Just racing... 06/27/2011
 
It's been a long 2 weeks. I went through my 3rd motor in 3 years last week, and worked all week finding a replacement ride or engine, only to get the borrowed motor installed, and have it rain out on 6/23. 

Something needs to be done about these Mini Stocks blowing engines. I know of at least 5-6 engines that have blown this year alone, all due to snapped crankshafts. I'm tired of blowing money on engines that should last a full season AT LEAST, only to have them last 8-10 races because the cranks are weak. They only allow us to run stock cranks and we break them consistently. At this rate I'll be out of racing in no time, its stupid.

I HAD a good year going until then. I was off to my best start ever, a string of consistent top 10 finishes. I had only finished top 10 in a points race once before this year. I was sitting pretty well off when my motor took a dump in turn 3. That pretty much shot my whole season to pieces. Missing one race will utterly doom my final points position. Therefore, I have nothing left to lose. Expect to see a more desperate #4 car at the next race. All I wanted was a shot to prove myself behind the wheel, and I'm all done playing nice and conservative. Points no longer matter, and if I'm moving forward, NOBODY will get in my way.

Thanks,
Brent
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6/2 Thoughts 06/06/2011
 
It's days like this that really make you work and think hard. When I found the timing belt frayed and coming apart I thought we dodged a bullet. What I didn't realize is that the work I put into fixing it would also be part of my downfall this week. I didn't have the chance to reset the cam timing before the race, and the engine was a pig. Not only that, but the carb is still not as sweet as it should be. I took a look at the plugs and I know what I have to do now. 

If anyone saw my heat race, I'm sorry. My brother said it almost gave him a heart attack. I came through 1&2 no problem, but when I got in the gas coming out of 3&4, that car got evil in a hurry. I can honestly say that I've never been that sideways in a mini stock, and saved it. I was so pissed when I got back to the pit that I threw down the steering wheel, got out, and changed the right rear tire. I knew exactly what the problem was and I fixed it in a hurry. It's not that the tire went down, it's that it had NO grip. Luckily, my sponsors came through and bought me a set of tires this year, so I bolted a new one on and had no problem. 

Boy, if racing hasn't come full circle again. All I've done for the past few seasons is chase problem after problem. Now I'm chasing more problems again. Once I get this thing figured out I hope to finally contend, but these issues with parts and setup crap has to go away. One day something works, the next day it doesn't, so I'm left to flounder. But hopefully it all clears up soon and we can contend for better finishes.

Peace, 
Brent
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5/26 thoughts 05/30/2011
 
Whoof. I'm beat after that race, for real. Not only was I driving my car, but I was working on the #81 after it blew the rear end in practice so we could get Moose back out there. It was pretty hot as well, and the humidity was pretty harsh.

I was really apprehensive about the car after last week, but this week was different. I really figured out how to get the car to turn and be stable and I really like how it works now. I also wish I had a ton of power so I didn't have to work hard, but don't we all? Either way I'm learning where the car needs to be better, I'm watching the videos and learning where I need to be better, and once I start understanding and putting that all into practice, we'll have a real shot at winning these things.

I simply couldn't believe the #81 won that Sportsman race. We though that after all the work we put into it at the track, we would be junk and have a top ten car at best. But that thing kept rolling and making up ground, and before I knew it we were in the damn lead. I couldn't watch, because I remember all the times we've been leading with 2 laps to go and cut down a tire, or been hit by a lapped car, or lost the brakes. All these while leading, and I was just waiting for the next thing to happen. But when it didn't and Moose crossed that finish line first, it was just jubilation. I remember yelling, "She's a 9 year old car, but that bitch can still win races! How do you like us now!" I'm pretty sure we were all in a state of shock. Its a few days later and I'm STILL in shock. Lets hope the next state of shock will be when I magically win a feature, eh?

Peace,
Brent
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5/12 Thoughts 05/15/2011
 
So we're back to Thursday Night Racing again. I put a new setup in the car which I think in time, once I work all the bugs out of it, will be faster than anything I tried with my old setup. I want to keep it kinda hush-hush in case it works, because I don't want to give away secrets (like I have any)...

This new setup thing requires a lot more thinking and bravery than my old one, but like anything in racing, it requires a lot more seat time to get used to. Once it becomes second nature I'll start making moves. But I'm just happy I can run consistent top tens for now. That'll change, but for now, I'm content with keeping my nose clean. 

I bought a new trailer over the layover, so I'm going to try to pay that off asap. Hopefully I can get it paid off before something catastrophic decides to happen, because I want to race every event this year. I'm gunning for my best career point finish, and I'm really going to have to up the bravery factor if I'm going to be competitive. Taking risks is all a part of the game, so we're going to have to get lucky a lot.


I don't have a lot to say yet, other than everything has and will continue to be a work in progress. But in case you don't think I've been hard at work, look at my average finishes. 

Peace,
Brent
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The local racing world lost a great man on April 16th. Our 2010 Mini Stock Champion, "Uncle Buck" Chuck Rogers passed away after a brief illness.

Whoever knew him lost a friend, because anyone who met him always liked him. And it's not hard to see why. If you raced against him, he always raced you clean. If you crewed a car who raced against him, you'd always BS with him and drink a beer afterwards. I seriously believe the world is a much worse place without him here. 

I first met Chuck when my brother started racing at the Waterford Speedbowl in 1999. I met a lot of good people at that time, and Chuck was one of the few I still had ties with to this day. He and my brother raced against each other for a couple years until we left Waterford and went to Thompson after 2001. I still worked on a few cars here and there at Waterford, so I would see him regularly. When I started racing in 2008, I was the one racing Chuck in the Minis at Thompson. 

2009 was my first full year at the T and having people around me who I knew was a good feeling. Any time I raced Chuck, we raced clean. I remember one race, Chuck was driving Eric Bourgeois' car, the #87. Chuck got turned around in front of me, and I tried to miss him but he slid down the track, and I whacked him in the rear wheel. Then I got hit from the left, and kept going. Then my dash caught fire and I had to bail out. But after the race I went and talked to him and he said something along the lines of "wow, that sucked". 

I think a lot of the on-track moments between us involved accidents. I remember a couple cars got crossed up in front of us once. Chuck missed it, and I followed him through, but I was carrying a lot more speed. I saw him in front of me and I was on the binders trying not to hit him, and I got so close that the plastic on our bumpers touched and deformed, but we never really hit each other. I think the red from my bumper was still on his back end until the end of last year.

The most I can remember was off the track when we'd either be drinking beers by the campfire or at the bar. So much bench racing went on and so many stories. I remember being at Eli's Steakhouse in Plainfield, CT last year after the races, and Chuck walked in. We were doing some bench racing, and I told him that I thought he had a real shot at winning that "damn championship, finally". He was apprehensive about the whole idea of it, I'm sure it's a stressful ordeal. But I said I'm sure if he kept it up he'd be in good shape. No need to give him advice, because we all knew he was fully capable of doing what he had to do. And when he clinched that championship, I shook his hand and congratulated him. "Thank you, thank you", was his response, although he didn't look all that excited, I could tell he was a very relieved person.

I'm sure everyone who knew him feels that empty feeling since he left us. It was always a good sight to see his ugly van towing his car in every week. He was a pleasure to race with, and even more fun to have a few beers with. It's going to take some time to fill that void, but I don't think we'll ever meet someone as good as Chuck Rogers for quite some time. 
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Damn, that was a really long off-season.

Well, it was nice to get back in the saddle. I think I say that every time I get in the car, but anyway... I was glad to see that all the hard work and money spent on the car has things finally pointed in the right direction. I think I picked up a half-second over last season, but I still have about 2-3 tenths to go. I've got some radical ideas in my head that I think will work, so I'm going to throw them at the car and see what happens.

On to Icebreaker weekend. I was not a very calm person on the way up there. Our tow vehicle died in the gas station and I made two trips back to the shop trying to get it started. Eventually we made it up there, with me turning a deep shade of red in the face. I think my blood pressure was in the 200's. It's not like it was anyone's fault, it's just stupid stuff. Anyway, I signed in and drew a number and talk about taking all the stress away in one shot, I drew #1. I knew all the work I put in during the off-season made the car faster, but I had no idea if I could contend yet or not. We'd find out after the heat race that, yes I was faster, but I was not fast enough. We still had to find more.

The feature was an adventure, like usual, but it was nice to be racing people for once instead of riding. 7th place is a solid finish, and I figured out what I need to do from now on. I've got a lot of ideas on how to pick up speed, so this article is going to be a little short, because I'm hurrying to get to the shop and get to work. But I promise, by the end of this season, I hope to be contending. 

Peace,
Brent
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So the World Series is in the books, and the season is over. Can't say I'm sad to see it go, but I am a little. I improved a lot over this past season, when I was racing and not blown up. Next year promises to be something good if I can get some sponsorship together.


So the World Series just didn't have that vibe this year like it usually does. Since the back gate price is so damn high, people don't want to bring their cars out to race, and it's lost a lot of it's luster. It really isn't the gem it used to be. I'm not saying it can't be again, but until the Speedway head office drops the price $25 for the back gate, then expect it to steadily decline. 


I don't consider my 6th place finish any sort of victory. There wasn't any competition. My car was slow because I didn't get any practice, and I was racing the same people I have been all year. But, stats don't have backgrounds and 6th is my best finish, and like usual I learned a lot about what I can improve on. I'm just glad I get a 6th place check to donate to charity, instead of a last place check, or no check like at Waterford. 


I'm still unsure of what to do for next season. I want something to keep my hands busy in the off season, but I'm not sure if I want to build a new car or just update the old one. A new car would be nice, something I can take my time on and massage into what I really want instead of the car I slapped together in one winter because the other one got destroyed. We'll see, I'll do some research and see how much I'd have to put into it. 


Until next year!
Brent
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So the regular season has ended in less than dramatic fashion. However, less than dramatic is better than some of the alternatives, like wrecking the car. I'm not done racing yet, but that story is for later.


The final points race at Thompson was a real learning experience, as racing always is. I figured out that I was going about the setup on my car all wrong. Well, not all wrong, but rather less thoroughly than I should have. The car kept reverting back to having a push, no matter what I was doing to it, so I got drastic. I threw a ton of wedge in the right rear and really beefed up the rear springs and that made a world of difference. Come to find out, it's what I should have been doing all along. So the car was better, but I'm still nowhere near fast enough to really be a contender. I think I goofed around with the engine too much, so that's something I'll have to play with at the World Series. But I also found some things wrong with the front end geometry, and I'm working on sorting them out. 


And I'm not going to fool around and do weird stuff and race the outlaw race again. I think I learned my lesson with that last year. That was a mess.


I am however, racing the Outlaw race during the Finale at the Waterford Speedbowl. The outlaw race consists of cars fitting the Thompson rule book anyway. But I have a better reason as to why I'm running it. I decided that since October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, I would donate my winnings from both the Finale at Waterford, and the World Series at Thompson to the American Cancer Society. Since I announced I would be doing that on Facebook, people have pledged to donate as well, so I'm going to talk it over with the track crew and see if I can set up a box for the Cancer Society with my car during the pit party on Sunday. I really hope beyond hope that I don't encounter any scheduling issues with doing this and working. If I don't have any problems, then I should be able to pull this off. It's going to be stressful, but since it's for a good cause, hopefully the gods will smile upon me and everything will go smoothly.


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Man, it felt good to be back. I got my new motor (#2 this year) on Monday night, and installed it on Tuesday. Wednesday was spent working on the setup, and since I don't have any scales I adjust the car by feel at the track. This season has been a real bust, but every time I take the car out, I learn something else, or try something new. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but I'm out there trying stuff. 


I came back for the 9/2 race and I really need to stop coming out on the hottest nights. I swear, I always pick the warmest nights of the year to race. Anyway, I got out for practice and it was immediately apparent that the changes I made to the setup were the right ones. I changed the car based on the last time I raced in early July, where I had a push I couldn't figure out. I threw in more rear weight, played with springs and wedge, and the car was pretty darn good. It also didn't go away as the race went on longer. The only thing I really had to play with was cam timing, which helped out down the straights. I'm concerned about the carb, I think I can get more out of it, so I've got to play with that.


I'm slowly becoming competitive. It may be baby steps forward, but it's happening. I would have been faster, but I snapped the exhaust pipe yet again, so I lost all sorts of horsepower. I could have passed a few cars, but starting mid-pack with the competition at the level it's at now, it's really difficult to pass if you're only fast enough to keep up. I have to be honest, I was driving pretty conservatively. I haven't had that competitive edge for a long time, and I needed to get back into racing with traffic. Knowing I had a big power loss didn't help, but I'm getting back to it.


Hopefully I can keep it up for the remainder of the season. I've got a lot of things left to try and I'm going to hope I turn competitive really quickly. Or, at least soon.


Brent
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A little late with this post, sorry. I was soaking up the sun in Spain for the last week.

A phone call changed everything. Sure, it was from a good friend, but who hasn't dreamed of being called up and offered a ride in an upper-level NASCAR division? That's what happened when my good friend Moose Douton offered me a ride in a Late Model for the August 12 race.


So I went down to his shop the Wednesday before the race to get fitted into the car and scaled. I'm a pretty big person, and it took a little squeeze, but I fit in ok. Not width-wise, but rather length-wise. We had discussed what we were going to do for the race, and we didn't want to get too serious about it. I hadn't been in a car at all in over a month, much less a faster and heavier car. So we decided on no infield pitting and I was content to just ride and get situated with the car. 


When I took it out for practice I had no idea what to expect. I know that what I do in my mini stock would NOT work in this car. So they throw the green and I stand on it, knowing that I have good brakes and I'll just baby it until I get an idea of what to expect. I get to turn one and I think to myself, "Holy crap, this thing's got balls, and the brakes aren't anything to sneeze at either." I get to the apex and forget that I'm in a 450 hp late model. I stood on it like a mini stock and I spun the thing out. Huge cloud of smoke, I nailed it when it started coming around. But it righted itself and I kept going. The car was really loose under throttle anyway, so I held onto it and got practice over with. I missed the second practice because we went out to find tires and change the stagger so I could manage it. The second practice went a lot better and I was starting to get the feel for it.


I started 15th, which was last in the feature. I really don't mind starting last, because you can't do any worse, you can only move ahead. I sat in the back riding, learning what tire chatter felt like, hoping my radio would magically turn itself up so I could hear Moose spotting for me more clearly. But as the race went on, the car started coming to me. I was getting quicker and quicker, and since I was putting more laps in, more used to the car. I missed a couple little skirmishes, and when a caution came with 4 to go, Moose comes on the radio and says "Hey, you're in 6th place!"


Huh? Did he just say 6th? I counted the cars ahead of me, and it was definitely 6th. I started to think about how the hell I got there, then Moose comes over the radio yelling something about the green flag being out. Luckily I stood on it and didn't get run over, but I had a new problem. What I'm about to admit to you, the public, is embarrassing beyond belief, but I'm an honest person. I don't give excuses, I admit my faults. But I committed a cardinal sin in racing: I doubted myself. I thought for a split second that I was totally out of my league, and that's when I entered turn one too high. I got sideways and I stuffed the car in the fence hard. That wreck hurt. It's been almost 2 weeks since that happened and I'm still bruised. 


I wanted to hide. I not only just crashed all by myself, but it was someone else's car. I should have gotten in the ambulance and had them cart me away to hide the shame. But I had to face it head on, whether I wanted to or not. They weren't too mad once I said I couldn't really hear over the radio. Which was true, I could only really hear under yellow. I'll be helping them fix it, I doubt I'll get to race it again, but it was an unbelievable experience. I'll never forget it.


Brent
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