Our first test at KilKare Speedway saw the new car take off very well, it showed signs of speed and Drew felt the handling was much more solid than last years car.  BUT, on lap 17 the bolts pulled out of the panhard bracket on the rear end causing about $800 in damaged parts and the end of our practice.  The following week we got it back together and tested again at KilKare Speedway very successfully, making small adjustments and getting some very good times, putting in around 45 laps and feeling real good about our first race at Angola the following week.

We tested again the night before our first race May 8^th at Angola, got 3 laps in and the oil pump on the motor froze up, ending our practice session and our hopes at making the first race and the chance to run for the Main Event Series Championship!  Bummer!  The motor was dead, a broken timing gear put us out, the motor was taken out and brought to Rhyne Competition Engines to be rebuilt in only 10 days!  We had no time to test any more, barely got the motor in the car in time to make the next race at Midvale on May29th.  With the late start getting the new car going and all the trouble we had with it and lack of sponsorship we had to cancel the Toledo ARCA race we had on our schedule for May 23.  We have also taken the ARCA race off the schedule at Iowa Speedway July 10 for the same reasons as well as no time to get a good shakedown of the ARCA car at Toledo before hitting 160 mph at Iowa.  We still are planning on racing the ARCA races at Mansfield and Toledo later in the year but Rockingham is most likely now off the schedule too.  The Main Event Series had had to cancel races at Mansfield and added one at Sandusky.

Midvale Race May 29

The weather was great, a bit hot at 85 degrees as we pulled in to the Midvale Speedway May 28^th at 5 pm to practice for the 75 lap Main Event Race number 2 the next day. We hit the track three times with the car running very good and times to reflect that with best laps in the 14.0 range.  Before we would hit the track one last time with a full fuel load dark clouds came up, we loaded the car, and a down pour got us a little wet.

Race day saw a “green” track and some tweaking of the setup as we were only 23^rd fastest out of 26 cars that first hot lap session.  Next time out we improved to 15^th fastest and the final test session scuffing in out new tires we were 7^th quick and back to our 14.0 speeds of the day before with some to go in the car as it was very loose now with a little more stagger in the new tires than we really wanted.  The pole last year was a 13.8 and we were confident we could have a shot at a front 6 or 8 start if we get the loose fixed.  Our first qualifying lap was a 14.1, the second lap saw Drew wiggle considerably off turn two with the same result!  We didn’t get the loose out of the car with the adjustment we made and ended up 15^th fast where we would start.

We made a right rear spring change and sent Drew out for the feature.  At the drop of the green flag Drew took it easy, there were a couple cautions before we finally got started single file.  Drew came over the radio “the car is perfect”!  He bided his time through several cautions moving up to around 10^th when the longer runs started.  This is a very heavy braking track and from the spotters stand I could see that the front brakes were cherry red and the rears were not!  A bad sign!  He also came across the radio saying the car was missing, which turned out to be a plug wire but kept Drew from driving as hard as he wanted.  Drew went high to make a pass as he thought it would stick, but found that by now with the brake situation he had more rear brake than he wanted and almost spun loosing about 4 positions on the track.  He adjusted his brakes to give more front and continued to survive and move up through the field to finish a very respectable 7^th behind Gary Whipkey, Don Harvey, Jr., Mike Miller, Jimmy Carter, Donnie Hill and Charlie Schultz, all very respectable and good drivers.  The really good news is Drew brought the new car home with just a very minor dent in the right rear quarter panel.  A good shakedown outing for the new car and a driver still a bit rusty in his first race of the season.  With a little improvement to the car we will be faster!

Now it is on to the third race of the season June 4^th at KilKare Speedway.

Thanks a bunch to our sponsors Aluma Aluminum Trailers, Amsoil and Dealer Elmer Schaeffer, Impact Racing Products, and Mid America Properties.  Without their support we could not be here!

The spring rains delayed this race one day so it was to the motel to wait it out till Friday June 11. The last time Drew and crew was at Angola it was for the his first race ever in the Outlaw Late Model and the Main Event Series Outlaw Late Model season opener where we unloaded fast off the trailer, were in the top 7 in hot laps, qualified 10th out of the 44 cars there, which put Drew on the pole with a draw of a 10 invert. That day we were very loose on the track and fell out with a broken transmission.

For this second time at Angola we tried some different setup things which didn’t seem to work and struggled to find the speed we needed all during hot laps. We were in the top 20, but only 18 would qualify for the main through time trials and the remaining 4 would come from the last chance race. Drew qualified 20th which put him on the outside front row for the 12 lap last chance race. He fell into third where he ran for about ½ of the race, constantly pressing the second place Bud Perry for that position. The fourth place car got a little too anxious waiting for Drew to get around and pressed his luck with a daring outside move around Drew and Bud Perry. That move would prove to be his demise as he lost it in front of Drew taking both of them out of the transfer positions ending Drew’s night.

Barberton Speedway Main Event Series Race #4 – 6/19/09

The rain again won out on Friday night relegating us to the motel once again. The weather cleared and we were able to get the race in at the tricky ¼ mile Martinsville like paper clip track. In hot laps we adjusted like crazy to get the car to turn in the center of the corner, a must at these short tracks, and really a must here at Barberton. We didn’t get it right by qualifying and Drew had to settle for a 19th starting spot. Thanks to Scott Baker for a little setup hint after qualifying! That little adjustment got the car real good, but on this short track with that number of cars, Drew was over ½ of a lap behind the leaders at the drop of the green flag. The car was good and Drew proceeded to carefully move by a few of the slower cars, but by this time the leaders were upon him and he went a lap down. As the first few cars went by Drew fell in behind them nearly keeping up with their pace. Several of the lead lap cars got by Drew but by this time it was his turn to start lapping the tail enders as well as pick off a few of more positions. At the end of the 75 lap race Drew ended up in the 11th position. If only we had qualified better!! We had the car rotating so good and the front end so hooked up that both front tires still had the dimples on them from when they were new. We came home with the car showing a few short track battle scars, but in one piece.

Lake Erie Speedway Main Event Series Race #5 – 6/27/09

It was a beautiful day for racing on the fast smooth 3/8 mile Lake Erie Speedway. This track is wide, has lots of grip and is fast. We decided to further our setup experience with big bar soft springs by pushing it a step further using bump stops. We again missed the setup pretty bad with the car not rotating in the middle of the corner and a push off during hot laps. Again we never got it right in qualifying and ended up in the 19th starting position. Starting that far back again put us ½ lap down at the drop of the drop of the green flag. Drew immediately started passing cars and came over the radio and said the car was perfect! Those last few adjustments must have finally hit the sweet spot! But not to last for long as one of the slower cars he was passing came down on him and took out the front of the right fender, taking away down force and creating a push that would never go away. As was the case last week, by the time Drew had worked by a few cars the leaders were coming and three of them got by Drew. He fell in line where he would stay for most of the race, running near the pace of the leaders, but a lap down. He continued to pass cars and with some attrition moved up to 8th place by the end of the 100 lap feature, right on the bumper of the 5th, 6th and 7th place cars. He had caught them from a straightaway behind with 10 laps to go, but a yellow flag and the restart put him to the tail since he was a lap down to the leaders. We didn’t have a winning car, but we found a setup that will be fast next time.

With these finishes Drew was only able to maintain his 9th place position in the points, but well within reach of 6th place and with five races to go coming back to tracks we have raced at once, a shot at the top five if we can get the car fast for qualifying.

A special thanks to Aluma Trailers for the super trailer that gets us to the track every race, to Elmer Schaeffer for those slick Amsoil lubricants, to Impact Racing for their super driver safety equipment, to Jeff Kendrick for reworking Drew’s website and keeping it up, and to Scott Baker of Baker Race Cars for those awesome last minute setup tips and for the super job putting our rear end together after it broke at Midvale.