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NEWS UPDATES

We will try to keep the updates as current as possible.

Thank you for following our racing adventures

December 26th, 2011

I updated Bill's profile page and thought I would also put it on this page.  Most of you don't look at that page anymore.  It is a review of our year with both the Mid Am car and the Trans Am Series.  I would like to thank a few people for all of their help this past year.  As always a big Thank you to Gary Bohrer fof Central Services for their sponsorship on both of our cars.  Without Gary and his crew it would be harder to do the things that Bill and I like to do.  If you need any landscape work or snow removal please give them a call first.  The are great people.  1-262-548-0005.
The next people to thank are the people that made my life easier.  Mark Silber, Mark Melchiori and Dick Karth.  Thank you all for helping Bill and me out this past race season.  You spent a lot of time and effort for us and we appreciate it.  
One other group to thank is Ricky Sanders and his crew.  They ran for parts and supplies so that we could finish 2nd in the Tans Am Series.  And who did we beat?  Yup, it was Ricky Sanders.  He could have just said no or that he didn't have the parts.  That is true sportsmanship.  
Thank you to Diamond Racing Wheels and Behling Racing Equipment, you have been with us for a long time and we both appreciate all that you have done for us.  

Here is a copy of the profile page:

Bill will be starting his 40th season of racing in 2012.  He has had a very successful career and has no plans for quitting although it may take other turns in the years to come.  

Last year Bill found himself racing in the Trans Am division with the season starting in March at Sebring.  During a practice session, he crashed hard into a wall with both the front and rear end receiving major damage.  Although he was not sure he could fix it enough to at least get it back into the trailer, he ended up having enough help from our crew, Mark Silber, Mark Melichori and Dick Karth to get it back on the track for qualifying.  Not only did our crew do a great job but other competitors were there offering a hand.  He qualified well and ended up finishing 2nd in the race.  It was his first trip to the podium and we were all thrilled after the long hours of repair.
Bill also raced the Mid American car and had just dropped to second in points when we decided to take another trip to race the Trans Am Car.  He had to give up a Mid Am event to do this race.  This time we went to Mosport, Ontario Canada.  Another podium finish, again in 2nd place. Now he's hooked.  Not only does he love road racing, but he is finishing well.  The only time that Bill had finished out of the top five in either division was our last two events.  The Trans Am event at Road Atlanta was a DNF do to parts failure and LaCrosse with the Mid Am car due to engine failure.  Otherwise Bill was in the top five in all other races.
In the Mid Am Series, Bill had 2 wins, 3 seconds, 1 third and one DNF.   He missed 3 scheduled events and finished 13th overall.  In Trans Am Bill had 2 seconds, 1 third, 2 fourths, 1 fifth and 1 DNF.  He missed 2 scheduled events and finished 2nd in the series.  
The Trans Am series took us to four new tracks.  The first one was Sebring and twice we went to Canada, once to Mosport in Ontario and once to Trois Rivieres` in Quebec.  Although the Mid Am Series took us to Brainerd back in the 90's, the Trans Am series raced on a new configuration.  The other tracks we had been to already at least once.  
Mid Am was the same tracks that we have been to in the last 5 or 6 years.  The only new track this year was Lucas Oil Raceway in Indianapolis and that was a non points event. 
Next year will be our 20th year with Mid Am.  We have seen many changes throughout the years.  Some good and some not.  We would like to see it expand and go to other facilities that they have not been to yet.   The schedule is not yet out but I'm sure the first race will be Rockford in April 2012.  We will keep you posted which tracks we will be going to.
Bill heard that the Trans Am Series is working on going to New York and New Jersey this year with New York being a street race.  We are hoping to be able to go to at least one of those tracks.  Both would be interesting to see and I hope we can find it in our budget to go.  

October 25th, 2011

I just thought I would let everyone know what a great weekend we had.  Oct 22nd was a spectacular day.   It started with an early morning stop at Crystal Ridge Ski Hill in Franklin.  We dropped off our cars (Mid Am and Road Race) at 8:30 am.  We weren't sure how the day would turn out for the Hales Corners Open (Reunion).  If the word didn't get out far enough the reunion could have been a flop.  Well the word did get out and people came from all around.  Even one old racer who now lives in Phoenix came in just for the reunion.  Tom Berte, who still races occasionally in ARCA wanted to be there.  Someone said that 1500 people made it there.  I would say all of that or more showed up.  People kept coming through out the day.  Bill was on the radio show early so we would be able to go to the McCarthy-Lunsford wedding at 1 pm.  We made it to the wedding on time and it was a beautiful ceremony.  After the wedding we went back to the reunion for another couple of hours.  
Around 5 we started to load up the cars so that we could go to the wedding reception.  We made it there just on time.  The reception was great and Shannon and Don looked spectacular.  It was a glorious day for any wedding or outside activity.   

October 19th, 2011

It was a great weekend for racing.  One of the better OctoberFest weekends in our 19 years of going there.  I wish I could say that about our racing as well.  
Bill had a shaky practice session with the car not to his liking.  He made a few changes and qualified 5th.  Not too bad for the way the car was handling in practice.  He made a few more changes and hoped they would be what he wanted for better handling.  
With the roll of the dice, Bill started 5th row inside.  On the drop of the green, Bill stayed in line waiting for an opening.  He knew the changes were good and he felt he had a good chance of going to the front.  He started to pick off a couple of cars and make his way to the front.  By lap 14 or so Bill was around 4th in the field.  Swan was right behind him and Claire Decker had been leading from the drop of the green flag.  James was trying to pass Bill and with every lap losing a little ground on the leaders.  Swan finally got along side of him and Bill breathed the throttle to let him go, hoping they would both catch the leaders.  I know Bill had a good car but not too sure he could win it.  Then on lap 21, just going into turn one, the motor erupted.  He ended up spinning in his own oil but luckily he didn't hit anyone or anything solid like the wall.  
That was the last night of the Mid American season and Bill finished the year in 13th position.  He missed 3 races with the Mid Am's.  He had 2 wins 3 seconds a 3rd and one DNF.
Not a bad year along with the Trans Am series.  With all of our travels this year it's going to be hard to just stay home weekends.  We may do one more race this year.  At  the end of the month Bill would like to go to Blackhawk Farms in Rockton, IL for a road race.  He wants to make some changes to that car and try them out rather than go a thousand miles and find out it doesn't work.  I will let you know if that is going to happen.  
October 22nd will be a Hales Corners reunion at Crystal Ridge ski hill in Franklin.  We also have a wedding that day for Shannon McCarthy and Don Lundsford.  Going to be a busy day.  Bill was invited to be on the radio show that starts at 11 am at the ski hill that day.  Can't wait to see all the youngsters that we raced with.  (Just like us)

Oct 4th, 2011

Just a quick thank you to Mark Silber for coming to Atlanta for the weekend.  All of your time and help is appreciated through out the year.  Thanks again.
We will be going to La Crosse this coming weekend.  Plans right now are to leave Friday night for a Saturday night race.  I hear the weather is supposed to be great.  
Congratulations to Lyle Nowak who survived, I mean won, the race at Rockford.  
I added a couple of pictures on the New Picture page for you to check out.

October 3rd, 2011

Sometimes you have to take the bad with the good.  Bill was second in points with the Trans Am Series in our class going to the last race of the year in Atlanta.  He had a practice session on Wednesday before I got there and said the car felt pretty good.  Qualifying was Thursday afternoon and right after that we were going to the awards ceremony in Duluth GA.  Bill turned 2 laps and going into turn 10 something broke.  He coasted onto pit road and we both knew it wasn't very good.  We don't carry many spare parts with us.  After he inspected the damage we found out it needed the third link bracket and some attaching pieces along with a driveshaft.  None of which we had.  All Bill had to do was to start the race and he would have finished second in points for the year.  Ricky Sanders was third in points and he would have taken second over.  
After the awards ceremony Thursday night Ricky went home (he lives about an hour from the track) and found everything we needed.  Bill finished putting the car back together and was ready for the race by early afternoon.  Bill ended up taking the green flag and I knew he had 2nd sewn up.  Now I wanted him to finish the race but that was not going to happen.  With less than 2 laps in he broke the driveshaft that I haven't paid for yet and he sat in turn 7 for all the race.  That was very disappointing after traveling so far but I still think it's great getting that 2nd place overall finish for the year.  
I will add a few more paragraphs tomorrow.

Sept. 26th, 2011

I thought by the way the black clouds were rolling in Saturday night, that the races would be rained out. Only one little drizzle during the start of the third heat race for the Mid Am's and that was it.  
Bill qualified 3rd after a very good practice session.  The night seemed to drag on before our feature race due to the many different divisions.  
With the roll of the dice, Bill started in the 5th row on the outside.  Bill was running great in traffic and waiting for an opening when on lap 8 the first of many caution flags came out.  Bill was involved with that yellow and the hood was pushed up to the point he couldn't see.   Bill came into the pits and between Matthew Melchiori and myself and at least one more person (wish I knew who you were), we taped the hood down so even a hurricane wouldn't have taken it off.  I should buy stock in racers tape.  I was glad to see that he got back on the track without loosing a lap.  He did have to start in the rear of the field and that always worries me.  There was so much traffic in front of him to watch.  Bill started to pass the traffic and picked up a few spots when the next yellow came out just one lap later.  I think he was up to 10th or so by this time.  By the half way lap Bill was running 5th and he made most of the time on the outside.  On one of the cautions the leader James Swan must have gotten a slow leak in a tire.  He started to slow down.  Bill was making a pass on Lyle Nowak and Swan was faltering back.  As Bill was passing Lyle on the outside, James slowed dramatically and the three of them were running 3 wide on the backstretch with Bill in the middle.  That made for an anxious moment but all turned out great for us as Bill pulled into third place.  With the last caution on lap 32 of a 40 lap race, Bill was still in the 3rd spot with Mark Pluer in front of him and Jeremy Spoonmore leading.  Bill tried one more time to pass the two cars on the outside but couldn't pull it off.  He settled for third behind Pluer.  
After inspection we packed up the car.  Bill brought the road race car in our trailer and we had borrowed a trailer from Bill Tandetzke for the Mid Am car.  Bill headed south to Road Atlanta where I will meet him later in the week.  I took the Mid Am car home.  As I am writing this he called to say he just arrived at the track.  They will be parking him shortly.  He has a test day tomorrow, practice on Wednesday, qualifying on Thursday and the race on Friday.  We also have our end of the year awards ceremony on Thursday night.  Going into the racing week he is second in points.  Hopefully he can secure that before the awards ceremony and bring home the second place position.
Thank you to Matthew for helping us Saturday night and the gentleman that helped with the taping of the hood.  As always I am grateful to anyone who helps us.  Thanks again and I will let you know how Road Atlanta turns out.  

Sept. 24th, 2011

Sorry I didn't update until now.  
We are leaving for Madison in a couple of minutes.  Weather is not looking good.  Bill will be taking our hauler to the track and leaving from there to go to Atlanta for the last Trans Am race for the year.  He has to park the hauler on Monday for testing on Tuesday, practice on Wednesday qualifying on Thursday and racing on Friday.  Wheeew.  A long week ahead.  We also have the Trans Am Awards ceremony mixed in there too.  He is currently 2nd in points with that group. 
 I will be following him to Madison in our pickup and a borrowed trailer with the Mid Am car.  (Thanks Bill Tandetzke).  
Hope to see you there.

Sept 6th, 2011

We made it to Brainerd on Friday morning.  We had a perfect parking spot, just in front of pit road.  Bill had to finesse his way into the spot and not too many people thought he would make it.  He did without a scratch and everyone talked about it all weekend.  
Practice on Friday was good.  Saturday qualifying was good also and Bill was 4th in time.  Racing came and the car made it through all 44 laps or 100 miles without much problem.  Weather was good with temps in the low 70's.  Sunday started with a couple of rain drops but that cleared up and the sun came out although the temps were probably in the high 40's.  Practice was good and qualifying was a little better with Bill being 2nd in time.  The weather was not very cooperative and there was a big down pour during the race before us.  It had stopped just before we left for line up.  During the race, clouds rolled in and the rains came.  No one came in for rain tires (we don't have any) and only some of the cars slowed down.  Bill had a few exciting moments but nothing tragic.  It kept clearing up and raining throughout the race.  Bill again finished 4th.  He was happy to have the race end as his power steering stopped working half way through the race and was plenty tired after all those turns.
I really want to thank Mark and Matthew Melchiori for spending their holiday weekend with us.  Also a big thank you to Dick Karth and Cathie Sunday for also coming on a big weekend.  Thanks Dick for the investment you made in our car.  It is appreciated.  
Bill is second in points in the Trans Am 2 series.  We plan on making the last race at Road Atlanta for the Petit Le Mans weekend.  This is a very big event and if Bill runs halfway good, he will end up 2nd for the year.  
He has to leave for Atlanta on Saturday the 24th to make it in time for preferred parking for the following weekend of racing.  I guess Mid Am is on hold for now.  You never know though.  Their race is Saturday night at Madison.  It's not out of the question.  Depends on how hard he wants to work.

Sept 1st, 2011

A big last minute decision.  We will be heading to Brainerd, MN after work tonight for their 2 event weekend.  We have a large group of people going to help us and I hope the weather holds out.  I will let you know how things turn out or better yet come out and enjoy the last of summer with us.

August 22nd, 2011

Bill left on Wednesday last week for Road America.  We didn't get home until Sunday following the Wisconsin Dells race.  
The Road America race could have turned out better for us but Bill started leaking oil with 5 laps into the race.  He hoped it was just a temporary problem but it was still there the next lap.  He pulled into the paddock and called it a day.  That is the first Trans Am race that he didn't finish on the podium.  A little disappointing.  The weather was beautiful and as usual Road America was a great place to be.  
Unfortunately for us we had to pack up our things and head to the Dells for the "Dells Duel" part II.  Weather was still great, although it was about 10 degrees warmer and felt warmer than that.  Bill practiced as usual and thought the car was handling pretty well so he made a minor adjustment and waited for qualifying.  Bill was out early for qualifying and turned 9th quickest.  We were a little worried about the roll of the dice for his starting position.  As luck would have it the roll was 11 and that started him second row inside for the feature.  Shortly before the feature started, Mike Lichtfeld, who was supposed to start on the front row outside, decided to start in the rear because he had some brake issues.  Bill moved to the front row outside for the start of the race.  Travis Rodewald started next to him.  As they were lining up, he and Bill joked back and forth about their strategy for winning the race.  At the drop of the green they both took off and ran side by side for quite a few laps.  Travis eventually pulled in front of Bill and Bill would have to find a way to go around him.  James Swan passed Bill and put him to third.  It was the three of them racing for the win.  With seven laps to go there was a yellow for a crash in turn two.  During the yellow Swan developed ignition problems and wasn't able to restart the race.  Bill passed Travis with about five to go but could never clear him.  Travis fought back and with a couple of laps to go, he pulled out in front of Bill and that is how they finished.  Lyle Nowak was third with Mark Pluer fourth and Tyler Bauknecht fifth.
Congratulations Travis.  It was a well earned victory.
I was informed this afternoon that Bill was the overall winner of the "Dells Duel".  
We are not sure what we will be doing for the rest of the season.  Trans Am has three more races scheduled ( two in one weekend) but it was hard to close our business doors for the amount of time we need to be gone.  The Mid Am's also have 3 more races scheduled.  We are not sure how many of them we will make.  I will keep you informed on our web site.  

August 12th, 2011

I had a lot to catch up on this week and couldn't get to the web site for any updates.  But now here we go.
Left on Thursday night and headed to Boston for a couple of days of R&R.  Toured a lot of historical places and even went into Paul Reveres' house.  We went to Salem Mass, Plymouth Mass and to Fenway Park for a ball game.  
After all of our sight seeing, we headed for Trois Rivieres in Quebec.  The road through Vermont was not a pretty one.  Hwy 93 was a one lane in each direction that had just been redone and no lines had been painted yet.  It was dark and raining.  I think my fingernails are imbedded in the arm rest.  We finally made it to the border and crossed into Canada with no problems.  We joked with the border patrol and told him the US didn't speak much French.  He said something about Fond du lac but we really couldn't understand him very well.  It took us about 15 minutes to figure out what he was talking about.  
We went right to the area where the race was and found a spot to set up shop (pit).  We had one extra day of nothing to do so we toured the city a little bit.  I think we were both intimidated just a bit by the lack of understanding the language.  Whenever we went looking for food, I looked for pictures because I couldn't read the menu.  
Our first practice session went well.  Bill was thrilled with the experience of driving on city streets, over manhole covers and even the paint lines in the crosswalk made the car dance a little.  The next session was our qualifying session and the car was pretty good.  Bill got a little more used to the manhole covers and ended up second in qualifying.  Our race day was Sunday morning and it was raining shortly before our race but luckily it had stopped and the streets dried out before the start.  We don't have rain tires yet and will have to invest in a set of them.  
The race ran green to checkered without any yellows anywhere.   Bill ran most of the race in the second position and lost it to the # 65 car driven by Tom Sheehan.  A couple of laps later Sheehan had to pit for a flat tire and Bill regained his second place position.  He held on to it until a couple of laps from the end of the race when he developed a vibration but limped to a 3rd place finish.  After the race the top three in each division took a ride in the back of a pick up truck around the track.  He couldn't believe all the people cheering for all of the drivers.  It was really a blast.  
This was right there on the top of Bill's bucket list.  He came off that track with a great big smile on his face and it hasn't left him yet.  
Our next SCCA PRO race is at Road America (nice and close to home).  That race is scheduled for Aug 20th.  We will be there Wednesday  through the race on Saturday morning.  If Bill gets the Mid American car ready and everything goes good we go to the Dells with the old number 5.  
Hope to see you at one of those tracks!
Thanks Trois Rivieres!  We really enjoyed being in your city.

July 18th, 2011

What a great anniversary present Bill gave me.  First he got fast time at Lucas Oil Raceway Park then he won the show. 
What a great opportunity was given to us racers by the Advanced Racing Association, Mid American Stock Car Series, Russ Willingham, all the lap sponsors and anyone else that helped support the show.  
We both chose not to go to Grundy County Speedway on Friday night for a Mid Am show so that we would be able to go to Indy on Saturday.  Bill has always wanted to race at that track and I didn't want anything to get in his way.  This happened to be our 40th wedding anniversary and what better way to spend it than with our friends.
Bill's practice laps were pretty good and he didn't change anything before qualifying.  He was about 7th or 8th to qualify and happened to get fast time.  He held onto it until the end.  We were told that they would invert 3/4 of the field and that placed Bill in row 8 on the inside for the start of the feature.  This was a 100 lap race with a 10 minute half time for fuel and minor adjustments.  The first caution came out for a mishap in turn 3 on the very first lap.  With a couple of the cars not being able to continue the field restarted with a complete restart minus the cars that pitted.  The track is very wide with lots of opportunity for passing.  The field strung out just a little and Bill was in the back of a group of fast cars.   He laid back for a while and let them sort things out and went back at it.  Bill was closing up to the leaders when a couple of cars in front of him got together and brought out the next caution.  When he restarted the race he was in 4th position next to Matt Pyburn.  On the restart Bill followed the front row for a few laps.  The front two cars got out of shape and Bill took over second place.  On lap 42 another caution came out  and they decided to have the half way break then.  Bill was happy with the car and only made minor adjustments.  
On the restart Bill took over the lead but was not clear of the second place car for a couple of laps.  Once he was clear he pulled out and lead the rest of the race.  Only one more caution came out and that was for a fire under the hood of the James Swan car.  Bill lead the final laps and was the winner of the inaugural "Iron Brigade 100".  This was by far the largest purse that Bill has won.  
Too bad he has to fix the A/C in the motor home.  That should eat up most of the winnings.  
Congratulation to Bret Widdis, he almost didn't start the race due to shifter problems.  He ended up third.  
Special thanks to Matt Melchiori who worked really hard for us.  Thanks a bunch Matt.  
I will be adding some pictures so check back later.

July 5th, 2011

Hope you all had a great July 4th holiday.  Ours started on Friday by taking a half day off to head to Madison for the Mid Am show.  I thought the weather would be way too hot for me but as it turned out it wasn't too bad.  A nice breeze helped out.
Bill qualified in 4th after only one practice session.  He started the feature race in the 4th row on the outside.  After a few laps of hard racing in a group of cars, Bill finally got into the 3rd position on lap 16.  A yellow came out for a spin in turn 2.  Another restart and Bill finally got into 2nd position.  A few laps later and the 3rd yellow of the night came out for another spin in turn 3.  On this restart Bill started on the outside of row one next to James Swan.  On the wave of the green flag they both took off and Bill stayed with him for 4 laps but the tires gave up and Bill settled into 2nd and stayed there for the rest of the race.  
Our next race for us will be at Lucas Oil Raceway Park in Indy on July 16th.  After that race weekend we will be going to Three Rivers in Quebec for a Trans Am race.  It is a street course and we are really looking forward to that.  

June 24th, 2011

We will be at Road America on Saturday just as spectators.  Thank you, John Fischer for the tickets.  We are both looking forward to it.
We have decided to go to Madison for a Mid Am show next Friday night.  Hope to see you all there.  They are supposed to have a big fireworks display.  
Bill is really looking forward to Lucas Oil Raceway (Indianapolis Raceway Park) on July 16th.  This is a track he has never been to.  

June 13th, 2011

Bill qualified during a slight drizzle at the Dells, as did most of the field.  He ended up with 8th in time.  The roll of the dice gave him front row outside in the feature.  (Twice in two events he started on the front row outside this year.)  Bill took the lead on the drop of the green and held on to it lap after lap.  He had a couple of close racing laps with Mark Pluer and Adam Bendzick trying to pass him on the bottom of the track.  There had been 2 cautions earlier and that gave time for the tires to cool down a little.  Bill's car got pretty loose in the last stretch of green flag laps.  Bill pulled out for a 10 or so car length lead and saw that dwindle when James Swan got into second.  Swan had caught Bill with one or two laps to go and tried to pass him but couldn't pull it off.  He tried one last time on the final lap coming out of turn four and this time he inched into the lead and beat Bill by .029 seconds.  A little disappointing for us but I'm sure the fans loved watching a close race.  
Not sure where we will be racing next.  As of right now July 16th we will be at Lucas Oil Speedway in Indy.  We will be celebrating our 40th wedding anniversary there with Bill racing a 100 lapper.
On Sunday night we went to Slinger for the reunion night.  It was great to see some of the "Old Timers" there that Bill used to race with.  Mike and Sherry Klecker along with Jim and Fay Hendricks and Frank Smith to mention only a few were there.  

June 9th, 2011

We will be headed to the Wisconsin Dells this weekend.  Racing is Saturday night.  I will let you know Monday how things went or you could head to the track on Saturday and enjoy some racin.

May 26th, 2011

All right guys, I have a little bit of time for foolishness.  
We left Wednesday night for Canada and drove as far as we could that night.  I wanted to be at the border crossing during the day to see the sights.  Crossing the border to Canada was no big deal.  We were in the motor home lane and pretty much went right through with only a few questions as to where we were going and how long we would be there.  We arrived at the track a couple of hours later.  Bill skipped the first practice session and took the car out for the Friday session.  He was not at all comfortable with the track.  Very narrow and hard to see.  We only had a half hour for this session.  Saturday's practice session turned out to be a little bit better.  He became somewhat more comfortable even though he was very cautious.  Qualifying was Sunday morning and the day was overcast and cool.  The 98 car of Bob Stretch was  faster than Bill and Bob ended up with fast time.  Bill knew he had some work to do to get a little bit better.  
The race was scheduled as the last event of the Victoria Speedfest Weekend.  He pulled onto the track around 3:15 for introductions and the rain started to come down lightly.  Of course the longer they took on the introductions the harder the rain came down.  By the time they were ready for the first pace lap, the rain had slowed down. By this time the track was very wet and after the first green flag waved, three of the cars that started in front of Bill had spun out leaving debris all over and completely blocking the track.  That brought out a full course red flag while they cleaned it up.  On the restart Bill thought he would play it a little safe to make sure the track had dried out enough.  Every lap he turned he got more comfortable.  He ended up 2nd in class and 8th overall.  Bill had another podium finish and brought home a trophy and half a bottle of Champaign.  The other half is on someone's car that was parked too close.
We left Sunday night and traveled to about 30 miles east of the border.  We picked up on Monday morning again and got to the border crossing around 8 am.  This time we had to go through the commercial lanes.  I was hoping all of our paper work was correct.  We spent only a couple of minutes and a few questions and we were able to continue.  I guess having all the right paperwork paid off.  
Made it home safe and sound.  It was definitely a great experience and one I would recommend to everyone who likes road racing.  Our plans are to go back to Canada in August for another race.  This time it will be in Three Rivers in Quebec.  
I wanted to thank Dick Karth and Cathy Sunday for making the trip to Canada and helping us.  I'm just glad they didn't have to work as hard as Mark Melchiori and Mark Silber did when we were in Sebring, FL. 
Our next circle track race will be June 11th at the Dells and the next road course race will be Three Rivers in August.  I will keep you posted on that when we get a little closer to August.  Bill also has some plans in the works with Bill Tandenzke to race on the dirt with a modified.  I will also keep you posted on that if it happens. 
I have a couple of pictures on New Picture page

May 23rd, 2011

It's always hard to find the time to update the web site after being closed for a few days and today is no exception.  Sorry, but I will have to wait until Thursday to let you know what happened in Canada.  Hopefully I will have some pictures too.  Bill is now an International Racer.

May 17th, 2011

It looks like I have all our border crossing paperwork for our trip to Mosport, Ontario.  We still have a few things to do before the car is ready to go.  We will be heading North this weekend but instead of going to upper Michigan we will be passing through it and ending up in Ontario.  Sure hope the border crossings go OK.  I will let you know when we get back, or if you have your passport, you can always come and see how they do it up north.  
Forgot to mention what a great time we had at Lynch last weekend.  The weather was a little on the gloomy side but the rain held off for the most part.  Just cool and windy.  John Fischer and his group had a great turn out with over 70 entrants showing up.  I heard that was a record.  Good music, good food and great company, what more can you ask for?  Hope all you mothers out there had a great Mothers Day.  I know I did.  Thanks kids.

May 5th, 2011

Just a quick note to remind you that we will be at Lynch Dealerships this Saturday, May 7th, for their annual car show.  It's always a good time.  I was hoping Bill would have both the Mid Am car and the Road Race car there but I don't think the Road Race car will make it.  Too much to do to make it look nice.
Hope to see you there.  That's at Lynch SuperStore in Burlington on Hwy 36.

April 18th, 2011

Rockford............Who would have thought you would only come out of that track with a minor crumpled fender.  Not I, but that's what happened.  
Bill's practice sessions on Saturday were pretty good.  On Sunday morning he changed tires and was a little slower. He wasn't too happy about that, but when qualifying time came he turned a pretty good lap.  He ended up with 7th.  The roll of the dice worked in our favor this time.  The roll was a 10 and that should have started him in the second row on the outside.  Jake Finney #28 was to start on the front row right in front of Bill but he suffered car problems and had to use a borrowed car and then had to start in the rear of the field.  Bill's row slid up and put Bill on the front row.  Not a bad place to start at Rockford.  
Bill took the lead from the drop of the green flag.  James Swan started right behind him and followed him into turn two.  It was the Bill and James show as they were the two out front for the entire race.  Bill never gave up his line and James just couldn't pull off a pass.  He tried lap after lap but Bill held onto it even with some Rockford contact.  Bill led all fifty laps and won his first ever race at Rockford with the car.  He has won with the truck and with Bill Tandezke's modified but never with his own car.  
Bill's next race is either going to be Norway, MI with the Mid Am car or Mosport, Ontario with the SCCA road race car.  Both are on the same weekend of May 21st.  He wants to be at Mosport but is not sure the car can be ready in time.  He has a lot to fix after his big crash in Sebring.  I will keep you informed as that weekend comes closer.  Thanks for looking at the site.

April 11th, 2011    

This past weekend's weather got rid of all the snow in our yard.  The weather is beautiful and it is time again for racing.  
This Sunday (April 17th) we will be at Rockford.  Bill hasn't done much to the car this winter.  He has spent more time on the road race car, which went to Sebring last month.  He plans on being at Rockford on Saturday for practice.  His practice at Sebring didn't go very well and I hope he doesn't do the same thing at Rockford.  I don't think the weather will be the same as it was this weekend.  From what I see now it is supposed to be a little on the cold side but we have had anything from snow to the 80's at Rockford.  
I will have a report on Monday. (hopefully)  See you all at the track.

March 22nd, 2011

Bill, with his co-pilot Mark Melchiori, left Milwaukee on Friday night and landed in Lebanon, Indiana for his first leg of the trip to Sebring.  He thought it to be a bad omen when he went into the bathroom and the floor was an inch deep in water.  The winter was not kind to the motor home.  That will be the first thing he gets to fix now that he's home.  
After that it was clear sailing to Gainesville, Fl. for the Gator Nationals.  He arrived as planned on Sunday morning and was amazed by the days events.  It's amazing how much horsepower the nitro cars made.  
Back in the motor home for a long ride to Sebring.  The ride from Orlando to Sebring was a stop and go all the way with all the little towns and their stop lights.  He arrived at the facility on Monday morning to be parked for the week.  Nothing was going on for the day, so he had some leisure time to get to know some of the people.  
Tuesday morning he had bought some practice time to get to know the track.  I was at home getting ready to hop the plane in Milwaukee with Mark Silber to meet Bill in Orlando.  He called me shortly before I was going to leave and as I picked up the phone I said "Good morning Sweetheart" and he said "No, it's not"....... Now, anytime the conversation begins with "I'm OK, BUT.......... you know it's not going to be a good day.  He preceded to tell me how hard he crashed on the fifth lap of practice.  Then said I might as well stay home because there will be no racing for him this week.  Waaayyyyy too much damage.  He not only destroyed the right front but pushed over the tail end too.  I mentioned that I had a little time before I had to leave and maybe he could find enough "stuff" to get it back together.  I thought I could find some parts and bring them on the plane.  He was more worried how he was going to get it in the trailer.  
Bill started to talk to some of the other competitors there (although there cars were different than ours) and it finally worked out that he got most of what he needed to try to get it back on the track for qualifying for Thursday morning.  He was talking with Lamers Racing and DerHaag Racing and they came up with a few ideas.  Then he started talking to Tony Amico and he had some body pieces back at his shop 3 hours away that he sent a crew guy to get for us.  The finishing touch for parts is when he called Rander Car and talked to Jay.  Now all he needed was a lower control arm and he thought he could get the car back on the track.  Jay didn't have one there but told Bill he would make him one and send it to Sebring.  It showed up the next day just as planned.  The rest of the plan was to go to Race Car Engineering in Lakeland to get more suspension parts and that really smoked our credit card.  Can't wait to see the bill. 
Bill said without the help of our co-pilot Mark Melchiori and Mark Silber, after he got there, we wouldn't have raced.  They worked harder on the car than I have ever seen before.  THANKS GUYS.  The working conditions were a little extreme.  90's during the day and 80's until after dark.  They kept moving our EZ UP around for shade.  Honestly it didn't help that much.  Many hours of repair time before it was track worthy.
So time to qualify.  All Bill wanted to do was make sure the body or other components didn't fall off.  As he passed me on the track all I could hear was a rat tat tat coming from the motor and my heart sank.  I thought that's all we needed was motor problems.  Never know what can happen when you hit concrete that hard.  We knew the header was damaged from the crash and didn't have time to change it before qualifying.  After qualifying we changed the header and plugs.  We were trying to decide if we should change the motor and decided to chance it the way it was.  A little more checking and Bill found the problem (hopefully).  A vacuum plug came off the intake manifold causing a misfire.  He was lucky to find the problem but after that the car ran flawlessly.  
Now it's raceday.  Bill was actually nervous before the start of the race.  There were 23 cars tha started the race and there was a big difference between the Trams Am and the Trans Am 2 Series.  None of us knew if the car would be right or even if the engine would be ok.  Turns out all of our fears were for nothing.  Everything worked perfectly.  The race was 100 miles, or 28 laps, by far the longest race he has run in quite a while.  Lap after lap he turned consistent lap times and ended up 2nd in class.  The winner was Greg Rogers who ran a 2011 Camaro.  Bill was happy to make it to the podium in winners circle.  
I watched the race from pit road with all the IMSA crews around me.  What a feeling.  That is by far one of the most prestigious races we have ever been in and then to make it to the winners circle.  YEEE HAAA.  Life is good.  
I did post some pictures but will put some more on when I receive them from our new pit crew guy, Mark Melchiori.  I do want to mention again how much we appreciate both Mark Silber and Mark Melchiori for coming down and spending their vacation time with us.  Thanks too to Dick Karth and Cathie Sunday for being there and helping.  
What an experience. Master Card is right, some things are PRICELESS!  

March 13th, 2011

Again I missed updating but we have been busy getting Bill off to Florida.  He is finally gone with his copilot Mark Melchiori, and is in Gainesville at the Gator Nationals.  When Bill was in Tilleda racing on the ice, Lowell Bennett mentioned that the Gator Nastionals was an exciting event to see, so he decided to leave a day early.  He called from the track and was very impressed with all the racing there.  
His next stop will be Sebring this Monday.  He will  have a couple of days of practice before he qualifies on Thursday.  His big race is Friday and then he will be heading back.  Mark Silber and I plan to leave on Tuesday so we won't miss out on any of his racing.  
When we get back to work the following Monday I will fill you in on all the exciting news.  

February 17th, 2011

Sorry for no updates.  I had some surgery on my shoulder on Feb 7th and figured I would be back to work with no problems but it didn't quite work out that way.  
Bill's day on the ice was very eye opening.  He chose his car and starting spot with a draw from a bucket.  The draw was car # 46 owned by Peter Forstner and his starting spot was pole position.  With all the other rookies driving these cars for the first time, I figured that would be as good as it gets.  I have no idea who was in what car but I did tape it so someday I may figure out who was where.  
Bill lead the first lap and was passed on the high side by who I think was Jeremie Hedrick.  The front of the field stayed that way with Bill trying to make up some ground (or should I say ice) with every lap.  Throughout the race there were MANY out of shape cars and drivers. But at the end of the day, they all had the fun that they were looking for.   Bill finished 2nd.  How, I have no idea.  It was an extremely fun day.  A new experience to say the least.  I have to give a little credit to the owners of the cars that those ice rookies drove.  Special thanks to our "car owner" Peter Forstner and his family for trusting Bill not to sink the ship.  What was he thinking??????????  Bill enjoyed it very much and now he can add another track to his belt.  I do have some pictures and will do my best getting them posted.
It's getting down to the wire for our Road Racing adventure to Sebring next month.  He still has some work to do on the car and time is getting short.  
Thanks for checking back and will post again in a couple of weeks.

February 4th, 2011

Our plans for Saturday is to go to Tilleda, WI for some ice racing.  Bill has never done that before and is looking forward to it.  Something new to add to his resume.  We will be there by 10:30am with a drivers meeting at 11, but I don't know what time the racing starts.  You can go to www.tilledathunder.9k.com for info and directions if you want to head out to the track.  I believe admission is only $5.00 per person for a whole day of fun.  Hopefully we will see you there.  I will try to post some pictures next week of the event.

January 18th, 2011

We went to the Mid Am banquet this past weekend at the Wintergreen Resort in WI Dells.  It was good to see many of our friends again.  Winters are always long.  
Bobby G was given the sportsmanship  award, Tyler Bauknecht was crowned Rookie of the year and Lyle Nowak was the 2010 champion.  Lyle gave a great speech and I'm sure he will be a great champion.  I have a couple of pictures to add to our New Picture page and will get them on shortly.
Bill has been asked to race on the ice in February.  I don't know much about that yet but will keep you posted.  
We still have plans on going to Sebring in March although time is getting short and I hope he can "get r done" by then.  Car still hasn't been painted and our trailer is still not done.
Happy football season to you all and to you Bears fans, so sorry!  Hope I don't have to eat my words.

January 4th, 2011

Boy, am I bad.  I should have updated this a long time ago.  There isn't too much to talk about in the off season.  Bill and I are getting ready for the Midwest Racers Auction in Madison January 8th.  Looking forward to seeing some racing friends and spin some tales.  
Bill has been working diligently on the road race car.  Right now our plans are to go to Sebring March 16th-19th for the 12 Hours of Sebring weekend.  We still have a few obstacles to overcome.  Our trailer is being repaired as we speak.  It seems to be taking a long time.  I guess we just have to wait for it.  
I will keep you posted and maybe when the car gets painted I will add some pictures.  I think the blue #32 road race car will be turning into a green and purple road race car.  Not sure on the number yet.
See you at the Midwest Racers Auction.

November 9th, 2010

It's been a while since I have updated any news for you.  Nothing much is happening here except getting our yard cleaned up from all the leaves.  That only took 3 complete weekends to do.  
We only thought about the La Crosse race a time or two the whole weekend in October.  Not sorry that we missed it and Bill really enjoyed going to his reunion.  It seemed like a lot of old people were there.  I don't know how they looked soooo much older then we do.  Funny how that works.
Bill is getting a few things ready for the Madison auction in January.  It will be nice to clean out the garage and have a little extra space.  
Not sure what next year will bring so I will just have to keep you informed as plans are made.
I will be doing a recap of the 2010 season on the profile page as soon as I can.  Check back.
Hope you have a Happy Thanksgiving.

October 7th, 2010

Even though the Mid Am cars will be at La Crosse this weekend we have chosen not to go.  Although the weather should be beautiful for this time of year and would be a great night for racing.  Bill has a class reunion on Saturday and would like to go.  Missing a night of racing for our sons wedding in September took us out of contention for the championship.  Bill fell to 7th with no chance to gain spots back.  He may only lose a couple of positions in the end.  
This will probably bring our racing season to a close for this year.  Not sure what next year will bring, but Bill would like to race a few Trans Am races which are all road courses.  There is a list of about 17 different tracks they are looking at going to and we will choose a few that we would like to attend.  Right now we thought about going to Toronto, Trois Riveres in Quebec and Sebring.  We will let you know as things happen.  
Looks like Lyle Nowak will be the Champion this year for Mid Am.  All he has to do is start the heat and start the feature and the honor is his.  Congratulations Lyle and Marcy.  Behind every man is a good woman.
By the way it's Bill's 40th class reunion.   Holy Cow!

October 4th, 2010

Well it sure could have been worse at Rockford.  That is one track that you should put an old body on before you go to the track.  
Bill practiced fair at best and when qualifying time came, both laps were bad.  He could only manage 15th in time.  That started him in the 8th row on the inside for the feature.  Bill found an open spot and moved to the high side which is the preferred line at Rockford.  As the laps were ticking down, I was hoping for a yellow, but as much as you wish for one you hope that yellow isn't for you.  Luckily it wasn't and after that first yellow many more came along.  Bill kept restarting the race either on the inside or outside and kept making headway through the field.  He didn't put a scratch on the car until the very last lap when a flat tire made Bobby Gutknechts car loose in front of Bill and ended up with some tire marks and on one side.  Bill crossed the finish line in 6th position and I said to him, that was the best 6th place finish we have ever had.  
The Mid Am cars go to La Crosse next Saturday for the final race of the year.  Lyle Nowak is in the lead in points.  He basically only has to start the heat and start the feature to be champion.  Congrats Lyle and Marcy.  

Sept 27th, 2010

Bill started the night with a slow practice session.  His car handled fine but it was slow.  Qualifying came around and he could only manage 13th in time.  I figured he would miss the invert but as it turned out the roll of the dice was 13.  That started him on the pole for the feature.  
Bill started along side Matt Pyburn.  On the first lap, Matt's car slowed down and caused the first caution to come out.  On the restart Mark Pluer started along side of Bill.  Bill took the lead and held onto it when another yellow came out for an incident with Mark Pluer and Kyle Shear.  After one more yellow for another incident on the track the race resumed on lap 12.  Bill was in the lead with James Swan and Jeremy Spoonmore right behind him, looking both inside and outside of Bill for the pass.  As Bill was exiting turn 2, Swan got inside of Bill's bumper.  They were going for the same piece of track and Swan ended up in the infield in turn 3.  He slid onto the track and was struck hard by Jake Finney.  Bill was sent to the rear because of contact and had to restart the race from the rear.  He made his way back through traffic and ended up with 5th place. 
Next race is Rockford on Oct 3rd.

Sept 13th, 2010

This is why we were not at the Dells this past weekend.   Our son Tony, got married.  It was a very nice ceremony and reception.  I just wish we would have been able to enjoy the process a little more.  It was a racing weekend and I kept looking at my watch and thinking.... we would be practicing.....now qualifying....OK it's feature time. 
I heard that Lyle Nowak won the feature and Mark Pluer won the Dells Duel.  Congrats to both of them and we will be seeing you at Madison on Sept. 25th.

Sept 7th, 2010

I added a picture from Marshfield of Bill just missing the wall when he slid through all the mess he left on the track.  The photo is by Tommy Loos, who is the Marshfield photographer.  Nice job Tom.

August 30th, 2010

Had an interesting race this past Saturday night.  Bill had the most ill handling race car of his life in practice.  He kept thinking about how he could change it.  He finally got a handle on it and it proved to be one of the best cars he has had in a long time.  He was one of the first cars out for qualifying and set fast time.  Al least until Brian Back came out who has had fast time every Mid Am race night.  Bill ended up 3rd in time, James Swan also beat him.  Bill started in the 5th row inside in the feature and quickly made his way around the cars in front of him.  He was the leader by lap 9 of a 40 lap race.  (I wish it were only a 20 lap race).  Bill pulled away from the 2nd place car and had close to a straight away lead on the second place car of Lyle Nowak.  Lyle was in front of 3rd by almost the same as Bill.  Bill was on cruise control and just kept increasing his lead.  We have been plagued with overheating issues this whole year and Bill radioed to me that the temp was at a perfect level.  That was lap 21.  On that same lap the car #34 driven by Maxwell Schultz punctured a tire on the track.  He slowed down on the back stretch and then pulled into the pits.  The next lap Bill went by the start/finish line and boooommmm.  I didn't know that 11 quarts of oil could make that much smoke.  He left a trail from the line to turn two where he spun in his own liquid and missed the wall by inches.  He wanted to get out of the car but wasn't sure if the cars had come to a stop.  He couldn't breath in the car and there were flames from the engine compartment.  He did get out safely but had a hard time breathing for a long time.  That was the end of Bill's night.  Shortly before the restart Swan also got a flat tire and had to come into the pits to change the tire.  That didn't sound important until Bill checked his car out at home last night and found that the bell housing was cracked and the oil line had been ripped off the fitting.  He didn't blow the motor.  Something came up from the track and hit the line and bell housing which caused the damage.  Good news for us.  Motor is OK!  Bad news is he had that race won.  The old saying goes... You must first finish to finish first.  (sucks) 
Next Mid Am race is the Dells on Sept 11.

The Mid am had the whole month of August scheduled off, except for that rain date at Marshfield.  Bill and I decided to take a REAL vacation.  That means no race tracks on the vacation schedule.  We had planned for many years to take a cruise to Alaska, and we finally went.  A friend of ours, Tom Spitzer, talked us into a tour/cruise and I am not sorry at all.  We flew to Fairbanks and spent 2 nights there.  We took a steamship down a river and saw how some of the natives lived and how they managed to survive the 40 below winters.  They say their snow is light and powdery and they never close schools for snow days.  They let the teachers decide if it's too cold to go on field trips when it gets to be 20 below.  Boy are we a bunch of wimps!!!!! 
We took a bus to Denali National Park where we stayed at the Princess Denali Lodge.  This was an absolutely breathtaking area.  We had planed on taking a side trip on a small plane and landing on a glacier.  The winds were too strong and they postponed the trip until the next day.  Forest fires cancelled that trip all together.  Bill and I went to another airport and flew in a 9 passenger airplane to Mount McKinley.  Now that I am down on the ground, I can say it was a great flight.  When we were up in the air, that was another story.  The weather was cloudy and rainy.  That little plane bounced around like you see in the old movies right before they crashed.  Stomach was a little upset but the trip was worth it.  We didn't get to see the top of McKinley on that trip but those mountains appeared closer than they were.  
The second day we took a trip into Denali National Park and saw some spectacular scenery along with a lot of wildlife.  We went 63 miles into the park on a tour bus (school bus).  There is only one road into the park.  Cars are only allowed to go 15 miles into the park unless you live on the end of the road in the town, although not very many do..
Next day was our trip in a dome top train headed to Whittier where our ship was.  Another beautiful trip.  We met a couple there from New York, Mike and Paula, who sat at our table and we enjoyed their company. It was the first cruise for all us us and we were excited about that.  The first night on the ship did a little rocking and rolling along with the second day.  Lots of motion.  Not too bad after that I think we got used to it.  Our first port of call was Skagway.  Another beautiful area where Bill and I went horseback riding.  We came back in one piece, just a little stiffer.  
Second port of call was Juneau.  I will post a couple of pictures from there.  Bill and I went zip lining.  Never in my wildest dreams would I believe I would ever do that.  That first step off that platform was the hardest.  After that it was survival mode.  You had to land correctly or have some major injuries.  Then came another platform to step off.  Not an easy thing to do.  We did 8 zip lines and 2 bridges and by the time we landed on the ground again we were old pros.  No, we weren't the oldest fools, I mean people on the zip line.  Another couple had us beat by at least 10 years.
Last port of call was Ketchikan.  We didn't have any tours and I wish we would have booked one.  I would have liked to have seen the Totem Pole area where they are made.  Bill wanted to have one sent home but they far outreached our pocket book.  We did manage to find almost every gift shop around though and should have just bought the totem pole.  It probably would have been cheaper.  
Back on the ship for our journey to Vancouver and the end of our trip.  Beautiful city and I wish we would have stayed another day there.  We headed for the airport and were home by midnight on Monday. 
It was a beautiful trip and I'm sure we will never do that again.  I will try to get a couple of pictures on the web site this week if you're interested.  Check back.

August 27th, 2010

Boy have we been busy here at the shop.  Sorry to keep you all hanging about our trip of a life time.  I still don't have extra time to tell you about it.  We met some very interesting people and had a great time.
We will be going to Marshfield on Saturday for the rain out last month.  This time, if it is cancelled for rain, I hope it actually rains.  That was a long trip for nothing.  I will update on Monday for not only the race but our vacation too.

August 24th, 2010

We just got back from our once in a life time vacation.  Right now I am a little busy catching up at the shop but I will update you in a day or two.  So hold that thought and I will be back.

August 2nd, 2010

Bill decided at the last minute to go to Slinger Sunday night to test his motor.  It has some over heating issues and Bill thought he found the problem and wanted to test it before our next Mid Am race at the end of August.  Still not sure if it's fixed.  
Bill qualified 2nd and started in the 3rd row outside for the feature.  He wasn't going anywhere on the high side and couldn't manage to make it to the bottom.  He was almost clear but not quite and I just couldn't call him clear.  About 6 or so laps into the race a car got sideways in turn two and spun.  Bill tried to avoid the wreck but managed to spin and then he also was hit.  There wasn't much damage and he was able to restart at the rear of the field.  By the end of the feature he finished in 6th position.  Still not a bad night at the track.  
Hopefully our next race will be with the Mid Ams at Marshfield on Aug 28th.  See you there.

July 26th, 2010

I wasn't sure that we would have got the races in last Saturday night.  I figured that the race track would have been under water from all the rain that we had during the week.  I was wrong again.  The skies cleared up by the time we pulled into the Dells and it turned out to be a great night for racing.  
Bill came in from practice and said he had a good car although the laps didn't seem fast to me.  He turned his first time which was fairly good but the next lap only gave him 9 in time.  I was fine with that knowing he would start closer to the front of the field.  He started the feature in the 3rd row inside right behind Mark Pluer.  That is the third time in a row Bill has started behind Mark.  Bill stayed on the inside line and battled with Adam Bendzick and Mike Lichtfeld who were both trying to find a way around him.  Bill  was running 4th when the first yellow came out.  He restarted the race again on the inside and managed to pass Chris Ratajczyk for 3rd when another yellow came out.  This time he had to restart on the outside of the second row.  Bill stayed next to Mark who was running 2nd and even passed him but wasn't quit clear enough to take the bottom lane.  He was clear for a split second but that hole closed up quickly.  The last yellow came out with 8 laps to go and the restart was single file.  Bill finished right behind Pluer (for a third time in a row) for a third place finish. Tyler Bauknecht won his first Mid Am race.  He was lucky enough to start on the front row and stayed there the whole race.   Again it was a good night and driving it in the trailer is always a good thing. 
Another good thing was Mark Silber was at the track. That always gives me some breathing room.  Mark does all the hard work for me and I really appreciate that.  We also had another celebrity with us.  Racer Randy (Holmes) was helping us out and I really felt like I was on vacation. Randy had his girlfriend Jill in the stands with some of their friends.  Ken, Annie and Beca Eisbrenner along with Kens dad Jay, was there too.  Thanks for coming out.  It was a good night for racing.
Bill and I were talking this morning about all the work that he put into the two biggest races that he won.  Road America and the dirt race at Dodge Co.  I can only imagine how fast the car could be if he put some more effort into our normal racing schedule.  
Our next race won't be until Aug 28th when we go back to Marshfield for the rain out.  

July 19th, 2010

Well, we put over 600 miles on our hauler this weekend for a two day show.  Friday night at Norway in Michigan and Saturday in Marshfield, WI.  The weekend started with some motor problems  in the race car and we weren't sure we were going to make the race on Friday night.  We weren't sure if we had to change the motor or fix what we had and chose to fix what we had.  Bill worked most of the night Thursday and fired it up around 12:30 on Friday afternoon.  That put us behind 2 and a half hours.  Eventually we left for the track and hoped to make it for practice and luckily we made it for most of it.  
Bill's qualifying lap was pretty good and he took over fast time but got beat by Brian Back a little while later and Bill had to settle for second.  The roll of the dice was 14.  Bill had to  start the feature in the seventh row on the inside.  We both thought it would be impossible to get to the front in only 40 laps starting in the 7th row.  But, as luck would have it, everything went Bill's way.  That doesn't happen all too often but we will take it anyway we can get it.  The inside row is the preferred lane at Norway.  Every yellow that came out Bill got to restart on the inside lane.  He missed every incident on the track and finally was in second place on lap 21.  Now he had to reel in Lyle Nowak who had acquired a substantial lead.  Every lap he got closer and closer but still had a ways to go.  By lap 39 he was right on Lyles bumper but the white flag was waving and the checker was there before he could make a move.  I was very happy with second considering we weren't even sure we would be there.  Not a bit of damage to the car either.
After the race we loaded up our car and headed to the Nowak's' house in Wausau.  After changing the car for Marshfield we caravanned with the Nowak's and the Nulls to the track.  We got ready for practiced in the first set of hot laps and waited out the next set.  We were getting ready for the next set of laps when they announced that the nights show was cancelled and that we had 15 minutes to pack up and leave before the storms came.  We both thought we were in for a really bad storm and loaded quickly.  15 minutes came, 30 minutes came, an hour came and not a drop of rain.  Never rained on the way home.  Still hasn't rained.  
Our next race will be this Saturday night at the Dells.  Hope you will make it there.

July 13th, 2010

Bill is still getting ready for the long weekend.  Norway on Friday, July 16th and Marshfield on Saturday the 17th.  We will be spending our 39th anniversary with our friends at the track on Friday night.  Normally it's dinner and maybe a movie.  This year it's race cars and friends.  Not bad.  Saturday is our daughters 37th birthday and hopefully she will be able to make it to the track.  If not, HAPPY BIRTHDAY JENI   !!!  Oh wait, I wasn't supposed to mention her age.  I hope you all remember that our kids are now older than we are.  
Hope to see you all at the tracks this weekend.  

July 5th, 2010

We came....WE saw....We won!!!!!!!!!
Now I remember what dirt racing is all about.  Dirty, dusty, hard work and a whole lotta fun.  
Bill took the car out for a set of practice laps and the temp started climbing right away.  It was a warm night and we knew the motor wouldn't last with those kind of temps.  We ended up taking out our electric fan and had to put in a  fan blade.  Only problem is we didn't have one except for the one sitting on the bench at home.  Again, with the help of some friends, we borrowed a fan from Kenny Richards and had to look for a spacer.  No one at the track had one.  We were lucky enough to have Bill Tandetzke (Diamond Wheels) at the trailer with us and he had a friend there, Russ Reinwold, who owns a shop in Juneau.  I thought Russ sent one of his guys to get the part we needed but actually his wife went.  Thank you Mrs. Reinwold.  Without the spacer we wouldn't have been able to run.  
Bills heat race was a learning experience.  The tires were not the best but everyone had to use them.  Bill finished 3rd in the heat.  After the draw for the feature, Bill started in the second row right behind the 54X  with Travis Rodewald in the 27 next to him.  A yellow came out on lap 3 and Bill restarted in the 3rd spot with Rodewald in second.  Travis took the lead with Bill right behind him.  Travis had mechanical problems and Bill took the lead on lap 5.  Bill hung onto the lead through to lap 17 when he was passed by Don Sorce.  But lucky for us, a yellow came out at the same time and the field was reverted to the previous lap.  That gave the lead back to Bill.  Sorce did pass Bill on lap 17 but could not hold onto it.  Bill took the lead back and on the last turn of the last lap Bill drifted high and went over the cushion.  I thought for sure he would have come across the line in second but not only did he screw up, so did Sorce.  He slid up the track and it was a drag race across the line with Bill winning it by half a fender.    Kenny Richards was right behind them for most of the race but was smoking early in the race and with 4 laps to go, he lost a cylinder.  
It was a lot more exciting than I have accounted for here.  There was some three wides, including at least one lap with Bill on the inside of a three wide.  
The Grand National cars have an advantage because they are on the dirt all the time.  Most of our Mid Am drivers only see dirt in their back yard.  So after our Mid Am/Grand National challenge on dirt we should run a Mid Am/ Grand National challenge on asphalt.  What do you think?  That is what the series was meant to be way back in 1992 when this all started.  One disappointment is that more Mid Am drivers didn't show up even though they thought it was an interesting idea when it was originally scheduled.  More cars would have helped the show.  
A special thank you to Duane Bower and Bill Tandetzke for helping us out on Friday night.  And yes, Bill cleaned out the trailer and the car all by himself Saturday morning. 

June 28TH, 2010

Bill has been putting the circle back in his car.  He is trying to make it ready for the dirt at Dodge Co for Friday night.  Lots of talk about this race and I hope it turns out well for everyone involved.  Not many Mid Am drivers seem to have the guts or desire to race with the dirt boys.  Only a handful have committed (or been committed) themselves to go.  The track has now invited the Grand Nationals to race with us.  They have a little more advantage on the dirt track than we do, but I'm hoping that we will be right there with them.  If not, then I hope we are the first losers.  
Bill is looking forward to this race just to see how we compare.  It's been about 10 years since he has driven dirt.  Dirt racing was his first racing love.
So that is Friday night, July 2nd at Dodge County Fairgrounds.  Be there, be there, be there.

June 21st, 2010

Sunday at Road America, Bill qualified 3rd and had a great run winning the show.

Now for the long extended version.  So go get a cup of coffee, bottle of  Dew or anything else that you like spending time with because this is going to be a long one.
This weekend started on May 20th, when we had a guest spend time with us.  Scott Lagasse, of the Nationwide Series, spent time at Road America driving Bill's ASA Road Race car.  He was trying to get a feel for the track before the Nationwide Series came there.  We spent the whole day working on getting him comfortable there, so he would not end up in the first turn gravel pit.  Bill learned a few things from him and he learned a few things from Bill.  What a great time.  Unfortunately Scott could not make it to Road America at the last minute and we were very disappointed.  Bill thinks he might have been a surprise competitor.
On to OUR weekend at Road America.....
We left for the track on Thursday morning for a relaxing time.  We watched practice for the Nationwide Series on both Thursday and Friday.  Saturday was qualifying and racing later in the day.  After the Nationwide race was done we took to the track for our first practice session.
Bill turned a few decent laps when he radioed me and said he was bringing the car in.  I thought the car was OK when he told me how hot the engine was getting.  We have had overheating issues with this motor since last year when it blew up on him at Madison.  He couldn't decide what to do with the motor and started to peck away at replacing it.  Pretty soon Lyle Nowak and his crew man Kevin came over and started to take the exhaust manifold off, then Bret Widdis came over and helped with the trans, then other crew members and drivers came over and before we knew it we WERE changing the motor.  We started around 10 pm Saturday night and finished at 4 am Sunday morning.  Don Lundsford, Greg and Allision, all from Pluers crew and Kevin from Nowaks crew were there for the duration.  In between we had Bobby Gutknecht and some of his crew, Mike Mulcahy, Ryan Gutknecht and many others who I cannot remember at this moment.  But without all of you we never would have been able to run the whole race on Sunday.  Thanks everyone.
On to qualifying.  Bill went out for qualifying/practice on Sunday morning and thought the car handled well even with his backup motor.  He turned a 3rd place lap in his attempts.  That started him 3rd row outside in the race.  Mike Mulcahy, who is a road racer from way back started in the row in front of him.  Ron Weyer started behind him and Mark Pluer was along side of him with James Swan starting front row outside.  This was a loaded lineup.  By the time the field came to the front stretch after the first lap, Bill was the leader.  On the second lap Swan became a wounded duck and was involved in a traffic jam in turn 3.  The field of cars took one more yellow flag lap and then the red flag came out and everyone was brought to pit lane.  After about a 15 minute clean up session, the field was under way again and Bill just increased his lead a little at a time.  Although he was leading, neither one of us was confident he would win.  All he had to do was miss a shift, or a turn and the outcome would have been different.  He stretched his lead by 5 seconds over second place Mike Mulcahy, with Ron Weyer and Mark Pluer running 3rd and 4th.  At the finish it was Bill, Ron, Mark and Mike.  In a post race inspection Mike was DQed for an unexplained reason.  Dave Verhagen was credited with 4th and Bret Widdis came home 5th.  I also wanted to thank Mark Silber for being there this weekend.  I always feel like I'm on vacation when he is there.  Thanks Mark, now you can share in the good times along with the bad.
Bill always enjoys going to Road America partly due to the fact that it is a world class facility.  We need to thank all of the officials and corner workers who help put on the show.  They are tremendously important. Special thanks to George Bruggenthies and Dave (one of his side kicks).  I can only hope that we will be invited there again and again.  Where else can you have the Nationwide Series support your race????!!!!???

June 15th, 2010

One more day before we leave to go to Road America.  Bill wants to head out Thursday morning and be there the whole weekend.  Sounds good to me.  As of right now the weather doesn't sound too good but we are in Wisconsin and that can change really quick.  
We will load up tomorrow night after work.  Sure hope you all will come out and enjoy the weekend with us.  The admission price will get you in and enjoy the entire facility.  Since there are no pits as such you will be able to get right in with the race cars.  I'm sure the Nationwide cars will be blocked off but you can come to the Mid Am pits and meet all of your favorite drivers.  Hope to see you all there.

June 7th,2010

We thought we would be fighting the rain all weekend long.  Bill didn't have his rain tires anymore so we were hoping for a dry spell.  Saturday had the worst outlook for weather of both days.  Bill practiced/qualified with his group and placed 3rd in qualifying.  Race came and he ended up 3rd over all and 2nd in class.  Just as we were leaving the track on Saturday the rains came.  Torrential down pour.  Timing is everything.  
Sunday's race was a little better.  Sky's were cloudy but no rain so far.  Again Bill practiced/qualified and again he ended up 3rd in time.  Race came and he was battling with the number 84 Firebird who was leading at the time, and we got a brief shower.  That made Bill slow up for a few laps until the track dried out.  By this time the 84 car took a substantial lead.  Bill reeled him in and by half way he passed him.  Bill hung on to the lead for the rest of the race and had an overall win.  I guess the next time we race, I may have to give in and buy him some new tires.  He pretty much has the old ones worn out.  
We weren't as lucky on Sunday when we started to put things away.  The clouds opened up and we got drenched.  Then we put the car away.  
Our next scheduled race for the Mid Am series is Road America June 19th and 20th.  Again the Nationwide race will be our back up show :) and it promises to be a great weekend.  Bill is really looking forward to it.  If anyone is interested in going to the track for the weekend you can purchase advanced tickets through Mid American.  A special price of $60.00 for 4 days is available through Mid Am.  Call or contact them through www.midamericanracing.com  1-920-723-9831 eve.

June 1st, 2010

The further west we got from our home, the hotter it got on Saturday.  By the time we got to the Dells is was over 85 degrees and sunny.  I guess that's better than 50 and rainy.  Bill hit the track in the first set of practice laps and the car felt pretty good.  He felt he was set for qualifying.  He turned a 14.804 and that only gave him an 11th spot in qualifying.  I would have bet that the roll of the dice would have been a 10 (putting Bill to the rear), but with luck on his side the roll was a 14.  That started Bill second row outside right behind Mark Pluer.  On the start of the race Bill followed Mark on the outside as Mark took the lead.  Mark started to pull away from Bill early in the race.  I thought Bill would catch up and make a good race out of it but instead fell further behind.  The rest of the field caught up to Bill and made a race out of that.  Bill was lucky to hang on to second place with an ill handling 8th place car.  On lap 32 of the 40 lap race a yellow came out and I thought Bill may have a chance to take the lead.  Nope, not in the books for us this week.  Second was all he could manage.  I guess I am happy with that.  
Bill will be at The Milwaukee Mile this weekend for a SCCA race.  We will be there for a Saturday and Sunday race.  I'll let you know how that turns out.  Or better yet come on out and watch. 
Our next Mid Am show will be at Road America on June 20th, where the Nationwide Series will be our back up show.  (Ha Ha)  That promises to be a great weekend.  Lots of exciting racing.

May 28th, 2010

The car is loaded and I guess that means we are ready to go to the Dells.  I will let you know how it turns out on Tuesday.  
For all of you veterans out there....  My heartfelt THANK YOU!  My grandpa was in WW1, Dad was in WW2, Mom was a WAC and my brother in Viet Nam.  I am proud of all of them.  Again thank you.

May 24th, 2010

Our long weekend started Thursday morning at Road America.  We had a very informative and educational day there.  Came home Thursday night and switched cars for Grundy for Friday night.  We waited at the track in the rain hoping they would cancel.  As you all know we are not a fan of the track and really did not want to go in the first place.  We sat through the rain for awhile and watched as the skies cleared and the pits opened.  We figured we would fight the rain all night long and we both complained about it.  As it turned out the track was correct in not canceling early.  The weather cleared and it turned out to be a decent night at least in the weather department.  
Practice was not all that impressive and I figured we were going to be mediocre at best.  Bill was the first to qualify and turned a 16.450.  Only 2 cars beat him in time.  With the roll of the dice, Bill started the feature in the 5th row on the inside.  I figured he would have to dodge a few bullets before the dust settled and the racing began.  On the very first lap water was coming out of the track in turn 2 and Bill hit along with the car on his outside.  They touched and Bills right rear tire went down in turn 3.  Bill wasn't supposed to make it hard on me this week because I still have a boot on from the fracture on my left leg.  Many guys from various teams came to my help.. Don Lundsford from Pluers team, Kevin from Nowaks team, Ben from Backs team and Brian Holtz from Swans team were all there to help me.  What a great group, they got Bill out before the restart although he had to restart in the rear.  Bill picked off a few cars and then got caught up in traffic for a while.  He ended up finishing 8th out of 25 cars but was credited with 7th when a car in front of him was disqualified.  
The pits were a swamp but the guys at Grundy did a great job in getting the show in.  
We stayed the night at the track and left early morning for home.  We got home in early afternoon Saturday.  Bill offered to help me with some yard work and if any of you know Bill, that doesn't happen all too often.  He actually put up a fence for my veggie garden for me with no arguments.  Lucky me.  We then took Bill's dad out to dinner.  We left him to himself long enough and thought a night out might make him happy.  After that I watched most of the All Star race through my eyelids.
Sunday morning we were up early and on our way to Green Bay for the LZ Lambeau event.  I don't know if any of you heard of this event.  It was a long, long overdue thank you for the Viet Nam Vets.  Not too many know that I lost my only sibling, my brother Rick, in Viet Nam.  He was killed a month before he was due home, 6 days before our son was born.  It was a tough time for my dad and I.  My mom had died right before Rick left for Nam.  None of the troops got a hero's welcome home.  They fought for what they believed in.  I know my brother did.  He volunteered for his helicopter assignment.  
I hope on this Memorial Day, you and everyone you know, thanks a vet.  Especially the Viet Nam Vets.  THANK YOU VETS FOR THE FREEDOM WE ENJOY.
We will be going to the Dells on Saturday, if Bill gets the car ready to go.  We may run out of time.  The car did not come home unscathed.  I will let you know later in the week.

May 10th, 2010

We had a mighty chilly car show on Saturday.  Winds were brisk and the temp was a balmy 40 degrees.  Even so there were some adventurous people and some good looking cars that made the event.   John Fischer and the Lynch Superstore always put on a good display.  Good music, good cars and lots of race car talk.  What could be better.  (Oh! Maybe a vacation to someplace warm.)
Looks like we will be going to Grundy on May 21st.  Although I'm not sure why.  I'll let you know if it was a smart decision.
Hope you all had a good Mothers Day!

May 7th, 2010

Our plans are to go to Lynch Superstore on Saturday for their annual car show.  It's always a good time and many racers and fans show up.  It's a nice day to visit with your favorite driver.  I think the weather will be a little cool but at least the rain should be gone.  See ya all there.
Sundays plans are with family at home and I am looking forward to that.  
Still thinking about going to Grundy on May 21st.  We will keep you posted.

April 19th, 2010

Welcome back to our Monday (hopefully) race report.

First is Bill's comments.....

Top ten reasons the Mid Am race at Rockford was so ugly.

1. It's the first race of the year.
2. It's Rockford and that is how it is.
3. Eight tires turn better than four.
4. My brakes faded, the bumper in front of me will work.
5. I just moved him a little
6. I thought I was clear.
7. It's practice for Grundy.
8. It's got to be OK, I saw it on MADHOUSE.
9. The officials probably won't see it.
10. I know it will stick just as good on the bottom.

We went to Rockford on Saturday for practice and spent a leisurely day at the track.  Bill practiced well and put it away for raceday.  Sunday was just about a picture perfect day for racing.  Practice was good and qualifying went very well.   Bill was about the 6th out on the track and turned a 14.187 which gave him 2nd in time.  Of course now he had to start in the middle of the pack and remember this is Rockford.  I lost track of the yellow flags that were in the first half of the race.  There must have been seven or eight.  Somewhere around caution 4 or 5, Bill was a "victim of incidental contact".  He had the hood pushed up but was able to continue.  It seemed that with every caution that came out Bill always had to restart on the inside.  (Not preferred)  He did make his way to 6th where he finished the race.  He was credited with a 5th place finish when one car was deemed illegal.  
Our next race (should we choose to go) will be Grundy on May 21.  We are waiting for the entry form to come out before we decide.  It is a long trip for a Friday night.  
Any comments, feel free to e-mail us at prietzel@att.net.

April 5th, 2010

We headed to Rockford for some practice time on the car this past Saturday.  The further south we went the blacker the skies got.  It rained most of the way there but then it let up and finally the rain stopped.  By noon we were on the track and everything was cleared up.  The sun even came out and turned out to be a great day.  Even the car stayed together.  I forgot my camera today but will try to remember to post a picture of it on the web site tomorrow.  Bill said the car felt good and hopefully will be ready for Rockford on April 18th. 

March 23rd, 2010

Here it is almost the end of March already.  Our racing season will start at Rockford if we choose to go on April 18th.  The car is slowly getting ready.  His heart is not in it this year for some reason yet. We will see if we will be there on opening day.  I think his plans are to go to Rockford for a practice date of April 3rd.  He needs to shake it out and see if the motor  and suspension changes will be up to his liking.
Bill is anxious to get the dirt car ready.  He has been working on it almost every weekend and it is coming along.  Engine is sitting there waiting to be installed along with the nitrous.  Of course the motor is not as bulletproof as it was back in it's day (probably not as fast either).  The nitrous will probably blow the motor the first time it is used anyway.  Oh well it's only money. :)
Bill still hasn't made his road race plans yet.  He's working on that.  

February 15th, 2010

Bill and I had a party this past Saturday for the old crew members that got us to where we are today.  Back in our day of sportsman cars at the Hales Corners Speedway we had 3 exceptional guys that came to the races with us every Saturday night.  Ken Czubkowski was the first to join us in 1974 and he still helps Bill at home preparing the car as much as possible.  Then we had Ernie Olson and David Young come along around 1975.  Between Bill and the 3 guys they could look at each other and know what needed to be done.  All four of them worked at the same dealership in West Allis and started with us in our little garage in South Milwaukee.  The place was so small there was barely room to walk around the race car.  Throughout the years we had a few changes.  Ernie left when he got married and found other things to do with his time.  Ken and David were joined by Kens brother Al, and again they were the four amigos.  Then Al got married and his kids took most of his time.  In 1980 we picked up a new sponsor and switched to Late Models with Concrete Raising Corp.  With Concrete Raising came Jim Maher who crewed with us for close to 10 years.  Concrete Raising left us and Duane Bower hooked up with us and became a partner with the team.  I can't stress enough that we wouldn't be where we are today without each and every one of them.  Thank you all for all the work you did to get us where we are today.  We are extremely happy that we can still call them good friends today.  
I will be putting some pictures on the new pic page even if they are old pics. 
On Feb. 27th we will be going to Washington County Fair Grounds for a racers swap meet.   

January 18th, 2010

We had an enjoyable weekend at the Dells.  We enjoyed our free room which Bill won at the Dells racetrack and offered by The Wintergreen Resort where the banquet was held.  The speeches from Mel Kenyon and Fr Grubba were very interesting.  They both have many years of racing behind them and it was great listening to them.  
I was told that there was 20 drivers at the banquet to celebrate.  I have posted 2 pictures, one of the little car that the Melchiori's gave to the top 10 drivers, and one of the top ten drivers.  Both Mark and his son Matt made these little cars.  This was a unexpected gift that we both love.  Thanks Mark and Matt.  
I have also posted a picture of the wedge car.  Bill has been working on it this winter and has started to fit the body.  Only another couple of years before it is race ready.  He does have a motor for it.  Now all he needs is the rest of the car.  

January 15th, 2010

We spent this past weekend at the racers auction in Madison.  We attended a meeting for the ASA Sportsman with Steve Einhaus.  There was quite a few people there with lots of interest.  We stayed for the next meeting for the Mid Am series and not much new info was presented.  
This weekend  we will be at the Wintergreen Resort in the WI Dells.  Our banquet is being held there.  There was a drawing at our last WI Dells race in September for a free room for our banquet.  Bill was the lucky recipient of the free room.  We have always enjoyed the facilities at the Wintergreen Resort.  
Bill is trying to make arrangements for going to Florida at the end of February.  He wants to race at Palm Beach and Sebring.  They are both road courses and run with SCCA.  Not sure we can manage that expedition right now but are trying to make plans.  I will try to keep you posted.