Montana Race Weekend Update

Wow, where in the heck did September go!

It was an absolute honor to be racing with familiar faces and meeting new people in the great state of Montana. Back at the beginning of September, I received a call from a fellow sprint car driver Jeremy McCune to come and race in Billings, Montana. The first thing that popped into my mind was getting to race at a track I had been on back in 2009 that I really enjoyed. The decision was made and we began to prepare for the weekend of September 21st and 22nd.
We hit the road late that Thursday afternoon and drove until about 1:00am. When we started seeing deer after deer…lining the highway staring at us, we decided to pull over to stop in Buffalo, Wyoming. Thank goodness for deer whistles! Whew!

Friday morning we arrived in Billings and I was so relaxed and excited for the race weekend. The plan for the shop set up was to keep it as simple as possible and that is exactly what we did. Friday’s heat race I finished 6th so I started at the back of the “A” main and finished a very strong 16th. The car felt really strong and this was the first time I raced on a rubber down surface which was a learning experience to say the least. That night ended at 2:00am and we headed back to Jeremy’s place to get some much needed rest as Saturday morning was already here!

We enjoyed the inviting home and yard that Jeremy provided for us! The next day I gave the car a bath and started making a few changes for the Saturday evening race. Jeremy gave me a few pointers about the set up for the evening and we made the needed adjustments. The race track was calling my name and I was so ready to take it on! I pulled the number 5 pill which would start me next to Jeremy McCune on the pole position. I flat out killed the entire field on the start and lead the infamous OJ for 3 laps but he passed me on a corner. I brought home my first 2nd place finish in a heat race. That is the best finish I have had in my sprint car career!

Hannah helping Daddy get ready for a race...

This would start me in the 8th position for the “A” main event. The car was awesome and I finished in the 11th position, a much needed confidence booster for our team and race fans. It was great having people come up to me at the end of the evening for autographs, t-shirts, and to race talk. One guy came up to me and said…. Son, what got in your fire suit…you sucked last night and kicked butt tonight….. My response.. “We got ‘er done!”

This was the most fun weekend of racing I’ve had in a long time. A special thanks for all the support from my “Denver sponsors”, AMP graphics, USA Performance Engines, Nick M, To God be the Glory, Spotlight Web Design, Dales Paint, Bell Racing, and IronWolf Designs.

A special thanks to my parents who always are willing to travel so far, to my wife and best friend April for depositing into my racing dream and always encouraging me to press in and pray hard, and to Jeremy McCune for the racing wisdom and for never giving up on me!

Montana Race Weekend

This was a really long weekend for us traveling 1700 miles round trip to race on some new tracks. The first night we were in Belgrade, Montana at Gallatin Speedway. It is a tight 3/8th mile, medium banked track. We started 2nd outside row with 7 guys in our heat race. It was tough because the setting sun was right in the eyes of the drivers coming out of turn 2 through the straight-away. It was like driving down the highway with your eyes closed. We still managed to place 5th in the heat as the locals knew the track better than us outsiders.

We started the Main event 2nd to last row. The car really handled well on the bottom side of the track. There was only one wreck during the event so Justin got to run 21 straight laps. He learned a lot about running the low line and finished 13th.

We left the track at midnight and drove 2 hours to a race friend’s house and stayed on his property with other team rigs. Very late night! The next day the yard looked like a sprint car heaven with teams cleaning and working on their cars for the next race there in Billings. It was great to hang out, bbq and get to know some of the teams outside of the tracks. We all caravanned to BMP Speedway in Bozemen, MT and pit together for the next race that night.

This was our second flat track and it was super dry slick conditions. Justin pulled inside front row and led half the heat race but the car got really loose and lost traction. He felt like he was driving on ice! So he started 9th row in 18th position of his main event and half way through the race his car got hooked up and he started passing people and looked awesome out there! He ended up taking 14th and would have gained more if he had just a few more laps. Justin says this is the most fun he has even had in the car. He flat footed the track and the handling was so smooth. This race was such a confidence booster and will blaze a trail for the rest of the season. We can almost taste our first win!

Special thanks to all of the teams who helped us this weekend. Your knowledge and friendship means more than you know.