Division

Heat: I attempted to compete in the BMARA season opening double header over the weekend. Plans were to run in Lincoln, IL on Saturday night and in Canton, IL on Sunday night. Unfortunately, my run ended on about the second lap of the first heat race. As it was the inaugural actual national midget event at the facility, I-like all of the other drivers, did not have any previous experiences there. I did run a brief hot-lap session, and after some conversations and considerations, decided to make some changes to the set-up, to adjust to the track conditions-although it was hard to get a close view of the actual conditions, because of the fences and time restraints. I was slated to start fourth in the race and, considering some of the heavy hitters in the event, got off to a decent start. I noticed that the track was a little rougher than I had anticipated, but didn’t think our set-up changes were too far off. Brandon Wealti, the 2005 season ending feature winner, powered around coming off of turn two and going down the backstretch. Brad Kuhn, the 2005 National Midget Driver of the Year, and David Gough, whose accomplishments have been well documented here, also made their presence known. I did all I could to hang with the group and went into turn one, apparently, a little hard, or just off of the correct line. The right rear corner-the only one I had made a shock change on-dug in real bad and got the car pretty far out of shape. Meanwhile accomplished veteran Steve Knepper was on the bottom behind another car doing much of the same. That situation caused me to be apprehensive about carrying the throttle all of the way through the corner, which caused my off line car to bicycle and bounce around the wrong direction. Things then went all kinds of wrong, as I rode out a series of flips and hits back to the ground, all the while gaining altitudes causing concern to those in eyesight. Although testing the limits of my safety equipment, except for concern of another car making contact with my errant one, I was fully confident that I could survive the-what seemed to be a slow motion-ride without issue. Thankfully, that was not the case, and the old car laid to rest on it’s side, without collecting any other. Even the flipping car of Knepper kept to his own, and, after the safety crew laid ours back on all fours, I was able to jump out-as fast as I could, after concern by the safety that a fire may ignite, due to the busted fuel cell, which may have absorbed much of the impact. After a quick on track examination, we began to strip the car in the pits. The original goal was to at least get it rolling again for the race in Canton the next day, but as we worked, more and more problems were diagnosed. The rear-end housing and axle, all of the shocks, many steering and chassis links, the front axle, wheels, steering gear, engine plate, front mount, and more were all damaged. We then decided that, not only would we be unable to get the car ready for the next day’s race, we most likely will not spend the time to repair the damaged car. As the suspension design is not what most run and, like everything else on the car, is way outdated, we-although remorse-feel our efforts would be better spent on the newer frame I have. The mentioned suspension design may have also attributed to the incident, as I got used to driving the more standard torsion arm style cars I was in last year, and having gone back to this design, and with everything else, things did not line up correctly to get me through the turn. All in all, I am proud of the last run for the old car, coil over shock style suspension/steel block/outdated components and all, going out in style, holding it's own with the Big Dogs at the start! In retrospect, more attention on my part should have been spent on driving the track instead of the other cars, but when things were as close as they were, and without much practice time-remember you can't "rent" a dirt track like a pavement one-only a back start, slow run may have prevented this incident. Although they will have to be re-evaluated now, that situation would not have assisted the goals I had set for the 2006 season. Now we will have to see how we can bounce back physically, mentally, emotionally, and financially.

Thanks to the efforts of-in no particular order-Steve Pierick State Farm (Sun Prairie), my dad-Ken Dull, Tom Dull, Jerry Lemke of JAMR Engines, Andy Jones of JJ Precision Grinding, Joe Lamarco of North State Motors, John Callahan of Callahan Motorsports, “Fast” Eddie Sauer, Karl Warnke, Joe Fontana, Vicky and Kenny @ Wieland, Harry @ R&H, my mom, Chuck Johnson, Jim Melvin, Brian Bagwell of Beechner Heat Treating, the crew at Bermac, Trackside “car chief” Dwight Steffan, Tom Wojahn, Brandon Waelti, and everyone that has helped in the past as well as anyone else I may have forgotten; the frame that I had purchased from the latter, went from a bare chassis to a fairly respectable running car in just over 14 days! Although the only exhaust header that we had to bolt onto the side of the engine was one that was to low, Dwight set the car up higher-which is not the ideal situation-to allow for ground clearance. I felt it out in hot laps and never heard anything drag or catch-but my dad had to “MacGyver” up a hose clamp strap to hold it on the rest of the night, because it apparently was dragging and broke the welds on the brackets. We checked the car over before qualifying and my confidence in the car was beginning to build. Although my lap times in qualifying were in the 16’s, we did out time a number of cars that had to run the “C-main”. We were locked into the outside pole of the first heat and all of a sudden the effort-which, after a late week issue that prohibited adjusting the exhaust to the correct location, looked bleak on Sunday morning-became a real serious one. Taking the green in my preferred high groove, we battled with the pole starting Lee Beckwith for the top spot. After a good clean battle, I took the lead. (It doesn’t get much better then coming out of turn two with no cars in front of you at one of the most prestigious short tracks in the country!) Our stay at the front was short lived, as veteran and multi track champion Randy Koch made his way underneath for the lead. Before the race was halfway, it was stopped for an incident in turns one and two. When the event resumed, I ended up losing second as well and attempted to hold off Brian Ramstack-with the SESCO lease motor. After sometime, he did eventually get around, and then I went down to the bottom, to try to learn how to run the line that I do not normally. We placed 4^th.

…The B-main was much of the same. I did start on the bottom, but quickly found the top as the line I thought necessary to run. After falling back at the start, I got a rhythm going and reeled in Doug Jordan and Pat Jones-who were all but running side-by-side. With one on the bottom and the other on the top, I held back hoping for a better opportunity. When a door-around the outside of Jordon-finally did open going into turn three, I failed to take advantage, having already decided to enter the corner differently than I had the five laps previous. Late in the race, I tucked back to the bottom in an attempt to gain more experience. We were credited with 15th.

Heat: Started on the pole. Tried to stick to the bottom in the corners but drift out on the straights to use up the racetrack. Held off Kurt Mayhew, the outside polestarter, after an intense battle. Took the lead for a little before Brandon Wealti showed his presence. He got around on the outside, I was able to maintain second for sometime before the rest of the pack eventually got around. I was still in the transfer spot when the white flag came out, but Buddy Luebke got around on the last lap. That regulated us to having to run the B-main. Made some changes to the chassis, including going to all dry-slick with the shock set-up and raising the front-end. We ran out of time before we could make any more changes though.

B-main: Started on the outside of the fourth row, just outside the elusive 7^th position that allowed advancement to the A-main. Was able to get to the bottom right-away, and tucked in behind Mayhew. Battled with outside third row starter Steve Graham in the #79. He allowed room to get under on the bottom, and I went into three hard to get the position. I was able to maintain the spot for most of the race, but again, on the last lap, Graham was able to sneak underneath and, took the position, which put him in the transfer spot.

A-main: We did get into the A-main, as a couple other cars had problems. I gave the field room to get sorted out, and was hoping to be able to get around a couple of cars as the race went on. The #74 of Dustin Morgan was up top, and we were able to get underneath, but he brought the caution out with a spin. After the restart, I ended up behind Jim Fuerst in the #28. Before mid-race, he clipped an inside tire marker and broke some front end parts. Surprisingly, the caution did not come out, but I had lost some momentum in the incident. The leaders eventually came around, and I thought I was able to get a better rhythm going-due to the pressure-and then watching the line the then third place running car of Aaron Fiscus. Shortly after those three got around, the caution came out, and I moved to the rear of the field. All in and all, I had to figure it a good experience, as it was the most laps I had at the track-less of about a ½ dozen that I had ran the year before in Butch Dahlke’s car. The USAC/Co-sanctioned race in Knoxville was rained out and scheduled to be run Sunday night, so hopefully the car count will again allow for us to make our way into the feature.

Heat: Started on the outside pole. Very disappointed in the start. Had trouble holding up with Kenny Adams, the pole sitter on both starts. Went into one and let half the field by. Toyed with the bottom and the top again. Struggled to the end.

B-main: Much of the same results. Set-up to run the bottom, after a 7^th place start. Ended up behind Jay Mounce and Doug Jordan. Tried going back up top for a while, where the car felt pretty good, but ended up back down low when the leaders came around. Lost the 9^th spot on one of the last laps, when I allowed the car to go high and Chad Dreher slipped underneath. Finished 10^th. David Gough, who finished fifth, had rocker arm trouble and decided not to start the feature (He slowed before he lapped me).

Heat: Started on the pole (they were all “Fast” heats-no slower one). Got the jump on Buddy Luebke-who started on the outside frontrow, on the starts (plural because the first was "too good", we had to restart it.) Went into turn one still ahead and shocked that none of the other cars were flying around. Basically led most of the first lap, as Chad DeSelle snuck underneath on the frontstretch. He dove in front going into turn one, but it hardly affected my entrance and I ran right behind him. I later found out a big puff of smoke expelled out from the exhaust overflow, due to the fact that I always overfill the oil tank, and Aaron Fiscus and Brandon Welti slowed thinking I had expired an engine. DeSelle pulled away down the backstretch and then Fiscus eventually got around as well, after I bombed into turn three real hard on the next lap. It took Brandon Wealti a lap or two make his pass and put me in the final transfer spot (Because of the four heats, they were only taking four from each one). Shortly after that, Kenny Adams also got around, and I gave up on the bottom lane and went up to about where those that passed where running. In the closing laps, this opened up the opportunity for Luebke to sneak underneath.

B-main: Tried to adjust the chassis to the drying and mostly smooth track. Scheduled to start in the back. Did nothing special on the initial start and got stalled up when another car (The #25) shut-down in front of me going through three and four. He got back around on the restart, and I never found away around he that was running towards the bottom, and John Luejuhn, who was towards the top. The car ran ok up higher, but never got around either car in the short 10 lap event.

Qualifying: Although I mean nothing against the assemblers of my current power plant (Including JAMR Racing Engines) nor do I regret purchasing it, I can now say that I am in fact definitely ready for a newer engine in my midget. At least when the Angell Park racetrack in Sun Prairie, WI is in the same condition as it was this weekend, anyway. We had chased the newer chassis, I had recently debuted, over the last couple of races and have seemed to finally hit on a good combination. Good enough that I was finally able to “Flat-Foot” it all the way around in qualifying and most of the heat race. Although I went out early in time trials, the track was considered slow (Quick time was only a 15.1), my effort could still only produce a 16.0 second lap. Besides working to improve my line so that it is without any imperfections at all, the only other issues that may have cost us a 1/10 here or there, is the fact that the car did kind of bog down when pushed off (Do not know why, sometimes it fires off perfect) and I did lift going into three on the warm-up lap. Other than that, it had felt so good in hot laps-after the previously mentioned chassis changes-I was confident enough to hold the throttle completely down for the remainder of the two green flag laps!

Heat: I was fast enough to miss the “slow” heat and was set to start on the pole of the heat though. The run started off decent, but with frontrunners Brandon Wealti, Brad Kuhn, Aaron Fiscus, Nick Lundgreen, etc. lining up behind, my transfer position effort was short lived. Failures on my part were allowing outside pole man Buddy Luebke to get the jump and then, when Lundgreen got around, I got nailed in the visor by a large clod of mud and slowed momentarily. We didn’t make it to easy for anyone to make their passes though. In the end I was regulated to the 8^th position behind Bob Schreffler.

B-main: I was set to start the B-main 7^th, in the elusive transfer spot. After the start was delayed for a safety issue on Pat Jones’s car, who did get to restart in front of me, I failed to advance my position. Things were kind of sorting themselves out, and I did not find-or make any holes to get around any of the six drivers in front, including a rookie and many who have been involved in an accident or two before. Coming out of turn two on only the second lap, Jeff Flesher did “make a hole” to get around me, slamming into the left side of my car and smacking me against the wall (Kind of like Jimmy Johnson did to Bobby Labonte at Daytona). The right side of my car, rode up the wall and I thought I was going to go for a wild one. Fortunately the car remained grounded, and the rest of the pack made it around safely. Although some parts are broken and bent, the incident could have been a lot worse. After climbing out of the stalled, damaged, flaming (slightly from brake fluid), and smoking mount I tried to evaluate my liability in the incident, and soon thought that with the square hit from Flesher on the inside and the wall on the outside, I wasn’t sure of what I could have done to avoid. If a driver is mostly in front of another, normally the trailing driver “backs off” and allows the pass. With this not being the situation, I restrained my response to Flesher-who was circling the track under caution-to only a couple of focused glares. His salute was much less appropriate.

Between the B-main and Feature, sponsor Steve Pierick (State Farm) got to ride around the track in the pace truck!

Qualifying: We got everything checked out and back together after last week’s little wreck. Got to run both hot lap sessions and, thanks to some excellent pit work, test out some of the wheels I was still concerned about as well. Didn’t do to well in qualifying, as with the sprint cars being part of the evening card, the theme of the day was a dryer, smoother track compared to usual weeks. We anticipated those changing conditions, but, during the two lap run, my experience from the previous week was un-useful (another theme associated with dirt racing). Although I experimented-to much in my opinion-on the second lap, both laps were consistent 16.7s. That put me in the first heat race, which is the one without a chance to advance to the feature.

Heat: Although not benefiting from any exposure to midgets running the track after the sprint car heats, since we were in the first one, I did get a pretty decent start in the heat initially, on the high side. That was waved off and I got to restart on the outside front row (after the car that was supposed to start there had issues), which to me is the best place to take the green. The series point leader, Brad Kuhn, in Jimmy Quinn’s back-up car, was to start alongside, after issues with his own car earlier in the evening. I did not get as good a start the second time and did not do much right away. Doug Jordan was working at getting around, and eventually slid right up in front of me coming out of turn four. I had to lift and lost all my momentum. I lost another spot or two but did get a good rhythm going behind Matt Smith in the Hawk powered car. I was using about all the motor I had and trying to hang with the pack. I eventually let the car come around on me, coming out of two, on the slick track. Although disappointed, I considered it an opportunity to work on the field on the restart. After the restart the 16-year-old Smith spun as well though, and I was on the bottom and slid into him.

B-main: We checked a couple of things out and made our final adjustments to the chassis for the track conditions before the B-main. Took some time to get used to the changing track on the start. I had started 14^th and tried to find traction on the top. Kuhn powered around before things settled in. I was optimistic about following him through the field, and remember going into turn one with one car on the inside and another on the bottom. Brad sliced through the slick middle groove and put his standard slide job on Bob Schreffler as he moved towards the front of the pack. Reality quickly set in and I got stuck behind the battling Schreffler, Buddy Luebke, and Tucker Cavin. The former was trying to make the top work and the "latters" ended up fighting for the little bit of racetrack on the bottom. While getting my rhythm going, it seemed I lost a couple of opportunities to get around. I had to work very patiently and not slip out of the groove as I attempted to gain ground. Eventually, I found a line and spent the mid-part of the race getting around Schreffler. With the top opened up, and Cavin still securing the bottom, I moved to the high side and went to work trying to get around him. With the way the car was set up, I jumped out into the unpacked stuff and got out of shape in turn three and four. I then got my run going again, but Jon Lujeune got out of shape as well on the backstretch and I slowed a lot. I did get around him, after he got re-going, but I fell short of passing Cavin. The battle was not for a transfer spot anyway, so my night was done. All in all, it was a great experience to run on that kind of track, race with, and pass a couple of cars.

Heat: There was no qualifying, so heat race line-ups were determined by a draw. As is the case with any draw that situation cannot always be ideal, especially for us. We were slated to start in the last spot of the first heat. I hung with and tried to pass Brian Ramstack and Buddy Luebke, but although I would close up in the corners, they powered away down the straights and I never made an aggressive enough move to get around both of them. That run forced me to have to line-up 13^th in the B-main.

B-main: Former champion Davey Ray was slated to start alongside after a frustrating evening that saw him experience problems with his #33. I thought that if he did have his car running good, then maybe I would be able to follow him through the field. Due to the fact that I was fully aware that only the top six finishing cars would make the feature, I did all that I could to advance positions at the start. Somehow I was able to get to the high side in front of Ray, from my inside row seven starting spot, and in a not so conservative fashion I proceed to run above the groove-where it seemed that the car was hooking up, and bounced my way around about four cars in the first lap or two. As we did not really know that was "where the racetrack was at", we had the car set up to run the dry slick bottom, and it was a very interesting ride, with the right rear corner laying over and the car bouncing around very much. My progression put me in a battle with #2 Shirk. He got out of shape real bad in one and two and I had to about shut it off to avoid. Matt Smith, in one of the potent Hawk cars, had gotten back around, and I was forced to follow him as well. On lap six, the caution came out and for all practical purposes, our run was done. Ray made his presence known under the cautions and on the successive restarts, but it wasn’t until an extremely slow one forced our car to bog down and the engine went sour, that he got around. With the engine not running at full song when I got back on it, I tried to run the high side again and kept it mostly floored, thinking I could not afford to give up any momentum with the less then 100% output from the engine. I ended up about losing it in one and two and then another car got around. It was then I finally realized that the transfer spot was out of the question and decided it was not worth damaging the engine, so I pulled of.

After much checking over and maintenance we had to forfeit Sun Prairie Sunday night, at least after the hot laps, as well. Monday we found out that the head gasket was what went bad on the engine.

Made a couple of changes to the set-up that the track conditions did not really require after the Hot Lap sessions, and although the qualifying times-16.0s-were not very satisfying, we did manage to out-time a number of other drivers and were placed in the second heat race. The first heat race, which I won last year-and would be more than happy to take the flag in again-is more of a “non-qualifiers” event, while the other three allow for the opportunity-if you finish in the top five-to transfer to the main event.

Was placed on the pole, and got off to awesome starts both times-too good the first time, as outside starter Jon Lujuene-whom wasn’t allowed much racetrack as I took most of the groove-did not stay even as we took the green either time. The yellow did not come out on the second attempt and I led the talented field for most of the first lap. Multi-time midget champ Kevin Olson, from his inside second row starting spot, powered underneath on the front straight. I attempted to hang close, but our set-up forced the car to not really want to turn well in the corner (a condition referred to as “tight” or “pushing” in the industry), and instead of searching for a faster line, I mostly ran the same groove as Olson-whom I figured, with his credentials and the respect I have for him as a driver, knew what he was doing. He eventually pulled away; before his car started smoking just a little-from an oil line that was burning his arm-and I momentarily narrowed the gap, slightly. Just past the half-way mark, I allowed the before mentioned handling condition to cause me to slow coming off of turn two, and opened the door for the defending National Midget Driver of the Year/BMARA point leader and season dominator Brad Kuhn and “Down under” hot shoe Jimmy Quinn, to slip by. I was able to hold onto the fourth spot though-the highest position I have ever finished in one of the transfer heats at Sun Prairie. Although I was guaranteed to make the feature-for the first time at the track this season, a last minute commitment to an opportunity for a promotional assignment at work-on the third shift I recently started, required my departure from the track early…From here my dad takes over…

"KO's car was smoking badly when he won that heat race and we thought he may have blown his engine. I offered him the seat in the #56, but it turned out it was just a lose oil line. Kevin was soaked in oil and looking to borrow a driving suit but he, and his car, would be ready for the feature. So that was it. I'm in. This was the first time I had ever sat in the new car, and it was a VERY tight squeeze! Mind you, Jason is 40 pounds lighter than I am and the car was built to fit him. I suited up, stretched out the seat, and squeezed in. We almost couldn't get the belts latched! My right was knee was jammed up tight against the knee pad. My left knee however missed the pad and was stuffed against the steering box. I was not at all comfortable. In our struggle to get me compressed into the cockpit I forgot to attach my arm restraints. The cars were already pushing off and there was no way I was going to unbuckle the belts to hook it up correctly. So I stuffed one end down through the seat belt pull it up and slipped my arms in. That would have to do. I told the officials I wanted to start in the back...but they didn't get it. They kept coming on the radio telling me where I was supposed to be starting. I thought the rule was, if you changed drivers the car starts in the back...didn't they get it? Finally after two laps of signaling my intentions to the flag man they got it. We got the green! We're racing! As I mentioned earlier, this was a split show with the non-winged Sprint cars. The track was packed down hard. Still wet and tacky, for the most part, but very rutty. There were a couple spots that were hard, dry, and slicker than snot on a door knob, but most of the track still had some decent bite to it. My goal was to start the feature, get the 22 car owner points, get some seat time, and bring it back in one piece. The car seemed to hook up to the track as well as could be expected. I kind of liked the way it cornered and the engine was running sweet. But man those ruts! Here I am, first time in that car, first time racing all summer, and I'm hitting those ruts like Beau Duke sliding sideways across a train track! We ran 20 hard, fast, green flag laps before the yellow came out for the stalled car of Nick Lundgreen. Just in the nick of time too. My hands were numb from gripping the wheel and wrestling the car over those ruts. Every time you'd hit those ruts the car would bounce, the rear end would try to pin-ball around in the wrong direction, and you swear you were going to flip it over or end up in the wall. After what seemed like 100 yellow flag laps we got the green. (It was probably more like 10.) Unfortunately 4 cars tangled up right in front of me. I dodged the mayhem...and a wheel from Tucker Caven's #87 car and made it through. KO got caught up in it though. He restarted but pulled right in. So another 100 yellow flag laps later we get the green and ran the last 5 laps...it felt like 50! Man I was beat. My hands and arms were wore out. My knee was sore from jamming it into the steering box. I was hot and sweaty. I was embarrassed by my rusty, back-marker performance, my shoulders and neck ached, I was uncomfortable as hell...but I LOVED EVERY MINUTE OF IT! I still love it! I still get a big thrill driving those race cars...going fast...and sliding sideways. I will say though, that if were to go back to driving on a regular basis, I couldn't do it in that car. I'm over 40. I guess I need "the relaxed-fit" race car now. Hemmingway was right... "There are only three real sports. Mountain climbing, bull fighting, and auto racing. The rest are merely games." That's racing!," Ken Dull.

Although we did compete, it was another week and another concern about our power plant. Again, this is nothing against JAMR Engines, who assists me with the machining and assembly of the old worn out parts that I bring him. Found out, after it was too late to do anything about, that the cylinders have an incredible amount of "Leak Down"-the amount of pressure that is allowed to release from the combustion chamber, which causes the compression to be lower. Another maintenance issue we discovered-at the track-was a water leak in the cooling system.

The track was "Fast" Sunday, and our time-15.5-was the quickest I ever recorded in one of "our" cars. (I had turned faster times last season when I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to drive other cars.) Although it was not that high up the ranking, we did go out late in the order-usually not ideal in dirt track situations-and all in all, I am fairly satisfying considering not only the above mentioned engine situation, but also that it is one of the only steel blocks-most others are aluminum, currently competing.

That put me on the pole of the Third heat, alongside David Gough-for an all Machesney Park resident frontrow. He got the jump on me coming out of turn four for the green and Brandon Waelti, I believe, drove underneath through the first turns. In some very close tight racing, I attempted to hold Brandon off-I think we were three wide through turn two-but those two pulled away down the backstretch. There was not a real tall cushion, so we had the right rear corner set up somewhat “Softer” than it could be, hoping to grip the track better, and when I did go up high, it was very bouncy and ineffective. As I attempted to find the right groove to run, Danny Stratton also got around. I did maintain the fourth spot for a few laps before-I believe it was again around the half-way point-Jimmy Quinn powered around and regulated me to the last “Transfer” spot. I continued to make mistakes, and let Matt Smith and TexanRonnie Burke Jr around, forcing me to having to run the B-main.

Started 7th, which is the elusive transfer spot in the B-main. Did move up to sixth before the first caution, behind Brian Ramstack and Chad DeSelle. Buddy Leubke, in the 7th spot, attempted to get underneath going into one, but I did not give him one inch and shut the door. I did not hear or see anymore of his car, before a caution came out mid-race. On the initial attempt at the restart, I jumped to the high side again-after stiffening the right rear corner before the race, and although it did feel a little better, I am not sure how that move would have worked out, as the car was slightly out of shape, but the caution came out and we had to restart. On the next attempt, I again went to the high side hoping to make a run, but opened the door for Luebke to get around. I ended up 7th and although my attempts at getting around Ramstack and DeSelle were unsuccessful, I did make the feature and was somewhat satisfied.

By feature time, I had concerns for lack-of water due to the mentioned issue with the cooling system, and the fact that I knew I was going to have to leave before the race was over-if there was a bunch of delays. Although I did try the top shortly-it still didn't feel "right" this week-due to the possibility that I was not sure how long our run was going to continue, I did not make an all out bonzai charge. Following Chad Dreher and Pat Jones-who were engaged in an intense battle, the door never opened for a pass. I did learn a lot about how I was running, and tried to correct any issues as the race went on. My efforts to improve were not that successful though, and the leader, Harley Slotten lapped me past the halfway point. I was surprised how much of a gap that there must have been between he and the rest of the pack-as although I am sure I did increase my speed under the pressure of having an entire pack behind me-it seemed like it took forever for any other cars to get around. Finally top dogs, Scott Hatton, Brad Kuhn, Doug Shenck, Danny Stratton, Brandon Waelti, and Aaron Fiscus-I believe-made their way past. It was shortly after that when the first caution of the race came out-due to a flat tire on Harley's car, which allowed me to check the water temp. It was pegged at 260, and I decided that it was not worth risking any more harm to the engine and pulled off.

We discovered after hot laps that our efforts to correct some of the issues we have currently been experiencing with our engine, were of no avail. With this-mostly the water leak that was either the cause or effect of the engine running hot-and other issues weighing on my mind, our night left much to be desired. While I was ready to either tear the engine apart in the pits or park it, veteran car owner/crew chief Wes Carner-who has recently offered some assistance to our effort-and the rest of my crew-Ken & Tom Dull, and Bruce Zittelmen and Mindy, really stepped up for me and we got the car set-up fairly well and attempted to seal the cooling system.

Although my qualifying run was nothing spectacualer-16.4-I think with some more laps on that track we could improve that time. The run put us on the pole for the first heat-with only 24 cars, they were all “fast” this night.

I did get the “jump” on former BMARA champ Dean Erfurth, initially. Dean and the reigning Wilmot Mini-sprint champ Brian Ramstack powered around though, as I struggled to find a rhythm on the unfamiliar track. Shortly after that, former multi Sprintcar point winner Doug Schenk also moved by, while I settled into fourth. Shortly after the mid-point, Schenk spun on the tricky track. I noticed under the caution that the engine was hot, but with about three laps to go I restarted in the third spot. It was at this point I “threw-away” my opportunity for my highest “fast” heat finishing position and let the back end come around in one in two as well. Ironically, Scheck’s run was ended as he couldn’t avoid my car. With only the frontbumper damaged on my car, I did restart but the incident allowed former Hut 100 winner Mike Hess to take the third spot. In the end I ranked in the fourth spot.

The feature was another race with potential for us to record our highest position in that type of event. The car was really working well, and after a somewhat conservative start, I did improve my position and was hoping to settle into a groove. Apparently lacking the focus necessary, I went into turn three to low and nailed one of the inside marker implement tires and damaged the front-end.

Sun Prairie’s weekly show was rained out he next day, and in addition to the front-end damage, we discovered that a major concern with the engine is now a crack in the block. Unless I can find something else to put in the car, I do have another steel block we can use, intend to send the head out for some repair, and can put that combination back together for a relative inexpense. Without outside assistance, that is our best opportunity to finish of the 2006 season and it would be a good back-up engine for 2007-as it is before then I hope to update our engine package.

After two arduous weeks repairing the car, preparing a new engine block, and other set-backs during the assembly process (Including a clearance issue with an adapter on the new block and the motor plate-discovered less then 24 hours previous) we headed to the track, although aware of a couple of small water leaks and little rest during that time period.

Qualifying: 15.836. Turned more RPM than we normally did, so we had to drop the gear down.

Heat: Started on the inside front-row of the second heat. I did get the jump on Jim Fuerst, both attempts, and headed into turn one with the lead on the official start. I went in on the high side and opened the door for Chad DeSelle. Fuerst made contact with the back off my car and got me out of shape. Before I had corrected, I did loose a couple of positions. Danny Stratton got around after a couple laps, and then Adam Clarke dropped me back out of the fifth and final transfer position before mid-race. I held off Buddy Luebke for most of the rest of the event, but let him around late and fell to seventh.

B-main: Started ninth. Got off to a good start and had a pretty good rhythm going mid-race. We had the car set-up so that I noticed an incredible drive off the left rear which allowed me to run the lower groove and passed Hoegstead at the start. I also got around Fuerst, with a slide job out of four, after a couple of laps. I then ended up stuck behind Rob Keelan, Buddy Leubke, and Bryon Walters, who were engaged an in intense battle. Once they did spread out slightly, I was able to drift up to the top of the track coming out of two-with a little aggression-and (thanks to the room provided by Bryon), secured the sixth spot. I then moved into a battle with Buddy Luebke, who was using his Hawk horsepower to also run the high side. I was able to slide in front of Luebke coming off of turn two as well, and took the fifth position. I ran in that rank as the race neared completion, but found out that we may have had the car set up just a little bit too tight in the end, as it was harder to turn, and I allowed the car to drift up on me coming out of turn two as we neared the backstretch. That opened the door up for Joe Wipperfurth, driving Butch Dahlke’s #99, to drive into the spot. His move was not without contact though, as my left front wheel was bumped slightly as he took the fifth position. I recovered, settling into a defense mode the last couple of laps, and secured the sixth position-which allowed for the transfer into the feature. According to the numbers posted on Angell Park Speedway.com, our best average lap times were second behind only winner Aaron Fiscus, but our consistency-and starting position-did not allow for that rank. After the race, the Tachometer read 8900 RPM, about 1000 over what we like to see turned, so we had to change the rear-end gear, hoping that it would come down. The engine temp had also creeped up to the 240 range, due to the water leaks.

Feature: We were lined up in the back of the field, and with concern still on the hot engine temp, I was not very optimistic on the possibility of completing the 50 lap event. I ran the top for a couple of laps, but it just seemed like we were off on the set-up slightly and without the confidence in the water temp staying below 240 the entire race, I decided to stick around the bottom and see how the race went. After things spread out a little, ended up in front of Jones and Dreher and engaged another battle with Luebke-who was on the high side. On lap 11 he got in trouble in turn one and flipped, bringing out the red. I noticed that the temp was going up, but still not pegged; so we continued-without making any changes. Doug Schenck’s stalled car brought out the caution a couple of laps later. Danny Stratton pulled into the work area and had to restart at the back. I ended up losing a couple of spots to Dreher and Jones on the restart and then tucked in behind Stratton, although a couple of car lengths back, and ran the top again for awhile. Our progression through the field was not going to be like his, and I ended up back on the bottom. At one point, once things did spread out again-slightly, Jones got real bad out of shape coming out of turn three. I had to do all that I could to not run over him, and just about stalled the car. Without the benefit of a clutch, it did sputter back to life and we took off again. I ended up getting lapped after that, by the frontrunners Brad Kuhn and Scott Hatton, about mid-race. Hatton then slowed up in front of me though, and he pulled into the pits. I let a host of the other leaders around after that and then the caution came out for Kuhn. At this point I noticed the temp was about 255 degrees and thought that would not only not be good for the longevity of the engine but was also affected it’s performance in that race, so I decided to just run a couple of more laps after the green and then pull in. I had worked real hard the previous two weeks on the engine and did not want to burn it up the first week out.

After contemplating all week on competing in the previous night’s USAC race, I finally decided to just concentrate on the normal maintenance and to be as prepared as possible for Sunday’s BMARA points event. That including sealing up the water leaks and a “Leak Down” Test on the engine that, although did not show desirable results, were not too different from what we had previously experienced. We quickly discovered that there was an issue though, as the engine seemed “Flat” and was not producing the RPM it had the week previous. We had to gear it back towards what we were used to running.

Qualifying: Went out later in the order-usually not ideal on a dirt track-and was not of the opinion that there was much more I could have added as a driver, but only managed 16.6’s.

C-main: With the increased car count from the USAC show, that put us out of the Heat events but on the pole-as the fastest car, hoping to transfer to the B-main. I almost threw away the opportunity initially, as it was not until I was pushed off that I noticed we had failed to attach my Head and Neck restraint to my helmet, and pulled back into the pits to correct it. After my dad pointed out to the officials, that it was for a safety issue; we were allowed to restart. I did get the jump on outside starters Pat Jones and then Chris Hoegsted on multiple attempts at starting the event, but after a red flag for a flipped car of Jay Mounce, the race was called off and it was deemed that all of the remaining cars would line up at the back of the B-main. We got in trouble again after the red, because I forgot to tell Dwight and dad what was announced in the Driver’s meeting-not to run out on the track during the reds-as is normally ok. As an official lap had not been completing, there was not a winner declared for the event. Later on though, my dad went in got the customary winner’s case of beer.

B-main: The engine had not improved and we were stuck in the back, although behind Davey Ray-who I assumed would create a doorway to the front. I was not able to stick behind him and tried to run the bottom, the shortest way around-which requires less horsepower, but there was a treacherous berm forming by the guardrail, which made for a difficult lap. When I did go up top though, I quickly discovered that the dry track, without much of a “cushion”, at all, did not offer much to “hold” the car in and that the groove was real wide. None of this, and the fact that we were set-up to loose (so that the car wanted to turn real well) to run in the slick lane, benefited our lack of horsepower, and I opened the door for Jones and Hoegested to drive underneath. I went back to the bottom and ended up placing 18^th in the star studded field.

I continued my “Weekly” maintenance that since the middle of the summer, has included taking the engine apart. This week it was to correct a valve to piston clearance issue. Even still, we had just about everything I had wanted done on the car Sunday morning and we were actually preparing spare parts and working on other items that were not necessary for that night’s event. I was set to defy our normal last minute entrance to the track and intended to leave at a record early time. My efforts were of no avail, as the signs that there was a brake issue on our truck that was hooked up to the trailer, had a busted brake line, eluded me until getting ready to pull out of the driveway. After doing all that we could to “crimp” the line, we headed out with a weak pedal and approx 10000 lbs in tow!

Qualifying: Having arrived at the track safely, we drew a decent number for qualifying. I went out after a number of other cars did, but when the track was in decent shape. I managed a 15.8 & 15.7. Desiring to experience the feeling one more time before season was over, I tried to “flat-foot” it on the first lap, but when it went into turn three, I could tell that I lost speed by how far the car got sideways, and actually “breathed” the gas a little on the second lap, and was faster.

C-main: I again missed the cut-off for the Heat races, and was slated for the pole position. I got the jump on Chris Hoegstedm at the green drove about as hard as could for the first couple of laps. As the track conditions were not all that rough, we had softened the right rear corner to allow for the best traction, but it seemed like the right front corner was somehow affected and the car wanted to lay over real bad and was bouncy. On an early race restart for a spin by Jay Mounce, I again pulled away-having noted Lee Beckwith was in second during the caution, and took a less aggressive approach to navigating the track. I knew that my times would have never held up in a “Fast Heat”-the average best lap mph was almost two off from the dash, but was about 1.5 better than the rest of the C-main field and I was able to adjust to the conditions and do what I had to do to hold off the pack. I thought I had saw a shadow of Lee’s car coming out of two mid-race, but was most likely just paranoid, and did increase my pace momentarily. That was until the last lap, when I all but crawled through the final corner, hoping to not make a mistake that would cost the victory. We crossed the line first, went to victory lane-where I failed to thank everyone I wanted and only said about 1/10 of what I wanted to, got our pictures taken, and grabbed this week’s “goodies” including a case of PEPSI, the longtime season ending “Nationals” sponsor; but, after the next event, the races were rained out and none of the races officially counted!

Qualifying: Time Trials and Hot laps were combined as a “Grand-Prix style” multi car session, compared to the normal single car format. We seemed to run comparable laps, if not faster, to some in our session and actually lost a lot of time, having closed in and battled with a couple of others, including Bob Shreffler. Ended up recording a 17.184.

Heat: Our time put us on the outside pole, which on this type of track-dry slick-was not my preferred. The groove was on the bottom, where the polesitter, Buddy Luebke was set to start. I struggled on both attempts at the green (actually I tucked in around the transfer spot going through turn one on the initial start-but that was waved off). On the second start, I screwed up and went into the corner too hard, and the car got sideways. It most likely would have spun, but another car made contact with mine. The yellow did not come out, and I checked the steering down the backstretch and continued. I lost a lot of time in my escaped and never really did much. I did pass rookie Scott Taylor in John Luejune’s #34, but could not get close enough to the rest of the field to make it into a transfer position. We were scored 7^th out of the nine starters.

Although our lack of horsepower is equalized and we have prepared cars that have been successful on this type of racetrack with experienced veteran drivers like Kevin Olson, and my dad too (later in our efforts), I have not had too many successful nights when it is dry slick-besides a couple of decent runs at Wilmot and some other special occasions. There is a fine line that you can not cross when the track does not have a lot of grip, as one slip up will open up a door for any car behind and then there is not enough traction available to recover. I feel that it is the kind of condition where you cannot be too aggressive without the benefit of a “cushion” or sticky track to hold you in, as the car will slid out from underneath of you and into the slippery black part of the track-where all of the rubber is laid down.

B-main: We were benefited by a 5^th place starting position, in the ideal inside lane. I was able to pass and moved up to fourth. I had engaged in an intense battle with Chad Dreher, who was able to power around on the high side of the track. I initially tried to ignore what he was doing up there, and concentrated only on running the circuit-which was made all the more difficult by some large inside marker implement tires (which was like one that I hit at Wilmot earlier this year). I was able to pull ahead at times, and then tried to move my line up the track on the straight-aways. I thought that would keep Chad at bay, but I opened the door for Bob Shreffler to drive underneath going into one. The yellow immediately came out-for a wreck involving Dreher-and I was able to revert back to my position in front of Shreffler. On the restart I got a little better rhythm going. Late in the race, Dreher charged around, from the back, but I was able to hold onto the fifth position-a comfortable transfer spot.

A-main: We were set to start 18^th, on the high side. I ended up allowing Lee Beckwith, the inside row nine starter, to get the jump and tucked in behind. I struggled trying to close on Beckwith and others, including Joel Wyetenbeck in the Fiscus back-up car. Scott Hatton was eliminated when Nick Lundgreen slowed and brought out the caution on the 10^th lap. On the restart, Brad Weber flipped in front of us taking the green. During the race, I had about grown tired of running the bottom-which did not even offer as much grip as it had in the B-main. I contemplated trying to bomb it around the WAY top side, which the other classes had pushed up real close to the wall, but did not notice any others in front having any success up there. After one of the early race yellows, I did throw it into turn one a little higher, but got into the slick middle and had to do all that I could to get the car to turn. I ended up losing my spot to Steve Wienke, in Bill Eckers #57, but much like the B-main, the yellow came out again, and I got the spot back. When Hatton was eliminated, I believe the fourth turn inside tire was pushed back and out of the low groove. It was after one of these cautions, that I was finally able find some rhythm-actually utilizing that extra “racetrack” available in that fourth corner, and then the confidence to go that low coming out of two. I followed Beckwith and battled with Wyetenbeck, but ended up passing Byron Walters and eventually Chad DeSelle in one of the potent Fiscus cars. The extra room in turn four created a close situation going down the front straight, as there was still a tire there. I was apprehensive about hitting one of those tires on every lap, but do remember one particular lap when I speed by that one coming out of four and could not believe that I did not knock the left front corner off! Having no knowledge of the closing leaders, on about the 25^th lap, I finally got lapped by leader Danny Stratton coming out of four. It was not until a couple of laps later when Brandon Wealti and Joe Wipperfurth bounced their way around going down the backstraight. It was only at this point that DeSelle was able to poke his way back into the picture, as I noticed him back up top just in my view. I tried to step up my game, but feared the inevitable. At this point, I did not want to throw away the entire run and get caught up racing him instead of the racetrack. In the closing laps, it appeared he was going to reassume the position. I thought that I did not want to make it too easy for him, and I do not want to be about “Giving spots away”-actually I’ll admit, I was thinking “What would Vogler do?” and although it was for 12^th place that we were racing for, I tried to run as hard as I thought I could without wrecking on the white flag lap. My effort was to no avail, as DeSelle’s Esslinger hooked up coming off the fourth corner, and he got the spot, regulating me to the “Lucky 13^th” position. Although short of my goal to finish in the top ten, the run did provide us with the highest payoff we have ever seen (It was still less than 1/10^th of the $3000 that the winner Stratton received though!).

Heat: There was not any qualifying, but instead a “draw” to determine starting positions. We were lined up inside the third row, beside David Gough, in Roger Miller’s new #75. My only previous run at the track was about five years ago, in a car that barely ran. I did get off to a slow start but then noticed right away that the track was pretty awesome to run-something everyone that I talked to told me I would think-and that we seemed to have a pretty good set-up (At least much better then in hot laps-which which way less then impressive) that offered an incredible amount of left rear drive and turned well in the corners. With Gough racing the cars in front of me side-by-side, for most of the race I stayed on the bottom-where I had started. I was comfortable going into the corners pretty deep and getting it to hook and then turn, but was losing ground in the center. I did end up going up a little higher on the track and using more of the throttle towards the end. Although we did not earn any of the necessary “Passing Points” to transfer to the B-main, all in all I felt it was a respectable run-considering it was my first competitive laps at the track.

B-main: Again lined up on the inside of the third row. Did not do anything special again at the start, and stayed on the bottom-but stuck reasonably close to the elusive top four. On the third lap, Gough (Who was ahead in a possible transfer position) went into turn one and ended up going for a wild ride (Either due to a part failure or contact, or both). He was ok and we restarted in the third spot, behind Aaron Fiscus. Since he was running the top, I stuck with my “bottom feeding”. We hung close momentarily, but eventually the top two pulled away and I was able to use more of the racetrack. I flirted with the super fast top lane and tried to get some rhythm going. About mid-race, Michael Pickens, who was one of the frontrunners caught up in the Gough wreck, got around. I then went into defensive mode, trying to protect my position. I felt that my laps might not have been that fast, but since I did not notice a challenge from behind, I assumed it to be good enough-which it was. We then made some more chassis changes and preparations for the main event.

A-main: We did have to line up last for this one. Tried to anticipate the green a little better and get going the right direction in this one. Was able to hold off Don Challahan, who-as the alternate-did get to start the A-main. Frontrunner Greg Luekert spun early and had to re-line behind us. He got around, on the top, after I-running reasonably well in the lower groove-made a couple of slip ups. Once the race got spread out a little, I then trailed Wally McDuffy. I tried running the top a little bit, as he was on the bottom, but was in the habit-mostly due to my time on the round Sun Prairie track-of turning the car to soon, especially down the backstretch. Shortly after though, Luekert’s run back to the front was spoiled, as he went for a spectacular end-over up on top-in the third turn (The area that I had contemplated!). After the restart, I pulled away from Challahan and went back to work on McDuffy. I had suggested a chassis change that I thought would assist in the long run-but cost me in the beginning of the run (Until I got the right rear heated up). When I finally got some momentum going, I was able to fully run the higher lanes and really pushed the car. After a couple “hairy” moments-including an almost sure spin in turn one and two, and then later a wide exit (Benefited by the lack of a wall around most of the 1/3 mile track)-my run was good enough to make the outside pass. I was optimistic that we were going to be able to continue that effort and hopefully make our way around a couple of others, but soon-well after mid-race-the leaders (Chad DeSelle and Danny Stratton) showed their presence. I ducked my way back to lower line, hopefully out of their way. I did have a couple of close calls, as some of the frontrunners moved around, and the car drifted up a little bit in the turns. Eventually McDuffy snuck back underneath. In the end, I was place 18^th or 20^th-depending on what site you reference Again, I figured it to not be too bad a night-considering my lack of previous experience at the track.

After spending the majority of my time on the midget most of the spring and summer, it was not until last weekend when I was able to apply any focus at all-since there are no local midget races this week-to the VW Golf that I had received earlier this summer. Although the car had competed in Hornet events before, it had sat for some time, required some regular maintenance, and was another avenue for my particularity-when it comes to safety and preparation. The week went by without much assistance-beyond a short visit by my longtime friend Mike Cassatta and mom (who painted it), until-finally a group of neighborhood teenagers appeared late Friday afternoon. We barely got the thing loaded in time to make it to the track before the last scheduled hot lap session, but were just in time for the rain! A businessman from work applied some graphics to the car inside the enclosed trailer, during the down time. We then were able to take care of some other essentials, including passing through the techline. After a lengthy delay allowing for the track to dry, and what seemed to me lack of intensity at getting the show started at the scheduled time, our heats finally went off around 8:00 pm. (Which was an issue to me, considering I could not get the night off and had to report to work about three hours later!) We were slated, by a draw, to start from the 12^th position in the second heat.

Heat: There were concerns with getting the car started and keeping it running at idle, one of the last minute issues that had came up. After making it to the line, it seemed as though not all of the cars reported to start, and we might have slid up a spot or two in the grid. When the green came out, I took off from our standing start and-since the car in front of me did not seem to be acceleration all that well, dove to the bottom of the track going through one and two. It was not until there that I-embarrassed (Although pleased) as I am to admit-realized that the race would be on the oval coarse, and not on the traditional “monza” Hornet coarse! I continued down the backstretch and made a couple of low lane passes going through the second set of turns. Coming out of two, early on, a couple of cars seemed to be pretty squirrelly and all over the place, I did hesitate for a moment, but quickly reminded myself of the situation that I was in, and stood on the gas. I avoided contact with any of them, but my windshield got covered with a splash of mud and water from one of the inside wanderers. This was at the same time as I headed into turn three, in heavy traffic, and discovered that the brakes and gone out! I was able to adjust my driving and held on the remaining two-thirds of the race, for 6^th place. When we did get it slowed down, I headed into the pits to also discover that I was also having issues with the cooling system. It was then that I made the decision, considering all that was wrong with the car and the lack of time before I had to leave for work, to load up the car. Although the effort was more of a glorified Test Session, and was not as successful as I hoped, at least we passed some cars, competed in the National Short Track Championships for the first time since 1998, and provided another exposure opportunity for my sponsors: Steve Pierick State Farm, JJ Precision Grinding, & Rock Valley Racing. Special Thanks also to Rockford Speedway. Intentions are to make the necessary preparations to compete in Lake Geneva’s Final season ending event this Friday night, before the midget racing schedule allows for a couple of more runs.

Hot laps: My intentions were to catch the last practice session scheduled for the “Hornet” type division. I made it to the track, unloaded, got through tech, and suited up right before they called for our division to head trackside. As I set the air pressures, it began to rain. A short time later, our division was instead called to help dry the track. I monitored the situation and hoped to head out if it looked like the track was mostly dry and the cars were at speed. About the time I attempted again, the rain restarted. I finally did make it out for the about two laps towards the end of the next similar opportunity. This car was equipped with a window net (something that I have never had) and I was quickly “black-flagged” off of the track, due to not having it in position-even though we were not even competing. I was able to determine that I could not run the car in the standard second gear and decided I would try to just leave it in third.

Qualifying: Not benefiting from any real hot laps-due to the rain-I went out for the time trials without much understanding of the handling situation. I quickly realized that the car did not want to turn real well (pushing) through the corners (Turn four at LGR is flat and doesn’t aid this condition). I turned two very unsatisfying laps. After the effort, I contacted Loren Strahorn-one of the original frontrunners in Rockford Speedway’s Hornet division-for some chassis suggestions. I made the changes before the heat race.

Heat: Having arrived much earlier in day and experiencing numerous delays, I was impressed with the rate at which the initial racing events were rolled out and failed to account for the travel time from our way back pit stall to the staging area, and missed out on my opportunity to start inside of the third row. I was held on the ramp until the field went by, and took the green in catch-up mode. On our first attempt to navigate the first corners, one of the outside starters got real “loose” (almost spun) and caused a pile-up. I did not react correctly, and the back end also whipped half-way around on my car, making impact with the tail of another. There was not a caution, and I was stuck way behind the pack. With a clear racetrack in front, I was able to get a good feel for the car-which I felt was still “pushing”. I struggled with my line and getting into a rhythm. I finally caught some of the other cars late, but failed to complete the passes to improve my finishing position.

Hot laps: We had made a couple of more changes to the car after the heat last night and watched the lines that the others were running in their heats. I also (taking a page out of Denny Hamlin’s book) felt that I had improved my driving style on the NASCAR arcade game (at least before I distracted by the wet t-shirt contest) inside the watering hole the night before. The car felt like it handled a lot better, and the times that we recorded were respectable, but with just a couple of laps left in the session, it seemed that the engine expired. In the pits, we did a compression test, and found one cylinder to only be at 20 lbs-while the one “good” hole, measured 210 lbs. On the under side of the vehicle, it looked that a seal gave out and allowed oil to pump out around the right front wheel well. We buttoned it up and hoped for the best in the last chance race.

Last chance: As this was the only event that paid out to just start, I felt it necessary to make the attempt. Having sat in line for some time, while the car got hot, we finally went onto the track for the start. As the green flag came out, I received the “black” flag, for spewing oil onto the track and creating a lot of smoke. Not having paid for the car, this is where I applied the old phrase, “Free crap, is still crap”.

Although the effort put forth was significant (but apparently not enough to detect or prevent this terminal issue) I do not regret the opportunity to compete in the track’s final Fall Classic-as the facility will soon be raised to make room for a housing development. I appreciate the assistance provided by Joe Lamarca, of North State Motors. The experience would have not been possible without his help. If in the market for a fine pre-owned vehicle, you can link North State Motors website via the business card sized “button” on the frontpage JasonDull.com. You will also find more info and links to my other sponsors-Steve Peirick Sun Prairie State Farm, JAMR Racing Engines, and JJ Precision Grinding.

Thanks to Beloit’s David Budres who loaned me some of the special tires (Actually they are hard street tires used to equalize the competition) that the IRS uses, my dad who came by one night to assist mounting them, and Andy Jones who helped get the car loaded up, we were able to head to Davenport.

Hot Laps: It seemed like we were in really good shape during this abbreviated session. I started behind Danny Drogemuller, who I remembered was fast at the other IRS race I saw in Kankakee, IL earlier this summer. It was my impression that the two of us were closing in on the large group of other cars that started in front of us, and I was optimistic that with in a few laps, we would have drove right around them. Unfortunately, we did not get that opportunity though, as the caution came out and the session was flagged. Although the track had some grip in it and I thought the chassis was hooking up good off of the corner, especially off of the left rear, the power-plant was falling on it’s face going down the straight away.

Heat: We attempted to adjust to the engine/gearing issues and did what we could to tighten the car up, as the track had dried out since the hot lap session. The initial start was waved off as Drogemuller, who started on the outside pole, spun. He was supposed to go to the back, but they let him start in his original spot (Only to DQ him post race). We started in 8th and-after one of the other cars pulled out of his outside starting spot after the first attempt-would have benefited from Drogemuller starting where he was supposed to. When the green finally waved for good, it seemed like we got off to a half-way decent start and I tried playing around on the top. I ended up diving to the bottom when the high side was being used by the cars in front. There was no cushion to hold the car in and, with the engine still stuttering at the end of the straight, it never felt comfortable going into corner and trying to keep it up there. I still basically tried to just run where the others were not, but never got a good rhythm going and didn’t really go anywhere. In the end, we ranked 5th.

Feature: We attempted to go even further with our chassis adjustments and tried to fix the engine issues. Like the heat, we had to take the green from the last spot (Because our car is a “National” car-compared to their Sportsman type races). Also, like the heat, I tried to run where the others were not at the start. Most of the first part of the race, I battled Eddie Sauer on the top and Mike Smith who was using up most of the track. Eddie was hooking up real well on the top, and I attempted to get under the #88, who was drifting up real high coming out of the corners. I tried dive-bombing into the corners and then sliding out in front of them coming off. Meanwhile the race was interrupted (Tony Main and Doug Orseske-I believe-spun) and our battles continued on the restarts. At one point I had ended up in front of both Eddie and Smith (Actually we were up to sixth), but fell back through the “reverts” and less then fast lap times. Mid-race, about four of us headed into one wide-open. I hesitated a moment, but decided I was going in deeper than the rest of them. We all made it through, and I am not sure if it did me any good, but it was an intense moment! When the field got spread out I did everything I could to run the top, but with the engine not running out clean for me going in and my mistake of cutting the car to soon (at Sun Prairie, with it’s rounded shape-it seems to benefit that you “turn-in” before the corner, and I believe I have developed a bad habit) and the before mentioned lack of a cushion, I struggled. My concern finally came to fruition, as-due to my less then perfect entrance-my car drifted way out coming out turn four and off the top of the track. This is another facility without a wall in the corners, and I just stayed on the gas and hoped for the best. It almost spun around, but stalled and was not pointed in the right direction. After that restart, Smith spun and Lee Beckwith got out of shape and went for a wild ride on the front straight. Rather than the usual reaction to slow down, which I did initially to miss Smith, I actually had to stand on the gas, as I feared that Beckwith would pile into me as he somersaulted towards the first corner. It was a “closed” red and I could not make any changes to the car. It was much of the same on the restart, as this time it was Rich Peceniak on the top-actually I thought he may have been leaving a lane up there, but I was missing too much to try it for 10th spot.