Division:  BADGER

Car:  1991 Challenger

Qualifying-15.6 (best ever)

Heat:  5th after third place start.  Passed Guess

B-main:  10th after battling Guess for what would have been transfer. 

Sunday night was the opening event at Sun Prairie for the 2005 season.  In qualifying, I matched my previous best lap from 2004, and made good on my personal 2005 goal of always timing in below the 16 second bracket.  Unfortunately, most of the other racers have updated their equipment as well, and it may not be too long before the goal is going to have to be below the low 15 second times to be even somewhat competitive.  Anyways, I lined up inside row two for the start of the first heat.  Not sure what the car was going to do on the bottom like that, I backed off early going into the first corner, and was nailed in the rear.  That got me going and before too long, I was up top, trying to run the cushion, and eventually got a decent rhythm going.  Meanwhile, I had lost a couple positions, and battled with Bobby Guess, a frontrow starter, for the fourth spot.  I did actually pass him and held on for fifth.  I started towards the back of the B-main and did much of the same in that event.  Guess was ahead again, and battling with Jon Lujune for the transfer spot.  I did at one point pass the almost sideways Guess, but he got back by and then past the mid-way point, I got aggressive enough-after leaving a little gap for the two somewhat inexperienced drivers-to attempt to charge around the outside of Guess.  I hit the rut in turn one I had attempted to avoid every lap-although it seemed like I never could-and the car got about as airborne as it could, but like I tried every time through, I got on the gas, and made it out.  During the excursion, I packed the right rear wheel full of mud, and for the next lap and half, as I worked the highline over Guess, the car was vibrating and shaking real bad.  I lost my momentum and finished the race tenth.  (The top seven made the feature).

Date: 05-22-05

Track:  Angell Park

Division:  BADGER

Car:  1991 Challenger

My “driver development” program continued Sunday at Sun Prairie.  I had listened to a veteran midget participant last week and attempted to follow through with the instructions he suggested.  The techniques were a little different than what I was used to.  Not only that but I had to go out late in qualifying, when the track was not in the best shape.  I still managed a below 16 second time-15.856.  That put me on the outside pole of the first heat, alongside a Joe Wipperfurth-who I think is a sprint car driver.  I did see that veteran Kevin Doty was in the event, so I figured I couldn’t win, but I didn’t even want to see who else was running-so as not to lose confidence in second place (although I have lost so many races lately, I stayed calm and didn’t really allow myself to get excited).  Wipperfurth got the jump-both attempts-on me at the start and slid up to the cushion.  I tried to get a rhythm going, but Doty charged around the outside of both of us.  I continued to struggle, and at one point got so far sideways, another car tagged the rear and I slid into the inside guard rail.  I restarted, missed a couple of incidents directly in front of me (including a nasty flip by a rookie in the #8 car on the frontstrech), gained a few more positions and should have ranked third when all said in done-the race was shortened.  In the B main I again struggled early in turn one, getting sideways in the slick middle of the track and letting a few more cars by.  Mid-race I finally got in decent shape, but was stuck behind Wipperfurth and Lee Beckwith, battling hard.  Every time I would attempt to get around on the top, one would go up there.  Much of the same when I tried the low line.  Eventually, Wipperfurth started to struggle and fell back a little.  I was finally able to get a rhythm going late and got up on the cushion and passed him on the high side in turn one.  I ran the last couple laps without backing of the gas very much and wasn’t too unhappy with the run.  I ranked 9th (one spot better than last week) at the end.  Post race thoughts include the struggle of passing cars and inconsistent driving patterns.  Discussing it, my dad pointed out that the reality is we are at a lack of horsepower, and even though I have to wear the brakes out in the corners when cars are battling in front, we can not really power by anyone on the straights (actually it really isn’t even an option.)  What we have to do is get the most out of what we have and be more consistent with driving patterns.  Our season continues Memorial Day weekend, with me driving Friday night at Farmers City , IL and he back in action Sunday at Sun Prairie.

 

Date: 06-12-05

Track:  Angell Park

Division:  BADGER

Car:  1991 Challenger

Although avoiding the upside down veteran Danny Boorse in hot laps, I took our midget out for qualifying-the first time I had run since May 21, on the rough narrow track that was Sun Prairie and had a disgusting effort that was about a second slower than my previous best.  While they packed down the track before the races, I had Kurt Gunderson, Roscoe’s Scott Hatton’s crew chief, come over and tighten up the steering gear to take out some slop.

We also made a chassis adjustment before the first heat race, which we were scheduled to start on the outside front row.  I saw the remaining line-up and realized that there were only a couple of cars I though were a lot better than ours, the #20 of Cody Weisensel and the #29 driven by Craig Carey.  I noticed Cody’s car was smoking in the qualifying and parked before the heat, as we pushed up to the line, with the beat of a highly motivational "Fifty Cent" song in my head.  (After throwing away at least one good shot at a win last year, I knew this was my best shot to win this year).  Carey didn’t finish the event and I battled with a fellow “non-winner”, the pole sitter Dour Jordain.  He got out in front first, but I followed and quickly went to the outside while he ran the bottom.  Our car felt 100% better since qualifying, and I was able to kind of hook the low cushion with the inside of left rear and run the right rear up in the wetter rougher stuff.  I believe we both raced clean, and although his Esslinger motor would outpower our outdated (but well-running) JAMR/Fontona down the straights, I eventually got around for the lead.  With less then two laps to go I did jump the cushion and almost lost control and the race.  I cut back down to the groove before anyone got by, much to my surprise!  I took it fairly easy the rest of the race, actually almost coasting through 3 & 4 on the last lap, and took the win.  While my recently diagnosed asmtha condition-which has caused a hiccup in my fitness program-caused my to struggle for breath, I thanked my dad, Dwight Steffan, my uncle Tom Dull, JJ Precision Grinding, JAMR Engines, and North State Motors, but failed to thank Challahan motorsports, Wes Karner, Fast Eddie’s Lawn Care, the Gough crew, Aaron Fiscus, and dedicate it to Kevin Olson’s dad and Stan Fox (as Kevin’s wrote that his wishes were if he were to win a feature again.).

 

After a slight stagger adjustment and being lined up tenth for the B-main, I again surprised myself and others (later being told that “I looked like a racecar driver out there tonight and quizzed by former champ Davey Ray if I had grown an additional anatomy part) with an early race charge to the front and passed a few good cars.  (I think the humpty kept the track moist-how I like it-and it never felt so good-especially in the normally slick middle).  I lined up fourth after an early race restart, before Rob Kaleen got out of shape in turn two and came close to losing it.  I backed off to avoid getting caught up in an incident, and let a couple of those cars by.  Rob got going again and eventually used a slide job to power by.  I did re-pass a couple of those cars on another restart, but could not get by the “wide” Keleen, although I really did feel that we were faster.  While Rob stayed up towards the top, I believe I may have then had a “moment” in turn three and four up there, and eventually settled in near the bottom-about the same time he did.  In the end I settled for fifth-solidly locked into the A-main event. 

 

The main was a struggle.  We filled the car with more fuel than I am used to running-since I have only made one feature before-and I did adjust one of the shocks for the smoother track.  Pessimistically assuming my success would not continue amongst all the “best of the best”, I held back at first while the field spread out.  On the third lap Danny Stratton and Scott Hatton made contact with the later flipping and Davey Ray being collected.  Stratton and Ray went to the rear, but I waved them by.  Part of me was optimistic that I could try to follow, maybe learn something from the two chargers, and possibly sneak through a couple of holes left as they made their way to the front.  I was quickly grounded back to reality, as heat winner Brian Paulus’s Fiscus ride went up in smoke, and I again slowed thinking that was the best thing to do.  Once again the yellow did not come out and I was stuck way behind.  I closed in on the next running car of veteran Kurt Mayhew.  Watching the flagman for indications that the leaders were coming, I didn’t go to my early used top line but didn’t commit to the bottom 100% either.  Before making a charge around Mayhew I came off of four in the slick, got sideways, and stalled.  Unfortunately the leader, Kevin Doty-who made the feature through the heat even though his left rear tire was flat-stalled as the yellow came out, and he had to go to the back.  (It is here that I would like to apologize to Doty and the Wilke crew, as both are fav's of mine and I hate it that I was the reason the yellow-which was waved-came out).  After being pushed off, something just didn’t feel right.  They did not “back-off” the engine to release all of the unused fuel, the water temp was up after stalling and my earlier evening escapades which packed the air intake full of mud, and the right rear seemed soft.  I thought it was going flat-as one that we used had done earlier in the night.   I was unable to gain the confidence in the tire to go up on the cushion and just ran the bottom before the leaders came upon me.  Considering the success of the evening, the previously mentioned issues, and the later problems, I pulled off and called it a night, scored 18th.  Meanwhile Chad Deselle took the early lead from Doty before Nick Lundgreen got by.  Brandon Waelti made his way by both with Lundgreen running second, Ray, Doty, and Stratton coming up to complete the top five.  David Gough, Machesney Park , was 4th in his heat race and finished 21st in the A-Main.  Before the heat Scott Hatton, Roscoe, ran 5th in the Trophy Dash, and 2nd in his heat race. "Fast Eddie" Sauer, Machesney Park , finished 4th in his heat race and 11th in the B-Main.

Date: 06-26-05

Track:  Angell Park

Division:  BADGER

Car:  1991 Challenger

After a week’s absence due to engine problems, JAMR had our Fontana fixed and ready to go for this Sunday’s race at Sun Prairie.  While getting reacquainted with my driving techniques, I qualified the fastest I ever had the first lap, but had trouble the second lap.  The time put me ahead of all the cars in the “slow” first heat-which I won two weeks ago-and into the heats with the “faster” cars.  I started on the pole and let the 44 car of Brian Pace get the lead at the start.  While getting into a rhythm, Bob Schreffler also slipped by.  I tucked in behind and held my own, but at one point Rick Labrosse got ahead too.  I got a run on him on the high side, but ducked low when he came off of four slower than I.  I believe that move shut the door on the charging Davey Ray, as he showed me his nose shortly after.  He got by too, and I lost my momentum and the rest of the spots in the field.  I then avoided a flip involving Schreffler and Pace.  That put me in sixth with a shot at fifth for the transfer to the A.  I was unable to advance and set to start 10th in the B.  I was stuck in deep with a group of battling cars early, before John Jones flipped from the bottom.  That cleared the way for me to make a charge on the high side-over the cushion in the moist stuff between the groove and the wall.  Surprisingly, the little engine that could, powered me around a couple of really got cars and into the feature.  Much to my amazement, I continued to charge through the field, eventually settling into the fourth spot, behind no less then two of the best in the country-Tracy Hines and Scott Hatton, as well as Rob Keelan.  The gap between I and Rob seemed to go unchanged throughout the mid-section of the race before another caution came out.  I struggled on this restart though, and lost a couple spots again.  I ended up sixth, which was solid enough to make the A.  During one of my rim riding excursions, or maybe from possible contact with another car, I had crimped a brake line during the preliminary events.  After the B, I figured that the “soft” brake pedal was from heat, and shrugged off any issue, while setting the car up to run the bottom in the A.  I started shotgun on the field and tried running the low groove for a lap or two, but quickly decided against it and got up by the cushion again.  Like, usual, the cars in front of me-Kurt Mayhew and Jimmy Quinn, did much of the same, and I looked for the brakes a couple times while tucked in behind.  At this point I was a little concerned with them, but was more worried about getting a hold of the track.  With one of the fastest cars starting on the pole-Danny Stratton-it wasn’t long before the leaders were nearing those of us in the tail.  Not wanting to make an evasive move from the top, I was stuck up there and hoping I could hold a good line while the “Best-of the-best” made their way around.  Unfortunately, I got into the slick stuff in the middle and just about spun in front of Stratton.  He lapped me, but the caution came out for another incident, and I believe I got that lap back.  During the long yellow, I became well aware that the brakes were gone.  With Mayhew and Quinn battling on the cushion and causing me to slow at times if I followed, I decided not to chance it and just run the bottom.  I was unable to go into the corner too hard, since I could not slow down, and had to coast around to the finish.  The car never slipped up in the middle when anyone came around, but it was still a disappointing end to a fairly good evening.

Date: 07-03-05

Track:  Angell Park

Division:  BADGER

Car:  1991 Challenger

Sunday at Sun Prairie I qualified around my new "average" time, it wasn't my best, but a fairly decent run, considering I had made a couple of mistakes.  My dad also qualified a car from the Slotten/Bong team.  They have two cars and wanted to have a "back-up" timed in so that it would be available if needed.  Although it was his fastest lap ever, he did not get to race it though.

I started fifth on the inside of row three in the first heat.  With the level of competition what it is there were lots of good cars.  I ran the bottom for a little bit, but moved up to the top before too long.  I was running mid-pack, but got over the almost non-existent weird cushion in turn four and let a couple of cars by.  Mark Dibart got real bad out of shape in turn two, and I slowed and had to make an evasive move to avoid contact.  We kept a car or two behind us, but were a ways back from the rest of the pack.

As I was attempting to catch up, the car suddenly lost power and a loud pop exited from under the hood.  Upon entering the pits, a large hole was found in the side of the block and we released that the engine had blown up.  Not sure what the problem was, but the “little engine that could” had been puffing out smoke the last couple of weeks, so after some conversations with others in the business-we decided to run a little less oil than normal.  That may have attributed to the "blow-up", but we also wonder if the problems that we experienced a couple of weeks ago had something to do with it.

Now the search is on to find an alternative car to drive, engine to use, team to partner with, etc.  With the cost of a good engine what it is, we will not be able to be back in action on our own right away.  We are currently exploring all options and are open to any offers.

Date: 07-10-05

Track:  Angell Park

Division:  BADGER

Car:  Butch Dahlke's Gearte Stealth

Got to Sun Prairie Sunday night to find out that Butch Dahlke intended for me to drive his Gearte powered Stealth.  He decided to put Brian Claus, the driver who had steered that car the last couple of weeks, into the experimental V-6.  I did both hot lap sessions, but got stuck behind stock car star Tim Noble, driving the Fiscus back-up, in the second session.  Others found their way around us, but I never found the best opportunity to make the pass.  Without much of a cushion, I struggled in qualifying, trying to follow different people’s advice, but not putting them into execution on the racetrack.  I did better my person best time with a 15.527, but was disappointed because that car was a little better than that.  After that I was approached by the Harley Slotten team, whom my dad qualified their back-up car last week, for the opportunity to drive the car I was in because theirs had blown up (They did not have a back-up this week).  I said I would have no hard feelings, but the decision was up to Butch.  I told Butch that I understood that Harley was higher in points and had more experience then me, and I would not feel bad, but the racer in me was there to race.  He said that he hated these decisions, but asked if I was willing to put off our deal until next week.  I agreed.  Harley had to start at the back in the heat, but passed 3-4 cars to make it to 6th-but only the top five transferred to the feature.  He started towards the rear in the B too, but went to the high side after a few laps and was moving into the transfer spot, when he had a mechanical issue.  Brian Claus drove the v-6 into the show, and had a pretty good run in the feature.

Date: 07-16-05

Track:  Beaver Dam

Division:  BADGER

Car:  Butch Dahlke's Mopar Stealth

Although thankful for the opportunities provided to me recently; my racing weekend left much to be desired.  Saturday night I was to drive Butch Dahlke’s Mopar powered Stealth.  It was my first time on the facility.  We were in the first hot lap session and the track was real grimy and slippery-not at all like race conditions.  There was not any qualifying either, so although the “draw” had put us in a good heat race, my lack of experience did not allow me to capitalize on the good opportunity to advance into the feature.  After a decent run early, I avoided the sideways Alex Conoon-who Bill Hess did not and flipped behind me.   After the restart I struggled to find a good line and rhythm and failed to utilize all of the horsepower that the Mopar was putting out.  Unfortunately, my efforts were to no avail, as mid-race I felt a terrible vibration down the frontstrech, and shut it off as soon as I could.  After some inspection in the pits, it was decided that the damage was terminal.

Date: 07-17-05

Track:  Sun Prairie

Division:  BADGER

Car:  Slotten/Bong Brayton

Sunday at Sun Prairie, I was slated to “fill-in” for the Africa bound Harley Slotton-who had jumped in the Dahlke ride the week before, after his car broke-in the car that my dad had qualified earlier in the year.  Crew chief Tom Bong warned before hot laps that the power steering may not be there.  I went out for hot laps, and quickly realized that was the case.  He changed the pump before qualifying, but it was still not right.  I struggled and turned in a couple of terrible times.  We thought we found a kinked hose and changed that before I was set to start on the outside pole of the twelve car first heat race.  Although I let the pole sitter pull ahead at the start, I did tuck in behind him while being challenged on the bottom.  When we headed into turn three, I tried to stay on the gas late but, while attempting to break the car into a slide, I couldn’t get it turned in time, and it jumped over the cushion.  While I figured it to be headed into the fence, somehow, it finally turned, and only the tail section of the car slapped the wall.  We kept playing with the steering, but when we fired it before the final heat; I did not feel much of a difference.  After that heat, Danny Stratton, the BADGER point leader, came over looking for a car to drive-because his had blown up.  It was decided to let Danny take it out and see what kind of feedback and performance he could provide.  He had to start at the back, but passed a couple of cars early.  He was fighting it a little bit and was involved with an incident that eliminated Jimmy Quinn.  On about the third or fourth lap, the car drifted up in about the same spot it had for me, but he caught it, and then you could tell he slowed down mid-race.  With less then five laps to go, as he was about to get lapped by Davey Ray, and with his championship hopes on the line, he muscled the car around a few others.  He ended up 9th, on this night one spot shy of making the race.  Afterwards he described to Bong the problems he found.

Date: 07-24-05

Track:  Angell Park

Division:  BADGER

Car:  Butch Dahlke's Gearte Stealth

My 2005 season struggles continued Sunday night.  After recording another personal best qualifying time-a 15.460-I was unable to capitalize on my outside pole heat starting spot.  I allowed polesitter Mike Stroehle to get the jump, but tucked in behind on the high side.  Others challenged going down the backstretch and in the third and fourth turn.  Buddy Luebke made it three wide, on the frontstraight, and made his way by as well.  I fell back, but got around Stroehle-who seemed to be suffering mechanical issues.  I attempted to get around Luebke, but found him to be in the  spot I was aiming for when I closed up on him, and backed off.  Shortly after, the car pushed into the “marbles” in 1 & 2, and I began to loose control.  Before the race was over I shut it off due to a vibration, and it was determined that I had actually been suffering from a deflating tire.  We were not sure when it started going down, but we had to sit in the starting line-up for a long time before getting the green, to allow the sun to go down.  Looking forward to a redeeming run in the B, as we got set to start, I reminded myself that the car I was in was capable of having a good run, but when I punched the gas, the oil light came on, and again, my evening was shortened. 

Date: 07-31-05

Track:  Sun Prairie

Division:  BADGER

Car:  Slotten/Bong Brayton

After last week’s experience in Butch Dahlke’s Gearte powered Stealth (Had my best qualifying lap of a 15.460, but got a flat tire in the heat and had low oil pressure in the B), he informed me that frontrunner Cody Weisensel-who had blown up his engine, while running third in that feature-and his team had come to an agreement to run the car I had been driving; but that I could come pick up a similar car, take care of it myself, and run the rest of the year.  It is a 1995 Stealth with a Gearte that Kevin Olson won the 1997 championship with.  Obviousoly it is a step up from out equipment, but he wouldn’t have it ready for us to pick-up until after this Sundays races.

I spent the week trying to get a hold of the Slotten team, who both my dad and I had driven for before.  John Slotten called me about 1:30 Sunday and asked if I would like to at least get the car qualified so that it would be available if anyone else needed it, or to see what happens if not.  After getting used to it again and being coached by John, I went out for qualifying.  I did screw up my first lap, turning a 15.8, but, mostly due to complications, the throttle stayed down, and I basically flat footed it the entire last lap and turned a 15.019 (almost ½ seconds better than my personal best).  The time ended up ranking 8th out of 26 and, ironically, was the exact same as what Cody turned in Butch’s car.  We missed the dash by two cars.  In the heat race, I verified that there was in fact a throttle problem, had to try to pull the throttle up with the toe strap, use the brakes a lot, and slide the car sideways to slow down when needed.  As the track dried some and took rubber, this wasn’t the best situation, especially, after I lost a couple spots while getting used it.  On the last lap I hoped to get around Aaron Fiscus for the transfer spot, but was unable to get the car slowed down enough on the bottom to get by.  Crew chief Tom Bong fixed the problem before the B and I was set to start outside row two.  New Zealander’s Jimi Quinn was supposed to start on the outside pole, but dramatically for me, he made a couple of attempts to push off, until it was decided his car would not go.  That bumped me up beside; top five point man and former feature winner, Brandon Welti.  He did get ahead at the start, but I tucked in right behind.  Some laps I felt we were faster than him, but not good enough to make the pass.  I was running the top and he was more in the middle or bottom.  I could tell that it wasn’t really working for him and didn’t know what it would do for me, so I stayed up top.  Lacking consistency and smoothness, I fell back a little, while Brandon pulled away.  Mid-race, third running Brian Ramstack showed me his nose, and I turned it up a little bit.  I did close on Brandon again, and at one point had a good run on him going into three, but didn’t do anything with it.  Late in the race, I settled into a conservative mode, and finished second.

Quinn, a little higher in points, came over after the B though, and he and John worked out a deal so that Jimmy would run the feature.  I figured that we had a good run and thanked him for the opportunity.  (The car broke before the first lap was complete though.)

Although the B may have not been the “healthiest” in the club’s history, I was still happy to run second, but do believe that if I would have taken the chance, we could have gotten around Welti.  He may have only been running just hard enough to hold the rest of the field at bay, but I’ll wonder if I had got around, if he would have challenged again or not.  Considering the goal for the Slotten’s was to make the feature and score maximum points, I never felt good about taking the risk to make the pass.  I think if I would have just been worried about the win, I may have taken more chances…Hopefully I can win one of these B-main’s eventually, and after missing the dash by only two cars, it would be pretty neat to make the dash some week too! 

Date: 08-06-05

Track:  Sun Prairie

Division:  BADGER

Car:  Slotten/Bong Brayton

Although I have no regrets about the last month or so of activity involving my racing situations, it continues to be interesting and challenging.  Contrary to last night's post, my involvement with Butch Dahlke will not be as stated.  Due to some other interested parties, our relationship will be limited to less than the remainder of the year.  Hopefully we can capitalize on the current situation and continue to develop relationships with other parties interesting in participating with us, and build on the existing relationships-such as with the Slotten team,-to finish off the 2005 season on the same high note that we are currently operating under. So...

17097

Had another interesting experience at Wilmot Saturday night.  Got the opportunity to get in the Slotten/Bong Brayton back-up for Harley Slotten.  Went out for hot laps, my first time on the track, and really struggled from loose and non-gripping situations.  John Slotten and Tom Bong made some changes to help, but my qualifying wasn’t too impressive.  Before the heat, they did more to assist.  We started on the pole of the second heat.  John told me to stay on the bottom, which I usually hate to run, and make the rest of the field go around the outside.  The top five cars advance to the feature, so we hoped to hold off the most of them.  I told myself just to ignore what the rest of the drivers were doing on the top, because even if they pulled a little ahead, since I was running the shorter distance, we would catch back up and stay in contention.  The initial start was ok, and gave me the confidence that the car was set-up to run good.  After a lap one yellow, the restart was single file.  While Mueller ran the top, I did my thing on the bottom.  He eventually bobbled and I didn’t react quickly enough and lost the third spot to Mike Hess.  After Mueller recovered, it was the same story with them up top and me on the bottom.  Hess and Mueller didn’t get to far ahead and we finished fourth.  On the smaller track, the race was over about the quickest I have ever experienced and I was ready for more, but…Harley’s return from his missionary trip did not give him the results he was looking for, as he wrecked in his heat and needed to use the back-up car, which I had put into the feature.

 

 

Date: 08-07-05

Track:  Angell Park

Division:  BADGER

Car:  Butch Dahlke's V-6

Qualified Butch Dahlke’s V-6 in at 15.8.  That is about as fast as that car has gone, but unfortunately, that was about the highlight of our night.  The time was better then the half-dozen or so others that ran the first, or as I have referred to before as the “slow”, heat, so I lined up on the pole of one of the “fast” heats.  Brandon Welti-whom I finished second to in last week’s B-main, and was driving the car that I was then and Saturday at Wilmot-started on the outside.  After a poor initial start, we got a pretty good start, leading come out of two, but Brandon quickly powered his way by on the backstretch.  I thought he slowed in three and four, so I slowed going through and lost my momentum, which is crucial with the V-6.  Before too long I lost more spots, and had the same abrehension when the others seemed to not be going through the corners as fast as I wanted to.  Eventually I lost the transfer spot and as I continued to make mistakes, Kurt Mayhew and then Jon Lujuene got around and put me in the back.  I learned that with out the horsepower I have come accustomed to, I could not afford to make any mistakes, as I could not recover from anything less then perfection.  I did not put what I learned into play during the B-main though.  We started fifth, and at first I thought of running the bottom, but it seemed like I was going to loose to much time trying to learn how to run down there and the door opened up to go back up top.  For a moment, we were fourth, and I thought we were going to be allright-as they take the top seven for the feature-but maybe that was the problem, I “thought”, and by the time the caution came out 2/3 of the way through the race, I had fallen back to eighth.  On the restart David Gough battled with a hard run on the bottom, while I continued to struggle and used more race track than I probably should have.  Before the end, I gave him the spot, and as I spent time jumping over the cushion in turn four, Bill Hess also got by.  That put me 9th, but the winner, Greg Luekart blew up as he crossed the line, and we should have started the feature. 

 

Date: 08-21-05

Track:  Angell Park

Division:  BADGER

Car:  Slotten/Bong Brayton & Butch Dahlke's V-6

With the Sun Prairie "Cornfest" buzz in the background keeping spirits up, an individual close to the Kevin Doty family, announced that while saddened with last week's events, they are "comfortable" that "...racing was what brought Kevin to life, and racing was what took him away."  About the same time Dave Despain and Dave Argabright honored Kevin on Windtunnel, the feature field, assumed the "missing man" position and then winner Scott Hatton dedicated the win to fallen veteran.

I had the opportunity to qualify the 87x back-up car for primary driver Harley Slotten.  After missing hot laps due to a mechanical issue, I struggled during the trials, but got it locked in for the team.  Only got a 16027I,  then tried to qualify Butch Dahlke's v-6 powered 99x, but was too late, and had to start at the back of the first heat.  His guys had the car set up good, fresh tire and all, and it seemed to be a better effort than a couple of weeks before.  I was unable to get around the battling Doug Jordon and Buddy Luebke at first, but finally did about mid-race.  I then ran the car as hard as I could, wide-open, closed on fourth running Chris Hoegsted, but ran out of laps to make the pass and took fifth.  In the B-main, I struggled behind Jordon again, missed the spinning Aaron Fiscus, and the slowing Brian Ramstack, before pulling off because I thought it was running hot-240.   

Date: 08-28-05

Track:  Sun Prairie

Division:  BADGER

Car:  Slotten/Bong Brayton

I managed a couple 15.3 second laps, in Harley Slotten’s back-up car.  Unfortunately, the right rear tire had lost pressure and my effort was hindered.  It did not much matter though, as their intentions were not for me to actually race the car, but just have it available in case Harley needed it.  He in fact did not need it, as both cars rolled onto the trailer and were in running condition at night’s end, so this coming weekend’s plans are for me to compete throughout the entire night-which is the prestigious BMARA season ending PEPSI National’s.

Date: 09-04-05

Track:  Sun Prairie

Division:  BADGER

Car:  Slotten/Bong Brayton

My desire to end the 2005 BMARA season on a good note was left unfilled Sunday night.  Although I had spent some time attempting to prepare the #87 Slotten/Bong car, before the race, we suffered maintence issunes throughout the night.  In hot laps, the right rear leaked down, again, and I fought through an unproductive session.  A power steering line came loose during the session, too.  A high number was drawn for me, so I had to qualify late.  Although I only made just a couple small mistakes, the track was not in the best shape, and I only managed a couple 15.7's!  That put me in the slow heat, which  I should have won, but the power steering issue resurfaced, since the fluid level was low, and I pulled off after losing a couple of spots.  We filled up the reservoir, before the B, but did not get all of the air out and I just ran a little over half way before retiring for the night.  Meanwhile, my dad struggled to get some bugs out of our car, but did finish the B-which after all of the recent effort and future desires, was the best news of the night for me.  Intentions are for me to run the car in a UMARA Sportsman race in Macomb , IL this Saturday night.  Now I just have to buy gas!

 

Date: 09-10-05

Track:  Macomb

Division:  UMARA Sportsman

Car:  1991 Challenger

Thanks to the open arms of Lavern Spencer, Joe Knippel, and club officials, I competed with the UMARA Sportsman midget series Saturday in Macomb .  In addition to many financially minded rules, they utilize a special tire, actually a street tire, to help equalize the equipment, and control cost.  Although primarily a pavement series-which competes at Grundy, they opened up their specs a little for this special dirt event, and allowed us to compete.  I started third in my heat race, but took a while to get used to the track, different rubber, and set-up.  I actually spun and had to restart at the tail.  Due to fuel problems, our car barely wanted to take off on the green’s, but on one attempt, I did go into one too hard and kicked the rear-end out and into Doug Orsinski.  I left him parked and that brought out another yellow, which again I struggled with the take off, but did eventually get a rhythm going and passed a couple other cars.  My efforts were too late though to take the lead, as the leader was far ahead, and although we closed in a little, I had to settle for the runner-up spot.  In the feature, I started fifth-on the bottom, and since most others were running high, I tried to run were they were not.  There was not much going on down low for me, but the caution came out right away when the car that started in front of me spun.  I was looking forward to starting one spot higher, but wasn’t able to capitalize as not only was out car idling high under the caution and I had to wear the brakes out to stay slow, it again bogged down on the start.  I was able to run the top for a lap or so, but stubbornly, went back down low and ended up losing a couple spots.  The yellow came out again, and my situation worsened.  When the green finally did come out, my brakes were gone and I went into one way to hard again.  Fortunately, the car I made contact with this time, stayed on course, but when I pulled the car out of gear to abandon the effort, another was collected.  It was very much a learning experience, and I hope for another opportunity to improve on the lackluster performance. 

 

Date: 10-02-05

Track:  Granite City

Division:  Gateway

Car:  1991 Challenger

My expensive evening was just as exciting as the feature.  A low draw, put me on the outside frontrow of the third heat.  Having never been to the facility before, much was left to wonder as we took the green.  The first start was waved off, but both times, I did not get the traction and acceleration that the rest of the field did, and I fell to the back.  I tried running the bottom for a few laps, but gave up on that and went to the high side.  Once I got some momentum going, I was able to basically flat-foot it for most of the last few laps of the race.  It was to no avail though, as not enough laps remained to get around Alex Coonan in fifth, let alone back into the fourth and final transfer spot.  We made some more changes to adjust to the smooth dry track before the B.  I was set to start 7th in that last chance event, and had a decent start.  I believe a couple cars did get around initially, but for the most part, we were slicing and dicing with the gaggle of cars hoping to get into the fourth and final transfer spot.  A couple of that group wrecked in front of me in the middle of turn three and four.  We then lined up just outside the transfer spots, and tried to hold ground on the multiple restarts that ensued.  A couple of the starts were slow, and our car doesn't like to take off on those, but on the last one, I went into turn one and the car got completely sideways.  I tried to counter steer, eventually about giving up, but somehow it did not spin, and, although passed by most of the rest of the field, I was able to continue and set into a battle with stock car driver Tim Noble.  I tried to run the bottom again, but he and the car in front were there, so I moved back to the top again.  Using about all of the throttle, all of the way around, I did get around both at some points, before I drifted over the before mentioned non-existent "cushion" in turn one and two, but got kept the car going and finished the race.  I do have thank my dad for allowing me to run the car and going with all the way down there, and JJ Precision Grinding and my mom for some gas money. Considering that this may be my last outdoor race of the 2005 season, I was hoping for better results.  Looking forward to the dates of some indoor shows in DuQuoin to be announced and then for us to make a decision on Ft. Wayne and Chili Bowl.  Other than that, I have noted that Rockford Speedway has added a "Hornet" bracket for next weekend's Bahama Brackets.  With that and the Enduro the next week, there are still two big weekends allowing interested local business's advertising opportunities.  I would be more than enthusiastic about preparing a car for these events, but due to my desire to compete in the previously mentioned indoor midget races while also updating our existing midget equipment, I have decided that I will be unable to fund this effort on my own.  Please respond electronically to jdull99@hotmail.com or phone 815 494 6002.  Thank-you.

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