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NEWS UPDATES

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

Thank you for following our racing adventures

July 3rd, 2008

Bill is coming along just fine on the car.  He got the frame pulled back and now all the jewelry is going on.  It sure is time consuming.  At this point I think we will make the Marshfield race on Saturday.  The weather is supposed to be great.  
I hear there is going to be a bike race at the track.  Lucky Bill, I just bought a bike.  We plan on throwing in $20.00 to the winner of the race if the owners of Marshfield don't mind.  I personally think they should have to wear their helmets.  Bill thinks that would be an extra burden which would make a better show.  I think the old guy needs more protection.  I also think that anyone with an AARP card should be given a handicap.  Like maybe a half a lap advantage....  And maybe they should have oxygen at the finish line.  Hey, is nitrous allowed in the tires?

June 30th, 2008

This Monday I could do without.  Let me start out by saying that yes, I still do like Francis Creek.  This was one of those weeks that the Creek wasn't good to Bill.  
Qualifying went OK!   He was 6th in time.  That qualifying time gave him a 5th row inside starting position in the feature.  At the drop of the green I knew it was going to be a long night.  Although I didn't know at the time how long.  It seemed like every lane he took it was the wrong one.  I wished I had had a remote control up in the stands to help him out like the NASCAR commercial for Toyota on TV.  
He went outside and lost a few positions.  He went inside and lost more positions.  He told me that he was racing really hard to the rear.  He said he never really got a chance to get going because he was always stuck behind someone.  Then on lap 21 two cars touched sending one into a spin and facing the wrong direction on the track.  Bill had no place to go and hit him hard in the right side door.  Everyone talked about how loud the bang from the impact was.  Bill was a little sore on Sunday and the car is really sad.  Everything in the front end needs to be replaced.  Sunday he worked until 10:30 at night straightening the frame.  I think it's going to be OK!  At first we didn't think we would make to Marshfield this Saturday, but if everything goes well we may make it.  We do have all day on the July 4th to work on it.  
Hope to see you at Marshfield on Sat, July 5th.
Congratulations to Crystal Wood for being the first female to win a Mid American Series feature.  She and her husband, Don Wood, started in the front row.  Don led the first lap and Crystal took over after that and went on to win.  

June 16th, 2008

Another good Monday.  Bill started the night out with one set of practice laps.  When he brought it in he said we were done until qualifying.  The car was that good.  He was the first one to qualify and set the pace with a 21.052.  No one topped that so Bill kept his fast time.  
The roll of the dice gave Bill a 6th row starting spot.  As cars were warming up for the feature, a couple of cars had motor problems and couldn't restart in their position. 
Bill slowly passed cars and by lap 12 or so was in the second position with James Swan following close behind.  Bill tried to make his move on Jake Finney, who was leading by now, but just couldn't get a clean run on him.  They played follow the leader for a number of laps.  Swan managed to get past Bill and now Bill was playing catch up to Swan.  The last yellow came out on lap 25 with Bill behind Swan.  Bill managed to pass James around lap 30 of a 35 lap race and set out to get Finney.  But the laps wound down and Bill just couldn't pull off a pass.  Bill had to settle for second.  Fast time and second in the feature is a great day no matter how you look at it.   
Now we are looking forward to Francis Creek in two weeks.  That is our mini Bristol.  Bill has always liked the track.  It hasn't always been good to him but he likes it.
See you there!

June 2nd, 2008

Mondays are always better when the weekend went great, and that's what happened this weekend.  As usual, Bill wasn't happy with practice.  He did a little tweaking before qualifying and ended up with 4th in time.  He was a little surprised with that.  
With a ten pm curfew hovering over our head, our feature started at 10:20 pm.  We were told our race would be 40 laps or 20 minutes, whichever came first.  Bill started the feature in the 5th row on the inside.  By lap 8 he was running 3rd.  Not only was his car great but the spots just opened up for him.  He was running behind the leaders Scott Null and Jeremy Spoonmore who were running side by side for a couple of laps.  On lap 11 the first caution came out for an exploded radiator hose on Tim Sehr's car.  Bill had to restart on the outside this time.  Right in the groove where all that water was.  He pulled past Null on the restart and then the yellow came out for another incident.  Again he started in the outside lane and got past Null for the lead and yup, the yellow came out.  Third time was the charm when the green came out this time.  He got past Null and stayed there for a couple of laps when another caution came out.  We were told that the next caution would be the end of the race. The final yellow came on lap 18 when a group of cars spun in turn one.  This time we got the yellow and checker at the same time.  Another great win for Bill.  This is his first win at the Dells.
Our next event will be at Kaukauna on June 14th for the Red race.  Hope to see you there.  

May 17th, 2008

This is one weekend I'm glad is over.  We arrived at LaCrosse at 3pm when the pits opened.  We knew before we got there that we had to unload our trailer and put it outside of the pits.  Our trailer and motorhome are too tall and LaCrosse has a restriction on height, so that all the fans can see the race.
Bill got his first practice session in and wanted to try something else in his set up, so he brought the car back to the pits.  He made his changes and was going back to the track when the car stalled.  He tried all sorts of things to get fuel pressure, but nothing worked.  He missed the rest of practice to deal with his ornery car.  With about ten minutes before qualifying he fired it up and it stayed running.  He got in line for qualifying and when his turn came to qualify he turned a great lap.  Unfortunately the clock didn't trip and his lap didn't count.  He did get another lap only to have engine troubles during that lap but still managed to pull off 4th in time running on 7 cylinders.  
So now he had to not only worry about his fuel problem that he had earlier in the night, he also had to worry about the engine not running on all 8 cylinders.  Bill worked on the car almost constantly from 5:30 to close to 9 trying to find the problems.  We were lucky to have Mark there with us this weekend.  He did a lot of the grunt work.  
Bill started the feature in either the 5th or 6th row on the inside.  His car was finally behaving and managed to make some passes that surprised even me.  By lap 16 he was in second place and was hunting down the leader Darren Wolke who started on the pole and had quite a lead on the rest of the field.  It might have taken Bill a hundred or so laps to catch Darren but time was running out.  A caution came out on lap 28 of our 40 lap race for a spin.  Bill restarted on the inside of row two.  Of course by now the rain gods did a little dance upstairs and started some rains drops that turned into a small shower.  The officials did restart the race and Bill got around Darren in turn 3.  Rains came harder and the caution came out again.  All we needed was one more lap (how many times do you hear that?).  They reverted to the last completed lap and that gave the win to Darren Wolke which is the way it should have been.  Darn.  
Second place was OK!  Especially after the night that we had.  Those of you that know us, know that Bill hardly ever works on the car at the track.  We usually have everything prepared and ready to go.  
I do want to thank all the people that helped us unload the trailer and then reload it again in the rain.  It would have taken 10 times as long without your help.  Special thanks to the Thorson group, the Zumbach group and the Gutknechts for many parts and tools and to anyone that I failed to mention.  
All in all it wasn't a bad night.  Bill just had to work at the track for it for a change.
Our next race event will be at the Dells in two weeks.  Check our schedule page for more info.  I have now linked it to the Mid American site so I wouldn't forget to change it.
Thanks for viewing our site.

May 13th, 2008

Saturday at Lynch GM Superstores was a great time for all.  We met many old friends that came by to say hi.  
This weekend we will be at LaCrosse Friday night.  
I changed our schedule page to link right to the Mid American site.  That way you will be able to see their site and return to ours when you're done.  
See you all at La Crosse.

May 6th, 2008

We survived the Milwaukee Mile.  It was a good day and the weather was great.  We only took the Mid Am car.  
This Saturday we will be at the Lynch Motorsports Jamboree in Burlington, WI.    

April 28th, 2008

Mother Nature 1, racing at Golden Sands, 0.  Races were cancelled on Saturday for Sundays race.  Rain, cold, wind and even snow was supposed to be the order of the day.  I can't imagine that too many people would have been in the stands.  
Our next adventure will be "Drive the Mile" at the Milwaukee Mile on Sunday May 4th.  This is a charity event for The Hunger Task Force.  You can bring any vehicle you want and take a lap or two around the famed Milwaukee Mile.  What an experience.  Admission for "Drive the Mile" is $15.00 and two non-perishable food items.  Hope to see you there.
We will be there with at least the Mid Am Car.  May even bring the Road Course car.

April 25th, 2008

I forgot to mention that we will be at Plover on Sunday.  As long as the snow and rain stay away.  I hope you will venture out and join us.

April 14th, 2008

The season opened at Rockford this past weekend.  It wasn't the best conditions for racing, especially on Saturday for practice.  It rained all morning.  By 1:30 or so the track was dry enough to practice.  Bill was happy with his car and he even was lucky enough to practice with Bobby Gutknecht's car for a few laps.  Bob had been on a vacation the week before and wasn't back until late Saturday night.  
Sunday was just a little better than Sat. No rain and some sun, but plenty cold.  As Bill was weighing in before qualifying we had a snow shower.  Bill took fast time away from James Swan.  Bill turned a 14.174 and James was 14.189.  
Bill put a new body on the car with a new paint job.  I asked him to put the old hood back on the car for Rockford and he did.  Let's just say I'm glad I took a couple of pictures before the race on Sunday.
Bill started in the 7th row on the outside.  He was picking off a few cars and around lap 12 Bill was going to pass James Swan on the inside.  Bill was going to make a quick pass as James was stuck on the high side.  James never saw Bill and turned into his right side.  That caused the first yellow flag with Bill having to come into the pits to have his right front fender taped back on.  I thought he made it back out on lead lap but as it turned out he was one lap down.  (So much for his pit crew)  He ended up avoiding at least two more wrecks and was happy when the race was over.  Lyle Nowak ended up with the first win of the season.  Congratulations.
I wanted to thank Bobby Gutknechts crew and Butch Mierendorf for coming over to help me with Bill's crash.  Without them he would have been 25 laps down.  Thanks guys!
The old hood was fine but the new right front fender needs to be replaced.  

April 7th, 2008

We weren't sure we were going to be ready for the season opener next weekend at Rockford.  Bill put in a few all nighters to try to make practice this past Saturday at Rockford and we made it.  If anything could go wrong it did.  I'm glad he got most of the bugs worked out of it before the opener.  (hopefully)  We didn't make it out of our garage until 1 pm and practice was from 12 to 4.  It was a two hour ride for one practice season.  Another quality time together trip.  
I did get a couple of pictures of the car with our new sponsor Central Services.  Check out the new pictures page and scroll to the bottom.

March 18th, 2008

Just a quick little update from this past weekend.  
This was the weekend of our trip to Bristol with Boring Bob's TOURS.  This was the trip that Bill won at the Mid Am Banquet.  That was probably one of the most enjoyable trips we have been on in a long time.  At first we weren't sure we could go but we managed the four days off.  We left Friday morning and got back on Mon evening.  It was a little wet on Saturday for the Nationwide race but Sunday was pretty nice.  We had a few clouds but the sun did peek out every now and again. 
Everything ran so smoothly and we met a few nice people on the bus.   I would recommend Boring Bob's TOURS to anyone.  He has everything very well planned.  Good motor coach, good hotel, good seats.  What more could you ask for?  (except for no rain)
Bill's still a long way from getting the car done after another weekend lost at Bristol.  He'll have to work really hard to get it done for Rockford.  

March 3rd, 2008

Wow!  March already.  Bill has been working on his car almost every weekend and some nights during the week.  He still isn't sure it will be done by opening weekend at Rockford.  I think he say's that every year and it always manages to be race worthy.  The car will be getting a partially new body this year and a new paint job.  It was in desperate need of a face lift.  Bill also checked over the rest of the car.  He reminded me that the car is five years old already.  Seems like yesterday it was built.  Then again it seems like yesterday we were headed to Hales Corners Speedway with a tow bar and that was 36 years ago.
We are also planning on going to the Wisconsin Fair Park for the Racing expo this Saturday. (March 8th)  This is an event sponsored by Behling Racing Equipment and Diamond Racing Wheels.  
 I have updated the schedule page so you can keep track of where we will be, starting with Rockford on April 13th.  We are looking forward to the race season to begin.  

January 21st, 2008

Happy New Year everyone.  
We were at the Mid American Banquet this past Saturday.  It is held at "The Wintergreen Resort" in Wisconsin Dells.  Bill received his second place trophy along with some contingencies from Lynch Dealerships and Tisler Auto Salvage and a point fund check from Mid American.  He also received other contingencies from M&R Racing Equipment, Race Driver Cards, Schaeffer Lubricants and Hoosier.
Bill was also the lucky recipient of a trip to Bristol TN in March for the Spring NASCAR race weekend.  Boring Bob's TOURs provided the trip. Hopefully we will be able to make arrangements to go.  We have wanted to go on one of his tours for a long time.   

December 28th, 2007

Just a little update as to what has been going on at the Franklin Flyer garage.  
We spent a great weekend with our friends Lyle and Marcy Nowak.  They came into town on Dec 15th and we went to the Pabst Mansion.  I have lived my whole life in the Milw area and have never been there.  We all really enjoyed ourselves.  That night we called Bobby Gutknecht and went out to dinner with him and his other half, Julie, at Wegners in Franklin.  That is a sports (mostly racing) bar / restaurant.  The following day the Nowaks and us went to Sprechers Brewery for a tour and sat on Santa's lap.  Poor Santa.  
We also wanted to announce our new sponsor for the next race season.  We are happy to announce that Central Services will be behind us for 2008.  They have sponsored many cars throughout the years and we are very happy they decided to come to our pit spot this year.  Gary and Melody Bohrer run their landscaping and snow removal business out of New Berlin, WI.  Check them out at www.centralservicescompany.com. 
We will be going to the Rockford auction on Jan 5th to find all the new trick stuff for next year.  It's a winter gathering place.
Hope your Christmas was good and have a Happy New Year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Nov. 27th, 2007

Bill, Mark and I wanted to send a special Christmas wish to all of you from us.  We thought this an appropriate Christmas greeting.  Please click on link: www.elfyourself.com/?id=9615780286

Oct. 29th, 2007

You would all be proud of Bill and I as we walked the entire 4 miles for the cancer run/walk at Road America this past weekend.  It was a great day for the walk.  We didn't raise my expected $500.00 but came close with $423.08.  We wanted to personally thank the following people for their donations.  Ron Politoski, Tom Spitzer, John Spitzer, Steve Silber, Beth Bartelt, Boring Bob TOURs, John Fischer and Jerry Rogahn.  Thanks for all of your support.
On to the racing portion of the weekend.  We took both of our cars to the track.  Bill took out the Mid American car first just to make sure nothing was wrong with it. Bill asked a friend of ours Dan Mech, who drove sportsman's and modified at Hales Corners Speedway for many years, if he would like to take a lap or two.  Dan showed up shortly before we took out the cars.  He took a few laps and really enjoyed himself.  
And then it was my turn.  First I took out the Mid Am car for a couple of laps.  It was quite an experience.  I wanted to be careful with the car because that was the one Bill was going to race later in the day.  Although I never expected to go fast enough to hurt too much, I did manage to bring it back in one piece. 
After our morning practice session we did our walk and it was amazing what you see when you walk around that track.  You can see all the black skid marks that head directly for the wall and you know that can't be good.  Luckily none of those marks were ours.
After our walk we feasted on the great food that was brought by drivers, crews and wives.  Bobby Gutknecht deep fried a turkey and cooked a ham.  I guess it proves that some racers, wives and girlfriends really do know how to cook.  Thanks for all the great food.
On to our racing for the day.  Bill gave me a choice to drive either race car and I chose the faster of the two, the ASA touring car.  I was hoping to stay on lead lap with that one.  Bill had some mechanical problems with the Mid Am car and only got one lap of qualifying in.  He ended up with third in time and started the race right in front of Ken Smart.  The car that started in front of Bill had a first turn spin and Bill thought it best to spin to avoid rather than crashing into the car.  I started the race at the rear of the field because I wasn't sure of myself.  I passed Bill going into turn one.  (That was fun)  He did get going after he was cleared by all of the cars on the track and passed me back like I was standing still.  (Not fun)  We could talk to each other on our radios, but I was too busy trying to keep my car straight.  Bill was pretty far behind the leaders after his unfortunate start.  I'm not sure how he did it but he ended up third, a half an inch behind second place Ken Smart.  James Swan won.  I was told I finished right behind Bill.  Well, not right behind him.  He was not in sight and at least one lap in front of me.  I was not scored because it was a Mid Am race and my car is not a Mid Am car.  I did finish the race in front of Hank Tews, whom I passed twice.  The first time he got back in front of me when I did a little off road excursion.  Hank finished the race in fourth place.  Bill instilled into my head.....Black (the asphalt) is good, green (the grass) is bad.  Bill, James and Ken did lap me and I told Bill that I went as fast as I thought my  wallet could go.  
Thanks for reading our notes on the race season.  I have enjoyed writing them.  
I do have some pictures that I will try to post on Tuesday along with some other news.  I just ran out of time today.

Oct. 25th, 2007

Only a couple more days to our American Cancer Society walk/run race.  Bill and I wanted to thank everyone that donated.  It looks to be a great day for walking and we are looking forward to it.  If you haven't donated yet there is still time.  www.roadamerica.com and follow the links to our team.  Thanks again.  
Bill has both cars just about ready.  We will be taking turns racing each car.  This is a great opportunity to end the year and just have fun.  I hear Bobby Gutknecht will be cooking and every one will be bringing food to pass around.  I guess we will find our what kind of cooks we all are.  Should be a great time at a great track.  The great part of the price of the admission ticket is that it gets you complete access to the pit and paddock area.  You can get up front and personal with all the drivers and cars.  Just remember, cars have the right of way.  See you all there.

Oct 8th, 2007

We have just finished our 35th season of racing.  Seems impossible to have raced all these years.  We have met many wonderful friends through out the years.  We don't know how many more years we have left but plan on continuing as long as it is enjoyable.  .
This past weekend at La Crosse was the warmest that I can remember.  Most years you at least need a jacket.  Some years you needed many jackets.  It was in the upper 80's with lots of humidity and very uncomfortable.  We had to unload our trailer and pull it out of the pits because we are to tall.  We sat in the second turn under our EZ up (which should be called a not so EZ up) that shaded us somewhat.  Bill started practice around 8:30 and wasn't so happy with the car.  He chased a brake problem for most of his practice sessions.  He qualified 5th and was extremely happy with that due to the fact that he didn't think he would make the feature on time.  There was a field of around 35 cars and most of them were faster than us in practice.  
He finally found his brake problem and had it repaired by his heat race.  Bill put in a few hard laps in the heat but decided to back out.  He didn't want any problems because all of our spare parts were out in our trailer.  
It was the final point night for us and Bill had a mathematical chance of getting another championship.  He would have to win the feature and James Swan would have to have problems early and finish towards the end of the field.  Bill started in the fourth row on the outside and did a good job getting around a slower car that started in front of him.  He dodged a couple of cars that spun and a couple of yellow flags benefited him.  Even James Swan had a tangle with another car that had mechanical problems and Bill missed the slowing cars on the backstretch.  Bill finished 6th across the line but was given 5th after the winner could not pass post race inspections.  James Swan finished 7th which gave him the championship.  James did a great job this year but had many unfortunate finishes.  He still came out on top of the points when it counted.  Congratulations to James and his crew for a job well done.  Bill finished the year in second place with Spoonmore third, Bobby Gutknecht fourth and Lyle Nowak fifth.  
We still have one more race.  On October 27th we will be at Road America for a non points race.  Bill loves road racing and this should be a fun weekend.  Bill plans on taking both of our cars and maybe we both will do a little racing.  We will be doing a 4 mile walk for cancer research before the race.  If anyone would like to contribute to that event please go to www.roadamerica.com and click on the Mid American article where it says American Cancer Society walk/run event.  Donations are tax deductible and 100% of the donations go to the American Cancer Society.  You can urge Bill and me on with a small donation for a good cause.  
See you all at Road America.

Oct 1st, 2007

Whew! Rockford is over.  It was a great day for racing.  It was a great day for anything.  Bill tried something new in the race car this week and guess what?  He will be going back to the old set up for next weekend.  His practice times were just OK!  Qualifying time came and his laps were not what he hoped for.  I kept counting the cars who were faster than him as they took their turn for qualifying.  In the end he was 8th in time.  After the roll of the dice and one car deciding to start in the rear, Bill started in the second row outside.  Rockford has two grooves but the outside is the preferred lane.  I was pretty happy to see his starting position but after a few laps in the feature the first yellow came out.  The restart found Bill on the inside row and on the restart, Bill fell back 2 positions.  It seemed like every yellow Bill had to start on the inside.  He fell back to 7th place and had to work his way back up.  He had a small scuffle with the wall when he went too high and gave it a blow.  I thought for sure he would need two right side tires after that.  He didn't miss a beat and never lost a position.  His brand new right side wheels are good for the scrap heap though.  
Bill had a very ill handling race car and could see James Swan coming up to him.  He waved him by and settled in behind him.  In the end James finished 4 and Bill was very lucky to finish 5th.  Back to the drawing board.
Next weekend we have our last point night of the season at La Crosse.  Our show will be on Saturday.  Then we will have a couple of weeks off and return to Road America for the cancer run/walk.  Bill and I will be doing the 4 mile walk and we are looking for sponsors.  100% of the money donated will be given directly to American Cancer society.  Please stop in the shop and sign up or give us an e-mail or phone call 414-543-4220.  Thanks for all your help and see you at La Crosse.

Sept 24th, 2007

We had a great day for racing this past Saturday.  Bill was practicing in the 20.4's and 20.5's most of his practice sessions.  When qualifying came I was hoping he would have a little extra so he would make the show.  His first lap was a 19.50 and the second lap was a 19.53.  That gave him fast time and only James Swan came close with a 19.60.  It looked liked the night was getting off to a good start.  
Bill started in the 6th row outside in the feature.  This was the first time the Mid Am cars were at Marshfield and I didn't know if the inside or outside was the preferred lane.  On the green flag lap I could tell the inside lane was going to move forward as a car that started in the front just couldn't make it work.  That held up the outside line and Bill went straight to the back.  I thought this was going to be a long night.  There were a few cautions in our 40 lap race.  On lap 20 the yellow came out and Bill seemed to get moving.  He passed a few cars and ended up in the 5th position behind Lyle Nowak.  Bill tried passing Lyle on the outside for quite a few laps.  He almost got passed him when the yellow came out with four laps to go.  We got 2 more laps in when another yellow came out.  Bill couldn't get by Lyle in the last 2 remaining laps and ended up 5th.  James Swan went on to win.  The car came home in one piece and we will be going to Rockford next Sunday.  Only 2 point nights remaining in our series, Rockford and LaCrosse.  At the end of October there is a scheduled race at Road America.  Bill enjoys the road courses and is looking forward to that.
See ya all at Rockford!

Sept 20th, 2007

We are headed to Marshfield this Saturday night for a Mid Am race.  Bill is looking forward to this event.  He has enjoyed racing there in the past but it has been a while since we have been there.  
The season is winding down and this is our third last point night.  The final event on our Mid Am schedule will be at Road America but will not be a points show.

Sept 7th, 2007

It was a tough night at the "Creek" this past Saturday night.  Bill thought it was going to be ugly and I thought he would have a good night there.  He was right.  
Bill qualified 2nd and the roll of the dice started him 5th row inside.  This was a good place to start as the outside row couldn't seem to go forward.  By lap 2 the first caution came out for a spin by Don Wood.  Bill restarted on the inside lane and proceeded to move forward.  By lap 7 Bill was passing Bobby Gutknecht when Bobby pulled in behind Bill and didn't quite clear the guy behind him.  Bobby spun coming out of turn 4 which brought out the second yellow of the night.  Bill was again on the inside row on the restart and finally made it to 3rd behind James Swan.  Bill tried to get around James but found nothing on the outside lane.  
The 3rd yellow came out on lap 17 for a roll over by Travis Rodewald.  He was unhurt but the car couldn't say the same thing.  This time Bill started on the outside of James and tried to pass him but again there was nothing on the outside.  Bill had to settle back in line again in the third place and was right on James bumper.  The 4th yellow came out on lap 22 for a spin which involved Bobby Gutknecht and Mike Oswald.  Bill started again in the second row outside next to James.  Again he tried to pass him but couldn't manage to pull it off.  Another yellow on lap 31 for a spin by Jeff Tisler and Mike Oswald and again Bill had to start on the outside of row 2.  By this time the fast qualifier, Jimbo Schleis, had pulled up to Bill and was challenging him for the third position.  He had been involved in an earlier mishap and part of his door pulled away from his car.  Both Jimbo and Bill were racing hard for that third spot when Jimbo's body panel made contact with Bill's wheel and cut the valve stem on the tire.  (This is what we assumed by the color of paint on the inside of the wheel.)  This sent Bill into a spin and finally came to rest in the front stretch wall.  That was the final yellow (lap 39) of the night and the race was called complete due to time restrictions.  Bill was towed off the track and expected to put the car away.  The tech inspectors came up to Bill and asked him to remove his intake.  Bill couldn't understand this until they told him they were going to revert to the last completed lap which would have given him a third place finish.  We both questioned them.  They said that was how Milwaukee was scored with the last lap crash and that was how they were going to score Saturday night.  We questioned them again and then we removed our intake.  Before we left the track, Bill talked with James Swan, Lyle Nowak, Garland Spoonmore, Mike and Matt Panure and Ron Blood.  Bobby Gutknecht came and told Bill what he thought but was in no mood to converse.  On our way home we talked about how long it would take for the officials to change the decision.  It took four days.  That was way too long.  Bill got calls on Monday afternoon and most of Tuesday morning from various drivers who couldn't understand what was going on.  On Wednesday morning Bill returned Doug's late Tuesday night phone call to be informed of the final decision about Francis Creek but Milwaukee will not be changed.  
There has been some controversy on this subject but if the correct call had been made at Milwaukee we wouldn't be talking about it now.  It was just compounded at Francis Creek.
We both love racing with the Mid American series, but they have some issues that need to be solved.  Hopefully before next season they really are solved.  We would all like to be on a level playing field.  
One final note............If you have questions on policies and procedures contact the series.  Then they will understand you are concerned.  
Our next race will be in a couple of weeks, September 22nd, at Marshfield.  We are looking forward to returning to a very friendly race track.  The truck series has been there but this will be the first time our Mid Am cars will be there.  Many, many, many years ago, Bill won there with a dirt Late Model.  Did I mention many years ago?

Sept. 4th, 2007

Finally got some pictures from the Milwaukee Mile on our picture page, but I don't have time to let you know about the "creek" yet.  I will let you know later in the week.  After spending too much time on the picture page, I ran out of time for my updates   I need to catch up on my "real work" after our 4 day weekend.  

Aug 27th, 2007

We had a beautiful weekend for racing.  Friday was dry until our practice session was over and on Saturday the sun was out all day long.
Bill was happy with all of his practice sessions on both Friday and Saturday morning.  Qualifying went well with Bill ending up 2nd with a 32.134 and James Swan taking fast time honors with a 32.048.  
The feature race was lined up with an 18 car invert.  Bill started 9th row inside.  We had a few caution flags fly.  On lap 6 Tim Schmitt had an axle break causing a blown right rear tire.  That in itself was scary but it happened right in front of Bill.  I thought our day was going to be done.  Bill missed him completely.  Bill was still somewhere in the middle and trying hard to move forward.  He did make it up to the front pack but the car was just not right.  On lap 36 of our 40 lap race the leaders got together with Kyle Shear spinning and Danny Powell being sent to the rear.  Bobby Gutknecht inherited the lead with Lyle Nowak behind him.  On the restart, Max Schultz blew his engine and collected a group of cars that crashed in turn one.  Once again the yellow came out.  After some thought on our officials part they finally threw the checkered flag.  Bill ended up seventh with Bobby Gutknecht winning and Lyle 2nd.  
On a sad note.  We lost a very dear friend this past week.  Ron Fryer had been a friend of ours for many years.  He had just lost his wife late last year to cancer.  He will be sorely missed.  Bill just said he missed the Monday phone call that Ron would have made today.  He would have asked how the "senior citizen" did at the race this weekend.  I will miss his "How's Granny Janny" comment.  
Our next race will be at Francis Creek on Saturday.  A fun little race track.  See you there.  

August 20th, 2007

Mother Nature won this weekend.  We got the call just as we were warming up the motor home to leave our driveway.  Great timing.  There will be no make up date for this race.  
Our next race date will be at Milwaukee this weekend.  If the rain lets up, we will have some practice sessions on Friday.  Our race will be held on Saturday afternoon. You can get the complete schedule at www.milwaukeemile.com. 

August 17th, 2007

Just thought I would keep you up to date.  We will be going to Kaukauna this Saturday for the Blue race.  The points for the Mid American Series has been really tight most of the year.  Bill is tied with James Swan for second with Bobby Gutknecht point leader.  There is only 88 points separating the top 5.  It has been a fun year battling back and forth.  After the Kaukauna race, Bill will be getting the car ready for the Milwaukee Mile which is the next race we will be going to.  That is if there is anything left after Kaukauna.  The season is winding down and we only have a few races left.  Our last race of the season will be at Elkhart Lake at the end of October.  Bill is looking forward to that.  
See you at Kaukauna Saturday night.

 July 24th, 2007

We had one of our biggest car counts this year at Kaukauna this past weekend.  Thirty-two cars qualified with Bill being the first car out and keeping fast time honors.  I was a little nervous when James Swan qualified after the late models due to mechanical problems.  I thought he would pull off fast time but wasn't quite there and Bill held onto it.  In the past years the Mid American series has allowed a driver who has mechanical problems during practice to qualify after the late models are done.  They must be ready by the time qualifying is over.  It has benefited most of us at one time or another.  In 2001 when Bill was point leader going into the night, he broke the transmission as he was going out to qualify.  He put it in the trailer (we have a hoist) and we had a lot of help changing the trans.  Most of the help came from other competitors like Bobby Gutknechts crew and Peter Hernandez.  When he was done he went out to qualify after the late models and pulled off fast time.  Some people thought this was not fair but in the long run it is done for everyone.  
The roll of the dice put Bill in the 6th row outside for the start of the feature.  Right from the start, the outside row had the advantage and started to slowly move up.  On lap ten we had two cautions, one for a spin and on the restart Ryan Manthei and Kyle Shear tangled with Ryan going airborne.  Luckily the forth turn wall is a soft wall.  No one was hurt except for the car.  
With another restart Bill slowly moved up to the 4th position and getting ready to pass on the high side when something failed.  Bill thinks it was the ignition switch and it came back to life after he wiggled it.  He had fallen back about 5 car lengths or so.  
By this time Bobby Gutknecht was leading with Jake Finney 2nd, James Swan third and Bill in 4th.  Another yellow came out for a crash in turn four with 6 laps to go.  Bill battled with Swan back and forth for the 3rd position but could not manage to pull it off.  James took the high side and Bill worked the inside.  James made one last effort and managed to take away 2nd from Finney and Bill ended up 4th.  It was an exciting race.  It has been three years since Bobby G. won a feature and he was pretty happy with the outcome.  
We have a few weeks off.  Our next race will be back to Kaukauna for our last race of the year there.  The week after Kaukauna will be the Milwaukee Mile ( Aug 24th and 25th).
  

July 16th, 2007

This past Saturday we were at the Dells for the first time with the Mid Am cars.  Our truck series went there in 1997 and again in 2006.  The facility is a great place to race although passing on the outside is a bit hard.  
Bill qualified 5th and did his usual in the heat race.  (Just a practice session for him)  
Bill started 3rd row outside in the feature and I had hopes he would drive by them all on the outside.  Nope. No such luck.  He proceeded to go backwards.  Finally he found an opening on the inside but he had lost a lot of ground.  He was now in 11th place. The only caution of the race came out on lap 11.  Bill restarted the race in the inside lane this time and  started to work his way up through the field.  With about 10 laps to go he was in 5th place.  He was right behind Lyle Nowak who was running along side Bob Gutknecht in the 3rd and 4th position.  Bill made a last lap effort coming out of turn four to pass both of them on the inside but couldn't manage the move.  Lyle finished 3rd Bob got fourth and we ended up 5th.  
Kyle Shear won his first feature event and ran a very good race.  Congratulations Kyle!
Next Saturday we will be at Kaukauna for the second time this year.  Hope to see you there!!!!!

July 9th, 2007

Our last race was at Madison on July 7th.  Lucky 7-7-07.  Well it was for some drivers.  Bill tried a new set up and it wasn't as good as he would have liked it.  Bill was happy with his 2nd place in qualifying.  He tried a few different things for the heat race and he ended up third.  We thought he may over heat as it was in the 90's all day.  
Bill started in the 6th row inside for the feature with James Swan right next to him.  The green flag came out and Swan took off.  Bill could not find an opening anywhere.  It was side by side racing in front of him for most of the race.  Once he did break out of the pack he moved up a few spots.  A yellow came out on lap 25 for a James Swan crash in turn three.  James lost his motor and ended sliding into the wall.  It was a tough break for him.  He was leading and would have had a clean sweep if the car would have stayed together.
After the restart Bill was slowed down by a lapped car.  He eventually cleared that car but his ill handling car just did not want to co-operate.  Bill did finish 7th, which was pretty good considering how bad he looked.  
The winner was Jeremy Spoonmore.  One more apology to Dave Obermeyer.  Bill's spotter (that's me) called him clear and he wasn't.  Luckily Dave held on when they hit.  Nice save Dave.
Our next race is at the Dells this Saturday.  If everything turns out right we will be there.   

June 19th 2007

Another great weekend of racing at Road America.  Bill just loves the road courses, and it shows.  He qualified on Saturday morning and was fastest in his class.  We had to wait until almost 5:30 at night to race.  He ended up winning his class and placing 4th overall.  There were some pretty fast cars in our session on Sunday.  He qualified 1st in class again and 4th overall.  I will have a picture of Sundays line up with Bill starting up front with some really fast cars.  The car on the pole (orange) was almost 15 seconds per lap faster during Saturdays race.  Bill won his class again and was 5th overall.  
Our next racing date will be July 7th at Madison with the Mid American Stock Car Series.  

June 12th, 2007

Another great day for racing, and when the day goes as great as it did, it makes it all that much better.  Bill was the second car out to qualify and held onto fast time until Ryan Manthei came out.  Bill ended up with 4th in time behind Manthei, Gutknechect, and Swan.  He tried a little something different in the heat race and I always figured he should leave it alone.  I always figured he would take himself right out of the ball park.  Not this time.  His little tweaking was just fine.  He started in the 10th position and worked his way up in the field.  Lyle Nowak, who started near the front, had an early lead and I thought he was going to check out and run away with the race.  A few laps later a ton of smoke poured out of his car and he pulled off.  By lap 15 or so it was Jeremy Spoonmore, James Swan, Bill and Bobby Gutknechect all right there.  Bill got past James Swan and then Swan passed Bill.  I thought we were going to settle for third but Bill passed Swan again and held onto it.  Bill passed Jeremy Spoonmore on the outside for the lead and held onto it.  One last caution on lap 32 came out but no one could catch him and he won.  This was the first race his dad was at that he won.  
A quick thank you to Dave Valentyne from the track and Julie and Doug Strasburg for the use of their golf carts.  It made it easier to get Bills dad to the stands and back so he could see the races.  
We will be going to Road America this weekend with the touring car for a SCCA event.  Bill is really looking forward to that.
See you at the track.

June 5th, 2007

As long as the rain gods stay away we will be at Kaukauna this Saturday night.  Bill has the car all ready.  
The following weekend we plan on going to Road America with the SCCA Touring car.  Last year we went and it was his first race with the car and his first win.  I hope his luck is with him this weekend also.  
See ya at the track.

May 15th, 2007

I am a little behind updating.  We haven't been racing but we have been to some car shows recently.  Two weeks ago we went to the Milwaukee Mile for their annual Drive the Mile event.  Anyone donating $15.00 to a food bank could take three laps on the track behind a pace car.  There was also a car show and a couple of our friends were there with their classic cars.  Dan Hirsch had his Coronet, Bob Dierkes had his blue 57 T Bird and Randy Holmes had his Cobra.
There were 8 to 10 Mid American cars there and we were allowed to go on the track.  Bill didn't want to take the car out on the track so I volunteered for him.  I stalled on the pit road a couple of times but managed to catch up to the back of the field.  We were only going around 70 or 80 but I really enjoyed the experience.
This past Saturday we were at Lynch Dealerships for their annual car show.  Lots of cars there from vintage modifieds to the Mid Americans.  We had great weather for both events.  
The next race event that we will be going to is Kaukauna on June 9th.
I will put a couple of pictures on the site in the next couple of days so check out the New Picture page a little later.

April 30th, 2007

We couldn't have asked for a better day for racing.  The weather was perfect with lots of sun and warm temperatures.  
As usual Bill wasn't happy with practice and tried a few things to make it better.  By the time qualifying came around he was right there with the rest of them.  He turned second quick with James Swan having fast time.  
Feature time came and he started 5th row inside.  He steadily moved forward picking off a car or so a lap.  He followed Lyle Nowak, who started second row inside, past the final couple of cars and then raced behind Lyle for a while.  With a few laps to go, Bill tried to pass Lyle on the outside but just couldn't pull it off.  Bill ended up 2nd with Lyle Nowak winning.  It was nice to see Lyle win as his wife Marcy's birthday was this weekend.  Happy Birthday Marcy.
We will be going to the Milwaukee Mile Sunday May 6th for an exhibit.  They say the show will be run rain or shine, but if it rains we will not be there.  You can go to www.milwaukeemile.com to see what it is all about.  Our next schedule race is May 26th at Grundy.  We have decided not to go to that race but will be at Wisconsin International Raceway on June 9th.  

April 17th, 2007

I will be updating on Tuesday for a while.  That is the first day of the week that I am at the shop.
Rockford started off pretty good.  Bill turned fast time.  Even he was surprised with his time.  
The heat race was a good practice session.  He ended up 4th and didn't wreck anything.
The feature was quick.  One half lap.  Yup! Just one half lap and that was the end for us.  Someone in the front of the pack got out of shape and the whole field slowed down.  The cars at the back of the field couldn't see what was going on and it happened so fast I couldn't let him know fast enough. He hit Bobby Gutknechet full throttle and took out the radiator along with some support bars.  Bobby hit the guy in front of him for the same reason.  Bill was not able to return to the track after the accident.  That was the "wreckford" syndrome.  
If Bill gets the car back in shape our next race is Plover on April 29th.   
We wanted to congratulate Dave Obermeyer on his first Mid American win.  He drove a great race and we were cheering for him.

April, 10th, 2007

Just a quick note to let you know we will be going to Rockford.  Bill will be leaving on Friday for practice and I will be coming down with dad on Saturday.  See you there and bring your snuggies. Burrrrrrrr!

April 3rd, 2007

Hello Spring!  We are looking forward to the Rockford opener on April 14th.  We are planning on going.  Bill still has a lot of work to do on the car before it goes.  When it comes time to go he will be ready.  Whether it is fast or not will be a different story.  He hasn't spent much time on the cars this past winter.  
Only Bill would drive 1000 miles on April fools day to buy a dirt late model.  Yes he did.  He plans on rebuilding it to one of his former late models.  This will be a ten year project.  I will keep pictures of it and keep them posted as the progress goes on.  I guess Bill needed another project after he sold the truck.
See you all at Rockford.

February 14th, 2007

Even though it is the middle of winter we still have a few things to write about.  First of all Bill sold the truck on Jan 20th to an up and coming star.  Tom Roney practiced in the truck on our last truck race date in Lake Geneva.  He was surprisingly fast and smooth.  It was that moment that he said he wanted the truck.  He ran street stocks at Lake Geneva for the past couple of years and wanted to advance to another aspect of racing.  We held onto the truck until he could afford to buy it and on January 20th he took it home.  We will miss it.  Bill enjoyed the truck because it was something different.  
We also went to our awards party that same night.  We weren't sure we would make it to the banquet but managed to get away for a couple of hours.  It was great to see all of our friends again.  The winter is too long.  On our way home we had major mechanical problems.  It sounds race related.  We had ignition problems.  My car started backfiring 1/2 hour from The Dells.  (It's almost 2 hours home)  It got worse and worse.  It went from a little backfire to a major slow down to 35 mph max.  It burned out the entire exhaust and was an expensive repair once we got home.  The sheriff that stopped us on the way home thought we were drinking because of how slow we were going, but realized we just had car problems.  We did make it home  around 1am and glad we didn't have to call for a tow.  
I have added a few more pictures to the new picture page.  One is of the truck with the new owner Tom Roney and his crew chief Joe and the there are 3 of the awards party.

January 9th, 2007

I hope all of you had a great Christmas and New Year.  
Bill went to both the Green Bay auction in December and the Rockford auction in January.  He bought a pit bull at the Green Bay auction.  We are having it painted as this is written.  
This coming season is up in the air at this time.  We have some family health problems and we are not sure how much racing we will be doing.  We will keep you informed as much as possible.  
I took a picture of our front yard this past Sunday.  Bill yelled for me to come see something and I thought someone was having a heart attack.  There, in our front yard, stood four deer.  I grabbed the camera and was lucky enough to get this picture.  (click to enlarge)  
The Mid American Series will be having their opener in the middle of April at Rockford.  We're hoping to be able to go but not sure and will let you know.  Bill may even race his road race car this summer.  He really likes the road race events.
I will try to keep you posted.

October 9th, 2006   edited Nov 3rd

We just finished our 34th race season at La Crosse on Saturday.  It was not the way we would have liked to either.  After working during the week to get his old set up back to where he wanted it, we headed out to La Crosse on Friday.  We didn't practice until Saturday morning.  Bill got the car ready for practice and plugged in our radios.  Bill could hear me but I couldn't hear him.  (I kind of liked that.)  His laps were fast for the first set.  I thought he was coming into the pits to adjust something but he told me we were done for the day, that the motor broke.  How disappointing that was.  He was third in points with a chance to place second at the end of the day.  As it turned out he finished the season with a 5th.  
I must say though, we had one of our better seasons.  Our Rockford race started out a little rough with a 12th place finish and some body damage.  I figured we were in for a bad year.  As it turned out we had a great year.  In the Mid American series we ended up with 2 wins, 5 third places, 1 fourth, and 2 twelfth place finishes.  We also had 4 either no starts or dnf's.  Bill also won the Milwaukee Mile Dash for Cash.
Our season with our other cars was great also.  The road race car went to three races this year.  He won two and placed third in the other.  One of those wins was at Daytona International Speedway in August and the other was at Road America in June. 
The truck gave us a couple of wins also.  
I wanted to thank those who helped us with the 2006 season: Lynch GM Superstore, Performance Unlimited, Diamond Wheels, Heiser Trailer Sales, Behling Circle Track Equipment and Coffey Trailers.
We both wanted to congratulate James Swan on his championship this season in the Mid Am Car Series and Tom McClintock in the Midwest Super Truck Series.

Oct 2nd, 2006

Another track goes by the wayside to homes and condos.  
We had our very last race ever at Lake Geneva Raceway this past weekend.  They had an abundance of cars.  Our division had 35 and I heard the late models had over 50 cars.  There was also an endless supply of Street Stocks, Super Street Stocks and BIC cars (basic international cars).  Bill also ran the truck there on Saturday night.  Also some modifieds and winged sprints and a couple other divisions.
Qualifying did not go very well for us.  He qualified 18th and only the top 16 were guaranteed a spot in the show.  Bill was lucky enough to get the provisional (top car in points that doesn't make the show).  
Bill's starting spot in the feature was in the 9th row.  I could tell after the first couple of laps or so that it would be great if he could just finish without a major incident.  He had a few incidents on restarts and finished back in 13th.  The field was so tight with cars at the back and Bill's car handled like a dump truck anyways.  He wasn't going to get to the front even if the race was 500 laps long.  
Bill tried something new in his set up and obviously it didn't work.  As his crew chief, I don't think I want that set up ever again.  
Bill and I both agree, if we ever win the lottery, we will buy up a bunch of condos.  Then we will knock them down and build a race track.  What do you think?
Later this week I will have some new pictures to put on the new picture page, some from The Milw Mile and some from Lake Geneva.  Check back.
The trucks ran Saturday and Bill had second in time and a heat race win.  In the feature, he started in the middle and ended up fourth.  All the trucks seemed equal in speed and he was a few lengths behind third place.  Maybe another 100 laps or so and he might have caught the leaders.  
Our last event of the year will be at La Crosse.  This is another big event with many different divisions there.  The Mid American Cars will be there on Saturday and the Midwest Super Trucks will be there on Sunday.  Hope to see you there.  

September 25th, 2006

Rockford!  What a hard place to write about.  Things happen so fast there it's hard to remember them.  On the way home Bill and I were talking.  I said that there had to be 10 or 12 yellows.  He said only about 5 or 6.  
First things first.  Qualifying was not what you'd expect.  We hung transponders on the cars and went out to practice.  The fastest of your laps was your qualifying time.  Bill qualified 3rd.  With the roll of the dice being 14, Bill started 6th row outside in the feature.  By the second yellow he fell back and was running around 15th.  My hopes for a good finish was slowly slipping away.  But with every yellow Bill moved up a spot or two.  He even had a couple of incidents that even he was surprised he pulled off.  With only a few laps left he passed Lyle Nowak for third and stayed there for the finish.  This is a tough little race track and you either love it or hate it.  We have done well there and we have taken it home in pieces too.  We survived yet another Rockford.  
We still have two more weekends of racing left.  Next Saturday and Sunday we will be at Lake Geneva Raceway.  This will be the last Mid American and Midwest Super Truck Series race there ever.  The track will be closing.  Both car and truck will be going.
The last event will be LaCrosse the following weekend and again both the car and truck will be there.  More about that later.
We had a new sponsor join us for the last couple of races.  We will proudly display a sticker from COFFEY TRAILERS located at 3800 W Lincoln Ave in the Milwaukee area on both the car and truck.  Thanks Lee.

September 18th, 2006

We spent the day on Saturday at Lynch Dealerships with John Fischer.  It turned out to be a beautiful day and I think John sold a lot of cars.
After the show was over we headed to Lake Geneva for the Midwest Super Truck Series race.  Bill practiced well and went to qualify and came back with a second place.  Not too bad with old tires.  The track was a little bit slippery.  On Friday night, Lake Geneva had trailer races and that left a lot of oil on the track.  Times were slow for everyone.  Tom McClintock took fast time honors.  
Bill took second place in the heat race.  The feature line up put Bill third row inside for the start of the feature.  It took a couple of laps for traffic to work itself out in front of him.  By lap 8 or 9 Bill took the lead.  He had a 5 or 6 truck lead when the yellow came out with 7 to go.  Bill continued to lead on the restart.  The last couple of laps Bill seemed too high in turn 2 but it all worked out for us in the end and he won the race.   I'm not sure when we will be racing the trucks again but I will keep you posted.  
The Mid American Car Series will be at Rockford this next weekend and as of right now we will be racing on Sunday only.  Hope to see you at the track.  

September 5th, 2006

We went to the smallest track on our schedule this past Saturday night, the 141 Speedway in Francis Creek, WI.  This has always been a fun track to race at.  Bill has had good luck and has had bad luck there.  When you race at this type of track you can expect a few bumps and bruises.  
Bill had a good practice sessions but as usual at that track his qualifying lap wasn't as good as his practice session.  In fact on his second lap he spun out in turn 2.  I think the last time he spun out during qualifying was at Plover 10 years ago.  Bill ended up with fourth in time and started in the fourth row inside.  Bill made his way through the field to second place and was passed by Darryl Gerke with a few laps to go.  Bill ended up third.  
Our next race will be at Lake Geneva on Sept 16th with the truck.  We will also be at Lynch GM Superstore in Burlington on September 16th with the car.   Hope to see you there.

August 28th, 2006

How about things that make you say "HOT" Dang.  You know, like when you're running late and you make all the green lights on the way.  Or you draw the winning lottery numbers.  That is what happened on Sunday at the Milwaukee Mile. After our disappointing motor problems at Kaukauna last weekend, this weekend made up for it.  
The Mid American Series ran a 40 lap race on Saturday afternoon.  Bill qualified 5th and started 6th row outside.  He passed a few cars and by lap 8 he was running 5th.  After a restart on lap 12 he pulled into 3rd behind Scott Ascher and Lyle Nowak.  He held onto 3rd for a while and by lap 24 the last yellow flag came out for an engine eruption on John Fischers car.  On the restart, I thought Bill was going to pull off the pass for the lead but coming out of turn four the car drifted high and a car passed him for 3rd.  Bill said he didn't think the car would do any better and he was right.  He crossed the finish line 4th but a DQ from a car in front of him gave Bill third.  James Swan won with George Schultz second.  I think we were all impressed that we started 38 cars and 32 cars finished on lead lap.  
Sundays race was sponsored by the Milwaukee Mile and they called it a dash for cash.  16 cars for 16 laps for $2000.00 to win.  That is by far the highest purse we have run for in the Mid American Stock Car Series in a long time.  The line up was unique.  A drivers meeting was called and as they called off the drivers names, each driver pulled a card.  Ace through 8, clubs and hearts.   All clubs went inside and all hearts went outside.  Ace on the pole and 8 in last place.  
Bill's name was called half way through and he pulled a 2 of hearts.  Second row outside was where he lined up.  Coming out of turn 4 on the first lap Bill took the lead and never looked back....well.... Bill has always said the best place to watch a race is in your rear view mirror.  What a great win.  Bobby Gutknecht took second with John Senerchia 3rd.
Bill has always said that he would rather be lucky than good.  Sunday he was both lucky and good.  HOT DANG!
We also wanted to thank all the people at the Milwaukee Mile.  The track is about a half mile from our shop and knowing many people there made the win even better.  Ron Tretow gave Bill a little speed secret and for this I am grateful.  Thanks Ron.  Thanks to all the photographers and officials in victory lane for waiting for me to get there.  It was a long hike from the spotting tower.  
I am waiting for some pictures to get to me and then I will put them on the site.
Next Saturday is another favorite track.  We will be at Francis Creek for the last time this year.  We're going from the largest track to the smallest. 
The trucks have a make up race at Columbus on Friday night.  We're not sure we will be there yet.

August 22, 2006

Just a quick note:  We will not make it to Columbus for the truck series race on Friday night.  

August 21, 2006

Bill and I were talking most of the way home about things that make you say "dang".  You know, like... when you just wash your car and a bird hovers over it just to tease you. Or you're all dressed up, running late, and you have a flat tire.  OR.... you're leading the race and you just about know, no one will catch you and your motor says....poof....DANG.  Well that is what happened Saturday night at Kaukauna.  
Bill tweaked the car during practice and got it just about where he wanted it.  Qualifying went very well with Bill pulling off fast time honors.  Our heat race Bill was racing for last as usual and won that position too.  (There is 5 points in the heat race whether you win or place last and we don't feel it's worth wrecking the car for trying to get through the field to win.)  
The roll of the dice was 6 which put Bill in the third row outside for the feature line up.  By lap 6 Bill was in the lead and a couple of laps later he had a four to five car length lead in front of the second place car.  On lap 20 the yellow came out.  Bill started alone with Swan second row inside.  I was worried that Swan may get by Bill but after the restart, Bill inched his way forward picking up a little bit each lap.  On lap 23 or so Bill had a sputter going into turn 3 and by the time he was in turn four he had the engine turned off and coasted into the pits.  How disappointing is that.  Well that's racing.  That gave the win to James Swan.
Bill spent Sunday at our motor builders and brought it back with him right away.  I was worried that we may not have a motor for this coming weekend.  This is our closest to home race, the Milwaukee Mile.  You can go to their web site to get the schedule for the weekend or try the Mid American site for more information.  We have practice on Friday afternoon.  Bill wants to race the truck at Columbus Friday night but I'm not sure that will happen.  We have to be back at The Mile very early Saturday morning for a drivers meeting at 7:30 am with practice at 8am.  Our qualifying is at 9:50 am with our race running at 2:30 in the afternoon.  
If we survive Saturday's race, there is a 16 lap race is scheduled for Sunday.  It is an invitational with cars from various tracks and Bill has been included in that.  The race is 16 cars for 16 laps for $2000.00 to win. 
I will let you know later in the week if we will be going to Columbus with the truck.  

August 15th, 2006

Monday was a little hectic and I couldn't get to write this.  
Bill was chasing his car all night long at Plover this past Friday night.  Right from the start in practice it didn't handle the way he would have liked.  After his last practice session he finally got it to work better.  He qualified 3rd and started the feature in the 6th row inside.  The inside row was the preferred lane and he did start to go forward after a few laps.  By the half way point Bill was running 4th but had some problems getting around the third place car.  With 11 laps left a spin caused a yellow flag and the realignment found Bill on the inside of row 3.  Bill had a good start but the yellow came out for another mess in turn 3.  This yellow caused Lyle Nowak to retire to the pits with a flat tire after his strong run in second.  Now the restart found Bill on the outside of the second row.  With only 11 laps left the car didn't seem to have enough left in it to do any better than where he was.  James Swan passed Bill and Bill ended up 4th with Swan winning the 40 lap feature.
Our next race date is Saturday Aug 19th at Kaukauna for the blue race.  Hope to see you there.

August 9th, 2006

It's nice to be back in Wisconsin, where the weather is a lot more comfortable.  We took a couple of extra days on our racing vacation  to see Disney World.  I don't know if racing or Disney is a bigger money pit.  The weather was so hot that it made it hard to enjoy being there.  
We arrived at Daytona International Speedway on Friday and had to register.  This is the best part of our vacation for Bill and wouldn't you know... we got out of our camper and it started to rain.  I shouldn't say rain, it was more like a torrential down pour.  We had heard that tropical storm Chris was on it's way.  As it turned out that was our only rain at Daytona for the weekend.  
Bill's first chance at racing was Saturday morning when the qualifying sessions went on the track.  Saturdays session found 48 cars in our group on the track.  Bill's laps were conservative because he didn't want to crash so early in the day, and he was 23rd in time.  He was very happy with being there.  The race was later in the day when the temperatures were in the upper 90's.  Bill's qualifying time put him in the middle of the field for the race.  It's hard to see what goes on at a road course but I do know he passed quite a few cars.  When the race was over they pointed him to impound, which meant they had him scored in the top 3 of his class.  They keep you in impound for half an hour to see if there are any protests.  After the half hour was up they handed out plaques to the top 3.  I couldn't believe it when they handed out the first place plaque to Bill.  Talk about a career highlight.  The first time at Daytona and Bill ended up with a win.  
It was the same schedule on Sunday with a practice/qualifying session in the morning.  Bill was 16th in time and the line up started him a little closer to the front.  Again he got pointed to impound after the race and again he was tickled to just be there.  After the half hour of protest time was over he received a plaque for 3rd.  This has to be one of the best weekends of Bill's racing career.  
We headed home Sunday night and arrived safely at 2am Tuesday morning.  We traveled 2683 miles with no incidents.  It was a great trip and one that we will remember for many years to come.  I will have a couple of pictures added to our New picture page as soon as I have time.  
We would also like to thank: Schwanke Race Engines for converting our motor to road racing, Howie Lettow and Ron Tretow for advice and chassis help,  Roltek Transmissions for talking us into the right transmission components.  (I was a little skeptical of his suggestions)  and to V8 Stock Car Series for having an affordable series to go to premier race tracks.
Bill's comments:  The race on Saturday was easier when chasing the rabbits.  You learn faster.  The faster you go, the steeper the learning curve.  I've raced fast banked race tracks before but never one that commands so much respect.  
Bill said that Old Man Earnhardt has to be looking down and laughing at the 53 year old grandpa that came to Daytona the first time ....and won.  
Back to the real world.   
We will be going to Golden Sands Speedway in Plover, WI on Friday for a Mid American show.  It's a wonderful facility and we enjoy going there.  

 

July 24th 2006

Bill had another good night at Kaukauna this past Saturday.  We had a few rain showers right before qualifying but it didn't change the track.  Bill qualified 2nd to James Swans fast time.   The heat race was just a testing time and Bill raced for the rear of the field.  
The feature found Bill lined up 6th row inside.  He had one lucky break when the field scrambled early in the race and Bill picked up a few spots.  Bill passed Bob Gutknecht on lap 25 for third.  His car was real fast until a caution came out around lap 27.  After the restart the car just wasn't the same and Bill hung on for 3rd.  Still not a bad night of racing.  It came home in one piece and that in itself was great.  
The Mid Americans are off until the 11th of August when we will be going to Golden Sands Speedway in Plover, WI.  Bill has always liked that track but it has been years since we have been there.  
Our next excursion is every racers dream.  We are headed south to Daytona International where Bill will be running his road course car.  We even plan on taking a couple extra days for a mini vacation.  
I won't be updating until we return on Aug 9th.  Hopefully I will have some pictures to share.  

July 17th, 2006

When I saw the temperature on the marquee display 97 degrees on the way to Francis Creek this past Saturday, I knew it was going to be a hot one.  Bill took a few practice laps and thought the car was going to be OK.  He started in the back row in the heat race and just stayed there.  There was no point in charging through the field.  All the cars stayed tight and there was no place to go.  
Before racing began Saturday night, the track had an autograph session on the track.  The announcers were going from car to car to talk to the drivers to get there feel of how they were going to run the feature.  They talked to Jim Thorson and he said he was going to stay low and hang onto the bottom (the preferred lane).  Bill looks at me with that gleam in his eye and said he wanted to have a little fun.  When Tom Wagner came by to interview him, Bill said he was going to go high, pass everyone on the outside and get out of my way.  That was just a little fun to get the crowd going.  
As it turned out that is just what he did.  Bill was running 5th on the first yellow on lap 3 and by lap 17 he was running 2nd behind Andy Casavant.  Andy was running a great race and I wasn't sure Bill was going to get by him.  As it turned out Andy started to get a little loose and made one mistake.  Bill got past him and he took the lead on lap 36.  I kept asking him how his temperatures were.  I really didn't need to ask him,  I could see the light on his dash on which means he was more than a little hot.  I was just hoping it would last another 24 laps to the end.  It did and he won his 3rd Dick Grall Memorial.  Bill has always liked racing at this track and the series will be going back again Sept 2nd.
Our next race will be the white race at Kaukauna on Saturday night July 22nd.  
We also wanted to wish our daughter Jeni a happy birthday today.  33 isn't all that old.

July 6th, 2006

I'm falling behind in my duties here in regards to updating the web site.  
We went to the Dells Motor Speedway last Saturday night.  It's the first time we have been there in years.  It was a beautiful day going to the track although a little warn for me.  By the time Bill lined up for his heat the skies grew black.  The rain started with big drops and got worse from there.  The radio report kept talking about tornado's and it looked like it could have happened but didn't.  So we spent more quality time together on the way home.  The races were rescheduled for Sunday afternoon but we had a previous commitment and were not able to go back.  
This weekend is an off weekend for us and we are actually going to attend a wedding.  Yes, it is a racers family (Bob Gutknecht niece) and they lucked it out having a big wedding on a Saturday in the summer.  If that were our plans we would surely have a rescheduled race that day.  
Our next race day is July 15th at 141 Speedway in Francis Creek.  That is the rain date from 2 weeks ago.  See you there.

June 26th, 2006

I always like writing these articles when we had a good night of racing.  This last Friday night we had a great night.  There was about 4 divisions of racing and fire works.  It was great to see such a large crowd in the stands.  
Bill was practicing and wasn't completely happy with the car but thought it would be OK.  The heat race found him not going anywhere and he was happy staying in the rear to keep out of trouble.  
Come feature time, Bill started 5th row inside right in front of George Schultz who is the point leader at this time.  Some weeks we get stuck behind cars that just can't get out of their own way and sometimes we are the one that can't get out of their own way.  But this race it was like the seas parted and we were the only one that got through.  By lap 10 of the 40 lap race he was leading and had more than a quarter of a lap lead on second place. Brad Keith, Lyle Nowak and George Schultz were fighting for second.  They ran this way for the next 20 laps or so, when a spin by Scott Ascher brought out the yellow on lap 36.  This is not what I wanted to see.  
The Mid Ams started to do double file restart unless there is less than 10 laps to go.  Right behind Bill was George Schultz and Lyle Nowak.  On the restart Bill took off again but George was right behind him.  On lap 38 Bill and George got together and Bill got a little sideways. (Actually a lot sideways)  They were looking for the same piece of real estate.  I think it was Bill's dirt experience that saved him.  George slowed down so Bill could straighten out and they went back to racing.  Bill crossed the finish line first and George got slowed down by a lapped car and Lyle Nowak took second place with George 3rd, Brad Keith 4th and James Swan 5th.  
After changing over the car for our Saturday scheduled race at 141 we headed to the track.  It was raining in Beaver Dam where we stopped for breakfast but the sun came out later in the day.  Bill practiced well and was happy with the car.  When it came time to qualify he turned a lap that was 2 tenths slower than his practice session.  Only one car out qualified him and he ended up second.  An then the rains came.  They held out for a short time but it was obvious that mother nature was going to win that race.  We are rescheduled for July 15th which is disappointing.  We wanted to go to Plymouth that night for a Hales Corners Speedway reunion.  It would have been great to see all our old friends.  
Next weekend we will be at the Wisconsin Dells Motor Speedway for a truck show.  Its been many years since we have been at that track.
Forget to mention last week, Bill took first in class at Road America.  He was pretty happy with that.  
I changed the schedule page a little to show where we will be with all of our cars.  I hyperlinked to the various tracks so you can get directions to those tracks.  I still have a couple to do but most of them are done.  Thanks for reading!

June 19th, 2006

Our big weekend started off pretty good.  Bill still had to finish the car at home on Friday before we went to Road America.  We wanted to be there around 5 pm. on Friday but, as usual, we were late not leaving the house until 6pm.
We were up at the crack of dawn on Saturday to get the car inspected and everything went well with tech.  We had one practice session which is also our qualifying session.  They run them together and take your best lap in your practice session.  Bill had a problem with his shifter and only got 3 laps.  I'm not sure of his official lap but I got him at 2:33.38.  He was seventh in time.  
It was a long day waiting for our session to race.  He didn't start his race until 4:30 and it took close to 25 minutes.  We had everything choreographed so that when Bill came in we would just load up the cars and head to Lake Geneva for the Lynch Dealerships night.  That was a points show for Mid Am.  As it turned out.....At the drivers meeting the official had mentioned that the top 3 finishers from Road America were going to be held in the tech building for a half an hour.  Bill never thought he would finish that high but he must have because there he sat in the tech building.  That put us behind going to Lake Geneva.  We left Road America around 6pm knowing it was a two and one half hour drive.  We were hoping to make it to the last chance race.  As we were coming up to Fredonia our daughter Jeni, who was following us, called us on the phone to let us know we blew a tire.  After we looked at the damage we found two tires bad.  Now....normally we carry two spares but no, not this time.  We only had one.  I, by chance, called Tom Mueller of Mueller Brother Trailer Sales and luckily he was at the shop.  He got us back on the road but we still were detained for at least an hour.  Bill had talked to Julie Strasburg and she said the last chance race would start in about 45 min.  We kept in contact with John Fischer, Bob Gutknecht and Ken Eisbrenner.  We knew we were an hour and a half away and wouldn't make it in time so we decided to go home.  As it turned out they were lining up the race when we were pulling into our driveway. 
The race at Road America was also on Sunday.  The last couple of laps on Saturday Bill said he developed an exhaust leak.  We didn't have any parts to repair the problem and decided to stay home on Sunday.  It did end up raining most of the day and we didn't have any rain tires so it was a good decision to stay home. 
Next weekend is another big weekend if we can manage it.  On Friday the Mid Am cars are at Madison International Speedway for a points race and then Saturday we will be heading to 141 Speedway for another points show.  
Tomorrow I will be buying new tires for the trailer so that hopefully won't be any problem.  I probably shouldn't ask what else could happen.  Last week Bill and I were coming back for Minnesota and somewhere around Portage a deer dropped out of the sky and totaled our Chevy pick up at 10:30 at night.  Hopefully we will see you next weekend at Madison and 141.    

June 13th, 2006

Sorry I didn't update Monday, I took the day off.  Bill was at work alone and I don't like him touching the computer.
Last Saturday was a great night for racing with the temps in the upper 60's and a full moon.  Practice went well for Bill with no surprises.  He was the first to qualify and set the pace when he turned a 20.927.  No one topped his time.  He usually doesn't race hard in the heat races but traffic went his way and he took 2nd place after starting last in the field.  
After the dice roll of 11, Bill started 5th row inside for the feature.  He followed James Swan through traffic and by the first caution on lap 11 he was running 4th.  Bill picked off the third place car and was running second to Swan when he got passed by George Schultz.  Bill settled for third in the feature and was happy with that.
We have a busy weekend coming up.  Friday June 16th we will be going to Elkhart Lake with the Road Race car for a Saturday and Sunday race.  We also will be going to Lake Geneva Saturday night for the Lynch Dealerships sponsored night.  That's going to be a little tricky getting there in time.  Bill really likes road racing and the people at Road America are great.  If we don't see you at one track maybe we'll see you at the other.  

May 30th, 2006

We went to Madison this past Saturday for the first Midwest Super Truck Series race.  We had 13 trucks at the track for 35 laps. 
The trucks qualified first. Half of the field had finished qualifying when the # 72 truck of John Wood made a left turn on the front stretch and hit the wall hard.  It took out the timing light and that put an end to qualifying.  Eventually the officials decided to draw for position.  John Wood  repaired his truck and started the race.
Bill was placed 3rd row outside for the start of the feature.  It was a rather uneventful feature for us as we started 6th and ended up 6th.  The winner was the truck that had crashed in qualifying, the #72 of John Wood.  He lead most of the race.
We  were scheduled to go to Grundy for a Memorial Day race.  We decided not to go.  
Our next race is scheduled for June 10th at Kaukauna and we plan on going to that event.  See you all at Kaukauna.

May 22nd, 2006

It was a beautiful night for racing (at least until 9pm or so) at the Lake Geneva Raceway.  70's and sunshine.  We got to the track early and sat around until 3:30 when practice started.  He was happy with the practice sessions and waited for qualifying.  Bill turned a 17.3 and ended up 3rd in time behind Bloomberg and Swan.  There was a 14 car invert which started Bill in the 6th row outside.  The outside row just kept going forward and eventually Bill came out in the forth position behind Bobby Giers in the 50 car.  He passed him before the only caution flag flew on lap 29 for fluid on the track.  Then it started to rain.  There was a 10 minute light shower and the track dried out fairly fast.  Bill was hesitant on where to start after the fluid was left on the high side.  He figured Erik Pierce, who was running second, would take the low side and put Bill in the wet stuff on the high side.  But for some reason Erik went high and Bill had the inside on the restart.  Bill got past Erik for second after a few laps and was chasing down Jeremy Spoonmore but never really got close enough to challenge him.  It was a good night with a 3rd in time, a 2nd in the dash and a 2nd in the feature.
Lynch had sponsored the night at Lake Geneva and had a considerable increase in the purse.  I was sure there would be 30 Mid Am cars there but only 18 showed up.
Next Saturday night we will be taking the truck to Madison to run the first show of the Midwest Super Truck Series.  Then on Monday the Mid Am Cars will be going to Grundy, IL for their second event.  I'm not sure we will be going to that one due to time and travel.  I will let you know as the week goes on. 
I will put a picture of the ASA car on our new picture page shortly.  The car still needs to be jazzed up a little.  It's just your basic blah!  By the way....It will be going to Road America on June 17th and 18th.  We also have a MIid Am race on the 17th at Lake Geneva.  Bill thinks he can go to both and that is our plans.

May 19th, 2006

Time slipped by and I neglected to update the web site.    There really hasn't been to much to talk about.  
Bill did take the ASA-Road Race car on the Milwaukee Mile on May 6th for it's debut.  It was a nice day and he would have been able to practice most of the day.  He was given some brand new tires that were about 4 years old.  He never would have raced them in competition because of their age but he figured practicing would be OK.  It was the first time he raced on radials and it showed.  The car did not handle the best and eventually he went off course once (or twice).  He ended up with the clutch hydraulic fluid leaking when he broke the line in the infield.  
We are going to Lake Geneva this Saturday night for the rained out "Lynch" night.  We are anxious to get back to racing after all of these rained out events.  See you at Lake Geneva.

May 1st, 2006

Mother nature won Sunday.  We haven't heard about a rain date for the truck race at Columbus yet.  (Or if there will even be one.)  The ASA-Road Race car will have it's first practice session on Saturday at the Milwaukee Mile.  We will keep our eyes on the weather forecast for this weekend.  

April 27th, 2006

It's been a slow time for racing for us.  Bill is adjusting to our new garage and still needs to "make room" for things.  As big as the garage is he has already run out of room.  
Our plans are to race at Columbus, WI this Sunday with the truck.  I believe it is an afternoon show.  Pits open at 10am. and that is when we will be there.  The truck is almost ready to go, Bill thinks it will be done on Saturday.
Bill has also been working on our ASA-Road race car.  He would like to practice that on May 6th at the Milwaukee Mile but still has some work to do on it.  

April 3rd, 2006

What a miserable weekend in the weather department.  I don't believe it got over 45 degrees all weekend and no sunshine.  
Friday was practice and Bill was a little disappointed with the way the car was.  It felt good but the clocks said it wasn't very fast.  Practice on Saturday was a little better but still not real fast.  Bill's first qualifying lap was a 14.5 and he figured he had to do better than that so he went all out on his second lap.  He even said he wasn't sure how he held onto to that without spinning out.  He ended up with a 14.2 and it hung on for fast time.  That was his first fast time at Rockford.  
The feature was on Sunday and we weren't sure the weather was going to cooperate.  We had a steady rain for a couple of hours but it cleared up and they dried the track.  We watched the late model's run some of their feature before we got ready for our race.  
Our feature started with Bill in the 6th row.  The first yellow was on lap 3 for a car that had spun and couldn't refire.  Bill was following Jeremy Spoonmore through the field and was up to 7th or 8th when he tried to pass Jeremy.  Bill tried both inside and on the high side for many laps but wasn't able to pull it off for various reasons.  On lap 33 Bill tried again on the low side.  I guess Bill and Jeremy wanted the same piece of track because the result was a four car spin.  After a quick repair in the pits he started in the rear and again tried to work up to the front.  With only 17 laps left he only managed a 12th place finish. 
Our next Mid American race is scheduled for Grundy on May 29th.  We also plan a trip to Columbus with the truck on April 30th.  I will keep you informed if we go anywhere else before that. 
****** Forgot to mention: We also will be going to Lake Geneva on May 13 for Lynch night.  
         Also wanted to congratulate Lyle Nowak for his win at Rockford.  (First win with the Mid Am Series) 
         He ran a great race.

March 6th, 2006

It's March already.  Where did the winter go.  Well if you look outside at the 6" of snow we got yesterday and today you'll see it's still here.  That doesn't stop us of getting ready for the season.  In three weeks we will be at Rockford for the opener.  Bill has been working on the car and it is just about ready for lettering.  We still have it hand lettered by Billy Hoffman.  He does a great job.  
Even though the Mid American Super Truck Series is defunct, Bill is still getting the truck ready to race.  There is a series called the Midwest Super Truck Series that Bill may try to race with.  You can check on their web site for the schedule and other information.  (When the time comes to go racing, I will let you all know where we will be headed.)  These trucks are a combination of the Madison trucks series and our Mid Am truck series.  The Madison trucks are more like late models.  Bill will race with them and see if we will be competitive.  If not the truck may make a great planter in our back yard.
He hasn't even looked at the ASA car that we bought.  
We are still trying to get our garage done so he can move all of his STUFF into it.  Check out a couple of pictures of the new garage.

January 30th,2006

We went to the awards party this past weekend at the Wintergreen Resort in the Wisconsin Dells.  Doug and Julie did a great job in preparing for this function.  Gregg Mc Karns was the MC for the evening.  Bill received a trophy for 5th place in the trucks and for 1st in the car division.  I added a couple of pictures to the New Picture page.  Among other things , Bill received a picture from Steve Halmo.  Steve's artistic talent is great.  We already have this picture hanging in our rec room.  Make sure you go to the New Picture page to see it.  If anyone would like to have one made, let me know and I will give you contact information.  
Bill is putting the car back together for next year.  Our season will open April 1st and 2nd at Rockford.  Bill will also be working on his new ASA Touring car.  He would like to race that a couple of times this year at some Road Courses.  I will keep you posted on that.  

January 19th, 2006

We are looking forward to a new beginning with Doug and Julie Strasburg for 2006.  They purchased the series from Kay Vercauteren at the beginning of the year.  They have scheduled a banquet that is going to be held at the Wintergreen Resort in the Wisconsin Dells.  This is a little more centrally located then the facilities we have been to in the past.  The banquet will be the 28th of January.  Our plans are going to be to go to the Motorsports swap meet at the fair park first and then drive up Saturday afternoon for the banquet.  
Our only disappointment in the purchase of the series is that the trucks will no longer be in their plans.  We always enjoyed racing the truck.  Hopefully there will be some place to run it.  

January 16th, 2006

Bill and I went to the Motorsports show this past weekend.  We saw many of our old friends there.  
A friend of ours asked us to put a picture of my enduro car on the web site.  Well John, I would have liked to but of course I forgot the camera and I have no pictures of it.  Now it is in our junk pile all ready to go to Miller compressing.  I do have pictures of the progress on our new garage.  Since this is the slow season for racing I will put some pictures of that on the New Pictures page.  Take a look!

January 2nd, 2006    

HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Our new year started off right by racing at Francis Creek on New Years Day.  The day started early because I wanted to be at the track and the first one in line to be able to start in the front.  If we do this again I won't insist on being there at the crack of dawn.  
This was my day to race, so we dug out the old Mustang (rear wheel drive) and worked on it for about 3 hours to prepare it.  It's not the same maintenance schedule that Bill has on his cars.  We had to wash it...change oil and filter...and put one tire on it because it sat on a flat for 2 years.  Bill even filled the washer fluid up for me.  
I started in the third row inside ( a 68 car field) and quickly went backwards.  I had a lot of fun but I was not very competitive.  Had they run the advertised 200 laps I would have finished in the top 30 but for some reason they decided to run 300 laps.  A few laps after the 200 lap break that is just what I did.  When I left the pits after the break Bill knew I would be back shortly.  I left trans fluid in my pit spot  About 25 or so laps later I notice my tach went to 6000rpm on the front stretch and even I know that can't be a good thing.   A few laps later I was slowing down and knew it was all over.  I ended up finishing 44th.  
I ended up in the infield a few times and once I had to be pushed out with the jam truck.  Thanks guys!  It was frustrating watching the race on top of a snow pile.  I had one big crunch and saw more of my hood than I wanted to but the temp gauge said I could keep going.  If it wasn't for that trans line that broke I may have even finished the race.  Bill said next year he would build me a competitive car and then I would have no excuses.  We'll see.