on the restart. We moved up to 4th fairly
quickly, then followed Darren Amidon by the 98 to take 3rd. We managed
to keep that spot and take 3rd in the main and our first ever semi-pro win!
And Bree Brewer never challenged me! :) |
| September 8 |
Las Vegas Motor Speedway |
8th |
DNF |
We were running pretty slow during practice,
but came back in qualifying at 8th out of 31 (not bad for the second time at
this track!). We got hit hard going in to 1 and lost the two spots we
gained in the trophy dash so we started the main in 8th. We were
taking 5th when the two cars in front of us spun and the caution came out.
Next thing I knew the motor started smoking. I pulled off the track
right away and the motor caught fire. Even though we didn't finish the
race, we know we can run well in Vegas and hope to do well in the nationals! |
| September 22 |
Orange Show Speedway |
--- |
--- |
Rained out |
| October 6 |
Las Vegas Motor Speedway |
1st |
5th |
What a great day! We practiced Friday and
wanted to get some track time in preparation for the Nationals next week.
We did well in practice and qualified 1st in Semi-Pros (the field was split
with semi-pros running separate from pros and masters). I started on
the pole but just didn't have enough driving experience at this track and
quickly lost 4 spots, putting me in 5th. I got a better handle on how
to drive this track and managed to hold on to 5th, despite Steve Cantrell
trying to move up. We had a great time and hope to make the A at the
Nationals! |
| October 11-13 |
Las Vegas Motor Speedway - Nationals!!! |
2nd |
DNF |
This was an incredible experience! 73
Semi-Pro's showed up from the east coast to Alaska. We practiced well
and showed some good times. Qualifying was two parts - group
qualifying and heat races. We qualified 5th, which put us starting at
the back of the 5th heat race. We finished the heat in 2nd, putting us
on the outside pole in the A-main. The intensity of the racers became
apparent in the B and C-mains when two Legends went upside down trying to
move up. My relatively little driving experience showed when I dropped
back to 14th in the first 20 or so laps. I was running outside the 03
car from Vegas when we touched and I spun coming out of 4. I was going
backwards down the front stretch with cars flying by on both sides.
Someone finally hit me and 4 or 5 more joined the pile. The running
board on the left took the brunt of the damage but was pushed back into the
rear tire so we were done. Watching these guys race was a real treat
and I hope to be a better driver now! |
| October 20 |
I-10 Speedway |
3rd |
3rd |
Only 10 cars showed up for the first I-10 race,
but we had a great time! Derek Frolich set the fast time but was
challenged by Gary Scheurell several times. Bree Brewer spun out and
went to the back, but made her way back up to 2nd pretty quickly. On
the last lap, a car towards the back spun out in turn 4. Just after
that, Gary spun out in turn 2. The caution came out and the checkered
was waved. The track decided Gary had spun and put him to the back,
putting us in 3rd. |
| October 27 |
Orange Show Speedway |
5th |
4th |
This was the last Orange Show race of the
season and 25 cars showed up. I struggled with my driving after
driving at Vegas and I-10 and we really struggled during the first few
practice sessions. I got things worked out and qualified 5th. I
started 4th in the fast heat race and managed to make it to the front and
win the heat. I started 5th in the main and made it into 3rd off the
start. Bree Brewer got by 10 or 12 laps into the race and I ended up
running by myself for the rest of the race. We went green to checkered
with no yellows! Great time and the car is in one piece! |