Cannock Motorsports

July 20, 2009

Hi all!  After a six week hiatus Cannock Motorsports was back on the track this week at OVRP.  The last time we were there John, myself and the VanValkenburgs (20K/32) rented the track out on a Sunday for testing.  Let me just say what a fun day that was.  We had a BBQ, 2 twenty lap features in which John won the first and was second in the last, a powder puff race that was decided in the last turn of the last lap and even my Aunt June threw a helmet and suit on, climbed behind the wheel of the 121 and took a very long practice LAP. Lol.  She did great! We rented the track because we were trying to figure out how the fast teams were making their "big tire" set up work so we set up the 21 with our version of that set up and John was playing mad scientist working on his own super secret set up.  We figured whichever was faster would be the one that we would try.  Well, John's was faster and this week he proved it.  He started 3rd in heat one and fourth in heat two and raced his way to 3rd place in each.  In heat two I was ahead of him and felt a tap from the car behind me I figured it was John so I pulled out of the way, he almost ran me over he was going so fast!  Good driving John!The track conditions were horrible and they don't look to getting better anytime soon.  John's new setup has his car handling great no matter what the conditions and it showed in the feature.  He started on the outside of the third row, not the best spot on a dusty one lane track.  He quickly muscled the 121 into position and got into the dogfight.  He fought his way up to 3rd place and was running with the leaders when the checkers flew.  A post race inspection shed light on a couple of tweaks that he can make to make the 121 handle even better.  Hopefully soon he will be in the Winners Circle!

Keep digging John you are gonna hit paydirt soon!!

April 25, 2009

Week 2 has come and gone with similar results to week one but the outlook is better than a week ago.  Last week I was ready to pull my hair out of my head trying to figure out how to get faster.  Everytime we pulled off the track John and I were working on the cars.  Change after change with little to show for it except greasy hands.  This week was TOTALLY different in that respect.  We came in with totally different set ups that worked pretty good right off the bat.  Yeah we were finally in the ballpark!  With minor changes here and there we were sitting around most of the time.  Our old pal Roger Guest stopped by for a visit and had some great ideas on setting up the cars and they were FANTASTIC!  Thanks Roger, we miss you out there trading paint! I did pretty good in my first heat finishing 3rd.  I was in third in my second heat with two to go and I screwed myself.  I almost spun and Charlie and Joey slid by me.  I was PISSED!  Stupid mistake.  The track was loose and it got me.  John did well with a fourth and a fifth.  Our starting spots have been mid pack so we were fairly happy with this.  At least this week we felt competitive.

In the feature I started eight and John tenth.  We had a good start and were racing in a tight bunch for the first part of the race.  Then I almost spun again and John spun avoiding me.  Sorry dude!  That summed up the feature for us.  We went on to finish eight and ninth but we know that we are pointed in the right direction now!

A few of our friends have started off the 2009 season with a bang! 

Kaitie McCardle won the first Slingshot tour race of the year at Bridgeport.  This is her second win in a row at the fast 1/4 mile track.  Congrats Kaitie and Dave!  Kaitie is also going to run a Speedtr a few times this year.  One step closer to the big time!

Vern McLaughlin had all three of his cars finish in the top 10 at New Egypt Speedway with Vern running a strong second and the Butler Bros. running 5th and 7th.  Can you say dominate? Go get em boys!

A big congrats to Anthony Perrego who won his first Crate Sportsman race at Accord Speedway.  This kid was kicking our asses two years ago at OVRP and now he is paving his way towards a career behind the wheel!  His Dad tunes his ride and gives encouragement (wink!). Together they make a formidable pair!  Great job guys!

Finally a round of applause to Damian Bower who took his first checkered flag in his Slingshot at Shellhammers.  I met Damian and his father Scott at Hamlin the first couple of times I raced.  I had absolutely NO clue (compared to having just a little clue now) what I was doing and Scott offered his help immediately.  Damian had some big wrecks last season but got the experience needed to run in the front.  Congrats guys!

Kudos to all and hopefully I will be able to add more columns like this all season!

May 16, 2009

After a week off John and I were really dying to hit the track.  I kind of like racing every other week, it gives you lots of time to get the cars prepped and saves money but it makes you antsy as well.  We have been getting our butts handed to us each week by the 3 and 29 which has made John and I try everything under the sun to get faster.  There is not one thing on our cars that is the same as last year.  Nothing.  Finally this week we saw some positive results from all of our tinkering.  I tried a really weird setup for the first practice and quickly abandoned it.  More on that if I ever get it to work.  John was low on power so a quick change of plugs and fuel filter was on tap.  My car was pretty good during the second warmup but John was a little loose.  More changes...  The first heat saw John start 9th and me 11th.  John got tangled with the 85 but he saved the car.  It broke his momentum which allowed me to get under him on the backstretch,  He saw me and didn't try to slow me down.  Thanks bud!  I got by the 85 the next lap and we ended up finishing 6th and 7th.  John kept adjusting but we were pretty happy with my car so I left it alone except for an air pressure adjustment in the rear tires.  I started on the pole for the second heat and John started 3rd.  Thats the first time we have started that close to the front all year.  I jumped out front and won by half a straight and John fought an ill handling car to come home 5th.  Same story in the pits. John tinkering and me playing with air pressures.  I started the feature on the outside pole and John started 8th.  Both of us on the outside. UGH.  I got a great start and got right in behind the leader.  We got past halfway and the yellow flew.  John tapped the 85 (who was actaully spinning by himself) and was sent to the rear.  I was hanging on to second with the 29 breathing down my neck.  While I was trying to hold on to second John was slicing and dicing his way back to the front.  I finally gave up second and held on for a third place finish.  John drove his ass off and got all the way back up to 5th!  Yeah John!  CMS in the top 5!

We aren't perfect yet but we really needed something to show for all the work that we have been doing and Saturday night we got that!  We are itching for next week already.

We have a new addition to the CMS race team. 16 year old Meghan McGregor, a soap box derby stand out, took her turn behind the wheel of the 121 this week.  John did a great job of getting the car ready and giving Meghan the low down on how to get around OVRP.  You could see Meghans confidence build with each lap.  She did well in her warm ups and gave John real good input on what the car was doing which helped John hook the 121 up for the heats.  As per usual OVRP makes new racers start in the rear of the field.  This didn't deter Meghan at all.  She did well keeping the car on the track in her heat (even going 3 wide at one point almost stopping Johns heart) and completed task #1.  DON'T GET LAPPED!  During the downtime she was pretty much jumping out of her racesuit waiting to get back on the track.  She watched what John was doing to the car and he explained why he was making the changes and what she should expect from them.  I showed her all the little things you have to do each time you come off the track.  She was a great pupil.  She also had a great fan club in attendance.  Her mom, dad and even her puppy came to cheer her on.  Her Mom spoiled us and brought some kick ass chili and meatball heroes for us to enjoy.  They were DELICIOUS!!!  We gave her another goal for the feature: PASS 1 CAR!!!!  When the green flag dropped she started a race long battle with the 5.5.  She held her own and passed him even though he did everything in his power to keep her back.  Eventually, as the laps were winding down, he got so desperate he spun Meghan out!!!  She came across the line ahead of him and was grinning from ear to ear when she took her helmet off.  She actually passed 2 but thank God I passed her back or else I would have never heard the end of it!!  Here is how Meghan's night unfolded, in her own words:

Racing Johns car was the most amazing thing in the world, you haven’t lived until you race a car with an engine in it.  I don’t think the smile ever came off my face. The heat races are the best because I was just figuring it out. I was so happy when I did not hit the wall when they had me 3 wide. The best part was in the feature when I passed the 5.5 and you, too bad the caution came out.  Me and the 5.5 car had a fun race, after I passed him and would not let him past me, he must have gotten mad, he spun me out. Racing a slingshot is so much different then racing a soap box derby car. Much faster and you get to slide around the corners and bump people. It was so fun to meet new people. Fred showed me how to grease some things to keep them loose and ready to race. The thing that made my day was when I did not come in last or get lapped the last heat and in the feature. I liked it sooo much, I asked my mom to have a slingshot. She said yes!

Well it looks like we are going to be battling Meghan on a weekly basis soon enough.  Congrats Meghan!!

May 25, 2009

I woke up to a beautiful Saturday morning.  Bright sunshine, nice breeze, a great day for racing.  I loaded up the car and the boys and off we went to OVRP.  As we got closer and closer to the track the skies got darker and darker.  We got there, unloaded the car and thankfully put up the canopy because not 10 minutes later it started raining.  Just a few showers but enough to delay us for a bit.  What a difference a 2 hour drive makes.

This was kind of how it went for John and I on Saturday.  I got the sunshine and he got the showers.  We raced in different heats and in opposite spots.  He started on the pole in his first heat and last in his second.  I started last in my first heat and first in my second.  John ran a tough race but the 3 and the 29 were in his heat so you know he had his hands full.  He held the lead until a "mystery" yellow got tossed.  This allowed the 29 to catch up from a half lap deficit (after an earlier spin) and allowed the 3 to slide into second off the restart.  One lap later the 3 was in first and the 29 was ripping by cars like it was burning jet fuel.  John fought the good fight but eventually ended up 3rd.  Not bad but not what he wanted.  In the second heat he started last and battled a loose car to finish fourth.

In my first heat I was driving over my head once again.  I got up to fourth and at one point had a decent shot at third until I blew the entry into turn one.  I went wide and the 32 pulled far enough away to keep third.  I was lucky I didn't get passed.  I was none to pleased with myself.  In the second heat I kept telling myself to be smooth.  Smooth is fast. "Hit your marks, dumbass."  The stuff said aloud inside my helmet would make most of you laugh, except for my mom who would be appauld. Lol.  I had a great race and I won going away.  2 checkers in two weeks now let's just be there when it counts!

In the feature I lined up 5th and John 6th.  We had a good start, I moved up to fourth and was behind the 10 when he hit a cone, knocking it onto the track causing a yellow.  Now per the rules the car that hits the cone is supposed to be sent to the back.  He wasn't and John was which is ridiculous.  A few laps later the 10 spun in front of me, I checked up, got hit, but was able to speed away losing only a few slots.  The 10 and 18 were done for the night.  I was back in seventh and John was right behind me.  On the start I quickly passed the 396 and was following the 690 into turn three when he got tangled with the 32 (I think, it's really hard to remeber every thing that happens when you are reacting to things rather than planning things) I started to get caught up in it but I hit the 690, straightened him out and away we went.  The 4 pulled off wth a flat so I started fourth, outside of the 690.  John was supposed to start 5th but as I went to the outside the 396 moved up and took the 5th spot on the much preferred inside line.  John tried to get the starters attention but couldn't so not only did he lose a spot he lost the inside lane which hurt him.  At the drop of the green I drag raced the 690 into one and held my own on the outside.  I cleared him halfway down the backstretch and took off after the 3 and 29.  John was stuck in the middle of nonsense, struggling to break free of the pack.  I never had a shot at first or second but am pretty happy with third place.  John was definitely capable of a 4th place finish but ended up sixth because of the bs on the restart.  Both cars are a litle tweaked but we have off next week and are going to get them ready this Saturday for June 6 when my family will be there in force.  My parents, sisters, nephew, it should be fun. 

Have a great couple of weeks!

June 6, 2009

John and I had had plenty of company this week!  My parents, sister, nephew, his girlfriend, 2 great nieces, Uncle Bud, Aunt June, Wendy, Kaitie, Zac and Jake were all at OVRP rooting us on.  After a week of pouring rain I was shocked to see how dusty the track was.  The cars felt like they were on ice during the early part of the day.  John got his car better faster and ran a great first heat race.  He made a strong move in turn 3 diving under the 32 and doing a picture perfect slide job taking the second position and holding it to the checkers.  My car was still way too loose and I finished fourth (last).  There was a horrendous crash during this heat.  The 6 (he was the 5.5) hit the turn two wall with such force that he was launched a couple of feet into the air and thrown back across the track.  John and I almost got caught up in it but we got lucky. This time.  The driver of the 6 said he never saw the wall through the dust.  The car was badly damaged but with some help and a hell of a lot of elbow grease and determination he got the car ready for the feature.

In the second heat I started on the pole and John started third.  I was really sweating it because I wanted to win in front of the family.  I was lucky.  John had changed a few things on my car which had it handling much better and I ran away with the win.  John ran a hard race and finished third.  John was building a real strong weekend run.

John started fourth and I was sixth.  I snuck by him off the start and we were dicing in the pack, running strong.  I was behind the 87 going into 3 and John was right on my rear bumper.  The 87 spun in front of me and I spun trying to avoid a direct hit.  John didn't see me spin and T boned me wide open.  The impact crushed both my side rubrails.  John got plowed into after hitting me and the impacts ripped his front rubrail off the car, caved in both side rubrails, ripping the welds on one and had the rear bumper caved in.  We both had pretty good body damage as well.  I kept moving but got a cone wedged under my wheel so I had to stop and get it pulled clear.  I caught up with the end of the pack but John was still sitting at the point of impact.  He had his bell rung pretty good and was just getting his wits back together when we came back around.  He went to the back and continued to race. Next time park it John!  We ran hard but finished seventh and eigth. 

I am proud of how we have been adjusting and adapting to what is being thrown at us.  It's been a lot of fun so far this year.

Thanks to our families for all the support this week and to all of you throughout our racing "careers."