12/20/2012

Well I know it has been a wail since I have blogged and this busy semester is finally over so I have time again.  This year we are going to put most of our focus on buying tools so we have the ability to do more ourselves.  Allan being able to complete tasks faster by using the correct tools will help us out greatly.  That means we will have a sipper and groover for you next year.  No more razor blade.  We will also be looking for a set of scales so we can make sure the car has not changed during or between races.  We had a few problems with the car changing and it made us extremely off and in a result slow.

Thank you Fans and Sponsors and crew!

7-23-12

Thanks to all the fans that made it out to watch some racing.

 We have got the car much faster on a tacky track and made it up to 11^th from 18^th in Madison.  We used that same setup for the heat in Watertown and finish 3^rd in the heat and gave use a 10^th place starting position.  The car was fast in the heat but we were involved in a wreck were there was nowhere to go.   Allan got the tire on in plenty of time but the officials called the caution on me even though I got hit by a car on the inside and the outside at the same time.  Not sure where they got their decision.

We will be racing in Montevideo MN on Friday night for the ethanol tour, Madison MN on Saturday night for the race of champions, and Watertown SD on Sunday night this weekend.

Thank you Fans and Sponsors and crew!

Thanks to all the fans that made it out to watch some racing these last few weeks 

 We are getting faster in the heats and hopefully we can start in the feature in the top ten one of these weeks.  We have had a rough few weeks not breaking the top ten till the 8^th of July since May 20^th.  Hopefully we can consistently run in the top ten the rest of the season.  We had the pin in the distributer gear shear off in Huron which made for a bad feeling inside the car.   We have dropped Chris Holt’s distributer in until I get the right gear and pin. 

We will be racing in Huron and Watertown this weekend.

Thank you Fans and Sponsors and crew!

June 24th double feature

Thanks to all the fans that made it out to either Madison or Watertown. 

 In Madison we were faster in the heat than we have been and I felt we had a fast car in the feature, but I ran into the back of a car that broke and pushed the radiator into the fan.

In Watertown, we were even closer in the heat but still tight.  We finished third in the heat and the feature was rained out. 

There will be a double feature for us and the late models this next weekend in Watertown.  I will not be racing Saturday due to one of my teammates getting married.

Thank you Fans and Sponsors and crew!

June 10th

Thanks to all the fans that made it out to Madison or Watertown. 

In Madison we had fuel pressure problems in the heat and the car pushed in the feature we finished the race in 10^th.

In Watertown, during the heat the timing jumped and I was off the pace.  There was not a B main so we started in the back of the feature where the car was extremely fast until the right rear started going down and our race was cut short with four laps to go do to a flat right front.  Unfortunately for my crew they didn’t get a chance to change it because we were going green so we finished 12th.  Currently we are tied for 4^th in points.

We are going to Madison and Watertown this next weekend.

Thank you Fans and Sponsors!

Thanks to all the fans that made it out to either Huron or Watertown. 

 In Huron we started in the mid pack in the heat and the car was loose because of a greasy track with the misty weather.  During the feature we were about perfect but the car went away on the long run with all the cautions we ended up with a 6^th place finish.  I ran the high side trying to stay out of the wrecks and there was also a lot of grip there.

In Watertown, during the heat we cut a tire down on the second lap thanks to another driver so we started in the back of the B main.  The B main was extremely racy even though the bottom was the preferred line.  We lead one lap and finished third in the B main.  In the feature the track was a little better up high, however the low line was still the preferred line.  There were a few wrecks and spins that all seemed to happen right in front of me.  I figured out how to stick my nose under and pass without even getting into another car and worked my way up to 7^th from 19^th. 

We tried both the half inch spacer on the right rear and the “J” bar adjustment but we didn’t seem to find the setup for the heat.  We are going to try just taking bite out of the car with a few turns out of the left rear.

Thank you Fans and Sponsors!

P.S. We have tires now thanks to other drivers selling used.

Thanks to all the fans that made it out to either Huron or Watertown. 

 In Huron we started in the back of the heat and the car was tight.  During the feature we were a little loose but fast enough to pass 8 cars in root to a 10^th place finish.  I ran the high side trying to stay out of the wrecks and it worked but there was a close call on the first lap.

In Watertown the race track has changed from a track with a high and low line to a track with a low line.  There were countless wrecks and spins because everyone was fighting for the inside during the B and A main.   I tried to run the top for a few laps but I found no grip and some holes so I went to the bottom and worked my way up to 7^th from 16^th.  I hope Todd Brink can get the high side to come in for this next week so the track will be a little racier.

To correct our tight condition in the heat we will raise the “J” bar a whole or two.  If that doesn’t correct it we will put a half inch spacer on the right rear.

I will work on getting videos posted if you missed the race(s).

Thanks Fans and Sponsors.

Saturday's Race

Saturday was a mild success even though we have a lot of work to do.  During the heat the car was still tight but fast and we finished 3rd.  We made a tire pressure adjustment for the feature to add a little forward bite assuming the track would slick off a bit.  The track did slick off and we had a fast car until I cut down the right front.  Without out the right front there was very little cross weight which made the car extremely loose.  I ended up spinning and getting hit in the rear.  My crew did a great job getting the tire changed.  It didn’t even take them a whole caution lap to change it.  We finished the feature passing a few cars and finishing 18^th.  We definitely made huge improvements from last year and we just need to put a race together right after we get done putting the car together.

Thanks fans and sponsors!

Season Opener

Dakota State Fair Speedway's opener is this Saturday the 21st and it looks like the weather is going to allow us to race.

The test and tune showed our car to be fast, but with the rough track it was hard to get a feel for what the car was really doing.  The left rear shock kept forcing bite into the left rear when we hit a bump creating a tight condition through the middle and exit of the corners.  The motor is running great and we are now putting our 5.83 gears back in to try for the heat because we were over 7000 RPM at the test and tune with a rough greasy track.  We will be bringing the 6.20s with us just in case we don’t like the results of the 5.83s. 

We are now finished with the graphics and it is looking great.

CRP Photos has photos of the car in action during the test and tune

Thanks for clicking and see you Saturday!!

The wait is almost over!  Car show starts at 11am at Dakota State Fair Speedway this Saturday with the test and tune at 4pm.  We will have to wait another week for racing but everyone keep thinking nice weather. 

The car is sitting up on jack stands poised for the racing season.  With the new headers the car has a whole new attitude sound.  I have an R2C air cleaner reading to go on, and I am estimating we are up around 20 hp from last year.  I am looking forward to this season because the car keeps improving along with our knowledge as a race team. 

We have shirts in the works and will soon have them available.

Car Update

We have most of the tin bent for the car and have it just about ready to make smoke. We have new headers and with a few turndowns they will be ready to run. The cockpit is ready to go with a recall tack and all the wiring is done. We are rerouting the fuel line to keep the heat from the headers off of it. After we put the carb on and the radiator in we will be ready to put fluids in and fire it. We are going to get an R2C air cleaner for better airflow, the thick rubber seals, and the ability to clean it. The Huron opener is on April 21st this year so we have a month to get the car race ready and setup to be competitive. 

We are also getting started on shirts and will soon have an order form for everyone.

Weekend accomplishments

This past weekend I was able to make it home and put a few parts on the race car.  Thanks to my dad the engine was almost in when I got there and we made some adjustments to the rear end to get the travel we needed.  Some of the wiring is in and we have some more tin bent for the deck lid.  We broke up the tin twice as much as it was last year so it will have more support.  Spring break is on the way March 3rd-12^th and I am looking forward to having a complete car by the 12^th of March.  I also thank Lance Beebe for allowing me to use a brake and a nibbler for the tin work.







Mastermind at work!



New Sponsor!  Zietz Trucking has joined us in the search for our first win.  They will be on the hood for this season. 

If anyone has any input, comment, question, or expertise feel free to leave a comment.  We are a relatively new racing time and always willing to learn. 

I have been going over tape and researching adjustments to be made during certain track conditions.  This is what I have come up with so far.

Condition	Dry	Tacky	Sloppy	tight car
Adjusted
Panhard bar	Down (angle)	Up (Level)	Down (angle)
Stagger	decrease	1.5-3in	3 1/2in	more
breaks	More front	more rear	more rear as to not lock up the right front	more rear
Offset	RR in / LR out	RR out /LR in		RF in/ LF out
Tire pressure	decrease	Increase
Shocks	Softer on right side	Stiffer on right side
Weight	High and right	Low and left	high and right	higher and right
Weight jacks				out left rear
Pull bar	Down for forward bite			move up

Parts!

Parts

We are still in need of a few parts for this year.  We will be going to a swap meet on Feb. 11^th in Marshall, MN and another on the 3^rd of March in Sioux City, IA and looking for a few parts such as: 16 gallon fuel cell, Tachometer, 3 more sheets of tin, Rims 2--2”OS, 2—4”OS Bead lock, 1—4”OS.  Along with these parts I will need to come up with the $1996 for my motor.

16 gallon fuel cell: $180 new

Tachometer: $50 used

3 more sheets of tin: 3x $76= $228

Rims non Bead lock: 3x $55= $165new or around 3x $25= $75 used

Bead locks: 2x $145= $290 new or around 2x $50= $100 used

Swap meet total= $633

Motor: $1996

Total= $2629

This is what I would like to have before the season starts so we have everything needed to make the proper adjustments to the car.  The motor and the tin are needed items.

Information on switching to swing arm

In my first blog I mentioned that we now have a swing arm car and are going to be doing some testing.  My Dad and I have thought many hours on this and have found that we can get a more constant bite off of the left rear off the car because the spring will now travel a shorter distance compared to the rear end.  During tacky conditions last year our car didn’t perform as well as others because the car would roll over to far and turn the left rear into a balloon.  Without bite on the left rear we had a disadvantage in the corners. 

For a dry track we will be trying a harder spring in the left rear to keep it from loosing bite.  Many of you may be thinking why you wouldn’t go with a lighter spring.  The heavier spring will give a less constant force to the ground which is needed because the car will not want to roll over as much because there isn’t grip to support as hard of a turn.  Many cars hike up with just the throttle however that is taking power away from going forward and also shifting weight to the front of the car.  While we will use some power we will be trying to use the acceleration of turning to get bite.  We may also add weight to the rear in hopes for more grip if we can get enough grip to accelerate faster with more weight we might be able to have an advantage on the slick. 

This week we also have a new sponsor; Pure Harmony Pendent has teamed up with us.  Robert Marking has been working in vibration medicine for over 20 years and is the inventor of the Pure Harmony Pendent.  Robert is also very knowledgeable in nutrition.  The Pure Harmony Pendent uses frequencies from vibrations and electronics and converts them to frequencies that a natural body would have so your mind and body can be united.

After concluding the 2011 racing season without a win we have went to a swing arm rear suspension and have sent the motor to Milbank, SD for Sturdy Racing Engines to refresh the motor to make sure we start the 2012 season with full power however we still need sponsors to help pay the $1996 it costs to refreshion our motor.  My crew chief, Chris Holt, and I are going to be making a trip to a practice track to make sure we understand what adjustments we can make and how it will affect the car.  I have four sponsors to thank for their help toward the 2012 season: R&H Repair, Automatic Transmission and Gear, Synergy audio, Dennis Olson Trucking, and Al's Archery. 
The car has been stripped down to the bare frame for prime and paint and we are now assembling the car with new tin.  It looks like new and is going to be a whole new car when we get on the track.


 







Thank you to R&H Repair, Automatic Transmission and Gear, Arnold Orthodontics, Dennis Olson Trucking, and Al's Archery for making the 2011 season a success!