(10/3/07)
To give you a quick review of what happened the last few races of the season is pretty simple, same s$!^ another day. I continued to be at the wrong place at the wrong time each week. My specialty. Lady luck hates me.

During the open competition race at Grandview, after the points were over, I took the night off from driving to take the wife out for our anniversary. Hard to beieve it's been 11 years now. I had asked Chris Gambler, who pitted next to us this year, to take the car out for the open comp race. He typically drives the sportsman modified class and never drove a dirt late model before. He did alright for the first time in one. He said he was surprised at how different their cars are to ours. I drove his modified during mud laps the week before and agree. They are two different animals. Both fun though.

This past Sunday (9/30/07) we went to Big Diamond raceway for a late model race. It was a lot of fun. Never been there before and it is always interesting trying out a new track. We went out for warm ups and the car just sucked. It didn't turn. It pushed going in the turns and pushed when I tried to get back on the throttle. Made a spring change to the right front and pulled the right rear back a little.

Unfortunately I didn't draw for starting spots very well. I drew dead last in the first heat. Started 13th. In the heat it wasn't bad. Got up to about 8th and got spun around when I got into the guy in front of me. Ended up 10th so that would put me in 19th starting spot in the feature.

Wasn't sure what to expect, didn't know how the track would change since our feature was running last. Freshened up a set of rear tires with a little less stagger and dialed some rear brake out and gave it a shot. Car felt pretty good. mostly was a matter of getting used to the track. There is no back straight wall so that was requiring a little getting used to. There were several cautions that helped us plus the car just kept getting better. It was nice to finally get to pass several cars. Got up to 7th  and had 5th & 6th right in front of me. I felt like I could get by them in the next lap or two but the 3rd place guy decided to loop it around in front of us and I caught the back of the car in front of me and had to spin the car around. I tried to restart the car but apparently the starter bolts came loose. Fortunately a push truck came up behind me and pushed me to the infield where I hoped to get a push start but instead he stopped and drove away. What the heck! As it was there was about 4" of toe out from the hit. Man, what a dissapointment. But, was a lot of fun and felt great to be competitive. I know we would of had a top 5 out of it. Argh!!

Well, that is a little of what is happening. Now we are waiting for the Oct 20 race at Grandview and then we will start getting ready for the 2008 season. Stay tuned for that.

(9/18/07)
Sorry, my internets been down for the past month (thanks verizon) but it is now back up and running. It'll take a few days but I'll get ya's updated a little on what's happened recently and  what is in the plans for the future.

Thanks,
Bill

(8/12/07)

The "2007 Season From Hell Tour" continues. Man, that sucked again!!  I tell ya, just can't get a break at all this season.  Finally got our  engine woe's behind us and now we can't get a race in. Last night we made it as far as the first turn before once again getting collected in somebodies elses mishap. I continue to demonstrate my greatest natural talent of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.  Of course a talent I'm not proud of but can't seem to hide.  Apparently Nieman's (34 car) steering wheel came off at the end of the front straight. Pretty much the field piled all around him after that. We were sandwiched with cars on all 4 sides of us. Was able to drive into the pits and thought we would get back out but the right front steering spindle was bent bad and cracked. Urgh!!!

I know several drivers that have had that happen at least once in thier career (steering wheel come off). Of course after it happens to you once you never let that happen again. I was mad at him for the fact that it happened but I also know that is something he or any driver doesn't want to happened so I kinda felt bad for him. At least he was apologetic and accepted the blame but man, it sucked.

(8/5/07)
After a lot of hours burning the midnight oil throughout the week we were able to get the car all repaired and back on the track.  It needed some chassis repairs and a whole lot of body work. Had to make a couple new body panels along with reusing some from the previous body that we had still laying around. Despite getting everything fixed I think the car is a little pissed off over the recent events, it seemed to have it's angry red eyes on.

Setup wise the car didn't seem to bad in the heat but had a problem with the steering. Everytime I would countersteer (steer right thru the turns) I had problems turning back to the left.  Seemed to be just when the car was rolling over in the turns so maybe something was binding up in the suspension. We were trying some different springs so maybe it was somethng with that. Hmmm??

When we were pacing around the track before the feature the steering kept getting stiff again. Looks more like maybe a power steering issue. This makes it quite hard to drive with any consistancy. Throughout the first several laps the power steering kept cutting out like it did in the heat but as the race went on it just got worse until finaly it had none at all. Was able to hang in there for a while, just had to keep the car staight since I couldn't work the wheel very well. I then looked at the oil temp gauge because the power steering pump is run with the same pulley belt as the fan and water pump. Just as I was afraid of, the oil temp was pegged. Fortunately it still had good oil pressure. I immediately tried to pull off the track but got rear ended dispite being at the bottom of the track. Geesh!

When we got home we drained the oil, fortunately all looks good. We'll pull all the steering apart and check that out along with getting a new steering pump. Also found that the exhaust mount broke and the muffler had disconnected from the exhaust header.  Lucky that stayed in the car. Along with a few other little issues we found we'll have it fixed up and ready to go in no time. Hopefully we can get the car calmed down, it stilled had its angry red eyes on afterwards.

The race at Big Diamond did get rained out and is rescheduled for the 19th. If all goes right we plan on going there.

(7/29/07)
Boy, that really sucked.  Car got pretty wrecked last night. On the good side (always trying to look on the bright side) We seemed to have finally gotten the chassis straightened out. It was actually handling good. What a refreshing change. Passed a car or two, got to the outside and passed a couple more. That's more like it. Couldn't do that at all the past several weeks. Then up further in the pack a couple cars got together and things got ugly from there, real fast. It happens so fast you don't get much time to react and not much you can do. Between who I hit and the cars that hit me we had the whole right side of the car pretty much cleaned off. Ripped and cruppled body panel were strude all over the place. Bent the chassis, in fact, one bar around the engine broke and put a big hole in the valve cover. Man, I hope it didn't hurt our new engine (that would really suck).

The 93 car of Rick Todorow really got destoyed. I've never seen a car wrecked that bad at Grandview. What a pile of scrap metal that car is now. The rear clip with the fuel cell was literally separated from the rest of the car. Fortunately everyone was alright, no one injured.

We were looking forward to going to Big Diamond to race but that is defintely not going to happen. But judging by the rain outside right now, probably won't happen anyway.

(7/23/07)
Man, something is just not right. After the feature I was trying to figure out if the car sucked or if I just sucked. I'm sure 1 or 2 drivers might think the later afterwards. (LOL...I think) I was unhappy with the car the other week and now I think I'm even more unhappy with it. We have finally been able to put our engine problems behind us and now I can't seem to get the freak'n car around the track. In the heat it goes like hell. It's fast and runs good. But when it comes to our heat races, the track is usually so nice and tacky, pretty much anything hooks up. The trick is being fast in the feature. That's the real test and lately man, we are averaging a D- and I don't like that. Finished 13th again. But this time starting from  11th. We went backwards. Argh!!

Dad and I did some brain storming and checked in with our chassis builders to try to get a handle on what is going on. We have a few ideas as to what might be the issue and some solutions. Basically we'll get everthing back to our original baseline setup and try something different because obviously what we were doing is taking us in the wrong direction.

Looking forward to this weekend and hopefully some progress and no more going backwards.

Sunday night, July 29 we are planning to run at Big Diamond for a late model race. Naturally if all goes well Saturday night. Hope so.

(7/17/07)
Hey, we finished a race and didn't blow up! (woo-hoo) It was nice to actually enjoy ourselves at the track. (what a nice change of pace, heh-heh) The motor ran great. Lots of power. Now, we just need to make some changes to get all this power to the ground. It was pretty loose everywhere. Couldn't seem to make any ground. Was a bit frustrating. Started 17th, finished 13th.

Ray Masser Photo

(7/12/07)
We pulled the motor out and slid it under the work bench out of the way. Better outta sight, outta mind. (heh-heh) Meanwhile, the past few weeks we've been having a new motor built which was finished just in time. We're all excited. A fresh new motor. Hopefully this will end all this dam motor frustration. As you can guess, it gets pretty old pretty fast. Especially when you are pulling the motor out every other week. Though, we can sure change a motor pretty darn quick now.

(7/8/06)
Well, that pretty much sucked!  Got a half a lap in during mud laps and thats it. Took the green flag for warmups and noticed the oil pressure drop off some. Though not enough to turn the low pressure lights on. Went down the back stretch and felt like the engine was tighening up. I shut it off and coasted around the track and into the infield. The engine still turned over but it was obvious something happened inside. We pulled the oil filter and opened it up. There were some metal shavings in there. Probably spun a bearing. Needless to say, we were all very dejected. This season from hell continues.  You know, I'm beginning to think maybe it is our pit location that is the problem. The past few years we've had nothing but problem since we've been pitting in this one area. Lou Egrie had been pitting next to us and he's had engine problem the past couple of years too. Maybe it was some kind of indian burial spot or something.  Ya know, I'm really thinking of moving our pit location next week. Heck, what do we have to lose.

Though, the afternoon went well. We had the car at Henning's Market and got to meet some race fans and we also helped to create some new ones. Always a good time there. Plus we always enjoy our lunch there too.

(7/5/07)
Made a few changes setup wise for the heat to keep the chassis from rolling over so much. It was definitely a lot better... but ....  we found another way to beat ourselves (we're good at that). An oil pressure switch that is mounted to the top of the engine apparently blew apart on the inside and allowed oil to come pouring out of it. Fortunately as soon as I lost oil pressure I pulled off the track and shut the engine down. Didn't seem to damage anything. Just made a very oily mess everywhere.

We also made a couple changes in the setup for the feature and I was anxious to see what difference it would make. We passed a few cars and seemed pretty good but with just a few laps in the books there was a big wreck between turns 3 and 4. I saw it happening and figured I stay on the high side to stay out of trouble but when the car in front of me (the 7B) turned, I was left facing Randy Stoudt #10 who was dead in the water facing the wrong direction. I turned and hit the brakes but unfortunately my right rear wheel caught his left front and it snap the rear axle tube. Took the whole wheel, hub, and brake rotor clean off. I don't recall exactly where we finished, but I know after that we were finished for the night.

A big thanks to Rick Todorow (Juniper Auto Body #93) and crew for their help in getting the car home. They used their roll-back to bring it home and we put their car in our trailer. Tough to get our car in there with just 3 wheels. There was no way to get a wheel on.

Harry & Jack pulled the rear out and took a trip to Berheisel's to get a new axle tube and a few more needed parts. After a couple more parts from A-1 we were pretty much back together. 

This Saturday is the annual "Firecracker 40" race for the late models. Looking forward to that. (We won it once, love to do it again.) And during the day we will have the race car on display at Henning's Market in Harleysville.

(6/24/07)
Hey, we finally had a night that the engine was not an issue. Did have a slight scare though. In warm-ups. once I got on the trottle and went down the back straight a big puff of smoke came out from under the hood, just like when we popped the engine the other week. My heart skipped a few beats thinking, "OH, S&!#, not again!" But the good solid oil pressure never fluctuated and the engine was still running fine. Once in the pits we found the cap for the clutch master cylinder came off and the clutch fluid came pouring out. Fortunately no damage.

We gotta work on the heat setup. The car just rolls way too much. It really sucks to drive. Plus the RR tires sometimes rubs the frame because of it. Though we started 7 and finished 3rd. Hopefull we'll get it fixed right for this coming week.

The feature wasn't much better. Started 11 finished 9th. The motor felt strong but just couldn't seem to get the power to the ground. Seemed to spend most of the time spinning tires. We dodged a few bullets and stayed out of trouble. Though, when the cars not handling as it should staying out of trouble can be quite a feat. We've got a few ideas that should help so we'll see this week.

(6/20/07)
Tuesday we took the car out to Harrisburg for a show at the State Capitol for "Pennsylvania Oval Race Track" day. Boy, that was an early day, geesh. We were out there at 7:15am. It was an interesting day though. Harry (my dad), mom, my wife, the kids and myself went. Figured we’d make a nice trip out of it. Maybe something educational for the kids.

Basically they had a car or 2 there on display in the park at the capitol complex representing different tracks throughout Pennsylvania. We  were there to represent Grandview Speedway. It was our car and Bobby Gunther Walsh's sportsman modified.  I then got to go to the House of Representatives, along with the other track owners or track representatives. They announced each track and who was there to represent them to the general assembly. It was kinda cool. Several of the representatives are working at getting race tracks, and motorsports in general, more attention, the attention they deserve for the positive impact they have on the PA economy. 

We also got a group photo on the main steps inside the capitol building. (Hope to get a copy of that) I tell ya, that is quite a building. Also, it was also kinda cool getting to drive the racecar down the sidewalk across the front of the capitol building. Don't get to do that everyday.

06/18/07
Ok, a lot has happened since the last report. Sorry, between my internet being down and a very busy schedule, I’ve fell behind a bit. I was trying to keep it brief but that proved to be a bit of a challenge. Anyway, read on and get caught up.

During the week after that last race we found a couple issues that were causing the loose condition, was more than just a bad setup call.

We went back the following week (5/26/07). Broke a LR lower shock mount, not sure why, in the qualifier. Started the feature towards the back. After just a few laps the engine went flat down the straight and went poof at the end of the straight. I hugged the bottom of the track trying to stay out of everyones way. I coasted into the infield as soon as I could and turned around to find  that several cars checked up and got into each other. Oops, sorry guys, tried to get outta the way.

Now we were all really feeling dejected. Man, what a lowly looking bunch we were. What a sorry sight.

On the plus side, we were asked by Ernie Saxton to come down to the winners circle on the front straight during the intermission. To our big surprise it was announced that we were 2^nd place winners in the Sponsorship Proposal contest that Chad Sinon and Saxton Communications were sponsoring. The prize was a check for $1,000. Sweet!

In frustration we went right to the garage after the races, unloaded the car and started to pull the motor out. Great and useful way to burn off all that frustrated energy. Once we started we didn’t stop until the engine was on the engine stand and we had the heads and the oil pan off looking at a broken connecting rod. (that only took about an hour) The block was still hot from racing that night. At that point we closed the garage up and had a beer (or 2) on the back porch and contemplated what the heck we’d do now. We have a big sponsor night in 2 weeks and we have no motor. Don’t think we can fix it within a week and 1,000 bucks.

Took the debris, err…I mean the motor, back to the engine builder. To make a long story shorter, he’s rebuilding it and is eating most of the costs, including new crank, pistons and connecting rods. It’ll take a couple weeks to get completed so we are kinda out of luck for next week. Not good.

Friday afternoon came and Harry (the Ol'Man) rolled in with an engine in the back of Big Red (his truck). He was able to work a deal for a rental motor for the next 2 races. That proposal contest winnings had saved our butts.

Back on track for another week (6/2/07). Engine was kinda flat and the oil was getting a bit hot in the heat, though we finished 4th after starting 7th. Found the timing was quite off. Started 11th in the feature, moved up to 8th but caught the big rut getting in turn 1 while in traffic and spun the car around. I'd like to say someone got into me or some other good excuse but can't seem to find one. I guess just trying to hard. Dang it!!!  Anyway, in the incident got a flat and came in the pits, the crew did a quick job of changing the tire and we got back out in time. Started last and finished in 10th. The oil was still getting pretty hot. A little concerned about that.

The past couple weeks I've been working on a new body for the car. We had a big night coming up and wanted the car to look good. WNPV 1440am radio was the  sponsor of the night and they were all coming up. Plus a few other of our sponsors were coming, plus I had our Cub Scouts coming up (I'm the cubmaster of my sons Cub Pack, Pack 399 of Lansdale), plus we got our new t-shirts that we were giving out at the track, plus we were doing a group photo during the intermission of the car, team & all of our race fans. See, told ya it was a big night for us.

Ray Masser Photo

Got the car fixed and we went down to the winners circle for our group photo. That was cool. I thought the entire grandstands were coming out. They just kept coming, and all wearing Henning Motorsports shirts. It was pretty cool. It was kinda useless to have the car out there, couldn't see the darn thing in the pictures.

Ray Masser Photo - Click to enlarge

In the feature we started 15th. Moved up a few spots when there was a wreck between turns 1 & 2. I locked it up and turned the car down to avoid hitting them. Unfortunately I came to a complete stop, nose first against the inner track berm.
Rules state that if you come to a complete stop you have to go to the rear. Kinda sucks because you can get screwed when you stop to avoid creating a bigger wreck. Sometimes I think it's better to just try to blast your way through I guess. Anyway, restarted at the rear and slowly worked up in positions. Engine oil was getting hot again. If it kept climbing I was going to have to consider pulling off the track. That would suck.  A caution came out and that help the oil temp. Enough to finish the last couple remaining laps. Ended up 15th. Kinda disappointing. The engine just doesn't have the snot we need. We need our motor back. But heck, at least we were able to run the past couple weeks so I'm not complaining too much.

The next week (6/16/07) we are not racing, it is our one Saturday all summer that the track doesn't run the late models. So we are planning to have the car at the big "Under The Lights" car show in Lansdale Saturday night. Since the car is all nice looking sporting a new body (can't believe I put a new body on in the middle of the season and it didn't get wrecked, last time I did that it got destroyed) it would be a good time to show it off. The motor was supposed to come back Friday afternoon, plenty of time to get it in for the show. But, (can you believe it) there were delays. We were supposed to have the car at the show by 5pm Saturday and it was 2pm Saturday when Harry rolled in with Big Red with the engine in the back. Well, we had it back in, car running and body all on, ready to load up by 4:15pm.  (man, we are getting too good at these engine swaps, not sure if that is a good sign or not)

While we were at the car show we did a little fund raiser for our Cub Scout pack. Anyone who donated $1 got to sign the deck of the car. The show was great and we got a lot of signatures. Made $105 for them which will be used to buy the kids matching cub pack t-shirts for when they go to camp this summer. Always great to get the opportunity to meet people and showing off the car. It always amazes me at just how many people have never really seen a race car up close and really get interested when they do.

click to enlarge

click to enlarge

Tuesday we are taking the car out to Harrisburg for a show at the State Capitol for Pennsylvania Oval Track day. I'll have more on that this week.

  We got a new fuel cell in, motor in and finally went racing. Last week my rain dance worked and the night had gotten rained out before they got to run the feature so we actually lucked out in a good way for a change and didn't miss the race. But we did have to start in the rear

(Tim's Racing Photos)

(Ray Masser Photo)