Kansas- Blown Engine Update

It’s been an incredibly busy off season here at the Shadow Racing Team Shop. We managed to get 8 races completed in 2012 and have high hopes with the potential sponsors we are seeking that 2013 will be our strongest season yet. Please keep our efforts in prayer as we are seeking many large corporate companies and we want to be a leading candidate in the efforts to better their brands and services throughout the United States. 

We just realized that we never blogged about our Kansas weekend at the end of August. Thankfully we had a great group of people helping us that weekend including Gary who flew in from Canada and also a fellow racer… Steve Lacy.

It was an incredibly hot weekend but we were excited and had high hopes after all the planning and preparation for this 3-day show. We pulled into Hays, KS, set up shop and were ready to contend with the Lucus Oil Tour. The car felt great in hot laps and we only made a few changes to set up for the heat race. I pulled first heat…third row…outside and the engine sounded good. The car was hooked up but three laps in to a 8 lap heat race…the engine couldn't hang...boom! We were done for the night!

Check out the explosion….

The next day we found a secluded lot and decided to pull the spare engine out of the backup car…bad idea! It took all day which caused us to miss the Park City race. But we learned a lot about what not to do when changing out an engine. 

After finally getting the car to run again with the engine, we decided to head to Dodge City the next day to race with the big dogs. It was an incredible opportunity to gain wisdom from the pro teams and run with them on the track. We also go to meet and pit next to Emmett Hahn, the creator of the ASCS Tour and share our story with him.

I was super impressed with the new USA Performance engine and enjoyed the power and fast throttle response. We finished 13 out of 17.

When we finally were able to tear down the engine and get a good look at what happened that night. It appears that cylinder number one over heated which caused stress on the piston hardware. The end result was one bolt breaking and then flying about in the engine. It did a lot less damage than we expected but we now have an expensive coffee table.

Here is the bolt that broke on the bottom of the piston rod; this little bolt did a lot of damage. Hopefully our luck with engines will be much better in 2013.

Not A Hobby! Getting the Car Scaled Out

So it looks like we are going to Kansas after all!! First night we’ll be in Hays, Kansas at RPMSpeedway. It’s going to be a great time with Sprint Car Mania including the 360 & 305 Sprints and even the School Bus races! The next night we’ll be in Park City, KS at 81Speedway. Hope you guys can come out and see us!

The gruesome-twosome working on the car. We’ve enjoyed having Gary (our Canadian friend) with us for the last few weeks. It’s been super beneficial to our team gaining his knowledge from his years around sprint car racing.  We look forward to having him in the pit crew this weekend too!

 The car lift came in handy while getting the car scaled out this time. 

 I had to be inside so they could get the true weight.

The new race shop is coming along. One day we’ll get the insulation and drywall all up. One board at a time while balancing racing, a business and marriage!

Be sure and follow our facebookpage for the weekend race updates!

Memorial Day Weekend- First time out since the accident

Friday – Hays, Kansas

It was great to be back on the road again with Justin’s parents and Justin’s brother Nick flew out to help us kick off the season. This was our maiden voyage in “Redemption Rig”. The drive to Hays went smoothly although the headwind added an extra hour to our trip. The travel was surprisingly comfortable and allowed us to drive longer distances with the large fuel tanks.

 We arrived at the race track and got settled in to our pit stall. It was thrilling to meet up with Billy Jack and Cathy after a year and a half of rebuilding! We also saw several other drivers from past seasons that were completely shocked to see us and hear our story. After we got the car fired up and went out for mud packing, a giant storm came in and sent everyone running for their trailers. It was a blessing to experience the new tall trailer being able to roll the race car quickly inside with the wing on. After a second try at getting cars back out, mother nature won and the night was called.

Saturday – Jetmore, Kansas

We headed to Jetmore to catch the local town Memorial Day parade. On the way there, we discovered that a tornado had touched down just a few miles outside of where we were the night before. Buildings and cars were scattered and we realized how fortunate we were. The tiny of Jetmore went all out for the Sprint car event including them in the parade along with the military and local businesses.

At Jetmore Motorplex the wind was raging none-stop. This race was our very first National Tour event which hosted many of the world’s best sprint car drivers…basically Nascar on dirt. We quickly got back into race mode and enjoyed the spacious trailer and April loved having the atv to zip around the giant pits and push Justin to staging. April’s mom, Aunt and niece came out from Colorado to show their support and cheer us on.

Justin was in the first heat and for his very first time being back on the track, he pulled the coveted inside pole position! Cool but crazy for just getting back into things. Learning the brand new race car and fighting the high winds was a huge challenge but he was thrilled to be back in the car. He placed 5^th out of 8 guys. He missed the transfer to the A main by one spot but had a good starting position for the B main. Starting mid-row gave him a jolt when 4 cars shot for the same opening but he stayed on it and coasted out without any upsets. Two laps in and hauling…the coil wire broke and sent him to the infield to sadly watch the rest of the race.

 Sunday- Jetmore

After making sure that the car was working again, we were ready for another night of racing.  In his heat race he was doing well but got a little too aggressive fighting the wind tunnel in turn 3 and spun out with two laps to go. The biggest disappointment of the weekend was the pit set up with no loud speakers for announcements and the lack of communication from the division leader. We were so far away from the staging area that it was hard to know what was going on and we missed the B main since we got down there too late. All and all it was a great first time out and exciting to be doing this when we never knew if we’d get this opportunity again. We were honored to be racing with some of the most talented drivers in the country and Justin looks forward to many more nights on the dirt with them.

Special thanks to God for keeping everyone safe and allowing us this opportunity. To Billy & Cathy continued support and friendship. To Nick for his support of my dream. To Mom & Dad for not giving up and believing in this team! And to all of our many friends and family members who have stood by us and pray for us. And to everyone who supported us through the silent auction. We love you guys!

Park City… We’re not in Kansas anymore Toto!

The weekend of April 30 and May first was a wet one in Warrensburg and Wheatland, Missouri. We pulled into town that Friday and shortly after they canceled the race due to rain. The crew and I went to dinner and hung out that night in Warrensburg. On Saturday morning we woke up to more rain and the cancellation of the Saturday night race in Wheatland.

I scrambled to find a track that we could stop by on our way home to utilize all the miles we traveled. Our new crew guy, Billy Jack, mentioned a track he raced at in Wichita, Kansas. We found the track info and adjusted our route and it was well worth it. The weather was perfect and I had my best finish yet. I started at the back of the A-main and brought home my first top ten finish, placing 9th. I had made it to the 6th position with two laps left when two cars wrecked in front of me. I checked up and lost two positions and ended up grabbing 9th instead.
This has been my best race so far in my sprint car with everything feeling, working and responding amazingly. I learned to ride the high line and what an incredible feeling of g-force and exhilaration! I'm looking forward to our upcoming race weekend at the end of the month now that I truly know what it feels like to ride that crazy edge!