A Little of This and That...

The excitement of the Shootout and the Indy Circle Track Expo are now over and its time for the long haul between now and the first time we get to hit the track. Wasn't sure what to talk about this blog, but did make a commitment that I would try to blog more regularly...so here's to doing my best to keep my promise.

The Indy Circle Track Expo
We always enjoy going to the Indy Circle Track Expo. Its a good chance to catch up with some of our friends and customers that we haven't seen for a while. This year my dad pulled together a larger than usual collection of inventory for us to take to the show to move. Our decision to go up the morning of the show is never a popular one, especially when it comes to the 4:30 a.m. wake up call. Despite the ice, snow and rain, we did make it in time to setup our small booth. We were positioned right next to Jimmy Wood of US 24 Speedway fame. He told us that he is really looking forward to the mini sprints returning to his track this season. We also got to talk with several of the Illinois and Wisconsin lightning sprint racers that seem to make the trip to the show every year. Shane Morgan was the first by the booth. Again, it was nice to finally put a face with a name. I also always enjoy talking with Nick Sheridan and the Branhams. I have become quite a fan of Nick Sheridan's Facebook posts. His winter tales of trips on his snowmobile across the lake to his favorite watering hole and back are entertaining. I also ran into Nick Hale and his dad who are excited about continuing their progression into full size sprint cars. Ryan Broughton and his dad Tony also stopped by and chatted about their first year in a full-size sprinter. I finally got the chance to meet Dave Bender, one of my dad's customers and all around nice guys who has been working on assembling a mini sprint over the past year. Greg Watson and his son Alex were also by to say hello. Greg ran dwarf cars for several years but has now turned the steering wheel over to his oldest son Alex. They seem to be really enjoying the sport and are looking forward to the non wing races this season. It was encouraging the meet several more new faces to the mini sprint / lightning sprint scene. It appears that the class is definately growing. In between catching up with customers and friends, we did manage to sell a few things also.

Motorcycle Powered Cars Gain in Popularity - Although I would often like to think that the lightning sprint / mini sprint racers are the only ones who know the secret of the cheap, reliable horsepower represented in today's sport bike motors - the variety of vehicles being built by Speed Partz customers reminds us otherwise. One area that is experiencing strong growth is the mini buggy market. Basically these are sand rails that are powered by sport bike motors. Many of the cars are homebuilt. Below are pictures of a few of our customers rides that are either complete or in progress.

Above are photographs of Tut Cote's mini buggy. He races this vehicle in Southern California and has a cool website called www.minilites.com. Looks like fun.

Here is another mini buggy. This one is a work in progress by Kentucky's Danny Knott. Danny purchased a set of headers (from Viper Pipes - there's my shameless plug)for the buggy he is building that will be powered by a Honda CBR 1000. For more information on the mini buggy scene, be sure to visit www.minibuggy.net.

Motorcycle powered racing cars don't just go on dirt. They go on asphalt too. Here is another customer's vehicle - an Sports Car Club of America, D Sports Racer that is powered by a Suzuki GSXR 1000. Wayne Briggs of Fairfield, Ohio and his son campaign the car.

Indoor Kart Racing League Banquet - Props go out again to Josh Wagar and the guys at Full Throttle Karting. Their passion for racing and desire to create a first class customer experience are very evident. As I've detailed in previous posts, we participated in an indoor karting league over the past few months. Its been a real blast with both my daughter and I participating in seperate divisions. This past Monday evening they had a banquet that I wish every racing banquet could be just like. An informal banquet with great sandwiches from Jimmy Johns, a short award ceremony and then the best part of all a night of racing. Competitors from their various leagues came together for a good time on track. They put a record number of 15 karts on track. Although a little hairy at times, it was definately a lot of fun. We also got to try our hand at Full Throttle's new slot car track. It definately proved that not having your butt in the seat makes it hard to get around the track. It seemed like few of the cars even made a full lap. I also had the opportunity a few weeks ago to take a group of friends from work out to the track. I got a real kick out of hearing how much fun they had as they each climbed out of their karts. I still would really like to put together an event for all of the mini sprint / lightning sprint guys. I'll keep you posted.

Jason Soudrette's Dusaki - Its always interesting to see what little projects are lurking in racer's garages. Here is an interesting one - Jason Soudrette's Dusaki. It is part Kawasaki, part Ducati. Jason's dad was recently at the shop and started telling us about some of the bikes he and Jason have been building. The Dusaki sounds very interesting including the Ducati suspension components that he has been modifying for this Kawasaki. Jason is a member of the Asphalt Junkies a group of local riders who tear it up on twisting country roads. Jason and has dad have also been at working chopping the bike pictured below up to turn it into a bobber.

Dash Designz - Be sure to check out my latest product, Dash Designz switch labels. I've been using them on my own car for a while. Dash panels are expensive - when most of the time you really don't need the panel or the switches, just something to dress it up. These are just stickers that come pre-cut and ready to place on your dash.

They are available for $12.95 a set through Speed Partz CLICK HERE

More Indoor Racing..I recently made a pair of custom Shox Skinz shock covers for Tim Buckwalter who will be competing this weekend at the indoor at Atlantic City, NJ. I visited his Facebook page and found this video of the event from a few years ago. Looks pretty interesting. Tim says that they built a car for this year's event from an old 270cc micro sprint chassis. Good luck to Tim this weekend.



Enough for now...be back soon.

Final thoughts on our trip to Tulsa

No story on the Shootout would be complete without at least one picture of the golden driller.

I have to start by thanking my family for allowing me to do what I enjoy. A special thanks to my mom and dad and daugther Sami for making the trip with me - its just not as fun without them along. Our trip to Tulsa will be something that I always remember. I remember my first trip to the SCCA Runoffs in Atlanta as a spectator. The circus atmosphere of a big event is electric and the Shootout was no different. I believe the final car count was 785. Put that many cars, trailers, drivers, mechanics and fans under one rough and you definately have a one of a kind event. It is neat to get be a part of something that big.

www.shoxskinz.com

The field of battle for the Tulsa Shootout

Having several days now to review video and replay things in my mind, there is a lot I would do different. As you might guess, the track was dry and slick yet racey.(not sure if that is how you spell that) Unfortunately based upon some of the carnage I witnessed early in the week I had slipped into safe mode and had resigned myself to just trying to put it in the feature and come home with a respectable finish. We ended up 7th out of the 40 cars that were there. In the feature I just played it safe driving around the bottom. After crossing the finish line I drove the car in high just out of curiousity and it seemed to work. This fact was cemented after I returned home and watched race video on You Tube that showed the front runners up high just below the cushion. The changes my dad made to the car prior to the feature were dead on. I believe the car was much, much better than the ride I gave it. Its always easy to say I would have, could have or should have...but I definately should have been more aggressive.

My dad and I on the grid waiting for our first practice session

www.viperpipes.com

I can say that running without the wing has me excited about the upcoming season. The Midwest Mini Sprint Association has several non wing races on its schedule this year and I hope to run at least a few of them. At the end of the week in Tulsa I felt like I was just barely starting to get a feel of what the car should do without a wing. I still have a long way to go before I am backing it in there like those with more non wing experience. I would really like to take the wing off and go practice at 35 Raceway early in the spring. I think it would be a great non wing track for our cars.

www.speedpartz.com

This shot gives you a better idea of just how big this place really is - thats 785 cars, associated trailers, drivers, fans and mechanics - all under one roof with room to spare

If I've often complained about not having enough time--the Shootout does provide that. With so many races to run, the time between on track activities can be long. It did however provide a chance to meet some new folks and do some catching up with those I already knew. I can't say enough about how much I enjoyed meeting some of the people that until this time had just been names on Facebook and other website pages. Racing people really are good folk. We pitted right in the middle of several of the folks from Colorado. Guys like the Giegs remind you of why racing is such a great family sport. No matter the circumstances they always greeted us with a smile and were enjoying the weekend as a father and son team. I really enjoyed getting to spend some time with both Jeff and his dad. Merrill Lamb is a name that I have been familiar with only through the results pages on the internet. He and I raced side by side for several laps during the feature. I knew from the results pages that he was a fierce competitor - didn't guess that he would be such a nice guy. I also enjoyed meeting the infamous Wayne Davis and driver Scott Krueger. I wish them all the best with their event in Florida early this year. If my schedule works out I would definately enjoy making the trip. I also happened across Canada's Aaron Fell eating dinner in our hotel. He has been fast both years but also experienced trouble both years. A character of our sport but also a nice guy that talked pretty openly about setup. We pitted next to Colorado's Dale Johnston and enjoyed talking over setups most of the weeked. Like I started, a lot of super nice people. I hate to mention any names because I know I probably left someone out.

www.minisprintbook.com

Post session discussions - a special thanks to Don and Adam Waters of AFCO for their continued guidance and support

Traveling like this also gives you the opportunity to get to know some of the regulars much better too. There was a fairly small group from Ohio this year - myself, T.J. Heil, Trey Gustin and Eric Semple. T.J. and I shared transportation to the event. I have to thank both my dad and Phil Heil for driving the cars out. I was planning on driving, but last minute changes at work meant that I was unable to leave early enough to drive. I was really worried about my dad going that far solo and appreciate Phil's willingness to make the drive in my place. I could tell by the banter between my dad and Phil all weekend that they enjoyed their ride out - even if Phil wouldn't let my dad stop to eat as often as he might have liked. My daughter quickly figured out that Phil was the entertainment for the weekend and especially enjoyed his rendition of Jerry Seinfeld's popular Helllooo schtick from the third floor balcony of our hotel. T.J.'s mom Kathy also ensured that there was actually some photographic history of the weekend. Our cars for the weekend looked very similar. One of the side benefits was that Kathy mistaked my car for T.J.'s and recorded part of one of my races. My family is not real good at taking pictures. It was also nice to spend more time with Trey Gustin and his dad Spud. I still remember when Spud was just getting started in the mini sprints. His stable now includes a couple of sprint cars and the mini sprint that his son drives - I am not sure but think that might make us both old. With a teenage daughter of my own, I beginning to appreciate being around young people like Trey and T.J. (and many of the others I race with). Their parents should be proud of the way they respect others and also conduct themselves.

Having someone along that takes pictures actually means that there is some pohotographic proof that I was there

I also had the opportunity to put my marketing hat on for a while on Saturday and get out and promote our Viper Pipes venture. While things have gone well on the 1000cc mini sprint front, we've had little exposure to the 600cc market. I started out just passing out flyers, but found it was much more effective to carry around a couple of our mufflers. Nick has worked hard to manufacture a quality product and people were very receptive. I am hoping that maybe we can make a bigger splash in that market.

Putting two cars in one twenty foot trailer was a bit of a jigsaw puzzle - but it all worked out in the end.

Hoping to make it back the hotel early in ancticipation of an early travel day we decided to pull our trailer out into the parking lot before the racing was over



That's all for now. In closing, I would like to thank Lynsey Tilton and Kevin Greer for their coverage of the Rumble. Please be sure to visit the front page of www.minisprintracer.com and click on the Ft. Wayne Rumble link to read more. Best wishes to everyone in 2012. I hope to post more regularly on the blog this year so stay tuned.

We Made It Back

All in all a pretty successful outing. I finished 7th, TJ Heil finished 9th and Trey Gustin finished 10th. The track was dry, slick with not much room to pass. I hope to put more of my thoughts down later today. Headed over to the shop to unload.

Gustin transfers out of the B main. Had a nice run from 8th to second. Feature next up tonight

Sent from my iPhone

Qualifiers

Good news is we are all in one piece after the qualifiers. I am sorry I don't know where everyone finished. I finished second after starting on the pole. Which means no passing points. TJ Heil finished second in his qualifier. Trey Gustin looked really good in his qualifier and led the first few laps until he got in a little to hot and spun. Unfortunately we don't know if any of us made it in yet. Would be great to know before bed.

Sent from my iPhone

After 1st round of heats

Fasse - 2nd
Gustin - 3rd
heil - 2nd
Semple - 3rd

Qualifying races later this afternoon. a lot of carnage this morning

Sent from my iPhone

Still practicing

Plan was to wrap practice up by 3:30 and start heat races. They are just starting second round of practices. If I've ever complained about not having enough free time now I do?

Morning session was pretty uneventful. Wasn't real fast. Just turned some laps. They had to work the track a lot early but it seems to have come in pretty good now. Will be anxious to see how it is after another 53 sessions.

Weather is awesome, sunny and 65. My daughter asked why they don't run outside? The shuttle driver told us that their weather is extreme this time of year either blustery cold or pretty mild like it is now.

Gary Scelzi

It looks like drag racer Gary Scelzi's kids are running 600 cars

Colorado lightning sprints

Meeting a lot of really nice folks from around the country that run lightning sprints/mini sprints

Working on the brakes

Track

Pits. 800 entries

Hustings

Camp for the weekend

Airport security

I wonder if this is the first time they've had someone try to smuggle a brake caliper bracket through airport security

We're on the way!

Its been a busy couple of weeks leading up to our departure for Tulsa. It doesn't seem to matter whether its the first practice of the year or getting ready for a big event like this, it always seems that everything comes down to the last minute. Throw in the general business of the holidays and it causes everyone a little bit of stress. The good news is that the cars have arrived in Tulsa. My dad and Phil Heil left yesterday morning with my car and his son TJ's cars. Although they ran through a bit of snow and nasty weather early in the trip, they reported that things cleared up once they got through St. Louis. My daughter and I will be leaving today and hope to make it in late tonight. T.J. and his mom are traveling out this afternoon. We also talked with Spud Gustin who reported that they expect to arrive mid afternoon today. I guess next up on the agenda is the long wait (from what we understand) to get the cars into the facility.

We'll be attempting to bring you as much in the way of photos and news as we can from the event. We are also very excited to have Lynsey Tilton and Kevin Greer reporting from the Rumble Series in Ft. Wayne. Be sure to check it out as Lynsey as already started to post some information. Click here for the Ft. Wayne Report We wish everyone competing this weekend the best of luck.

Here is a photo of the cars TJ and I will be running in Tulsa -- just before loading them into the trailer.

Counting Down to Tulsa Shootout

We are a little more than a week away from it being time to load the cars into the trailer and head out to Tulsa for the Shoot-out. I am looking forward to going, but there is still a lot of work to be done to get our car ready. I am hoping to wind things down at work early this week in hopes of spending a full day to tie up all the loose ends.

Here is a photo of my car with the engine back in. Just a few short days ago it was spread across the shop floor in a hundred pieces. As noted earlier, mid season a gear disentigrated in my motor sending metal throughout. A special thanks goes out to Hud Horton for getting everything cleaned up and put back together.

Boomerang Cars - T.J. Heil and I are sharing a trailer for the Shootout this year. T.J.'s dad Phil has been busy putting a car together for him to run out at the Shootout. Both the car I am running and the car T.J. is running are boomerang cars -- meaning they came back to their original owners. The car I am running was mine three or four seasons ago before being sold to Ronnie French and Hud Horton. I wish I could have racked up the number of wins Hud did in it. They upgraded to a new FOZ G2 last season and we bought the chassis back. Since we didn't want to take a brand new car to Tulsa last year we put on new components on the chassis and prepared it for the Shootout. When we were forced to miss the Shootout and got behind on our plans for 2011, we just decided to run it for the season. The car T.J. will be running is also a boomerang car. It is the original car that he started in mini sprints with just a couple of years ago. When they decided to move to a G2 the chassis was sold. When they heard about the number of non winged races the MMSA had planned for 2012, they sought the car out and bought it back to build a non winged car.

Here the two cars sit in the shop being readied for the trip West.

Putting on the graphics - I've gotten to where I really enjoy putting the graphics on a race car. While I've mostly done stuff on my car, I have started to do some cars for customers. Here are a few shots of the scheme I am applying to T.J. Heil's car. I continue to place updated photos on the blog so you can see how it is coming along. While I've started to use wraps more and more, I am going old school on this one and actually using layers of vinyl.

Check back soon for more.

Its been way too long

Its been way too long since my last post. I can't complain, this year has been a very busy year at work. Unfortunately things didn't go the way we had hoped at the track and we only made it to five races this year. We had to cut the season short when a gear in our transmission disentigrated sending particles of metal throughout the engine. It's amazing how much you miss doing this stuff once it gets in your blood. I am definately looking forward to next season.

The Shootout – The good Lord willing, we are headed to the Tulsa Shootout to end out our year. We are busy trying to put together a car and motor to take to the Tulsa Shootout this year. Driving at the famed Tulsa Expo Center has been on my bucket list ever since my first visit to the Chili Bowl several years ago. Up until the lightning sprints were added to the Tulsa Shootout racing card it was however near the bottom of the list. I had checked into renting a midget for the Chili Bowl, but quickly discovered that it was beyond my pocket book. Last year when the lightning sprints made their first visit to the Expo Center I was loaded to go when we received news the evening before our departure that my father-in-law had passed away. So this year we’ll be giving it another shot. I do have mixed feelings about going since I would like to support the Midwest Mini Sprint Association who will be running that same weekend just a few short hours away in Fort Wayne, Indiana as part of the Rumble Series. I am hopeful that the event at Fort Wayne goes well and becomes an annual thing. We have received calls and e-mails from several drivers that plan on attending and are scratching their heads on setup. Unfortunately when it comes to racing on concrete we don’t have much advice to offer—due to our own inxperience. If I didn’t have a desire to drive at the Expo Center at least once, it would be impossible for me to justify the added expense of the trip to Tulsa when there will be great racing going on so close to home. I am however looking forward to the opportunity to meet lightning sprint drivers from around the country. We’ve done a few events that pulled in drivers from multiple states and have always found the off track banter to be almost as fun as the racing. I would like to wish the best of luck to drivers competing at both events this year.

I am hoping that we can revive the Tulsa Shootout Journal we did last year. You can revisit all of last year's entries still by at http://tulsa.blogspot.com/ I would also love to do one from the Rumble. If anyone is interested please let me know. I can set it up so you can e-mail or text news in from your cell phone. Just drop me an e-mail at sfasse-at-fozmarketing.com.

visit: www.speedpartz.com





A recent FaceBook entry caught my eye. It was a photo of Ryan Broughton’s ride for 2012 – a full size winged sprinter. Ryan is coming off a stellar year in the mini sprints that saw him notch a string of wins. It was only a few short years ago that I used Ryan in my book, Mini Sprint Racing 101, as an example of the type of driver the sport was attracting. Ryan made the step from go-karts to upright mini sprints—just as his dad had done several years earlier. Now continuing with the family legacy he makes the step into a sprinter. This got me to thinking about how the lightning sprints / mini sprints have really gained favor as a training ground for tomorrow’s open wheel stars. 2012 promises to be a year that further extends the value of the lightning sprints / mini sprints as a training tool for tomorrow’s stars. Schedules across the country point towards a class that allows its competitors first hand experience in similar equipment at the very same tracks were the big series run—for a fraction of the cost and effort. The Midwest Mini Sprint Association alone has put together a full schedule at several of the midwest’s premier facilities.

Early on I had the pleasure of writing stories about two of our sport’s success stories, Craig Kinser and Brad Sweet. That has been several years ago now and there have been many, many more that have come along since that time. I sat down and tried to list all the local drivers that I have run against that I know have made the transition from lightning sprints, mini sprints to full size sprints or midgets cars. It’s a pretty impressive list – I apologize for those I have left out. Hud Horton, Logan Hupp, Spud Gustin, Jason Soudrette, Nick Bilbee, Beau Stewart, Tom Rhodes, Tim Allison, Lewie Christian, Kirk Jeffries, Jimmy Kite, Brad Kuhn, Shane Cottle and Dane Carter.

As a long time competitor and fan of the mini sprints I am excited about the interest and growth this class is receiving right now. Hopefully young, aspiring drivers continue to find the class as an important stepping stone in their climb up the ladder. Hopefully the class’s fan base discover the class as an opportunity to catch a rising star.

www.shoxskinz.com

Viper Pipes offering stainless header sets – We have decided to offer stainless steel header sets for upright mini sprints. To start with our stainless steel headers will be offered as a special order item that will take a few extra weeks to deliver. We hope to have photos posted on our site in the next few weeks. Stay tuned to www.viperpipes.com for more information.

Here is a photo of our stainless collector.

www.viperpipes.com

Karting – A great way to keep the rust knocked off during the winter – This winter my daughter and I have joined an indoor karting league in hopes of adding a little racing excitement to the cold winter months. We joined a 10 week winter league at new facility in Cincinnati, Ohio called Full Throttle Karting. The league has proven to be a blast. We’ve had the chance to race against several road racers, auto-crossers and track day enthusiast. As a guy who has not turned left and right for a very long time, it has been a bit humbling.

The Full Throttle facility just opened in the fall of 2011 and is operated by a group of Sports Car Club of America enthusiasts. It was obvious on my first visit that they had done their homework. Full Throttle Karting is easily one of the nicest karting facilities I have ever visited. It is well thought out in every facet. Drivers sign in using a computer system that expedites the entire process. Drivers are assigned to a heat right at the time they purchase the session. I really liked this since at some of the other karting facilities I have visited you were forced to simply wait in line. At Full Throttle you are provided a heat number and time. As a member you can even call ahead and reserve a time. Waiting is not a big deal though as they have a very nice lobby area with big screen televisions, game and a slot car track.

When its time to go racing, the facility is even more impressive. A neat, clean equipment room is where you get your protective gear, if you didn’t bring your own. This is also where first timers go through a short orientation session. I thought this was a nice touch as everyone wants to get the most out of their session – and waiting around for folks that don’t understand the flags or the general flow of things can easily waste precious time in an eight minute session.

I was most impressed with the track layout. Most of the tracks I have visited have been a lot of fun, but offered very little grip and were not very technical. On my first visit to Full Throttle, I realized that getting around this track required some thought. Concepts like entry, apex, exit, braking zones and an analysis of which corners were most important all required some consideration if you wanted to achieve a reasonable time. It is one of the first indoor kart tracks I have been to where you don’t just keep the loud pedal mashed the whole time—at this track you can actually overdrive the kart and cost yourself on the clock. One of the owners explained to me that they had gone to great pains to design the track – even to the point of doing serious computer simulations with both novice and experienced drivers. I have been told that at this point it is believed that Full Throttle has one of the fastest indoor karting tracks in North America.

After your session you can get a print out detailing every lap of your session and how you stacked up against the competition for your session and the week. This information as well as all of your past sessions can also be accessed via the internet – using the password you created on your first visit.

I have taken several of my friends to Full Throttle and my experience has been that once you run your first session, they’ve got you hooked. For that reason it is nice that they actually offer the opportunity to compete in supervised racing events that give you the opportunity to do more than just turn laps—but to actually race.

The first event that I competed in was an hour long, endurance race. Three driver teams qualify and then race for 1 hour. Each team is required to rotate their three drivers during the event. I teamed with a couple of friends that race lightning sprints and we had a blast. At the end of the event we missed winning by 17 seconds. Which ended up being the cost of some really slow driver changes—its no fun being old.

The leagues have also been fun. While they run leagues several nights during the week, we are in one that competes on Saturday mornings. I run in the adult league and my daughter runs in the youth league. The format is pretty simple. They start with a short driver’s meeting and followed by an eight lap qualifying session. The twenty five lap feature is started straight up based upon qualifying times. As noted earlier I have been really surprised at the level of competition. There is a very small gap separating the entire field each week. You would be shocked at just how much energy it takes. I know that part of it is my forty something body, but even some of the younger guys have said they are thoroughly spent at the end of the session. I’ve joked with a few of them that it is probably one of the best deals in racing right now. For a very small investment in time and money I can go have fun racing equipment that I don’t have to do maintenance on and be back home by noon. Be sure to check it out at http://www.cincykarting.com


Here is some video from a few weeks ago. Not the greatest quality, but I think it will give you a pretty good idea of the track layout.

Be sure to LIKE our FaceBook Fan Page. Everyone who likes are page is automatically in the running for one of our monthly give-aways. Congratulations to November winner Stephanie Davis Lovell. Stephanie won a pair of Shox Skinz shock covers. CLICK HERE to visit our FACEBOOK PAGE.

I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas.

Still some good racing yet to come

There is still some great racing to go this year. Unfortunately I threw the towel in early this year after all the rain outs and finally destroying a motor. Time to start working on things for next year.

Viper Pipes Website

35 Raceway is running their Fall Fest racing event tonight. It will be the Fall Nationals Open for 1000cc Mini Sprints there tonight sanctioned by the Midwest Mini Sprints. I recently spoke with Bill May who told me that it is something that he wanted to do to say thank you to all the guys from Ohio that made the effort to come over to Indiana and race this year. Bill also told me that he is already hard at work on next year's schedule. Sounds as if he already has a great schedule put together with several additional possibilities in the works. Hoping to get all of the notes I took during our discussion into a story in the next few weeks.

Speed Partz

I recently recieved the third printing of my Mini Sprint Racing 101 Book. This has been a fun venture for me. It is kind of gratifying when you get e-mails or talk with new drivers at the track that tell you the book helped them get started. Prior to the last printing I had to go in and update much of the information to keep it fresh. New cars, new series,etc. Check out the book at www.minisprintbook.com

Last Saturday I tried a different kind of racing - a go kart enduro at a new track in Cincinnati, Ohio. The format was pretty neat. A short qualifying race and then an hour long enduro race for a team of three drivers. Each driver was required to turn at least eight laps. At the end of the event we ended up in second place. We Should have won, but unfortunately our driver changes took too long. I guess we'll have to start working on our driver changes in the shop. Hoping we get to do several more of these during the winter as I think it will be a great way to keep my driving skills dusted off. If you haven't had the chance to visit Full Throttle Karting - you need to. It is a first class facility with a very well thought out track and all new karts. Be sure to check it out at www.cincykarting.com. The enduro race we competed in was for the BMW Club. I was thinking it would be fun to put one together for the local open wheel community. Stay tuned, I will see what I can find out.

Upright mini sprint racing continues to grow across the country. One of the new groups that has been very active is the Illinois Lightning Sprint Association. This coming weekend they are putting on the Al Archdale Memorial at Peoria Speedway which will pay 1500 to win and 100 to start. I know that several of our local drivers are making the trip. Best of luck to everyone. For more information visit Illinois Lightning Sprint Series Home Page

Its getting to be that time of year and some nice used cars are starting to come back into the shop. If you are thinking about getting into a mini sprint for the 2012 season be sure to visit Speed Partz

That's all for now!

Finally....

Finally a pretty good weekend of racing all the way around. It appears as if Ryan Broughton is going to be a tough act to follow or maybe better put, 'catch' this season as he scored his fourth victory of the 2011 season at Waynesfield Raceway Park on Saturday evening. Broughton was followed to the line by Nick Daughtery and Kevin Roberts Jr. The hard charger of the race was Lee Underwood who passed thirteen cars during the feature. Best of all with the M.M.S.A. also in action on the same evening there were 22 cars in attendance. In looking through the results it was also very nice to see several new names -- showing that the ranks of mini sprint racers in our area continues to grow.

The Midwast Mini Sprint Association (MMSA)was in action at Brownstown Speedway on Saturday evening and Kokomo on Sunday. We were lucky enough to make it to Brownstown Speedway after a week of trials and tribulations (more on that later). I believe 26 cars is the number that I heard in attendance for Brownstown on Saturday evening. Again it was good to see several new names and faces at the track...along with some of the old ones that we haven't seen in a while. When the dust settled for the night it was Colin Ambrose bringing home the victory, Kevin Rice second and Rod Henning thrid. As I noted last year, Brownstown has to be on my list of favorite places to run. The facility is really neat--sitting just outside of town and the well maintained county fairgrounds. The racing surface is smooth and relatively flate making for some really good racing action. I hope to return there a few more times this year.

It appears that the Midwest Mini Sprint Associations version of Sprint Week could be one of the biggest ever with (hopefully I've got this right) 7 nights of racing in 8 days. Beginning on Friday July 8th a special Shootout race has been scheduled by T&E Promotions at the Madison County Fairgrounds that will pit non winged mini sprints against TQs. On Sunday July 10th the group will run the Allen Rupenthal Memorial at Windy Hollow Raceway in Owensboro Kentucky. The Ambroses have worked hard to ensure a big purse for the event in honor of their friend and former car owner. Next up on Monday the 11th is a non winged race at Bartholomew County Fairgrounds and then a race that was just announced Saturday evening at Brownstown on Tuesday the 12th. The next stop on the MMSA Sprint Week will be Brownstown again on the 14th and then on to Bloomington Speedway on the 15th. Things wrap up on the 16th at Paragon Speedway. That's a bunch of racing in just a few days. I hope that everyone will support their efforts to tackle such an undertaking.

The sport of mini sprint racing is growing not just in the United States, but also across the pond in Australia and New Zealand. The shop (www.speedpartz.com) has been doing an ever growing business with competitors in both countries giving us the opportunity to make the acqaintance of several drivers and fans. Two of these folks are Adam Raw (NSW Australian club president & D.J. Raws, club champion) The pair have planned a trip to the states during the Midwest Mini Sprints Speedweek and are hoping to put D.J. in a car for a few races if they can locate a ride for him. Adam has worked hard to bring an international flavor to our sport and recently setup the first challenge series between Australia and New Zealand. They are hoping if they can get DJ a ride here that they can respond in kind by giving one of our drivers a shot at competing in Australia. If you've got a car that you can put DJ in, please contact Adam Raws at adam.raws@hotmail.com.

As I mentioned we had a few trials and tribulations with our car over the past week and a half. I bring them up just as a learning exercise in case anyone else runs into similar problems. It all started a few weeks ago at Lawrenceburg when we through a chain cracking our block and breaking the shaft that runs between the water and oil pumps. After getting the case on our motor welded back up, we also replaced the oil pump with a used (but what we believed to be, good oil pump). Once reassembled we were unable to get any oil pressure in the engine. We talked to several fellow competitors who explained various methods for getting the oil pump primed - which can be a difficult tasks. Despite all the good advice, we were still unable to get any oil pressure. As a last resort we finally replaced the new (used) oil pump with our old oil pump...instant oil pressure - after a bunch of frustration.

I need to give a shout out to Kevin Rice. We've raced with Kevin for the last several years, but haven't seen him around for the last couple of seasons as he toyed with TQ midgets and even retirement. He was back at the track at Brownstown last Saturday evening in his new FOZ Car and picked up where he left off with a second place finish. Nice job Kevin and its good to see you back at the track.

Another intersting tidbit that we learned on Saturday night is that the Ambroses have a 410 sprint car for this season. Didn't get any of the particulars on where and when they plan to run, but wish them the best of luck.

I also enjoyed speaking with Andy Bradley on Saturday evening. Andy has a pretty cool occupation as a commercial pilot. After spending the last few years flying an Indiana medical examiner around the state, he has a new job flying an 80 passenger commercial jet. Andy also told me that since his schedule will be difficult for a while, he has made arrangements to give another young driver a chance at competing when he is unable. Andy has told me before that Allen Ruppenthal gave him an opportunity when he needed it and he plans on returning the favor.

Looks as if Waynesfield is the place for racing over the 4th of July holiday. If you've never been there, the Shobes are a great bunch with a really nice track and facility...well worth the trip.

Anytime Soon!

Hoping to go racing anytime soon. We were ready to go to Waynesfield last week and made a last minute decision to stay home based upon the weather channel. The later in the day it got with no rain, the more I started to think I made a bad decision. Around 8 o'clock I learned that they had called the event due to rain. The news came with mixed emotions as I had hoped that they would get the first race of the year in up at Waynesfield, but a little glad I didn't miss anything. I guess will give it another shot this weekend. I understand there was 21 cars in the pits. I was anxious to see how some of the guys that were new to the FOZ cars would do in their first outing including Garry Loney and Lee Underwood.

The bigger surprise for the weekend was that the Midwest Mini Sprint Association was able to get their first race of the year in at Brownstown Speedway. My original plans were to go to Brownstown for the non-winged event. Again based upon the radar and the amount of rain over the previous week I was betting against them running - I was wrong. I haven't seen any results posted yet, but understand that they had 16 cars in attendance, considering that we counted several cars that were just not quite done yet. The winner was Colin Ambrose. Not a bad start. They had a few pretty good tumbles. I am anxious to go to Brownstown this year. We did the non-wing event last year and despite a tommy tip-over (that was my own fault) really enjoyed the track. www.midwestminisprints.com

It appears that 35 Raceway Park is considering making a move from 600cc upright mini sprints to 1000cc upright mini sprints. We were asked to send one of our Viper Pipes mufflers for testing late last week. I understand that Ryan Broughton and Ricky Taylor turned some laps. I was pleased to hear that our 14" muffler met 35 Raceway's stringent decibel requirements. www.viperpipes.com It sounds as if they are planning a race for the 1000cc mini sprints at 35 Raceway late in May on a date that doesn't conflict with any of the other series.

This weekend should be a real test with the mini sprints scheduled to appear simulaneously at 4 different area tracks including the MMSA at Kokomo, AMSA at KC Raceway, Waynesfield's weekly show and Twin Cities running their own special event.

Our new tachometers have been a strong selling item, so much so that we've had trouble keeping them in stock. If you've been trying to get one - we finally had a large shipment come in. http://www.speedpartz.com/ace_1100.htm

One of the other new products that we have been working on is the Anti-Gravity Batteries lithium racing battery. These are pretty amazing little batteries. On our car we were able to save 11 pounds by using the 6900 model of the battery. This is the model recommended for 1000cc mini sprints and weighs in at just 2.9lbs. They also offer a model the 4600 that is better suited for 600cc modified midgets and sidewinders. One of our customers CJ O'Leary registered a victory with the UMRA TQ midgets using one of the new batteries. His crew chief said they were really happy with the battery. Click here to view product on website

I was recently invited over to a practice day at the Indianapolis. One of my earliest racing memories was skipping a day of school and riding over to practice on the back of my dad's motorcycle. I remember we rode out in the rain. It continued to rain for a while once we arrived at the track, but the weather finally broke and we ended up having a great day. In the recent past I have not been as big a fan of the 500 since it seems to be missing a lot of the good local stories of sprint and midget drivers getting a shot. I think one of the last good stories at Indy for me was watching Jimmy Kite turn laps. I remember being at 35 Raceway when Jimmy made the move up from Georgia. I would have never guessed that his career would have gone as far as it did. Hopefully there will be some more good stories in the future.

That's all for now.

Announcing Al Archdale Memorial

On Saturday October 1st the Illinois Lightning Sprints will present the Al
Archdale Memorial at the 1/4 mile high banks of Peoria Speedway. The event
will pay 1500 to its winner with more money coming in daily. Place this big
event on your calendar early.

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Off to a slow start

The challenge so far this year has not been on the track but instead with
mother nature. In Ohio and Indiana both the AMSA and MMSA have each had
their season openers called because of weather. I just heard that the
MMSA's opener was already cancelled as of Tuesday night because the track
at Brownstown was already under water.

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Video of a new 2011 FOZ G2 Mini Sprint

Peeks of Spring

It has has been nice to finally see a few days where the temperature tops 60 and the sun is shining.  I've never been one to give much credence to the whole 'seasonal depression' phenomenom, but I'll have to admit this winter was definately tougher than most in the recent past.  It seemed like the snow on the ground would never melt away.  While I was looking forward to some of the winter time racing options that were available to the mini sprints, personal comittments were a priority and we ended up missing out on all of them.  I'm really looking forward to our first few visits to the track as an opportunity to shake off those winter 'blahs'.

Although I definately didn't keep up on the blogg'n the way I had hoped over the winter, we did make a few significant changes to the site.  One change that I am hopeful will catch on is a MESSAGE BOARD just for upright mini sprint racing.  I know there are several good message boards out there, but there don't seem to be any that are strictly focused on upright mini sprint racing.  I would encourage supporters of this form of racing to make use of the message board so that we can turn it into something of value.  Also if there are businesses that are interested in advertising on the message board, please let us know.  I have also created a few tools that should make it easier for organizations to post their results more quickly - with applications that will easily work from any Smart Phone.  This should even allow updates to be done right from the track.  If your organization is interested, drop me an e-mail at sfasse-at-fozmarketing.com.

Racers in the Ohio, Indiana area should once again be fortunate to have plenty of options when it comes to opportunities to race in 2011.  I apologize, I am on the road and don't have them in a great format.  I will try to put together a nicer downloadable version soon.  This is a snapshot from available information a few weeks ago.  I know that some of the groups still had a few TBAs on their schedules.  We'll try to go back through and update when we have the chance.  Good news is that all and all it looks like a great season with plenty of opportunities to go race your mini sprint.

April

16 Sat AMSA Law

23 Sat MMSA Brownstown

29 Fri AMSA Moler

30 Sat AMSA Law / Unsanc. Twin Cities



May

7 Sat MMSA Brownstown / Unsanc. Wayne

14 Sat MMSA Paragon / AMSA KC Raceway / Unsanc. Twin / Unsanc. Wayne

20 Fri MMSA Bloomington

21 Sat MMSA Brownstown / AMSA Law  / Unsanc. Wayne

28 Sat Unsanc. Wayne

29 Sun



June

4 Sat AMSA Law / Unsanc. Wayne

5 Sun MMSA Kokomo

11 Sat Unsanc. Wayne

18 Sat AMSA Waynesfield

25 Sat MMSA Brownstown  / Unsanc. Wayne

27



July

2 Sat Unsanc. Wayne

9 Sat Unsanc. Wayne

12 Tue

13 Wed

14 Thur MMSA Brownstown

15 Fri MMSA Bloomington

22 Fri AMSA Moler

23 Sat AMSA Waynesfield

28 Thur MMSA Brownstown

30 Sat MMSA Paragon / AMSA Law  / Unsanc. Twin  / Unsanc. Wayne



August

6 Sat MMSA Brownstown /  Unsanc. Wayne

13 Sat AMSA US 24 /  Unsanc. Wayne

19 Fri

20 Sat AMSA Law /  Unsanc. Wayne

27 Sat MMSA Brownstown /  AMSA Law / Unsanc. Wayne



September

4 Sun

24 Sat AMSA KC



October

1 Sat AMSA LaW


I have posted some photos from the Speed Partz race shop.  It has definately been busier this year than any time over the past two years.  This not only includes the old familiar faces getting ready for the new season, but many new ones.  In the past month alone we have seen six new cars and four used cars sold.  The sport still continues to pick up steem.  I was recently at the shop on a Friday afternoon when a fellow rolled in with a Bailey with an old GSXR 1100 strapped on board.  He was bringing the car in to figure out what updating he needed to do to get ready to race.  His story was like so many others we hear.  He had raced a multitude of different cars from go-karts to late models.  He said he loved racing and the current economy had made the mini sprints look even more attractive--so he decided to take the leap.  We'll look forward to seeing him and many others like him at the track this year.

As I've said before one of the things I enjoy the most about being associated with the shop is some of the product development tasks that I get to work on, two of our biggest successes in the most recent past have been the new digital tachometer and ultra-lightweight lithium battery.  I've just started working on another one that shows early promise.  It is a set of headphones that easily mount inside of your helmet--to stay.  They have a quick disconnect tht hangs out the bottom of the helmet making it even easier to get in and out of the car.  They should be economically priced at somewhere in the $30 range.  I am currently doing some testing to see if they will provide enough volume for our application.  Stay tuned.

One area that has been a point of struggle over the past year and a half since TP Wings exited the market, has been wings.  We were lucky to find Aero Wings who builds an exceptionally nice product that is well priced for our market.  Even with a strong supplier they continue to be a hot commodity in our area.  My dad recently made a trip to pick up 12 wings and was down to 3 before he ever made it back to the shop.  Aero Wings allows us to offer conventional wings and internal slider wings (special order).  Another batch is due on its way, but I would caution if you are going to need a wing that you reserve yours early.

I am always getting myself into things that I really shouldn't.  My latest purchase is a go-kart.  Karting is where I got my start and something I really enjoyed.  While I don't have any plans to race it, I do know that karting is one of the few forms of racing that offers the opportunity for easily accessible track time.  With the ever collapsing amount of time I have available - there is a certain appeal to something that might let me go practice when I have the time.  I know locally that tracks like Camden Ohio's G&J Kartway still let you show up pretty much whenever you would like, throw down a few bucks and turn laps til your hearts content.  Now we'll see if I really find any spare time to make good on the promise.

We still have one used car in our shop that is looking for a good home.  For the right person, it should be a great deal.  It is a 1999 Henchcraft.  It currently has a 600cc engine in it, but could easily be updated to take a 1000cc engine.  It would be a great buy for someone wanting to get into the sport cheap.

Liquid Powdercoat Finish - Midwest Lightning Sprints Announce Season Opener

Track Address: 1649 Highway Y, La Monte, Missouri 65337


Track size: 3/8 mile

Other Classes running this night: 305 Sprint Cars, ASCS Warrior Region 360

Sprint Cars

Pit Passes $30

Pits Open: 5pm

Hot Laps: 7pm

Races:7:30 pm

Non members are welcome, NO temporary membership required for this season

opening event. ONE $50 Gas card will be given out at the drivers meeting Courtesy of

Lincoln Heating and Air, Columbia MO

Motels: Approximately 10 miles east of the track in Sedalia MO. Holiday

Inn and Express 660-826-4000, Comfort Inn 660-829-5050, Super 8, 660-827-5890

Contact information:

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