Friday night at Lawrenceburg Speedway the A.M.S.A. joined USAC for the opening round of Indiana Sprint Week. A total of 35 cars pulled into the pits including five cars from New York. My good luck at the pill draw hit the rocks with a number 32 coming out of the bag. I started outside the third row in the fourth heat. In typical fashion I spent too much time getting to business and ended the race in fifth place, one spot out of a qualifying position. I really hate going through the B-Main, but guess I should look forward to every chance to get myself accustomed to the new car.
In the B-Main we started in fourth position. A total of 19 cars started the B-Main with several strong runners included in the mix, making it feel a little more like an A-Main. Within a few laps we had managed to move our way into second position behind Ryan Braughton. Although I felt like we were starting to pick up on Ryan, the car popped out of gear in between turns one and two. I wasn't sure what happened at first believeing that I had lost a chain. Thankfully another car spun on the same lap and I was able to regain my second place position on the restart. The car was handling great and although I felt like I had a chance of running down Ryan, I just ran out of time.
Be sure to visit CMI Racing Vids. Colin was recently at Twin Cities Raceway Park to tape the MMSA action. It was a great evening of racing. Be sure to pop over to his site to order your copy.
Looking forward to getting back out on the track Thursday evening as the MMSA visits Brownstown Speedway.
I recently received this photo from J&T Photos who take all the shots at Waynesfield. We are lucky to have great photographers covering several of our tracks. I wanted to give J&T a special shot out since they helped me with this photo for an article an industry publication is doing. Visit http://www.jandtphotos.com/.
This is a first in mini sprint racing in the midwest and hopefully a good sign for its future. During USAC's Indiana Sprint Week, mini sprint drivers have been treated to the opportunity to run no less than five times in eight nights between the A.M.S.A. and the M.M.S.A The week kicked off with the AMSA with the USAC sprints at Lawrenceburg. The AMSA then moved on its own to KC Raceway. There was also racing action on the same evening at Chillicothe. On Thursday evening the MMSA opens with the USAC Sprints at Brownsburg and follows up on Friday evening at Bloomington. On Friday evening the AMSA is also at Moler Raceway Park. The MMSA then finishes things off at Paragon Speedway. Sounds like about as much fun as a mini sprint racer could have in a single week.
There is always a lot of fun scenery when a big race roles into Lawrenceburg. Friday night was no exception. One of my favorite attractions was Josh Shaw and his nastolgic sprinter that were pitted next to us. Josh is building replicas of sprints long ago and pulls them in on a flat bed trailer attached to an old pickup. I have posted some photos of Josh's set-up. If you'll look closely you'll notice that the car is the Ellison Special. The famous sprinter depicted in Dave Argabright's series that ran over a several month period in Sprint Car and Midget Magazine.
My daughter Sami and I made the trip on Saturday morning up to Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course for the Vintage Motorcycle Days. Before switching to dirt we spent a lot of time at Mid-Ohio racing Formula Fords and Formula 2000s. If you have never been to Mid-Ohio, it definately deserves a visit. It is a beautiful setting for a racing facility. Its also worth checking out Vintage Motorcycle Days if you've never been. They have a swap meet that has to cover several acres. You can find just about any type of bike or part you are looking for at the meet. The event includes road racing, motorcross, trials and flat track. Here are a few pictures from our trip.
I recentlly began work on yet another new product. As I mentioned earlier, my family and I have been doing some dirt bike riding lately. Many of the dirt bike riders make use of the Camel Bak. A system that allows them to carry water or fluid along for the ride and actually take a drink without stopping. I recently purchased one of these handy little rider accessories and wouldn't be without it. It got me to thinking about a way to use it on my racing car. Although one might question why it would be needed during such a short race, you would be shocked at how much fluid you can really loose in such a short period of time. The only problem is that there really is no good way to attach it to the car. I started prototyping a pouch that would easily and securely fasten to the car and have been trying it out the last few races. I have gotten quickly attached to it. The new design attaches to the rear uprights of the car and has a special tube and bite valve that just dangles down in the cockpit where it can be easily reached when your ready for a drink. I use it sometime sitting on the grid, during cautions and red flags. I now have it ready to go to market under our Shox Skinz brand name. It will be called a Hydra-Pak and is currently available for $49.95. Although we haven't put it on the website yet, if your interested you can call us at 513.874.2034 and request the Shox Skinz Hydra-Pak.
The Hydra-Pak is designed to easily attach to the rear upright on a mini sprint, midget, TQ midget or sprint car. It is secure and can be easily removed whenever you would like.
The blue tube with a special bite valve dangles down in the cockpit and can be easily reached for a quick drink on the grid, under caution or a red flag.
That's all for now. I hope to be back next week with another blog. I have a few additional products that I am working on and hope to have a race report from Brownstown Speedway.
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