Over Already???

I would have to lie to say that I am not disappointed with the abruptness that the season came to an end.  I didn't get started until July this year and certainly would have liked to get a few more races in.  I guess that's how it goes though.  Dave Rudisell is a man of his word and has promised Terry Eaglin that he would not run any of the classes that are competing at Brownstown's Funfest this weekend.  If you haven't been to Brownstown, I would certainly recommend it.  It is an awesome little joint!

Bill May recently phoned in and said that his intent was to keep the Midwest Mini Sprint Association rules unchanged for 2010.  He is also reporting that they should be back at all of the same tracks they were at last year with a few new things in the works.  This is a real positive for mini sprint racing in the Midwest.

Is the timing right to make a wholesale change from calling our cars mini sprints to calling them Lightning Sprints.  There seems to be a lot of momentum building that way and most of the country has already made the switch.  I have been asking folks that stop into the shop what they think and have been finding most are in favor.  I would love to hear others thoughts and might even put together a short story on the idea.  Drop me an e-mail at sfasse-at-fozmarketing.com with your thoughts.

www.viperpipes.com



Upright Mini Sprint Racing in Florida?  If you've been reading the posts on Indiana Open Wheel you have likely noticed that there is now a group that is making a run at promoting upright mini sprint racing in Florida.  This could a great thing for winter racing--possibly.  Hope to post more about the new group in the near future.

http://www.shoxskinz.com/

Congratulations go out to Kevin Roberts Sr. on his A.M.S.A. championship.  Kevin has come along way as a driver and was always running in the top group this year.  Kevin was in the shop earlier in the week and said that this is the first time that he was okay with the possibility of an event getting rained out.  Kevin's son Nick was along and was not of the same opinion as his dad.  Nick has also had an excellent season and was within reach of third place.

There certainly is a lot of buzz going on around the continued growth of mini sprint racing and the Tulsa Shootout.  There are a lot of potential competitors starting to kick tires in the used car market.  We have a fresh batch of used cars in stock right now including a FOZ G2 roller, An original FOZ that is race ready and pristine, a brand new Bailey Roller and a race ready Bailey.  If you're looking for a used car or just want to see a cross section of what is available be sure to stop in at Speed Partz.  Located just North of Cincinnati, Ohio off route 75.

http://www.speedpartz.com/

I would be remiss if I didn't at least mention the showing our FOZ Race Cars customers put on this year.  Beau Stewart finished second in the points--just five points behind and put up the most wins in the A.M.S.A. this season with a total of four.  Hot Rod Henning followed Stewart with multiple wins on the season in A.M.S.A. competiton.  Both Stewart and Henning had additional wins at Waynesfield Motorsports Park.  I was able to pull one win out of the hat and thought I was bound for a second win Beau caught and passed me late in the race.  Brett Burrows scored two wins in his FOZ car competing just to the west of us in Illinois and Missouri this season.  Youngster David Applegate finished 8th overall in the A.M.S.A. points and also was crowned Rookie-of-the-Year in the season.  As mentioned above Nick Roberts earned a fourth in the seson end A.M.S.A. points in his FOZ.  There were several more customers that had top five finishes this season.  I would like to send out a personal congratulations to all of our customers.

http://www.minisprintbook.com/

It is with a great deal of sadness that I recently learned of the passing of Alan Rupenthal.  Although the greater part of the time that I knew Alan, our roles were always that of competitors--whether on the track or or in business--we always seemed to get along well.  I used to always tease him about our initial acquaintance.  We were running in the Nationals at 35 Raceway and Alan was starting two rows behind me, somehow he launched off someone else wheel and sent me flipping.  He came over right away and apologized, but he was good fodder for friendly banter from there on out.  Mini sprint racing is just for fun and is certainly not something that competitors or business owners will ever make much money from doing.  It really is something that you do for the shear love of the sport--and Alan certainly had a passion for the sport.  One of my favorite memories of Alan was his grandson's short stint behind the wheel of one of Alan's cars during a summer visit.  Anyone who knew Alan knew that he didn't have much patience for running anywhere but right at the front--but working with his grandson was different.  Alan's love and pride in his grandson came through as he encouraged him to take it easy and get comfortable in the car.  R.I.P.





Now that the seasons over, its time to get to work in the shop. Time to clean up from the season and get things in order to start winter rebuilds and fresh builds on new cars.  I am actually looking forward to spending a little more time in the shop this fall and winter.  Nick Hummel and I have been working hard at getting our new business http://www.viperpipes.com/ setup.  There has been a lot of work getting the shop set-up for manufacturer and working on new product development.  Stay tuned as I hope to publish more about what we are up to in the coming weeks and months.

I enjoyed putting out the first couple issues of Mini Sprint Racer Online Magazine last year.  I am hoping now that things have settled down a little to put out a few more issues.  Look for our next issue sometime in the next few weeks.  I am currently working on an article about the differences between an upright mini sprint and a modified midget.  I am looking for photographs that show a modified midget with the bodywork off that would show the seating position and the engine position in the car.  If you can help me out, please send photos to sfasse-at-fozmarketing.com.

New low cost digital tachometer is full of features





Earlier in the season I wrote about a new digital tachometer that we would be trying.  We used it for the entire season and loved the functionality it provided, but most of all loved its low price - $139.95.  It features a programmable tachometer that registers all the way up to 20,000 RPMs, with both numerical and bar graph displays.  It has an orange backlit display that makes it easy to read.  It also has a programmable shift light. I loved using this feature.  I would just program the light to come on at the desired RPMs.  I could easily catch the light out of the corner of my eye without actually looking down at the tachometer.  It also has a water temperature display that even comes with an adapter and also has a programmable warning light.  Other features on the unit that you may or not use include a battery volt meter, hour meter, fuel gauge.  You can order this digital tachometer online at Speed Partz or by CLICKING HERE 

http://www.fozracecars.com/

We'll be blogging often to let you know what is going on in and around the shop.  Stay tuned.