Finally...A Dry Race Weekend

We finally got our first race of the year in.  This was also the first race of the year for the Midwest Mini Sprints.  The night wrapped up none too soon as their was rain drops falling as we got about half way home from the track.  I guess rain is just a part of May.  The American Mini Sprint Association also got their first race of the year in at Twin Cities.

Enough about rain more about racing.  Saturday night we visited Waynesfield Motorsports Park with the Midwest Mini Sprints.  Despite our struggles all night, it was great to see everyone and have so many of our customers have great finishes.  I'll start by complimenting both Waynesfield and the MMSA.   Greg Shobe and family built Waynesfield Motorsportrs Park several years ago and have been big proponents of the mini sprints from the beginning.  They have stuck by the track and the mini sprints through the ups and downs.  We are very lucky to have Waynesfield as a track where the mini sprints have always been welcomed.  The same can be said about Bill May and his diligence at pushing the MMSA forward.  I worked with Bill on the Buckeye Mini Sprint Association back when the 600cc engines were popular in and around Ohio.  That has been several years ago and Bill continues to promote the sport of mini sprint / lightning sprint racing in the area.  For 2012 Bill has assembled a great schedule.  Thanks for all your efforts.

www.viperpipes.com



Okay...now on to the racing.  A full field of 26 cars were in attendance at Waynesfeild on Saturday, May 12th.  Although we were disappointed with our performance, we were happy to see that several of our customers had strong performances.  Rod Henning was doing double duty at Waynesfield running both a mini sprint and a sprint car.  He was victorious in MMSA competition crossing the line ahead of T.J. Heil. (more on Hot Rod Henning's sprint car performance later)  Heil racked up his second, second place finish of the young season.  Another customer that has come on strong is Greg Nicholas who ran second for the majority of the race when a slight miscue relegated him to fourth--but still a very strong run.  Lee Underwood brought his #24 home in 5th place, delivering two top fives for Lee this year.

Two really nice looking FOZ cars making their appearance for the first time were the team cars of Mensendiek Auctions piloted by Nathan Mensendiek and Beau Binder.  Although both were still getting used to their new mounts, Binder brought his car home in 11th place and earned the Hard Charger award.  Great job Beau.

www.fozracecars.com



Engine problems plagued several of the cars including Andy Bradly, Becca Stifl, Daniel Lucas and Damon Fortune.  New to the mini sprint scene in 2012, Damon Fortune looked strong in hotlaps, before he experienced engine problems.  Damon is the grandson of former USAC owner Blackie Fortune who fielded cars for names like Ken Schrader and Rich Vogler.

Congratulation go out to Kevin Roberts Jr. on his win at Twin Cities.  His second of the season.  Still no results from Twin Cities posted at the time of publishing this blog.
We're hoping to run a wandering schedule with a few different organizations this year.  We haven't had the chance to run with the MMSA much, and it was fun getting to meet a few new faces.

Performance Powder Coating 1000cc Mini Sprints/MMSA (25 Cars)[#]-Starting Position

Heat 1 - Heat 1 (8 Laps - Top 9 finishers transfer to the A-feature) 1. 1R-Rick O'Shea[1] ; 2. 24L-Lee Underwood[3] ; 3. 50-Craig Stower[2] ; 4. 8F-Scott Fasse[9] ; 5. 26-Nathan Miller[6] ; 6. 328-Becca Stiefel[5] ; 7. 86-Andy Bradley[8] ; 8. 25-Collin Parker[7] ; 9. 111-Daniel Lucas[4]

Heat 2 - Heat 2 (8 Laps - Top 9 finishers transfer to the A-feature) 1. 31-Greg Nicholas[1] ; 2. 13E-TJ Heil[5] ; 3. 7R-Nick Daugherty[7] ; 4. 12J-Tyler Moore[4] ; 5. 30-Adam Treadway[6] ; 6. 22B-Brad Racer[3] ; 7. 71F-Nathan Mesendiek[2] ; 8. 39-Damon Fortune[8]

Heat 3 - Heat 3 (8 Laps - Top 9 finishers transfer to the A-feature) 1. 28H-Rod Henning[2] ; 2. 55-Rob Winks[6] ; 3. 65-Chris Bounds[1] ; 4. 80-Trey Gustin[3] ; 5. 12-Michael Roehling[7] ; 6. 71B-Beau Binder[8] ; 7. 8-Tanner McElroy[5] ; 8. 17-Adam Jackman[4]

A-Main -  (20 Laps)1. 28h-Rod Henning[1]; 2. 13e-TJ Heil[4]; 3. 7r-Nick Daugherty[6]; 4. 31-Greg Nicholas[2]; 5. 24l-Lee Underwood[5]; 6. 1r-Rick O'Shea[3]; 7. 65-Chris Bounds[9]; 8. 80-Trey Gustin[10]; 9. 30-Adam Treadway[12]; 10. 12-Michael Roehling[15]; 11. 71b-Beau Binder[17]; 12. 8f-Scott Fasse[8]; 13. 12j-Tyler Moore[11]; 14. 50-Craig Stower[7]; 15. 8-Tanner McElroy[19]; 16. 71f-Nathan Mesendiek[16]; 17. 22b-Brad Racer[14]; 18. 26-Nathan Miller[13]; 19. 25-Collin Parker[18]; 20. 17-Adam Jackman[20] Hard Charger: 71b-Beau Binder[+6]

A shout out to J&T Photos.  They do a great job of covering all the classes of racing at Lawrenceburg.  Be sure to check out their albums that include plenty of photos from last Saturday night.  http://www.jandtphotos.com/page2.php...ist&category=8  Pictured above is the Mensendiek Auction Racing Team cars 71 & 71B of Nathan Mensendiek and Beau Binder.

Brent Burrows and his grandfather Terry Meyers recently took delivery of a new FOZ G2.  Brent won the first night out in the car in Peoria, Illinois this past weekend against some stiff competition.  Way to go Brent!

It's great to see this year's crop of mini sprint racers proving that the cars are a good training ground for the next step...sprint cars.  Beau Stewart had a two strong races Friday evening finishing sixth in a make-up feature and then 4th in the evening's regualr feature.  Great job Beau.

www.speedpartz.com



A Fitting Memorial - I thought this was really cool when I happened upon it on Facebook.  Former mini sprint drivers Dennis and Kirk Jeffries lost their father last year.  Their dad raced mini sprints, but raced flat track long before that.  Dennis Jeffries recently got his father's bike out and raced it at Circleville.  Pretty cool stuff.



Hot Rod Henning did double duty Saturday evening at Waynesfield.  Here he is pictured in Jamie and Michelle Paul's sprint car.  Despite starting deep in the field, Rod rallied to a fifth place finish.  Although I didn't get to watch much, I was really impressed with what I saw.  This is a pretty neat story has both driver and car owner have ties to the mini sprints.  This is Paul's first year as a car owner after several years as a mini sprint driver.  Paul owns the distinction of getting the first mini sprint win for the FOZ car brand.  Best of luck to the whole crew this season.

Driver Jimmy Scanlon went up in flames this weekend at Wilmot. Although probably a pretty expensive picture, a pretty cool picture at that.



We had the pleasure of meeting Mike Whitmore and his driver Jimmy Scanlon at the Tulsa Shootout.  This year Whitmore is fielding a two car team for Scanlon and Ryan Cully who plan on running primarily in Illinois and Wisconsin.  They do a great job with their media (Facebook, YouTube).  Here is a video they posted of a flip this weekend.  Also below is another video that Ryan Cully put together spoofing MTV's Cribs.  Looks like it should more aptly be called the Whitmore Racing Compound.  I wonder if they've got a track in the backyard and a foam pit?  We'll stay tuned for more of their videos.

www.shoxskinz.com

Lightning Sprints At Eldora One of the events that has been receiving a lot of press this year is the mini sprints / lightning sprints first trip to Eldora. Greg Nicholas took advantage of their practice day and turned several laps. The consensus from those at the track is that the lightning sprints will be extremely fast. Nicholas said it was a blast. His lap times were faster than some of the sprint cars that were there that day. The Midwest Mini Sprint Association MMSA is scheduled at Eldora on Saturday August 11th. Below is a link to in-car video from Greg Nicholas's visit to Eldora.

We are working with a company that is producing a new neck brace to compete with the Hans. If you are familiar with the Defender, it is very similar. I have been wearing one for a few years now and really like it. Expected price on the unit is around $599. We are trying to put together our first order and need a few more to round it out. If you are looking for a neck brace let us know. The first few orders will be eligible for a nice introductory offer discount. Call us at 513.874.2034 if you are interested.

My daughter and I are hoping to travel to Indianapolis for practice on Wednesday.  Most exciting is the fact that we have an open wheeler back in the mix and apparently doing quite well.  Last reports I saw showed Bryan Clauson near the top of the speed charts.  Best of luck to Bryan Clauson and the entire Sarah Fisher Racing crew.

It looks like a full weekend of racing coming up starting on Friday evening with the MMSA at Bloomington.  Saturday evening racing continues with the MMSA at Brownstown and the AMSA at Montpelier.  Day three of the weekend wraps up with AMSA competition at Kokomo. 

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.