2006 Nightly Journal
April
22 - Underwood - After the long wait over Winter, our first race of the
year has come and gone rather quickly. When we signed in I asked to start
at the back of my heat. I wanted to get a feel for the car before getting
in the middle of a pack of cars and I'm glad I did. I started and finished
last in my heat. For the feature, I started tail end with 17 cars taking
the green flag. The track was dry and dusty and when the green flag waved,
it was like driving into a black blizzard. With the combination of the
setting sun and all the dust, I couldn't see anything down the
backstretch. About the third lap or so, there was a crash between turns 3
and 4. I don't think I actually saw the wreck, but saw the car in
front of me slow and go high. I was hard on the brakes and flew off turn 3
coming to a stop a few feet before the huge heavy equipment tires used as a
barrier. I'm sure my eyes were as big as saucers when the car
finally came to a stop! I fired the car back up and continued on to
eventually finish in 9th or 10th place (I'm not exactly sure). The race
was won by Ivan Sailer so I want to congratulate him on the victory. I only passed 1 car (as he was spinning out) but I
made it through the night without spinning out, finished on the lead lap,
brought the car back to the pits in 1 piece and had a great time, so it
was a successful first night out.
April
30 - Minot - My first race at the 3/8 mile Nodak Speedway went very well
and was a safe race for everyone with only a few minor spins. I was a
little nervous before the start, but that went away fast once the green flag
waved. I started 3rd in my heat and just tried to take it a bit easy and
learn how to drive around the track, so ended up dropping to the back, but made
my first on-track pass and finished the race in 5th place. It is amazing
how fast things happen out there!! For the feature, I started in 9th place
out of 11 cars. After getting by a couple of spinning cars, I thought I might end
up finishing in 6th place, but lost two positions in the last couple of laps to
finish in 8th place. I thought I was going to make another pass, only to
realize that the race was over and everyone was slowing down to enter the
pits! Oops! (Note to self: Watch the flagman!!
) Congratulations to Robert Huettl for winning the feature. I had a
lot of FUN tonight and am looking forward to the next race.
Back to Top
May
6 - Underwood - After the "dustbowl" conditions of the last
race here and the installation of a guard rail at the top of turns 3 and 4, I
wasn't really looking forward to racing here again, but by the time the night
was over, we had a clean, safe race and I was having the time of my life!
When we arrived and went out for hot laps the track was a mud pit and boy was it
greasy!! It was actually kind of fun, but I wasn't looking forward to
racing on it. When it came time for our heat race, the track was in much
better condition, but still had a few slick spots. I started the heat on
the front row, outside. I was a little nervous about being in the way, but
jumped out front as the green flag flew and actually led the race for a
lap. I ran in 3rd place for most of the race, but got passed by 2
more cars near the end. I kept getting too high in the corners and lost
traction up in the loose stuff. I finished 5th out of 6 cars. For
the feature, I started 11th out of 13 cars. The setting sun was a bit of a
problem, but nowhere near the visibility problems of last time. The track
was in great condition and was very fast! I actually got to
"race" with a couple of different guys as we ran side by side for a
few laps each and I made the pass on both of them, with a couple of
minor "battle scars" on my nice paint job as the cost of the
positions. After passing 2 cars on the track and sneaking by a spinning
car, I finished the race in 8th place. Congratulations to Robert Huettl for winning
another feature.
Next Friday is Mandan's season opener and I am really excited about it. I
really had a lot of fun tonight and hope that each night can be as much fun, but
I figure there will be some not so good nights too. We will see if
that still is better than being at work!
May
12 - Mandan - Finally, the season opener at my home track - and what a
night!! At driver check in, I drew the #1 which puts me on the pole
position for the first heat race. I was a bit nervous about that, but
since I now have a little experience, it wasn't too bad. I was hoping for
a good finish. When the green flag flew I was waiting for someone to come
around or feel someone on my bumper. On the 3rd lap the caution flag flew
for someone with a lost wheel. I figured now someone would be getting by
me soon. By the time the checkered flag flew, I had won my first
race!! I sure didn't expect that to happen. I found out later
that I had about a 1/4 lap lead. Winning heat #1 means I get to start on
the pole for the feature - 22 cars to start. Now I'm nervous. When
the green flew, a couple cars got past me right away. On the second lap,
there was a very nasty crash which involved Brad Brimer, a guy new to Legends on
his 3rd night of racing, flipping off the back stretch and out of the speedway
grounds, sending him to the hospital with cracked vertabrae in his neck and
totally destroying his car. Fortunately for Brad, he was released from the hospital the next
morning and is going to make a full recovery. His car isn't so lucky. On the re-start, the fast boys sure
showed me who was the rookie. In short order I was back in about 7th
place, but feeling quite comfortable in the car, until around lap 10 when I did
my best impression of a helicopter. Someone was leaking oil onto the track
and I didn't see it (others saw it, so I need to look at the track better) and
when I hit it, the car spun around twice, in front of several more cars behind
me. I'm sure my eyes were as big as saucers when I stopped spinning. I fired the car
back up and took off without causing a caution. I passed a couple cars
before the checkered flag flew, eventually finishing in 12th
position. Congratulations to Steven Kuntz for winning the feature.
It definitely was an exciting night and I'm very happy to load the car on the
trailer without any work needing to be done before traveling to Minot on Sunday.
Back to Top
May
14 - Minot - Wow! Another great night of fun - and best of all, a
safe night for everyone. I started heat #2 on the outside of the front row
and shortly after the start I was running in 3rd for a few laps. I got way
high in turns 1 and 2 and let 3 cars get by me and ended up finishing the race
in 6th. One of the guys said I was up so high, he thought I was trying to
fly a kite!! Once you get out of the groove it is definitely hard to make
the car turn. For the feature, I lined up in 12th position with 19 cars
taking the green flag. I kept the car on the track, in the groove and got
by a few cars, finishing the race in 7th place - right behind some really fast,
experienced drivers. I felt great with this finish. Congratulations
to Robert Huettl on winning the feature tonight. Next weekend we have a
full schedule with racing on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights. It should
be a busy weekend.
May
19 - Mandan - Tonight was another night of great fun, but not
necessarily great finishes. I started dead last in our heat (10th).
Nathan Speten (#3)and I had a good battle going on at the back of the pack (I
wish I could say it was a heated battle for the lead). I was right behind him most of the race, and on the last lap tried
my best to get by. We crossed the finish line side by side with Nathan
edging me out by mere inches so I finished in 7th. Whew!! That was
fun! For the feature I lined up in 13th position. On a rather
dry-slick track, most of the cars were running a high line, and I was running
low. It seemed to work well for me there so I didn't try the high
side. When all was said and done, I was sitting in 10th place. Not
exactly a finish to write home to Mom about, but there were 10 others finishing
behind me and I am very happy how the night went. Congratulations to
Robert Huettl on another feature win. On to Underwood!!
Back to Top
May
20 - Underwood - Well, tonight was the first night I felt like I should
have stayed home. I lined up for heat 1 at the back of the pack
(7th). A few laps into the race I was involved in the first caution flag
of the night (actually, I think I may have been the cause of it). I
think I was somewhere I just didn't belong by being the meat in a 3 car sandwich
going into corner 1. I'm not exactly sure what happened since it happened
so quickly, but I body slammed with the car on the outside and my car
bounced up into the air and spun around. I fired it up and continued on
with minor body and bumper damage. For the feature, I lined up 11th out of
15 cars. The dustbowl conditions were back and the visibility was close to
zero during the race. About 5 laps into the race I got hit from
behind and spun in turn 4 bringing out another caution. They
apparently think I caused that one because they put me to the back of the
pack. I wasn't happy about that, but that is the breaks. After the
race resumed I ran a few more laps, but visibility was so poor, I decided to
pull off the track before getting my car wrecked. I would rather load it
up than drive in that mess. I ended up in 15th place. Congratulations to Robert Huettl on winning
another feature and to Dave Aberle on his second place finish.
May 21 - Minot -
I went there to drive a racecar, but it felt more like a bull riding event
at a rodeo. Boy, was the track rough tonight, especially for the
feature!! For my heat race I lined up in 4th position. On our pace
laps the track looked really rough - especially for these little cars, although
once the race started it didn't seem as bad as I thought it would be. By
the time the race was over, I had passed a couple of cars and a couple passed me
and I finished in 4th position. The number 4 must have been my lucky
number tonight as I also lined up for the feature in 4th, with 14 cars
starting. If we thought the track was rough in the heat, well we ain't
seen nothing yet!! The track was extremely rough on the pace laps.
At the drop of the green flag I must have been a bit slow as several cars blew
by me. There was a spin on the first lap so we had to do a complete
restart. I wasn't sure I wanted to go through that again. On the
restart I lost a couple of positions, but not like the first time. There
was a rut coming out of turn two that seemed big enough to park my car in!
I hit this rut 3 times before trying a lower line. After a couple more
caution flags during the race, when the checkered flag flew, I was in 8th place,
happy that both my car and I had survived, although I'm not sure all my
"innards" are in their proper place. Also I definitely need to
give the car a good checkup to make sure it survived without bending the
suspension. Tonight showed these little cars can definitely take a
beating. Congratulations to Glen Huettl on winning tonight's feature.
Back to Top
May
26 - Mandan - What a fun night!! The track was awesome, my car
drove great and everyone had a fast, safe race. I lined up 3rd out of 7
cars in the first heat. At the finish I was side by side with Spencer
Wilson with Spencer edging me out for 3rd place. Oh, so close!! For
the feature I lined up in 3rd place again with 20 cars taking the green
flag. I got a good start, but pretty soon a few of the veteran drivers got
past me. It gets mighty close out there, but it was good clean
racing. As the race was winding down, I was right behind Glen Huettl and
thinking I might get a chance to get by, but on the 13th lap there was a caution
flag and with rain threatening they called the race. I was kind of upset
because I wanted to run the final laps, but was very happy with my 7th place
finish. I was a bit afraid of losing some positions on a restart because I
had no idea who was behind me and I knew there were some fast guys behind me
somewhere. Congratulations to Wes Doepke on his feature win. On to
the double header in Minot!
May
29 - Minot - The first night of our double header was rained
out. Monday didn't look too promising either until early afternoon, but
the evening turned out very nice for racing. I lined up 5th for the second
heat. While we were lining up for our race, I could see what was happening
on the track on turn #1 during the first heat. Glen Hellebust, my
co-worker and teammate started on the front row in Heat #1 and each lap I could
see he was still leading. Around the 6th lap or so I could see Tracy
Domagala go high into the turn outside of Glen. Moments later I could see
the flagman grabbing the red flag. That definitely isn't good. I
don't know for sure if he and Glen tangled at all, but Tracy ended up rolling
his car in the second turn seriously damaging the car, but walking away
unhurt. He should be ready for racing next Friday. One bright spot
of the incident is the track photographer got pictures of the whole thing.
(I have posted lots of pictures on my photo album site.) These red flags make
you rather nervous waiting to find out what happened, although I could hear the
announcer say Tracy was the car that rolled and that he walked away, but it
makes you kind of wonder if buying a race car is the right thing to
do. I just need to be careful not to tangle wheels with anyone
because I want to keep the car "right side up". My heat was
quite fun as I passed a couple of cars only to get high in turn 2 and lost both
positions and had to work to get them back again. I finished the heat in
6th place out of 8 cars. For the feature I lined up 12th out of 16
cars. The track was quite rough again, but I was having a great time until
around the 10th lap or so when I hit a rut in turn 4 that really bounced me
around. I'm sure the car flew off the ground. This tore one side of
my bumper off and damaged the right side running board. I was black
flagged for having my bumper dragging behind my car, so I had to pull in the
pits. I was quite disappointed as I was running in 10th place. I hope the officials in Minot can figure out how to prepare a track
so it isn't like riding a bucking bronco. All a track like that does is
tear up equipment. If we continue to have a track like the last couple of
times I think several drivers, myself included, will decide they no longer can
race in Minot. Congratulations to Robert Huettl on winning tonight's feature.
Back to Top
June
2 - Mandan - Another night of absolute fun racing!! I lined up 7th
out of 8 cars in the second heat. Very early in the race I was trying to
pass a couple of cars. I finally got by them in turns 1 and 2, but was
trying to cut down a little too low and got very loose coming off turn 2 and
could feel the car starting to get away from me. I thought I would be able
to gather it up, but the back end just kept coming around and I did a double
spin on the back stretch. When I was done spinning the car was pointed in
the right direction, so I just jammed it in gear and took off without causing a
caution. Fortunately, someone else caused a caution a few laps later so I
got to catch back up to the field. When the green flag waved again I got
by 2 cars and finished in 5th position. For the feature I started 14th out
of 22 cars. It was quite dusty on the back stretch and was hard to see at
times, but I kept my foot in it pretty much all the time hoping nobody would
spin in front of me. I had a great time battling for position most of the
race with a lot of side by side racing and no contact with anyone. I ended
up finishing in 15th position, so not a great finish, but a lot of fun
anyway. The race ran green for the whole race and on the last lap there
was contact between a couple of cars which ended up sending the #77 car of Dave
Aberle flying off the #3 turn and crashing hard into the guardrail. After
a trip to the hospital, I understand Dave is going to be OK, but his car is a
mess. Hope to see you back out there soon Dave. It makes me a little
nervous with having 3 hard crashes happen in our class so early in the season so
I try to leave room to avoid other cars out there, which probably will make me a
bit slower, but my main objective out here is to have fun and not to win
races. Congratulations to Steven Kuntz on his feature win.
June
3 - Wishek - I got to race Ivan's spare car here once last year
and had a great time and was really looking forward to coming back. Their
track is awesome fun! Shortly before the race the skies started getting
darker and I was sure the races would be rained out, but the stormy weather
stayed to the West and North of us and we got the whole show in. There
wasn't a great turnout of cars as only 9 cars made the trip. I know there
would have been at least a couple more, but last night in Mandan sidelined
them. I lined up 4th in my heat of 4 cars. The track was quite muddy
and slippery and was tough to go very fast, but it was a lot of fun hanging the
rear end out going through the corners. I finished the heat in 3rd.
For the feature I lined up inside the second row. On the start things got
very close out there, but we all made it through OK. A couple cars got by
on the first lap and I got by a couple others. About midway through the
race Wes Doepke, who was running near the front spun in the front stretch
bringing out the caution bunching us all back up. On the restart nobody
else got by me and shortly after I got by Cam Shafer. With about 4 laps to
go Ivan Sailer was running right in front of me and he spun coming out of turn 2
handing second place to me. I joked with him afterward that I was going to
write on my website that I passed him like he was standing still, which would be
pretty much technically correct. After his spin I had Troy Jangula in my
sights, but could not catch up to him and had to follow him to the checkered
flag. Close, but no trophy tonight. Congratulations to Troy Jangula
for his feature win in his first night out this year, driving one of Ivan's new
cars right off the showroom floor. On the way home I was treated to a
spectacular light show courtesy of Mother Nature. I am definitely looking
forward to coming back to race here.
Back to Top
June
4 - Minot - The car count was light tonight, partly due to at
least 2 cars damaged in Mandan on Friday that could not make the trip. I
wonder if others are not coming because of the poor track conditions?? For
the heat, I lined up in 2nd place and ran in second for most of the race with
Steven Kuntz passing me in the final turn. I knew he was back there but
was hoping to hold him off, but no such luck. I was on the pole for the
feature and was hoping for a good finish since things went so well in my heat,
but these guys know how to drive and shortly I was way back in the pack,
finishing the race in 9th, out of 13 cars. I know I have a lot more to
learn to run up front. The track was quite rough (again) for the feature,
but I had a very good time and I was happy to load the car up without any
noticeable damage. Congratulations to Robert Huettl on winning tonight's feature.
3 nights in a row is a lot of being gone from home and not enough sleep. I
might have to re-think my trying to hit all the races this year when there is a
full weekend scheduled.
June
9 - Mandan - With only 1 race scheduled this weekend, I really wanted
run tonight without a rainout. The weather was cold and dreary all day
long and I thought they would never get the races off tonight, but they got the
whole show in, but just barely. I lined up 7th out of 8 cars in the second
heat. While we were lining up, there was another rollover in the 1st
heat. Paul Huettl tangled with a car that spun out and he rolled his car
in turn 4. The car looks like hell, but I figure it will be back on the
track soon. Our heat race was pretty un-eventful and ran without a
caution. I passed a couple of cars and finished the race in 6th
place. On the last turn I got inside of Nathan Speten and we crossed the
finish line pretty much side by side again, but he beat me to the line by about
a one-half car length. That is a couple of times Nathan and I
have had a very close finish. A light ran began to fall before our feature
and I thought for sure it would not get run. I lined up 10th out of 15
cars. Several laps into the race heading into the backstretch I saw cars
heading in every direction with Nathan Speten spinning down the middle of the
backstretch. I dove down low and missed Nathan's spinning car. Wow -
does this stuff happen fast! It all looks so damn easy from the
stands. There is so little time to react and I was really happy to get by
that mess. After a long caution flag the race resumed, but it was quite
slick with the light rain falling, but I made it thorough to the end without
spinning or losing any positions and finished the race in 9th, right behind the
8th place car of Spencer Wilson. I'm finishing behind the veterans, but
I've been keeping up to them, so that feels real good. The track was as
smooth as glass and I had a really fun time and loaded the car up without
needing any repairs so tonight was another success. (Minot should take some
hints from Mandan on how to prep a track.) Congratulations to Bill
Hultberg on winning tonights feature.
Back to Top
June
16 - Mandan - I drew #2 when I got to the track, so I knew I would have
a good starting position in my heat and felt good about it. When I saw the
lineup, I was on the pole, but there were a lot of fast, experienced guys in my
heat too. I ended up in 8th place out of 9 cars, but I did have a lot of
fun racing with these guys, even though I was going backward. For the
feature, I started 13th out of 15 cars, so I didn't think I would have much of a
chance to get a real good finish, and as it turns out, I was right. I had
a lot of fun racing with others, but couldn't work my way past. We made a
couple changes to the car today, and tonight the car handled the worst it has
ever handled for me. Ivan says it was the dry slick track, but I don't
know. I think I want to change it back to where it was. About 2/3 of
the way through, there was a couple of cars that tangled, and it backed up
traffic. I came into turn 2 and all of a sudden things slowed way down in
front of me. I jammed on the brakes, and rear-ended the #10 car of Tom
Wagner. That sure made me bounce, but I kept on going. During the
caution laps, I kept waiting for something to go wrong with the car, but
everything seemed fine. I can't believe I could keep on going after that
hit. I spun my car on the between turns 1 and 2 on the last lap and got
the car high centered on the top edge of the track and had to be pushed off (by
hand). I ended up finishing 14th out of 15 cars. Not a good night of
finishes, but I had a real good time and didn't wreck my car too badly. I
think all I have to do is straighten out a bumper and I should be ready to
go. I also put an in-car camera in for the first time tonight and got some
great video of the races, including my rear-ending of Tom's car. I hope to
be able to put it on my site sometime soon. Congratulations to Robert
Huettl on winning another feature race.
June
17 - Wishek - Had an interesting day today. Started out by washing
the car and surveying the damage from last night's crash. Had a bit more
damage than I thought last night. Had to replace a few cracked and bent
pieces of the right front suspension and the front bumper, but nothing
major. I'm just glad the cracked parts held together for me to finish the
race. It could have been nasty to lose the right front suspension heading
into the corner!! Then it was on to Dakota Zoo to put a couple cars on
display for Kid's day. Lots of kids got to sit in the cars and I handed
out lots of got milk? stickers. The kids all seemed to have a good
time. We only had 7 cars show up for racing in Wishek tonight, but we put
on a good show anyway. After the races they lined up all the Legends
drivers and did driver introductions. The fans seemed to enjoy that we all
drove a long way to come to race there. I lined up 3rd of 3 cars for the
heat and finished 3rd, but I was right behind. For the feature I lined up
2nd. I led the race for a couple of laps, and then was in second till
around the 10th lap or so when I got too high in turn 3 and dropped off the top
of turn 4 losing about 4 positions. Damn near spun out on the front
stretch, but gathered it back up and went on to finish 5th. I'm getting
some good in-car camera video. The track was a bit rough tonight, but
still a heck of a lot of fun. Nobody wrecked and we all get to head on to
Minot tomorrow. Congratulations to Cam Shafer on his feature
win tonight.
Back to Top
June
23 - Mandan - Tonight I drew #3 which put me outside on the front row,
out of 10 cars for heat #1. I led the race for a few laps, but then lost a
few positions and ended up finishing in 4th. Not exactly great, but a good
finish. For the feature I lined up on the front row outside again with 19
cars taking the green flag. The track was extremely dry and slick,
but a heck of a lot of fun. Several cars had trouble negotiating the turns
with at least 5 different cars spinning out pretty much right in front of
me. It was like a game of dodge ball played with race cars! There
were several yellow flags for spins and one car into the backstretch guardrail,
and the race seemed to take forever. At each yellow, I usually got placed
in front of a car or two that had passed me and they had to pass me all over
again. Even though I ended up going pretty much backward, I had a blast
with a lot of side by side racing with several drivers tonight and I ended up in
11th position. Even with all the yellow flags, it was a safe race and
nobody got their cars banged up badly and I loaded up with no repairs to
make. Congratulations to Robert Huettl on winning tonight's feature -
again.
June 25 - Minot -
Had a beautiful night to go racing (or to do anything actually). Didn't
have a big lineup of cars tonight as only 12 cars showed. I lined up on
the front row outside of heat 1 with 6 cars taking the green flag. On the
start, I missed the shift to 4th gear and a couple of cars got by right on the
start. That was frustrating!! Stayed in 3rd for a couple more laps
and got passed by 1 more car and finished in 5th place. For the feature I
lined up on outside of the front row again. I could get used to starting
in this spot. I just need to take advantage of the good starting position,
which I really haven't lately. At the green flag I led the race for a
couple laps and Paul Huettl got by. After another lap or two, Glen and
Robert Huettl passed. I ran in 4th place until the final lap when I got a
little high in turn 4 and Spencer Wilson and Cam Shafer dived in low. We
came across the finish line 3 wide with Spencer taking 4th and I squeaked out a
top 5 finish, but only by inches. The side by side race to the checkered
flag sure gets your juices flowing!! Congratulations to the Huettl family
for a 1-2-3 sweep of tonight's feature (Robert - Glen - Paul). The track
was in real nice shape tonight with only a few ruts that I noticed and it was
nice to race when the car had some grip instead of skating through the
turns. Next on the schedule is Dickinson and I'm looking forward to going
there. They say it is a real fun track to run. That will be the
start of a 5 race stretch in 8 days, so the next week will be very busy.
Back to Top
July
1 - Dickinson - What a fun, fast track to race and everyone
seemed to appreciate that we came. The track is a long quarter mile that
has huge banks and is just a big bowl. When pulling onto the track, it is
surprising how high the banked turns are. It is a long way down to the
bottom of the turn. We didn't have a big showing of cars tonight, but 11
of us made the trip. I started 4th out of 5 cars and finished in 4th in
the second heat. I had a little trouble making the turns as I went too
high a few times, but by the end of the heat I was feeling pretty comfortable
driving in a little harder and it seemed to turn better. For the feature,
I started outside the first row (again). Held my position for a few laps,
but then got kind of high in turn two again and a couple of cars got by.
As the race went on I lost a position here and there and ended up finishing in
8th place. The guys who got by me were all much more experienced than I
am. It seems so weird that I am driving as fast as I can, but they all
seem to go just a bit faster. I know just having more experience will help
me get a little more speed through the corners. They aren't blowing my
doors off, but they do get around me through the turns. The feature went
flag to flag without a caution and it was over quite fast and there was lots of
racing action going on from front to back. The modified feature seemed to
take forever with caution after caution. Congratulations to Tracy Domagala
on winning tonight's feature. After the races there were a lot of fans in
the pits and I spent a lot of time handing out driver cards and got milk posters
to the kids. I handed out more stuff tonight than all year
combined. I'm definitely looking forward to coming back here for
their Harvest Shootout in September.
July 4 - Minot
- A beautiful 4th of July evening to go racing. I was supposed to
start 3rd in my heat, but the pole car didn't make the race, so I lined up on
the pole for the start with 7 cars taking the green flag. Shortly after
the start a couple of cars got around me. Going into turn 3, Cam Shafer
slowed quite a bit, and I hit him in the rear, almost spinning both of us, but
we both kept going. A few laps later, Dylan Barnhardt got sideways right
in front of me in turn 1 and I caught his left rear with my left front. It
wasn't a hard hit, but when I took off I could see the car smoking badly.
I pulled into the pits to find that my bumper was broken and shoved back under
the frame. It broke off one of the oil lines going to the oil cooler and
dumped all the oil. I was credited with a 6th place finish. We got
the car repaired in time for the feature where I lined up 13th out of 15
cars. I had a blast with a lot of side by side racing and dodging a few
spinning cars. This night was probably the most close action I have seen
all through the race as I was always beside or right behind another car. I
made it through the feature without any more damage and believe I finished in
10th place. The track was in pretty nice shape tonight and was quite fast
and was a lot of fun. We were treated to a very nice fireworks show after
the races. Congratulations to Robert Huettl on another feature
win.
Back to Top
July
6 - Wishek - What a night!!! Tonight the front row outside
position definitely worked for me. Only 10 cars showed up to race tonight,
but we put on a heck of a good show for the fans. I started front row
outside in the second heat. I took the lead at the green flag and never
gave up the lead. I saw a couple of cars peek their front end inside of me
a couple different times, but they never got past. I think I may have cut
off Ivan Sailer one of those laps, because I saw him try coming under me in turn
2 and the next lap I saw he spun out in turn 3. I don't know for sure if I
cut him off to cause him to spin, but if so - sorry Ivan!. Tonight they
ran a trophy dash for the Legends cars and by virtue of my win in the second
heat, I started on the front row outside again. It was pretty much deja-vu
because I took the lead at the green flag and went on to win my first trophy
dash. I didn't receive a trophy, and I don't know if I will get one the next
time or not, but I hope so. I would like to have something to show for it.
Besides, what is the reason for a trophy dash if you don't give out a
trophy?? The race was really exciting for me as I had Cam Shafer trying
very hard to get by. He got beside me a time or two, and I thought he
might get past, but I held on. For the feature, I lined up outside the 2nd
row this time. Had a lot of close racing throughout the race.
Gimpster was in 3rd place and went off the backstretch. I saw Wes Doepke
trying to get under me a couple of laps, but he had to settle for a spot behind
me. I was right on the rear bumper of Mike Tazarek at the end of the race,
but did not get a chance to try and make a pass. I got real loose a couple
of times and thought I might spin, or at least let a couple of cars by, but
lucked out. I finished the race in 4th place. I was extremely happy
how this night turned out. The track was dry slick for the feature, but no
dust and pretty much as smooth as a highway. I can't wait to come
back. Congratulations to Ivan Sailer for winning tonight's feature.
I could see Ivan and Cam putting on a really good show up front. Often I
am so far behind the leaders I don't get to see what is happening up
there. It was a safe race for everyone tonight and nobody has to make any
serious repairs, so should see most of the guys tomorrow night in
Mandan.
July
7 - Mandan - Tonight the track was in nice shape for the heat
races thanks to a heavy downpour a few hours before the start of the race.
We had to pit out in the parking lot as the infield was a mud pit. I
started the 2nd heat in 7th out of 10 cars. The race was pretty
un-eventful and I didn't do very well, finishing in 9th place. That put me
on the outside of the 9th row for the feature - a LONG way from the front.
The track had dried out and was pretty slick. There was a lot of action
going on in front and around me pretty much the whole race and there were
several cautions. My closest call came when Ivan Sailer tangled with Bill
Hultberg and Ivan spun on the backstretch. I dodged to the right and could
see Ivan's car backing toward my line, but I cleared him with plenty of room to
spare. Unfortunately for Ivan, one of the cars behind me didn't see him
sitting on the track and clipped him hard, narrowly missing hitting him
head-on. After several caution flags, the race was called after 12 laps
were completed. I wasn't unhappy to see this one called as I just couldn't
seem to do much with the car tonight. I finished the race in 9th place,
mostly due to cars falling out of the race. Congratulations to Robert
Huettl on winning the feature.
July
8 - Underwood - After bucking a strong headwind on the drive to
Underwood and with temps in the mid 90's, I figured tonight would be another
dust bowl like we had a couple of times here this year, but the track turned out
to be fairly nice for the feature - a bit dusty, but not bad. We had 14
cars show tonight, which is a nice car count for this smaller track. I
lined up outside the front row of the first heat. I led the race for a lap
or so and ran in third place for most of the race, but I got quite high in turn
4 on the last lap losing that final transfer spot to the trophy dash to Ivan
Sailer. I lined up in 3rd place out of 12 cars for the feature. Had
a lot of fun all through this race as there were cars all around me the whole
time with a lot of side by side racing action. The high groove was a bit slick
and most of the cars were hugging the bottom of the turns. Several cars
got by me, but I passed a couple of cars and ended up finishing in 8th
place. It isn't the greatest finish, but I had a heck of a lot of
fun tonight and the feature race was safe for everyone and we put on a very good
show for the fans. Our feature was a side by side finish for the win as
Tracy Domagala edged out Robert Huettl by inches (or maybe even less).
Congratulations Tracy on your exciting win. Also, congratulations to
Nathan Speten on your first heat win. Unfortunately for Nathan, he got
tangled up in the trophy dash and couldn't make the feature. That is the
part that sucks about running trophy dashes, missing the feature because of a
problem in the trophy dash. 5 nights of racing in 8 days is plenty,
and it will be nice to have some time to do other things for a few days until
our next race here next Saturday.
Back to Top
July
21 - Mandan - After having a couple weeks with no racing, I was
very anxious to get back on the track (I think the off season will be very long
- I can tell I won't be sick of racing at the end of the season like I am with
bowling). We had a very nice night for racing - a slight breeze and not
too hot. There was a nice field of 22 cars that showed up tonight and
surprise, they actually gave us 3 heat races!! The last several weeks,
most of the classes had 3 heat races, and even though we had more cars than
other classes, we only had 2 heats. Tonight they ran the Legends class
after the Hobbies, Thunder 4's and Street Stocks. Usually they run us
before the Streets. I started 5th (out of 7) in the 3rd heat.
I could see the track was already very dry-slick when we pulled onto the
track. At the green flag, I followed Gimpster way down low into turns 1
and 2 and by the time the first lap was over, I was in 2nd place. After a
few laps, Spencer Wilson worked his way by me. Then I could see the
yellow car of Steven Kuntz trying to work around me on the high side.
Between Spencer and Steven, I had my hands full with side by side racing pretty
much through the whole race. Steven got by me for good on the last lap and
I finished in 4th place. For the feature, I lined up inside the second row
with 22 cars taking the green flag. On the second lap, there was a caution
for a car that spun. On the restart that followed, all hell broke loose as
a couple of cars tangled in front of me and with the cars all bunched up, by the
time it was over, 6 cars were out of the race, several of them with rather
severe damage. The #7 car driven by Anthony Kopp slammed into the concrete
barriers surrounding the flag stand and caught fire and the other 5 cars
collided in turn 1. I was lucky in that I didn't have to try to avoid the
wreck, I just saw it starting to develop out of the corner of my eye as I raced
down low and all the action happened on the high side. I'm glad to say
that all the drivers were unhurt. After a somewhat lengthy delay for the
red flag, the race resumed. There was a lot of side by side racing action
going on through the rest of the race. I was passed by several cars, but
most of them had to work to get around me. I ran a somewhat low line, but
I should have been hugging the bottom. I think I would have gotten a
better finish as most cars passed me on the low side. Even though I
finished the race in 10th, every lap was very exciting and I had a great time
and was happy to load my car up in one piece, especially after the big wreck we
had tonight. I was also very happy with the way my car handled after we
made a couple of adjustments this past week. I just need more
practice. Congratulations to Glen Huettl on winning tonight's feature
race. Next week is the big Governor's Classic doubleheader in Mandan which
should be a great time.
July
29 - Mandan - I started 3rd out of 7 cars in the third heat and finished
3rd. The top 4 in each heat drew for starting positions in the feature
tonight and I was the lucky one that drew the pole position. I was kind of
nervous since the track was very dry slick again tonight and it can be rather
nerve wracking starting up front with 20 other cars behind and I'm hoping I
don't spin out in the first turn in front of all those cars. But the race
went off well, and I finished in 11th place. I had hoped for a better
finish since the car felt like it was handling very well, but I seem to be
keeping up with the fast guys better so I feel good about that. I just
need more experience. Our Legends feature and all three heats went off
without a caution flag so that made our races click off very fast. I heard
a couple people say we put on the best show of the night with a lot of
passing. The dry slick track made most of the other races pretty much
follow the leader. I think we put on a good show most nights.
Congratulations to Steven Kuntz on his feature win tonight at the big Governor's
Cup race and our Legends Nationals qualifier. Steven says he now plans to
go to the Nationals in October at Wheatland Missouri where he is guaranteed a
starting position. I'm hoping to travel there too, but of course, I will
have to qualify my way in through the heats and consolation races.
Back to Top
July
30 - Mandan - Tonight was not a great time to be at the race
track, and it had nothing to do with the racing. The temperature broke the 110 degree mark with a good dose of
humidity tossed in. Sitting in the car with all the gear on and waiting
for our heat to go out on the track was pretty much unbearable. I started 7th out of 11 cars in the first heat and finished
8th in a very dusty, zero visibility race. I just took
it easy as I couldn't see anything in front of me for most of the race and was
just hoping nobody had spun out in front of me. I was very nervous about
the upcoming feature because I started 15th out of 21 cars and I figured the
dirt would be worse than the heat and I was sure there would be a good wreck
somewhere so I planned to work my way to the outside and if the dirt was bad I
would just pull off. Thankfully, that never happened. They watered
the track right before our feature and it kept the dust down quite nicely.
I had a really fun time with a lot of side by side racing again and
finished in 15th position, passing the 10 car of Tom Wagner by inches at the
finish line. Finishes like that make for a real exciting time, even if it
is at the back of the pack. I believe all our Legends races last night and
tonight went off without a caution flag. All the Legends drivers deserve a
pat on the back for that,
especially with the dry, slick track conditions. And I heard it was
another very exciting race up front (of course I was too far back to see any of
it). Congratulations to Glen
Huettl on winning tonight's feature and Steven Kuntz for being crowned the
Governor's Classic champion.
August
12 - Underwood - I was anxious to get back to the track
after having last weekend off with no racing. When I was signing in, I had
Glen's daughter, Kendra draw my starting position and she drew the pole position
in the first heat for me. I think I might need to take her along with me
to bring good luck. At the drop of the green flag, I missed the shift from
3rd to 4th gear and a few cars blew by me before I got to the first turn.
That has happened to me a couple of times this year and it is very frustrating,
especially when you get a great starting position. I lost one more spot
before the checkered flag came out and I finished in 5th place. For the
feature, I lined up 8th out of 12 cars and I finished in 8th place. As I
write this 5 days later, I can't think of much to write about other than I had a
fun time and kept the car in one piece, although I got banged into a couple of
times by one car, but it was nothing serious. I figured there would be
more of that than I have had so far, but I hope it continues to be a non-contact
sport. Congratulations to Robert Huettl on winning the feature tonight and
the Season Championship and to Glen Huettl as Season runner-up. Those guys
have been really fast.
August 13 - Minot
- We had a poor car count as only 9 Legends cars showed up, so we
only had one heat race. I started on the outside front row for the heat
and finished in 6th place on a very rough track again tonight. I could
feel my car bottoming out on the track several times. For the feature, I
lined up in 6th place. On the first lap, I narrowly missed getting caught
up in a wreck between turns 3 and 4 that took out the cars of Spencer Wilson and
Mike Tazarek. After the re-start, I was keeping up to the leaders quite
well and was flying through turns 1 and 2 until I hooked a rut in the turn and
popped the bead on the right rear tire, flattening it. The car
got extremely loose in the turns and I almost spun out a few times. I knew
something was wrong, and I figured the tire was flat, but couldn't really tell
for sure, so I slowed down and took it easy through the turns and finished in
6th place. Congratulations to Robert Huettl on another feature win.
Back to Top
August 18 - Mandan
- Very disappointing - it rained last night and early this morning
(which we needed very much) and was quite cloudy earlier today, so they
cancelled tonight's races - only to have a beautiful evening that could be best
spent at the race track. It would be nice to have a crystal ball when it
comes to the weather. Oh well, at least we have Wishek tomorrow and the
weather forecast is sunny.
August 19 - Wishek
- We made our last trip to Wishek for the season tonight and we had
a beautiful night for racing and heck of a good time. Only 7 cars showed
up to race so we all ran two separate heat races. For the first heat, I
started outside the second row. The track was still a bit slick and I had
a bit of a hard time racing on it. I ended up finishing in 5th
place. For the second heat, I started on the outside of the third
row. On the start the 54 car of Cam Schafer got by me so I ran the whole
race at the back of the pack in 7th place right behind the 77 car of Dave Aberle.
When the white flag came out, I knew I had to try my best to get by Dave.
I went high in turns 1 and 2 and got up beside him on the back stretch. We
went through turns 3 and 4 and down the front stretch crossing the finish line
side by side. It was so close, I didn't know which one of us took the
position. When the lineup for the feature came out, I found I was scored
with the pass. That was fun!! In the feature I started on the
outside of the front row again. I jumped out with the lead at the drop of
the green flag. I led the race for about 5 laps until the 54 car of Cam
Schafer passed me on the inside of turn 2. I held on to second place for
about 5 more laps until I got high in turn 2 and the 96 car of Tracy Domagala
got by. After that, I tried going a bit lower on the track and I held on
for a 3rd place finish. This track is so much fun to race on and I can't
wait to come back next year. I wish we could race here more often.
Congratulations to Cam Schafer on his feature win tonight. Now it is off
to Lisbon for their County Fair race. That should be quite a road
trip. I hear their track is quite similar to Wishek's. I hope so.
August 22 - Lisbon
- We had 12 cars make the long drive to Lisbon, 4 cars I had never
seen before made the trip from Minnesota so we had a nice field of cars. I
lined up 5th of 6 cars in the second heat. Early in the race I moved up to
4th place and after a couple more laps was right on the tail of the 3rd place
car, hoping to make a pass. Coming into the turn one, I was distracted by
lights of the lap counter and I think I got into the corner too fast and slid
sideways off the top of the second turn. I was hoping I wouldn't roll it
and didn't know what there might be to run into off the turn, but I kept it
"shiny side up" and went over a few bumps and continued on finishing
6th. I lined up 5th row outside in the feature. Early in the race
there was a spin in turn two, and I narrowly missed getting caught up in
it. Things happen so fast you don't hardly get time to try to avoid
spinning cars - you just react and hopefully get lucky. I passed a couple
of cars, and got passed by a couple of them and finished in 10th place.
The track was very fast and I didn't do a very good job of keeping up, but we
had a heck of a good time. Rain started to fall as soon as our race was
over, so we loaded up our stuff and didn't get much of a chance to talk to any
fans after the races, which was disappointing. There is talk of having us
come to race more next year - I hope so. The winner of the race was one of
the drivers from Minnesota. I didn't get his name, but after rolling his
car in the first heat, they made repairs and he started on the back row and
blasted his way to the front. Congratulations.
August 25 - Mandan
- It is hard to believe that tonight is our season ending race here
at Dacotah Speedway. Where has our summer gone? We had 22 cars show
up tonight, one of them being an older guy like me, racing for his first time
ever. Good luck to Steve Pankowsk and I hope you have as much fun as I
have been having. I started on the outside front row of the second heat
with 7 cars taking the green flag. I led the race at the green flag, but
it didn't take long for a few cars to get by me. A few laps into the race,
the #39 car of Al Kraft got sideways in front of me, and I narrowly missed
hitting him. After the re-start, the #23 car of Glen Hellebust got by me
and I kept right on his tail. On one of the laps, I got into turn one a
little too hard and almost ran him over. I was on the brakes, but managed
to tag his rear bumper a bit, but fortunately didn't spin either one of us
out. (Glen and I work together, and tonight was Land O Lakes night at the
track, so there were a lot of people from work here, and that would sure be the
talk of the place if we were to take each other out!!) I finished the heat
race in 4th place, right behind Glen. For the feature, I lined up second
row, outside, right beside Glen, so I figured we would have a battle of sorts,
at least for the LOL employees on hand. At the start, I got a jump on Glen
and took off. After the first lap was over, when we were coming out of
turn 2, we heard on our radio's "Red flag, stop your cars." This
is never a good thing. I rolled to a stop between turns 3 and 4.
There was a crash over in turn 1. I couldn't see much, but knew there were
several cars involved, and the red flag usually means someone has rolled their
car over. When all was said and done, there were 7 cars out of the race
with several of them suffering severe damage but the good news is that nobody
was injured. Glen was one of the cars involved. so no LOL battle
tonight. After the green flag flew again, I ran decently and was in 5th or
6th place until there was another caution with 5 or so laps to go which bunched
up the field again. After the re-start I lost a few more positions.
On the last lap, the #10 car of Tom Wagner got right beside me going down the
back stretch. I ran him hard into the 3rd turn and we came down the front
stretch pretty much side by side with me edging him out for 9th place.
That race was a lot of fun - at least for me and a few others, but I know
it wasn't fun for the guys in the crash. Congratulations to Spencer Wilson
for his first feature win of the season after severely damaging his car last
time in Minot. It looks like you did a good job on repairs Spencer.
Also, congratulations to Robert Huettl on winning the Season Championship and
Steven Kuntz on being Season Runner-up. I finished a respectable 8th place
in the season points. Although I didn't exactly set the world on fire with
my performances, as I had some hope of doing after winning my first heat race at
the beginning of the season, I sure had a great time all season long and look
forward to our remaining races.
Back to Top
August 27 - Minot
- We had 13 cars show up for racing tonight. I hear the Nodak
race club board is not happy with our car counts. We need to get more
people involved from the Minot area so the whole show won't depend on out
of town drivers having to make the trip. And with the price of gas, it
wouldn't hurt if they paid a little tow money for those traveling a long
distance, such as Mandan does. It won't bother me if they do not run us
weekly, but I sure hope they do not eliminate our class completely as I like to
race up in Minot. In
the first heat, I started 5th out of 7 cars. Glen Hellebust and I battled
back and forth for most of the race, and on the final turn, I was too low inside
of Glen, and came in too hard and I spun out, finishing in last place.
With my last place finish, I was relegated to start last place in the
feature. I had a hard time moving up, passing only two cars on the
track. I was right behind the cars of Shannon Cree and Ivan Sailer pretty
much the whole race, trying my best to get by, but couldn't get it done.
There was a 2 car crash on the final lap bringing out the yellow flag just as I
got up on the outside of Ivan foiling my last ditch attempt at a pass and I finished in
10th place. While
my finishes tonight were pretty poor, I sure had a great time as I was
racing with someone pretty much the whole night. That is what makes it
fun. Congratulations to Tracy Domagala on winning the final regular season
feature at Nodak Speedway. Hope you can win another during Motor Magic.
September 1 - 3 -
Motor Magic in Minot
- A very busy weekend of racing was in store for the season ending
races in Minot. The weather was great and there was lots of racing and car
related activities to take in.
Friday - I started outside the front row in the first
heat. I ran in 3rd for most of the race until I was passed by Spencer
Wilson in the last turn leaving me with a 4th place finish. As he passed
on the high side, my car caught on a rut and I almost took him out. Whew!!
For the feature, I started outside the front row again with 15 cars taking the
green flag. I ran in 2nd place for several laps, but then was passed by
the cars of Wes Doepke and Glen Huettl. When the white flag came out, I
thought I might end up with a top 5 finish, but was passed by Robert Huettl
coming out of turn 2 and ended up 6th. I was very happy with this night's
finishes and had a lot of fun. Congratulations to Cam Schafer on winning
tonight's feature.
Saturday - Tonight we had 17 cars show up to race. I
started second row inside the first heat and finished the race in 5th
position. I almost went off the backstretch when coming out of turn 2, I
got up into the wet area from where they watered the track right before we went
out and the car just wouldn't steer. I started the feature in the same
position as the heat, but didn't stay there for long. The cars just seemed
to blow by me tonight and I finished in the 13th position. Even though my
finish was not very good, I had a lot of fun, with a lot of close racing and a
close call avoiding the spinning car of Glen Hellebust. Congratulations to
Steven Kuntz on his feature win.
Sunday - The first heat was pretty un-eventful. I lined up in 4th position and finished
the race in 6th. By not finishing in the top 5, I knew I would line up
inside the 6th row for the feature. Midway through the feature, I lucked out, very
narrowly missing a 3 car wreck coming out of turn 4. Everything happens so
fast, so it is hard to tell, but I think I was only inches away from getting
caught up in it. After the restart I
was behind the 10 car of Tom Wagner, when a part of his suspension broke and he
sailed up and over the top of turn 2. Tom didn't hit anything and the
caution flag did not come out so we continued on. I finished the race in
9th place out of 18 cars taking the green flag. Steven Kuntz made it two wins in a row. Great job
Steven. Cam Schafer won the Motor Magic Championship and Robert Huettl won
the Nodak Season Championship. Congratulations to all for jobs well done.
I finished in 6th place in the season point standings.
My first time racing at Motor Magic was a blast. I kept myself out of trouble
and loaded the car up each night without needing any repairs. Next stop,
Dickinson!!
Back to Top
September 9 & 10 -
Dickinson - A very fun weekend at Southwest Speedway. What a fun
track to race on.
Saturday - The weekend started out great for me when I drew
the number 1 card which put me on the pole for the first heat. I led the
race from the green flag to the checkered flag. That was awesome and the
track was so fun! The top 4 in each heat had to draw for their starting
position for the feature, and this time I drew 11. It kind of sucks when
you win the heat and then have to start the feature way back - but that's the
breaks. In the feature we started 18 cars. On the first lap, I
avoided a crash in turn 2, but banged wheels with another car. The hit
took the steering wheel out of my hands and I took a turn to the right (
definitely the wrong way to turn on a circle track), but I gathered it back up
and didn't wreck. On the yellow flag laps to line up, the 41 car of Paul
Huettl lost his oil plug and left a nice trail of oil pretty much completely
around the track. Several laps after the restart, I hit the oil going into
turn 1 and damn near spun myself out. I got completely sideways, but kept
from going around and kept it going forward. I had a lot of fun racing the
79 car of Shannon Cree for several laps - he was on the high side and I was
creeping around the bottom. After another close call with a couple of cars
spun out in turn 4, I finished the race in 12th place. Congratulations to
Wes Doepke for winning the feature after starting the race in 18th place.
He drove around the high side of the track and passed everyone for a very
impressive win. Way to go Wes!!
Sunday - Another good draw for the heat race and I started the
first heat on the outside of the front row. The track was VERY dry-slick
tonight as they didn't work up the track from last night, so it was just like
pavement, and our cars have very hard tires so there was very little traction,
so it is a lot like driving on ice. On the first lap I was passed by the
96 car of Tracy Domagala and followed him to a 3rd place finish. On the
draw for the feature, I drew 12th place - very frustrating again. I was
nervous for the start of the feature, anticipating a wreck early in the race
with the slick track conditions, but fortunately I was wrong. The race
went off with only 1 caution flag with no damage to any cars. I had some
good racing with the 55 car of Ivan Sailer, with Ivan being the only car to pass
me. I finished the race in 11th place out of 17 cars starting.
Congratulations go to Cam Schafer on winning tonight's feature and winning the
championship for the weekend and to Spencer Wilson on being runner-up.
Good job to all the drivers tonight as we only had 1 caution flag in 3 heats and
the feature on a very slick race track. None of the other classes fared so
well. Dickinson has a great track to race on. Even though tonight
was very slick, the track both nights was very smooth. I hope we get to go
back more often next year.
Road trip to the Dirt
Nationals in Wheatland Missouri - What an awesome
trip!!! On Tuesday afternoon Ivan Sailer, Glen Hellebust, Nathan Speten
and I headed out on our journey to the Nationals with our 4 cars loaded up on an
open trailer. What a sight to see heading down the road.
Our first night we stayed in Onawa Iowa where the next morning
we put on a demonstration for the promoter at the Blackbird Bend Speedway and
had a lot of fun playing around on the track and also spending some cash at the
adjoining casino. After a couple of hours of playing around we loaded up
and headed out with our next stop the MidAmerica
Motorplex in Glenwood Iowa to play around on their 2.25 mile road
course. When we got there, there was a Indy Lights team practicing on the
track. The manager told us we could play on the 1/8 mile drag strip till
the Indy cars were done with their testing so we took him up on his offer.
Wow!! What a lot of fun! We raced each other for better than an hour
taking turns racing and being the starter since the starting lights were not set
up. When the Indy cars were done with their testing, the manager said the
track was ours until it was dark. We ran several laps around the beautiful
road course and doing our best imitation of an Indy car with the left and right
hand turns and lots of shifting. We would hit our top speed of somewhere
around 100 mph about 1/3 of the way down the 2,222 foot back stretch and a
couple other places on the track. We played around until we all were
pretty much out of fuel. I want to say a big "Thank
you" to the manager, Jim Howe and his staff for all your hospitality and
the track photographer Ed Harding for all the great photos of our stay. We
hope to come back soon. Next stop on our agenda was to spend the night in
Kansas City where we drove past the Kansas Speedway that night and began to try
to find a room for the night. The first rooms we could find was about 20
minutes away. The next morning we back- tracked to the speedway where we
were just in time to purchase tickets for the Richard Petty ride-along
program. When we walked up to the pit, they were putting their stuff away
and the drivers had left, but since we already had tickets, they rounded up a
couple of drivers to give us our rides. It was an exciting experience, but
not what I had expected. It definitely was fast (164 mph) but I thought
driving on the drag strip and the back stretch of the road course was much more
thrilling. After a few hours at the speedway it was on to
Wheatland. What a beautiful brand new 6 million dollar facility they have
in a town of 380 people. Everything is top-notch and even the pits are
paved. When we arrived, we turned a few heads with our low-buck
operation. Ours was the only open trailer at the track. Thursday
afternoon and evening was spent going through tech and running some practice
laps. We had 7 local drivers that made the trip to Wheatland along with 51
other cars from all over the country.
Drag Racing at Rolling Thunder Drag Strip
October 13 & 14
Dirt Nationals - Friday afternoon was qualifying and then the heat
races. A combination of your points from both determine your starting
position for the main event. Here they have lots of cars so they run the
Pros, Masters and Semi-Pros in separate races which is really nice. They
had what they called "European Qualifying" which is a group of 8 - 10
cars on the track at the same time running laps. They have an automatic
timing and scoring system which records your time for every lap. They then
take your fastest lap as your qualifying time. I qualified 4th fastest of
my group of 8 cars. I was happy with that. For my heat race I lined
up inside the 2nd row of the first heat of 8 cars. On the start I passed
the pole sitter and ran in 2nd for 3 laps and then was passed by a couple of
cars. The track was very dry, but not the slightest bit dusty, and was
like running on pavement. You had to run right on the bottom of the
turns. My car would push out a bit in the middle of the turns leaving room
for cars to pass. Near the end of the race I had dropped to 6th. As
we came through turn 4 to take the white flag, the car in front of me spun which
handed me a 5th place finish. Then came the Race of Champions which is the
class winners from each state. Since they did not have a lot of cars, they
also let the 2nd place drivers into the race so I got to run this race
too. I started this inside the last row of a 8 car field. I
had no intention of trying hard to pass because I didn't want to wreck in this
and not be able to make the feature. When the green flag flew I passed a
couple of cars in the first couple of laps without trying too hard and ran in
5th place till the finish. This was a 20 lap race which got to be a bit
long since there wasn't much action right around me once I got past the 2 cars
and I have only run 15 laps in a race before.
Saturday night was the main events. Our semi-pro class
had 18 cars lining up for the start where I lined up inside the 6th row.
They lined us all up on the front stretch and introduced all the drivers.
That was kind of exciting, although the crowd was very sparse, to say the
least. They spent most of the day watering the track and tonight the track
was kind of greasy so I was very worried about a big crash on the start. I
sure didn't have to worry about that as the race went 30 laps green to
checkered without a caution flag. My performance tonight was rather
embarrassing as I was lapped by the leaders - twice. I wasn't surprised to
be lapped by the lead cars, but when the car that started beside me lapped
me, then I felt a bit foolish. I sure didn't think I was running that
slow and I had rather respectable runs the night before. I finished the
race in 15th place. A guy can sure lose a lot of ground in 30 laps of
green flag racing! Congratulations to Steven Nederostek from Pennsylvania
on winning the Semi-Pro feature tonight and to Cam Schafer for finishing a close
second place. Each time the leaders passed me, Cam was right on his
tail.
None of the rest of the North Dakota group (Cam is actually
from Minnesota) had very good finishes tonight as Nathan Speten's 11th place
finish, after starting 16th in the Semi-Pro class was the best we could do but
everyone loaded their cars up without any damage so it wasn't all bad. For
myself, I came here to have a good time and that mission was definitely
accomplished. On this trip we met a lot of friendly and interesting people
and got to play at a couple of race tracks all along the way. Grown men
shouldn't be allowed to have this much fun. Ivan said if we had to pay a
dollar for every time we laughed, we would all be bankrupt!! I can't wait
to make the trip again next year.
North Dakota was well represented at the
Nationals this year.
Pictured L to R: Brian Backes (#58),
Nathan Speten (#3), Ivan Sailer (#55), Glen Hellebust (#23), Spencer Wilson
(#75), Cam Schafer (#54) and Steven Kuntz (#1)
The Richard Petty Driving Experience
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