2016 Race Season Recap

Awesome Race Season!

We started off our 2016 season by putting in much preparation and time during our off season. Justin went to chassis school and learned a lot about setup which prepared him to be a better driver by having a deeper understanding of how the car functioned by design. Learning his dry-slick set up was crucial for the 2016 success. This gave him a new drive which boosted his confidence in the team and his own abilities as a driver.

Justin's crew chief - AKA: Dad was the driving force to help Justin become a better driver. Hank always challenges himself and Justin to understand the track and car better while becoming better communicators. Justin's mom always keeps us fed and the race rig cleaned up and organized. Justin's wife is his backbone, prayer warrior, always thrilled to race, ready to jump in the pushrzr and not afraid to get dirty.  April's niece Hailee and nephew Jaedon were always there to help out and cheer on the 05. Brandon helped out, not only in the pits but also as our motorsports marketing representative. He proved to be incredibly helpful and motivating with encouragement and support that he has given us from our first sprint car racing days. The Shadow Racing Team rocks!

This season offered many opportunities and races with the 305 divisions in Colorado. Justin set out at the beginning of this season to gain seat time and grab his first sprint win. We were more determined than ever to reach success and were thrilled to be able to offer partnerships with local sponsors. Justin won many heat races, almost always finished in the top 5 cars, taking many 2nd places and then in July he won his first A feature! He then earned a track championship, 3rd place in the BST championship, and 3rd in the URSS West Series.

The opportunity to run with the World of Outlaws was amazing! We put together a 360 package and were able to race with the superstars of our sport at our home track here in Colorado. It was a dream come true to contend and even be competitive with the best in the world. It will be a memory that will be treasured forever.

We would not have been able to complete this season without the support of our sponsors, family and friends. You all have made this one of the most incredible years that we have experienced and we cannot express our gratitude enough.

7/5-6/2016 – 305 - Loving A Race Car Driver

On August 5^th, we raced in Holyoke, CO. Some of April‘s family have a farm near Holyoke so they made it out to the race and had their first adventure in sprint car racing.

Justin started out the main feature fighting through traffic. After that, he was on a rocket mission! He was a full straightaway behind the race leader but he was able to chase him down! Each lap he gained on the red 17. Justin was super smooth and screaming fast! They both eventually caught lap traffic and had to split around a lap car...Justin went high and the lap car jerked up, crashing into Justin, catching the left front of the 05. Thankfully Justin kept the car from flipping the wall and getting thrown upside down but they started him at the back with only a couple laps to go. 

We were extremely frustrated knowing that he had this race won as he was the fastest car out there. But it was a blast to watch him rip it up! We tried again the next night in Ft. Morgan but missed the set up. Justin had to battle through the back pack but the track was super greasy so he was not able to make it happen.

Our hearts are heavy for Bryan Clauson’s family as they deal with losing him in a horrific midget crash. He was a legend in the world of racing and the community grieves for him.

Some thoughts from April..

Loving a race car driver is an experience that many people will never understand. Big dreams come with extreme highs and massive lows, with much thrills and much loss. There are times of great excitement, heart pounding moments full of celebration and so much fun. There are also times of frustrations, brokenness and lost hope. Sprint car racing specifically is always right on the edge of disaster or success. 

I knew that when I married Justin that I would be in for an adventurous journey and I would also be marrying into the racing world and needed to be fully committed. I decided that I was not going to sit at home while he traveled to tracks so I made a commitment to learn about racing and fully support him. I became his PR person and eventually learned how to help in the pits and drive the push rzr. His dreams soon became mingled with mine and I found myself passionate about the sport and chase his dreams by his side instead of following behind.  

I absolutely love it and I also hate it.

Growing up with brothers, I am naturally competitive but more than that, I am protective. Dirt racing is scary and every race makes my guts hurt, my teeth grind and my heart beat out of my chest.

It scares me every time that Justin gets in to a race car but I refuse to live in that fear. Every day things can harm us, freak accidents can happen and even daily driving (as we know) can almost kill you. We can't allow that fear to control or consume us or we will never do anything outside of our comfort zone nor will we go after dreams that God has placed in our hearts. I tend to get all twisted up before a race weekend and have to lay my worries down and give each one to God.  Each preparation, each sponsor, each dollar, each trip, each mile,  each and every time Justin straps into the race car… is fully covered in prayers. Crazy things still happen but with each one, we become stronger, learn new things and give God glory through each lap.

We are on this journey together, through the bumpy tracks and the through the checkered flags.

My heart goes out to the Clauson family and Bryan’s fiancé and even his beloved doggies for even though they knew the risk of loving a race car driver, they never imagined or could be prepared for something so tragic. 

By his side

305 - Byers: Back2Back Races - Resurrected Dreams

Saturday night was full of dreams come true! Colorado MotorSports Park held two back2back races since one was a rain out reschedule. Justin qualified for the pole a few weeks ago right before a storm came in so the first race started with that line up for the main feature.

Justin was on a mission from the drop of the green flag, speeding down the straightaway. He was a rocket, smoothly handling the corners, it was quickly noticed that he was car to beat as he dominated the track. He navigated lap traffic beautifully, while aggressively taking over half the field.

Photo Credit: Rob Robb's RaceCar Recovery

A red flag came out when there was 5 laps remaining with two cars getting tangled up. Everyone was then set up for the green, white, checker which was incredibly heart pounding since the cars were all put back together again for a restart.  Justin had a great restart and held his position which gave him has very first sprint car win!

This win is so meaningful to us as this journey, although exciting and adventurous, has been full of battles, frustration, disasters and hardships. It's taken us many years to make it to this point...sometimes wondering if we'd even race again after our accident. Many events were race by race, waiting on sponsorship and for God to provide.

It's such an amazing feeling to sit in victory lane and celebrate with the team and the fans. Justin's excitement was contagious and everyone was thrilled for him. It was so cool that we even had our friend Brandon with us who was at our very first sprint race and then got to celebrate the first win also.

Happy to have had this win on Colorado turf...represent! Big thanks to Colorado Motorsports Park for their commitment to bringing sprint cars back to Colorado and creating a great dirt track and fun for the fans.

Deep thanks to our sponsors: To God be the Glory, IronWolf Designs, Made in the Shade, Huger Reality, and Dales Paint for supporting us. Also to our families, especially Justin's parents who have supported him from go-kart days and are at every race along with Justin's brother Nick and the Wolf family and we can't forget our pit girl, Hailee.

From April: Watching Justin grow in experience, knowledge and confidence in this crazy race world has been amazing. We have been through so many adventures together, even extreme loss and pain. I can't imagine walking this world with anyone other than him. I'm proud to be by his side as these moments unfold. I was thrilled to watch him shout for joy and must agree with Martin Truex Jr's girlfriend Sherry Pollex, when she said this...

..."God was building his character to win a big one, and this was huge for us and our hometown and our family. ... We’ve been through so much. This is just the icing on the cake.”

Thanks be to God for building character in us.  Under of the Shadow of His wings!

305 – Calhan BST Race – Spin Me Right Round

We always enjoy racing at El Paso County Raceway since it’s our home track. We love the fans that come out to cheer us on and the friends who enjoy and support not only our love of racing but also IronWolf.

Justin was interviewed by the new country station Country 107.3, and made sure to plug the dirt track and the 305 racing that has returned to Colorado.

April’s nephew loves our RZR and has a blast helping out as pit crew for the team. AKA…Mud Scraper and assistant push car passenger.

Moving forward Justin hopes to see the “2 spin rule” go into effect for not only safety reasons but also it makes for better racing for the fans. Justin made many clean passes battling for the top 3-4 cars but the event had over nine cautions which caused many restarts so he would lose the position he just gained because another caution was thrown. But Justin loves the new track surface that Joe Bellum and the fairgrounds have invested in. It was so much fun to go full throttle through turns 1 & 2. He can’t wait to get back there on July 4^th. 

305 I-76 Speedway - Choose your battles wisely

I-76 Speedway has always been a favorite local track that Justin has enjoyed a lot of success in his karting days. The day started off great with Justin finishing 3rd in his heat which after inversion, qualified him  for inside pole!

While we were in staging for the main event, the lightning sprints were out and there was a horrible wreck which required emergency response teams. They had to cut the driver out of the car and rush him to the hospital. We know what it's like to have hospital bills overwhelm you, so if you can please donate towards his massive hospitals bills...Click HERE.

Meanwhile the 305 cars sat in staging...engines cooling, track changing and the crash danger settling in driver's minds. They finally got going about an hour later. Justin battled for position in the top 3 cars for about half the race when on turn 2, he charged the corner too hard and spun himself out. Several cars were able to avoid him except for one that ran into the front of the 05, which caused the other driver's own tire to be sliced down. Justin had to start at the back of the pack because of the spin rule but his front wing had been knocked sideways which made the car extremely loose on a very greasy track. He managed to salvage a top ten finish.

As Justin was looking over the damage of his car, he was incredibly upset and blamed himself for destroying a great opportunity for a win. Shadow Racing Team has faced many obstacles from bad set up, to being wrecked, to stuff breaking but it was frustrating to take himself out. To add salt to wounds, the crew of the driver that ran into Justin came to our pit stall, yelling and accusing Justin of taking out their driver. Foul language, threats and degrading remarks towards Justin's wife made it tough to stay calm but Justin held his cool. After being angry at himself and then being falsely accused, we all felt completely discouraged.

Justin will admit that he wanted to jack the guy up but it was obviously not worth it and communication was a lost cause so it was time to turn his back to the issue. What kind of example are were setting for those around us when grown adults are yelling at each other?

We are not going to let this night weaken our passion for this sport and will put this behind us and move forward. We have had a lot of consistency in our qualifying efforts and plan to focus more on our main event preparation.