Mud Festival in Byers

As many of you now know, life with us is always an adventure. As we prepared for racing Colorado Motorsports Parkway we had to take the semi truck for emissions and had not yet hooked it back up to the trailer. The trailer was sitting out on the property, up on steel plates and we hear this metal crunching noise. Running out to see...the trailer had crushed through the plates and sank into the soft ground. It took us hours, lots of metal and wood plus much creativity to level it out. Funny thing is while we were out there struggling, some guy running for governor drove over to offer encouragement and a flyer...Seriously?!

We made it to the track safe and shortly after we unloaded, we hear a loud popping noise only to discover that a trailer tire valve stem had blown out. Thankfully, Brian Hardman and Brad Wasson came to the rescue with an air-jack and impact driver and had the spare in place NASCAR pit crew style.

Justin started in the second heat, 3rd row inside and after battling through the field, took 2nd. We were excited to see he qualified for the outside pole only to see massive dark clouds come out of nowhere. Everything was instantly drenched and the track became a mud pit.

Amazing double rainbow of the Shadow Racing EMI 305

After much kicking and screaming, the drivers got back in their cars to try and roll in the track. Hailee and April were soon covered in mud while pushing not only Justin but many other stuck drivers. They had a blast after the first initial shock of cold mud in the face from those fat Hoosiers. Not the mud facial that April had in mind.

MUD FEST!

After about and hour, the track officials decided to call it a night. The mud won that night but the race has been rescheduled for a double header on the June 25th.

 

We had a blast with Justin's brother Nick who was out for a visit. Nick has always been one of Justin's biggest fan's and Justin is thankful to have had his support for so many years.

Back in the Saddle! & 2016 Schedule

We have had a few races under our belts for the 2016 race season! It's been great to get back out there and hit up some local tracks plus meet up with fellow racers and 05 fans. We plan to race the entire BST series along with some NCRA races and the Colorado Sprint Car series. The 360 will be out there too so stay tuned.

We are blessed to race again this  year and feel we have come a long way after our accident in 2010.
God has redeemed so much and continues to light our path as we follow the road less traveled.

Let us know if anyone would be interested in sponsorship opportunities! We have exciting things happening this year!

2016 Race Results

• Oct 7th @ Colorado Motorsports Park (Byers, CO) - 5th Place Finish
• Oct 1st @ I-76 Speedway (Fort Morgan, CO)  - 2nd Place Finish
• Sept 17th @ Colorado Motorsports Park (Byers, CO) - 2nd Place Finish - Track Champion!)
• Sept. 14 - Special Event ~ World of Outlaws (Calhan, CO)- 17th - Awesome Event!)
• Sept. 10 @ El Paso County Raceway (Calhan, CO)- 5th place Finish
• August 27th @ Colorado Motorsports Park (Byers, CO)- 2nd place Finish
• Aug 13th @ El Paso County Raceway (Calhan, CO)- 5th place Finish
• Aug 6th @ I-76 Speedway (Fort Morgan, CO)- 10th place Finish
• Aug 5th @ Philips County Raceway(Holyoke, CO)- 5th place Finish
• July 30th @ Colorado Motorsports Park (Byers, CO) - 10th place Finish
• July 4th @ El Paso County Raceway (Calhan, CO) - 2nd Place Finish
• June 25th @ Colorado Motorsports Park (Byers, CO) - 1st Place Finish!
• June 11th @ El Paso County Raceway (Calhan, CO) - 10th place finish
• June 4th @ I-76 Speedway (Fort Morgan, CO) - 10th place finish
• May 28th @ Colorado Motorsports Park (Byers, CO) - Rain Out Rescheduled
• April 23rd @ Colorado Motorsports Park (Byers, CO) - 8th Place Finish
• May 13 @ Lamar Raceway (Lamar, CO) - 5th Place Finish
• May 14 @ El Paso County Raceway (Calhan, CO) - 11th Place Finish

We hope to see you out there! 

2016 - Prepping The Foundation

We had a blast in the 305 BST/CAT Sprint Car Alliance last year! It's giving us motivation and excitement about 2016. After starting from scratch in our new 305 car, we had a big learning curve to traverse. The late season success of 2015 has given us momentum to carry into 2016.

We began preparing our promotional plan for the year. April created our promo cards which is a personal approach and hope that is highlights the great marking opportunities that we offer. The fact that we race in a Colorado series is enticing to many local companies.

This winter our main focus this year has been to become more efficient with time and area at the race track, so we cleaned out and organized the entire race trailer and race shop. We feel as a small team, we need to be as efficient and orderly as possible which will make our pit area more productive which will carry out onto the track. Justin feels that less stress in the pits, offers more focus in the race car.

We're also excited to now have a local race parts dealer Hathaway Performance and enjoyed their open house.

Justin took some time this month to travel to EMI in Lincoln Nebraska to further his education with chassis setup. He was thrilled with the knowledge that Eagle shared with him and is eager to apply to the upcoming season. It was also fun to visit Speedway Motors and to find some killer deals.

Looking forward to the new season and excited about the sponsorship opportunities!

2015 Race Results

305 BST Sprint Car Tour Results

Finished 5th in points out of 30 cars.

October 10th~ El Paso County Speedway (Calhan, CO) ---2nd, almost had 1st!

September 12th~ Lamar Speedway (Lamar, CO) --- 11th

August 29th ~ I-76 Speedway (Fort Morgan, CO) --- DNF

August 14th ~ Colorado Motorsports Park (Byers, CO) --- 6th

July 25th~ El Paso County Speedway (Calhan, CO) ---15th

July 11th~ I-76 Speedway (Fort Morgan, CO) ---Canceled

July 4th~ El Paso County Speedway (Calhan, CO) ---6th

July 3rd~ Colorado Motorsports Park (Byers, CO) ---10th

June 6th~ I-76 Speedway (Fort Morgan, CO) ---Rain Out

May 30 ~ Philips County Raceway (Holyoke, CO) --- 15th

May 29 ~ Philips County Raceway (Holyoke, CO) --- 15th

May 16th~ El Paso County Speedway (Calhan, CO) ---Rain Out

April 18th~ El Paso County Speedway (Calhan, CO) ---7th

360 Sprint Car Frontier Region Results

August 3rd ~ Valentine Speedway (Glen Rock, WY) --- 8th

August 2nd ~ Valentine Speedway (Glen Rock, WY) --- DNF

2015 - Season 5th Place & Video Recap

We really enjoyed this 2015 race season!

There were many highs and lows to the year including getting flipped in the 360 to taking 5th in points in the 305 CAT/BST Sprint Car series. We learned a tremendous amount about both cars and can't wait to apply what we learned to the 2016 season. 

Must say that out favorite thing about running the 305 this year was being able to race in our home state. We were able to gather local sponsors and develop a local fan base. The 305 race community has been a blast to hang out with and we hope it continues to grow.



Keep an eye out for winter updates as well as sponsorship opportunities.

Thanks to everyone for your continued prayers and support!

 

Calhan Raceway: 10/10/15 – 305 Race – Best Yet!

It was great to be back out in Calhan (El Paso County Raceway) this last Saturday. This track is only about a half hour from our house…Gotta love being able to drive home after the race! We always enjoy that many family and friends are able to make it to this race since it’s basically in our backyard. Many people showed up to cheer Justin on for his last 305 race of the year.

 

The track put together a fun intermission and allowed the kids down on the track to have a bicycle race. Jaedon, April's 10 year old nephew joined in on the action. He came is 3rd place and was shocked that he was beat by a girl in his age class. He had a blast being down on the track and getting to see what Uncle Justin sees when he races. Fun event!

 Justin pulled #8 pill which placed him 2^nd row inside for his qualifying heat. The track was ridiculously bumpy and not prepped well so everyone took hard bumps and hits without even running into each other! At the drop of the green flag, Justin immediately jumped to the front of the pack, following the #18 for a second place finish. He then ran a trophy dash for top positions with 4 other drivers, taking 3^rd place so he started inside 2^nd row for the main feature.

The main event turned into a wreck-fest due to the crappy track with giant canyons and mud banks along with some aggressive driving. Thankfully Justin was able to outmaneuver many of the drivers and avoid some crazy pile-ups! He drove his way to the front and was soon caught in lap traffic. After another caution was thrown, we were disappointed when they put lap cars in front of us with the leader only a few positions away. The lap cars caused another wreck which Justin masterfully dodged and yet again they put these out of control drivers in front of us. Arg! Justin soon charged his way around them and barreled down on #18, Jeff Geig, who Justin always seem to find himself next to. The two of them rules the front of the pack until another caution was thrown with only 1 lap to go. They did a green/white/checker and on turn 2 Justin dove down to get around Jeff only to run into a wall of mud which caused his car to bounce around. Thankfully he was able to get it under control but it was too late to catch the #18. Congrats to Jeff on his first win!

 

2nd is our best finish yet and hard earned! We had a great night and enjoyed the success!

The rest of the crazy guys went out for a “wingless” sprint race at the end of the night which we defiantly opted out of due to the cars not being set up both winged and non winged. It is unsafe and insane so we watched them bounce and spin around the track and were happy to not be involved in the craziness.

Great ending for the 2015 season! Thanks again to everyone. We could not do this without you all.

To God be the Glory!

ShadowRacingTeam

Dwarf & 305 Race Weekend – Called to Forgive

Dwarf & 305 Race Weekend – Called to Forgive
August 28^th & 29^th  2015

Friday Night – Colorado Dwarf Cars – CMP Speedway Byers, CO

We hooked up with our dwarf car friends and headed to Byers for the first night. Justin was given a fun opportunity to drive the 78c Dwarf for Rob at Papa’s Powder Coating. This was his first time driving this car and after getting on the track he soon realized that he had no breaks! He still managed a 5^th place finish in the heat race, followed up with a 6^th place feature after starting 12^th.

The highlight of the night was that since it was NASCAR night, Kenny Wallace was there driving a modified race car. Justin learned a lot watching him drive which gave him more confidence in handling the cushion. We stayed the night at the track and after a good night’s rest, we headed to I76. Hailee likes the dwarf!

 Saturday Night – Colorado Sprint Car Alliance – I76 Speedway Ft. Morgan, CO

On our way to the track only a half hour away…BOOM!..another semi tire exploded! Thankfully we were able to get to the track and find a tire guy. Heck, if we blow a tire every race…we’ll be brand new al’round by the end of the season. Since we got to the track late, we had to park in the boonies since we so we didn’t get to hang with the other sprints but had some fun with the dwarfs and made some new track friends.

Justin drew a #2 pill which placed him in the inside poll for his heat race.  He had an amazing start and led the first 3 laps before a caution. After the single-file restart…Justin took off like he was being chased by a swarm of bees! Justin just killed it and won the heat…leading all 8 laps.

They drew #10 for the inverted start and much to our disappointment…it moved us from the starting pole to 9^th (inside 5^th row). But Justin was thrilled at how the car was handling and felt really good about this feature. After the green flag dropped, Justin took off into turn one only to have the driver behind him plow through his left rear, flying down the driver side and snapping off the front wing.  He also discovered that the break lines were torn off from the impact…so just like that…our night was over.

You can see video of the smash HERE at the 10 second mark.

 
After a fit of frustration and upset, Justin eventually calmed down and figured out the details of what happened, realizing that it was not intentional. He had such a good run so it was extremely difficult to understand why someone would try to win a race on the first lap by plowing through his car thus stealing this opportunity from him. After the race, we were thankful that the driver came over to apologize and we were able to talk things out.

 

We always hope to understand the importance of forgiveness and the need to mend upsets quickly. God has called us to be the light and we can’t do that carrying bitterness in our hearts. We have been racing with this guy for many years and would hate to ever destroy a friendship over a racing upset. Justin still has the utmost respect for this driver and we hope to continue this friendship on and off the track.