Nebraska Weekend

A little late but an update from us both.

From Justin:
Well, what a weekend! We arrived in Greenwood, Nebraska on Thursday night to race on the fastest track I've ever seen or raced on. The term "crazy fast,"…this was that place. We unloaded the car and tried to start it and it wouldn't start. The fuel shut off valve came apart in my hand. We rebuilt the valve and then it fired up as I went out on the track for mud packing. My pill draw for the race was inside front row for my heat race. I got an amazing start and was leading the first two laps, then a caution. Restarted and I was entering into turn one and through turn two, my right front tire jumped the cushion and I went rolling down the back stretch. My car rolled twice in the air and came down on the top wing. They scraped my car up off the track and brought it into my pit stall. Our night was over, but we rebuilt the entire car suspension that night at the track. We headed out for the next track and got rained out. From there we headed to Calhan, Colorado to get rained out as well.

From April:
Three days of racing has wiped us out! Justin’s first night out in Nebraska had some highs and lows. This speedway is massive and the teams actually pit INSIDE of the track. The photo at the top shows how the rigs sit inside the raceways. Crazy cool! We had to stand on top of the rigs to see the events. Justin was doing amazing but ended up rolling. The top wing was crushed and several bars broken. He was ok and his angels kept him safe. It didn’t even really shake him up too bad which shows that this is his calling. :o) This is the kind of wreck that every driver needs to face to see if they truly have what it takes. We had a good friend of Justin’s find a new wing for us for at a good price and helped us put the car back together again.

The next night we were ready to race at a different track but it got totally rained out. So much rain that the rigs had to be towed out of the pits. We drove back home to make our first race at a local track in Calhan, CO. But that one also got rained out. Lots of mud, drenched clothes and soggy shoes this weekend. Bummer!

Special thanks to our good friend Tim O'Neil who took these amazing photos of Justin at Greenwood. You can check out more of his photos at his website.

Rock Springs- First Race weekend of 2009

Friday night
We had a great trip out and are thrilled that the rig is completly self-contained. We now have a refrigerator, which allows us to bring all sorts of great healthy food. It felt good to get back into the rhythm of racing. Hank, Pat and April soon stepped back into their crew shoes and acted as if winter was never there. What a great team!

Justin pulled outside pole of the third heat. Whoa, let’s start this off with a bang, eh? He soon fell into the racing flow but this year is letting the others know he will not be pushed around. A few times, he was checked up and pushed right back, not to be taken lightly this season. He took 5th in his heat, which made us believe that he was going to be in the B main so we began setting up the car for a stickier track. We soon found out that we were in the A main because one of the guys in our heat jumped the start. So we scrambled to put the car back together and struggled through the main event with a very loose car. Justin finished 16th out of 30 drivers which is pretty darn good for having one of the worst set ups he’s ever driven.

Saturday Night
We stayed the night at the track and woke up to a gorgeous morning but dark clouds soon turned things very cold with windy, rainy weather. After waiting around for several cold hours, they finally decided to get the racing going. Justin again pulled outside pole, 1st heat. Again his car was hooked up for his heat and he took 4th for his qualifying position. Good stuff considering last season we were always stuck in B events.

One of our sponsors invested in a GoPro onboard camera, which we put on the car for this event. We got some great footage of the race!

This first video shows him avoiding a wreck on the very first lap. Whoa! There was also a red flag, which allowed Hank and April on the track so you can see April waving at the camera.
Click here for the first video.

This video shows what it looks like from Justin’s view when you accidentally spin out. Just as he was gaining some ground, he overcompensated and sent himself into a 360. You can see the other drivers avoiding him, the walls and then hear the crowd going crazy. He was able to pull it off, jump back in and only lost a few positions. They loved it but Pat and April about had a heart attack! He would have finished in the top ten but the 360 got him a 13th place finish.

Click here for the 360 video.

A great start for Shadow Racing Team's 2009!

Off Season Update

It’s been nice to calm down after a season of none-stop action and learning. We’ve had an enjoyable break with family and friends. We also were able to catch up on house projects including our new railing for the front of the house.

At the end of the 2008 race season we completely disassembled the race car. We shipped the engine off to have it freshened up. The car now has a new paint job! We wanted a brighter paint scheme so we went with a bright lime green and wrx blue. It looks sweet!

During this off season we have been blessed with some new sponsors. One of them is includes AMP Graphics who is supplying the vinyls for the car and rig. God also brought us an amazing sponsor that offered to buy us a backup car. These guys are thrilled about our story and want to be a part of our journey. They are part of the catalysts to this season and we are very thankful for their enthusiasm and support. Special thanks to the After God’s own Heart Group who has contributed to 2009 racing fund and has been faithful in prayer and support.


We also put on a car show for Dale’s Paint who is one of our most loyal sponsors. This year they have supplyed the paint for the cars as well as covering the vinyl costs. The business owner’s benefit greatly from these shows because of the amount of people it draws in. The sprint car attracts a lot of attention sitting out front of business locations. The go-kart in this picture is where my career started when I was 12 years old.


My dad and I attended a sprint car racing seminar and gained a great amount of knowledge. We look forward to applying it this season. I also have been studying up on my marketing program and have started to apply the knowledge that I have gained from our IronWolf advertising.


This winter we also spent a good amount of time upgrading the racing rig. Much to April’s delight, the bathroom is now complete with a shower, sink and toilet. No more porta-potties! We also added a fold-down kitchen table and bench seats in the living quarters. We are now completely self contained and no longer will need to travel to a rv park after a long night of racing. In the back workshop area we’ve reorganized and have place for spare parts that we’ve been stockpiling. This came in handy after the swap meets that we attended. We built a tire-rack for the top of the travel which will give us more room inside.

ASCS Rocky Mountain Banquet

We had our banquet in Denver which was nice for us only being an hour away. It was at Splitz where we watched the World of Outlaws while hanging out. It was good to catch up with everyone since we had not seen them since September. It was also strange seeing people out of their race gear and in normal clothes, cleaned up.

They also gave out door prizes. We won a hat, a drop work mat that goes under the car, and some tear-offs. Then they took all the names of the top ten drivers and drew their names for high-end prizes. Justin’s name was called first so he chose... a Triple X Axle.. Sweet!

Justin, me and his parents.

The rookies of 2008 including Danielle. You go girl!

Justin getting his trophy.
Link to more photos on the ASCS website.

Aztec, NM: Last '08 Races

I’ve been meaning to update about our last 2 races of the season. They were at Aztec, NM which also was our second track of the season. What a difference this time around after having many other tracks and experiences under our belts. This is such a great track with professional owners. We got their early on Friday afternoon and set up the rig. Since not too many people were there yet, I let Tazzer run and play ball in the open pits. He had a blast!

The Wolf Parents came out for the weekend to watch their very first sprint races ever. They have been very supportive and have invested in us from the start. It’s been a blessing to have them praying for us and knowing they are excited about this opportunity. The first night they sat in the stands and then on Saturday they hung out in the pits with us.

Friday night was crazy for us. Justin did incredibly well in his heat and would have started at the front row of his main event. But when he got back to our pit stall we discovered that the break caliper was shot. There was no time to fix it and we did not want to risk his safety. Sadly we had to sit out the main event and it was such a bummer because he was doing some of hin best driving ever.

The next day, Justin scrambled to find parts to fix the car. Thankfully we are a part of a series of people that are awesome and so very helpful. Derrick let us borrow the needed parts and we got the car back together just in time. Whew! My parents came to help out and be part of the Shadow Racing crew. Dad helped keep the car clean while mom help organize with me. They were thrilled to be a part of it but were completely overwhelmed. They were shocked at how much work when into everything.

That night we did ok, still having issues with the car. Justin hung with the mid-pack but finished 5th in his main which was one step away from the A main. Bummer! At first we were heavy-hearted but then began to look back at our season. We originally would start at the back of each pack and now Justin confidently competes with the best of them. He has learned so much from the other drivers and the veterans of this sport. Our goal was to finish in the top 10 and he took 9th place out of 36 teams. Starting this season we were fish out of water, struggling to learn, understand the car and complete on a low budget. We are also very thankful to Justin's parents for the help and knowledge Hank has brought to the team.
I think we did great and now we are getting ready for next season. This first run was the learning curve and now we will be a team to keep an eye on. We are excited to start with the knowledge we have gained, the friends we have made and the gifts God has given us.
Go #05!!

Casper & Rock Springs, WY

This trip was full of many majestic sunrises and sunsets. Gorgeous!
When we first got to Casper, the track promoter had asked for volunteers to display their cars throughout Casper to stir up interest and bring the fans to the track. We thought this was important for the racing series so agreed and they set us up at a busy intersection in front of one of the sponsor’s businesses.

We passed out flyers and gave away some free tickets. It was fun to talk with some of the fans about the sport, the car and how we got into racing. Many people driving by honked and screamed their racing excitement.

Afterwards, we packed up and headed to the track to set up. Casper Speedway is a half mile track which is the biggest track that we had raced yet. Lots of passing room and long straight-aways which mean super high speeds.

Justin finished 4th in his qualifying heat so he started 16th in the A main. These guys were FLYING around the track and many drivers were wrecking and breaking. Our friend Chad, during his heat, jumped the cushion, rolled twice and flipped over the wall! He walked away from the crash but his car was destroyed and he was done for the weekend.


In our main event, Justin was doing so awesome, moving from 16th place to 6th and gaining! He was even avoiding other wrecks and hanging with the front pack. Then 2 crashes happened in front of him and he had nowhere to go. Hank and I jumped in the Yukon and tore out onto the track to the jumbled cars. Justin yelled at me to run back and find a tire from someone. So I ran all the way across the big track, jumped the fence and asked Todd if we could borrow a tire and wheel. He ran to his pit car, unloaded the wheel and jack while we waited for Justin to be pushed off track. Several guys came over to help remove the back smooshed tire. It took 3 guys to pry the metal off the spine to get to the lug and remove the tire. We were freaking out trying to get it off in time before deadline of the next lap completed. These guys were so great and so helpful but once the tire was off, they noticed that there was a lot more damage that was not fixable at the moment. Bummer!

The back right wheel and tire were completely destroyed and bent beyond recognition. Smashed wheel and wing.
He was out for that race but was able to try the next day in Rock Springs. They were able to piece the car back together for the next race. Justin just finished 11th on the last lap of the race just as the car died and had to be pushed off track. We thought that we had blown the entire engine and were really worried. But after we got home, we found that the magneto in the engine was broken. We now know that it was strong angels that protected him and held his car together. After taking the car apart to find out how much damage was done, we were in complete shock. Our first reaction during this weekend was frustration and upset because we were so close to finishing in the top 5 only to be stopped and broken. But the more we looked into the car, the more we found. 3 of the 4 gas tank mounts were completely broken, the bird cage mounts were cracked, the wing holders cracked plus the wing itself had been taped together by Justin's dad to get us through and much more.


We are now ready for Aztec and are using this opportunity for God to shine.

Hollywood Hills, NM: Round #2

We headed out after work on Thursday night and stayed at one of our favorite RV Parks in Raton, NM. It was gorgeous night with a full moon. The next morning we headed out and met up with Justin’s family at the Hollywood Hills track. His brother had flown out from DC to hang out with us for the weekend. His sister was also there and we were looking forward to the race. This is the most comfortable Justin has been since we have raced at this track before.
It was a nice day as we set up and got the car out. We all chipped in getting everything ready. We noticed the clouds start coming in and when Justin got ready to do his mud laps, the skies opened up. The track turned instantly to mud soup and as soon as Justin drove out onto the track, he slid down into the middle and had to be pushed off track. Meanwhile the rest of us hightailed it back to the rig since the rain was coming down, drenching everything. I was grabbing stuff we had left out and trying to cover the rest in tarps. Tazzer and I were soaked in seconds! We waited for things to clear and they finally sent everyone out for their heat races. Justin pulled outside pole and was doing awesome! All of the sudden he started dropping to the back of the pack. When he came in I was shocked to see him covered from head to toe in thick mud. You could not see the color of his helmet or car. He told us that half way through his heat, a mud glob attached itself to the side if his helmet so when he went to grab a tear-off, ALL of them came off in one shot. Ugh! So half the heat, he was blind eventually having to shove his visor up and wiping the mud from his eyes. Scary stuff!
We all worked like crazy to get the mud off the car, tires and Justin. It was so thick and sticky. We scraped, dug and clawed off the mud. When he went out for his main event, he ran out of tear-offs thanks to all the mud. Needless to say, it was very frustration because we are finally understanding how to set up the car. Plus Justin is really getting a hang of driving and trusting that the car is going to do what it was built to do. So it was a very wet and muddy night. The next day our friends Brandon and Karla showed up to help out and encourage us. While the guys took the car to the carwash, Tazzer and I hung out with Karla. We then met them at the track and set up lunch for them. It was a beautiful morning but just like the day before, the clouds came in and unleashed on us. The ez-up protected the guys while they worked on the car but there was so much rain that it flooded the grounds. We all cramed into the rig and waited for a clearing. It finally stopped raining but by this time it was too late for the track. The officials decided to cancel the race so that we would not have to endure another muddy, miserable night of racing.
So we packed up, headed back to the hotel and then a group of us went to Albuquerque for dinner. It was nice to relax with friends but a bummer to not race after everyone came in to see us.