2 in a Row!

6-26 winners stage

Mid Season championship night was Saturday and we were pumped up to take advantage of the warm weather, arriving at the track a very uncharacteristic 45 minutes early. Everyone was in good spirits as practice began and we spent the time helping out one of our classes rookie drivers. It was fun to watch her follow Scott around for a number of laps and then to see her work on running the line he had shown her as he followed her. Its very satisfying to be able to pass along our knowledge to the next generation of drivers, as one day we will hopefully watch them move up the ladder of success!

Having not pushed the car in practice, we weren't really sure what we had going into the heat race. We made a couple of minor tweaks and hoped for the best, which turned out to be a win in heat race #1. The points leader, Fozzy, was also in our heat race and finished 4th, so we were able to gain a few valuable points on him. In the 2nd heat, Kris also won, so going into the main event, Fozzy still held the lead with Scott and Kris tied for 2nd.

As the main event rolled around, we were starting 8th out of 9 cars, due to the full invert (based on points average) and our rule that the previous week's top three must start at the back, regardless of points average. We had 10 cars, but Nat got into the wall hard with another car and was unable to make it out for the main event. On the start, Scott was cautious, but aggressive and made his way into 2nd by lap 2. For the next 12 laps, we played follow the leader until on lap 14, he overcooked it into turn 1 and Scott easily took the lead on the low side with Kris in hot pursuit. for the next few laps, Kris was  better going into the corner, but Scott was better coming off the corner. It went that way for a while, Kris gaining a couple car lengths in, Scott gaining a couple off.

Eventually, Scott was able to pull out to about an 8 car length lead and we came across the line 1st, Kris 2nd and Ryan Rasmussen in 3rd to complete the Podium finishers for the night. When the dust settled, we found that in addition to our 3rd win of the season, we had also taken over the championship points lead. With the top three cars within 5 points of each other and the season just past the halfway mark, it's anyone's game!

Next up, Armed Forces night at Evergreen Speedway on July 3rd, with the Super Late Models and Street Stocks on the big 5/8 mile oval, the Mini's on the 3/8 and Stingers on the Figure 8 track. And on Sunday July 4th, dont miss the annual fireworks extravaganza at Evergreen Speedway, which this year features the Demo Derby, School Buses, Boat races, roll over contest, Hornets, Renegade V8s, Bus jump, Suicide car explosion stunt and "The Beast" jet Dragster!  

Ahhhh, sweet redemption!

06-19-10 win

When you've had a run of bad juju like we have over the past few weeks, a good run goes a long way towards making the pain go away... a Win erases it. Consider the wheel failures erased!!

When we arrived at the track, the skies were threatening rain, so we hit the 1st practice session available to scuff in the new tire and test the set up changes we made. Scott said the car was free, so we made a wedge change and played with different items to help make the car better. (I later learned that we had turned the fastest lap of all the practices, so go figure!)

During the heat race, Scott broke out front and stayed there, winning it in fine style. He mentioned that the car was still pretty loose, so we made a few big adjustments and got ready to run the main event. (again, later I learned we were the fastest car in the heat race...)

In the Main, We started outside row 2 and once they waved off the first start, the second was a gem. Scott made a couple of quick moves and was in the lead by the time they hit turn 3. When they crossed the line to complete lap 1, we already had a 5 car length lead and eventually it stretched out to a full straightaway. By the end of the race, we were taking it easy on the tires and took the checkered flag having completed the clean sweep on the night. AFter the races, scott said that the car still felt loose, so we still have some work to do to get it dialed in, but that's what we do.. we keep tweaking until it's fast enough, which it never is of course! (Note: we were the fastest in the main event as well, so watch out if we get ol' tonya dialed in!)

Next up is Mid Season Championship night this Saturday, with all 5 NASCAR featured divisions racing!

Gates open at 5, racing at 7... be there or be square!

SSDD... can you say, "Frustration?"

Same S***, Different Day - Or so the saying goes...

 

Race 5 of the season took place on June 5th. Now, after the wheel fiasco of the previous race, we did our due diligence and checked out every wheel and they all looked fine. We replaced the front rotors, cleaned Tonya up, put on a fancy new hood and were feeling pretty confident going into the night. After a 2nd place finish in the heat race (due to a questionable call from the tower on a restart) we made some adjustments and felt that we had a car that could run up front in the main.

Well, thats exactly what happened, Scott was able to get to the front quickly and as he made the pass to take the lead, the caution came out due to a crash on the back stretch. They went back to the last completed lap, which put us back into 2nd... No problem, right? Everything was going along fine on the restart and Scott looked to patiently move back into the lead when I saw him up in the grass on the backstretch and losing a couple of spots. At first I figured that he just got up there coming out of 2 a little hot and he was gathering it back up before getting back on the racing surface. Then I saw a tire bouncing along side the car. Scott confirmed my disgust as he told me the tire had come off, this time the right front.

This is what a wheel "should" look like...

 

2010-06-16 20 30 45

This is what the right front looked like when I got back to the pits...

 

2010-06-16 20 30 07

Notice anything strange here?

Anyhow, fortunately the track does not count yellow flag laps, so we were able to get a new tire bolted on and Scott came back out onto the track just as the leaders were entering turn 3 after the restart. He held them off for about 4 laps, hoping for a caution, but it was not to be. We let the leader by and dropped in behind him, now solidly in about 10th place, first car a lap down. As the laps clicked off, we were keeping pace with the leader and he began lapping cars, which in turn we then passed, picking up positions along the way. By the end of the race, we had gotten all the way back up to 4th! Not a bad position considering how bad the night started out.

I would be remiss if I didnt mention the kick ass work of everyone in the pits to get the tire changed and back out on the track... Geoff and Dennis you were great!

Next up, June 19th at Evergreen Speedway, It's Kid's Night/Fire Safety night featuring the Super Late Models, Street Stocks, Mini Stocks and Hornets. Also, the Guns N Hoses grudge match which pits the Police and Fire departments against one another in a special race!

Also, don't forget that Sunday is Father's day and what could be more fun than to bring Dad to the Rock Church Father's Day car and bike show at the Speedway. The show is free to come see, with hot rods, hot bikes, inflatables for the kids, food and best of all, Drag, Drift and Super Late Model racing demonstrations! If you have a car you would like to enter in the show, the fee is only ten bucks and you could win 500.00 for best of show and people's choice. If you've got a late model race car, why not come out and get some laps in as well. entry for the late models is 5 bucks a head, no car fee!!! Any motor, any shock, any tire(as long as they aren't new), just show up and race! 1 - 30 minute practice session and a 20 lap race, no prize money, no points, but SWEET trophies for 1-3 place.

Check out www.therockchurch.info/carshow/ for more info or check our facebook page! 

See you at the races!  

You picked a fine time to leave me loose wheel...

Well, more to the point, Broken wheel... but I should start at the beginning.

 

It's been a trying couple of weeks... during the heat race week 3, we had a terrible motor stumble that was caused by moisture in the distributor cap, relegating us to a last place finish. We fixed it and ended up with a strong 3rd place run on horrible tires.

This week, Week 4, we were on a mission. No more bad stuff happening, we were going to kick some butt. And we did at the start, winning our heat race in fine fashion. The car was a little tight, so we spent our time between the heats and main working on the set up and boy howdy, did it show up in our performance come race time.

We started the main 8th and through a series of awesome moves, Scott took first place on lap 4. A caution on lap 7 led to a restart that put us back into 2nd, but by lap 14 we had the lead back and were looking great. we held a 1 to 2 car length lead on the 2nd place car, occasionally he would get right up to the bumper, but couldnt make the pass. Scott was driving his lines and I was confident we were going to win. Then on Lap 20, coming out of turn 4, I watched in horror as the left front wheel came shooting off of the car. Scott was able to swing the car wide off the track onto the 5/8 front stretch and avoid piling up himself and the other cars. When the car was brought back to the pits, the race was restarted and we went to inspecting what went wrong. I took one look at the car and noticed that all the lug nuts were still firmly attached and knew right away what happened. A look at the wheel confirmed my suspicions...

 

Broken wheel

Eyup... Shredded... torn right off the car. Project for this week... replace chrome wheels... I hate those things anyways!

Our 8th place finish has placed us squarely in a 21 point hole, now 4th in the standings. Not insurmountable by any means, but we have our work cut out for us. Stay tuned to see what happens... Next race is June 5th... See you there!

Back in the Saddle again!

Boy howdy, what a night! After a heat race in which we saw the horrid sight of a gigantic puff of blue smoke come from the engine compartment, Team LaCross showed everyone in attendance that the old adage, "It ain't over, till it's over" is completely true as we won our first race of this young season in the 25 lap Mini Stock feature event on Fan Appreciation night at Evergreen Speedway.

The day started out under threatening skies and the rian kind of sputtered here and there. Qualifying was dry and we once again qualified 3rd fast. As we lined up for the heat race, Britt noted that I should probably grab an umbrella and of course, refused to believe the rain was going to come and boy, was I wrong! A steady light drizzle began just as we took the track. Scott was fighting for the lead when suddenly about halfway in, the motor appeared to let loose on the front stretch as a huge plume of smoke came from under the hood. The push truck brought Scott back to the pits and the guys jumped all over it, immediately looking for signs of "ventilation" as we call it in the racing world, which to those who don't know, would be a hole in the engine or transmission that shouldn't be there.

As JZ and I popped the hood and saw all the oil, we jacked up the car and Rob dove under to take a look. Turns out that the oil filter mounting stud had come loose and the filter or course had come loose as well. We cleaned things up and loaded the car back up with oil, thinking that we could still make it back out to finish the heat race, which was under red flag conditions to clean up large amount of oil that was now on the track. Unfortunately, the O-ring that seals the oil filter sandwich plate to the block had gotten cut and when we fired the car back up, oil still was coming out in large amounts.

As JZ ran to his shop and several parts stores to grab oil, filter and a new o-ring, the rain really started coming down. It was a complete mess. Fortunately, we had about two hours before the main event and as JZ showed back up at the track, the rain had stopped and the sun started to break out. The parts stores were no help on the o-ring, But our friend and fellow racer Nat came to the rescue and had one in his trailer! I was struggling to get my giant mitts into the area where the o-ring goes, but Will came to the rescue and jumper right under the car in the water and oil and was able to get it all fixed up. We loaded the car up with water and oil, fired her up and it was like nothing ever happened! With about 30 minutes till race time, I set the pressures talked a little strategy and headed off to spot for the race.

Immediately, Scott moved forward and found himself in 2nd. The car in first had scooted out to a pretty healthy lead and was running a little drier line than we were, so for 15 laps we were able to make minor gains, but it was starting to look like 2nd would be the spot of the night. Then a car spun and brought out the caution, which was the break we needed. When the restart cone came out, I knew that we had a excellent shot at taking the lead. Scott always is good on the low side, and if the leader went low, we could hold him down and force him to run a lower line than he had been using all night. Leader went high, we went low and that was that. The first restart was waved off as the leader missed a shift and they didn't like the jump we got, On the second, Scott held his line low and the drag race was on, middle of turn 2, we were clear and off like a shot. for the remaining 10 laps, we held no less than a 3 car length lead for most of it and took the win.

Special thanks go out to Johnny Z, Rob, Will, Nat, Dennis, Kris and the whole JZ Motorsports and Team Flowmaster crews. This one was as much yours as ours and we couldn't have done it without your help! Our next race is May 8th... mark it on your calendars and be there!  

We're Back!

Well, here it is, Friday, 4-16 and I'm finally getting around to doing a little write-up on the first race of the year. How bad is that???

 

Well, as many of you know, we have not completed the new car yet. Perfection takes time, ya know! So, we worked out a deal with our Car owners from last year, Kris and Mindy Harriss, to drive Tonya for a couple of weeks until the new Hot Rod is done. We picked her up on Monday night the 5th and brought her back to the shop to get her ready. We had to install a seat, belts, give her a bath and just fiddle with minor things, so we figured, "eh, no problem, we can knock this out in a few hours." Well, with the hustle and bustle of everyone at JZ Motorsports getting cars ready and much procrastination on the part of yours truly, it was late Friday night/Early Saturday morning before we finally were able to put her on the scales and get the set up done.

The car was as good as the day it last hit the track from the get go. 17 cars qualified and we were 3rd quick, won our heat race and really had little to do to the car, other than checking toe, charging the battery and polishing lug nuts. In the main event, we started mid pack due to the invert and the rookies being forced to start in the rear of the field. By lap 10, a very familiar scene was playing out, Kris and Scott, running 1st and 2nd, were running away from the pack. Unfortunately it didn't last, as coming out of turn 4, they got together and Kris ended up being spun out. The black flag flew and Scott took his place at the rear of the field and when the green flew,he set off to get back to the front with now only 6 laps to go, as the race was shortened due to time constraints. Scott dug deep and was able to get back to 4th place.

Our goal was to get at least a top 5 , which we did. There was a lot of anxiety in the pits after the race, which was to be expected after what happened on the track. Our friendship with the Harriss' is much more important to us than any race car or trophy and we've been able to talk and work things out. In fact, we have gone ahead and purchased Tonya from them and now we have 2(!) Hondas in our racing stable... HONDAS... can you beleive it? A couple of old VW guys owning and racing Hondas??? Next thing you'll see is dogs and cats getting married or Republicans and Democrats agreeing on ANYTHING!

Next race is tomorrow, 4-17. It's fan apprciation night at Evergreen Speedway and Ticket prices have been reduced to 10 bucks for 12 and older, 5.50 for kids 6-11 and kids under 5 are FREE! Also, please stop by our Facebook page and find the Secret phrase, that when spoken at the ticket booth, will earn you an additional 2 dollars off your admission!!!! Just go the Facebook and type "Team LaCross" in the search box.  

Updates!

So it's been a few weeks and I thought I'd post a couple of pics from today's activities on the hot rod :-)

After doing a little shop cleaning we got a little nutty and this is what happened...

On the lid 1

On its Lid 2

Then, JZ, Geoff and I started making some swoopy stuff...

Swoopy stuff

Meanwhile Scott, Crazy Carl and Golden Toes were getting busy removing all the undercoating, But GT took the opportunity to play hide and seek behind a flashlight!

Scott and Crazy Carl

 After a long, long time, finally the bottom of the car looks like this...

No more undercoat

I figure we probably removed about 10 lbs of weight by doing that. It was a ton of work, but well worth it!

Next update will be the next time I have a spare moment. I will try to make these more frequent, but we are working hard to get the car ready for the season opener, so most of my time is devoted to that right now. Thanks to everyone for stopping by and following along with us!