June 5, 2004 - Special Update

We planned on making it out to the track on Saturday even though there was extensive damage to the car from last week, Joe Carr, David, Doug and I worked on "Red 5" but when I suffered what turned out to be a gall bladder attack on Friday and was rushed to the ER our plan to race was put on hold.  I was initially released on Saturday morning and still thought I could make it to the track for at least the main event.  Yes racing is in my blood and it takes an act of god to keep me off the track and I want to be out every week so that I can continue to learn and improve.  However, I was readmitted to the hospital where I stayed until late Monday night.  I am on bed rest until my return to the hospital at the end of the week for surgery and if all goes well can get back to work for Level 3 Communications (Nasdaq:LVLT) and on the track on the 26th. 

I have the greatest physician and surgeons around in Dr. James and Peter Leoni so I feel extremely confident in being back on my feet shortly. Thank you to Dr. Singh and all of the nurses at Petaluma Valley Hospital that took care of me.  A very special thanks to the lab techs that came to draw blood at 5:45 AM!  That was the best!

I would like to say a personal thank you to all of my friends and fellow drivers who either helped and/or supported me this past week.  Joe Carr, John, Steve, Dave at Pete's Henny Penny, Mikol Westling, Don Mortensen wit Tel America, JT. Archer, Darin Lundquist, and Steve Linderman at Level 3 Communications.  Terri, Jori and Kale Donahoo, Steve, Bob, Lucca, Lance, David and Cara Reynolds, Ken and Rose Sandoval, Mom and Dad (who is the best crew chief ever) Capanacci, my best friend and car chief David J. Blanchard, my son Christopher, Scoobee and my beautiful wife Lisa Marie who stayed with me the entire time and took care of the family while I was in the hospital.

If I overlooked your name please forgive me!

To all of the fans who come out to the speedway to watch, root for or against us, and take the time to visit us in the pits after the race, I promise to be back soon and keep working my way towards the front and provide you with something entertaining to watch!  You are the reason we do what we do!

See you at the track!

May 29, 2004 - Race Night Recap

Starting in the front row of the main event was very cool!  After finishing third in my heat race the inversion placed me alongside the 60 car for the start of the race.  I didn't want to drive the car too hard going into turn one but I wound up taking too high a line and a parade of cars took the fast route underneath me.  I was relegated to sixth position when on lap three the 15 car spun in the middle of turns three and four causing me to check up and lose a ton of positions.  I got going as soon as possible but restarted near the end of the field.

At the restart of lap four the 00 car slowed up and I had to drive around him at the exit of turn two and was promptly hit by the 29 car who was sideways on the back stretch.  I thought this might be the end of my excitement for the night.  I was wrong, dead wrong.

The 36 car was smoking badly when we started lap five and I followed Joe Baker in the 2 car until they black flagged the "Riddler." Things were smooth for one more lap until the 07 car spun in the middle of one and two right in front of me.  I missed him but was hit by the 44 car who didn't drive low enough to avoid me.  The 2 car lost his right rear tire and during one of the weirdest events I have seen the 18 car, who was leading the race, ran over the loose tire and broke the suspension on the right front of his car and had to leave the race.

For the next few laps I drove with a renewed sense of vigor passing several cars along the way.  On the lap 14 restart I had moved back up to sixth out of 17 cars that started.  While racing Manny Avila on the exit of turn two we touched ever so slightly and and I turned and hit the 33 car losing my front bumper to the side of his car.  He was kind enough after the race to bring it back to me as it stuck to his car for the remainder of the event. 

I passed a the 14 and the 33 car but to move back to 7th but wound up giving it back when I slid up and hit Joe Baker into turn three, sorry Joe!  They called the race due to time thanks to my last spin.

I wound up ninth with the motor overheating due to a damaged radiator and a ton of front end body damage.  I feel like I learned a quite a bit on Saturday and need to find a way to drive more aggressively at the start of the race.

Special thanks to Lisa and Joe Carr for picking up the car and bringing it to the shop while I was out of town.  Also a big thanks to David and Doug for the fuel, the tear-offs, the water and Gatorade and all of the hard work that they do.  I wouldn't be racing without you two!

Thanks to Pete's Henny Penny for the gift certificate we gave away tonight and to Stinger Sportswear for the T-Shirt giveaway.

I also want to thank the fans who came by and saw me on Saturday.  We gave out new 2004 Calendars with photos of the race team.  Thanks Lisa for putting them together and printing them for me.

May 22, 2004 - Race Night Recap

Tonight I started 8th and promptly went way too high around the race track.  I had made a decision that after last week of trying the low line around the speedway I wanted to make an effort to keep my speed up and ride around the top of the track.  This gave everyone plenty of opportunity to take the low line and motor past me.  I think a strategy of running the best line for the type of track and the way the car was handling would have been better. 

After a lap one caution lap two ended with the 66 and I having a "racin' incident" in the middle of the front stretch he decided to hit me in the left rear on the entry of turn one.  He looped his car and I was able to keep going.

I need to throw the car harder into the turn and do a better job of setting the car up so that I could exit the turn with great velocity.  I think I could have driven my Suburban faster the was I was approaching the track tonight.

I wound up 7th tonight and solidified my position of 10th in points.  After missing 5 of the 10 events I feel pretty good about that.

Thanks again to Joe Carr, Lisa Marie, Doug and David for making it all happen this week.  Tire Source was a big helps as well getting my wheel and tire stockpile ready.

May 15, 2004 - Race Night Recap

We made a few changes to the car this week that fixed the overheating problem from last week.  Changing the carburetor jetting, re-adjusting the timing, fan shroud modification,  and replacing the defective water neck on the intake manifold really seemed to help keep the temperature under 210 degrees.

I spent hot laps watching the motor temperature closely and fighting a push in the middle of turns 1 and 2.  I adjusted the chassis a bit and fixed the push that I experienced during hot laps and created a nice loose condition during the heat race.  At least the motor stayed cool and after my slow start made the car work as well as I could.

Needless to say I made another chassis adjustment on the car and was ready for the main event.  I started 14th out of 17th and that's where the fun began.

I carefully worked my way up in the field and avoided all of the early mayhem.  Cautiously I looked for my spots to pass and held back from being to aggressive in passing, especially with the 09 Car who seemed to be a bit loose. Finally I made what I thought was a safe move to pass him going high into turn three and wound up get clipped on the left rear by the 09 when he got sideways totally crushing my left rear wheel, damaging the hub and knocking the left rear tire off.  The $100 left rear tire then became an obstacle for other drivers to hit.  I immediately pulled off of the track and was towed to the pits.

David and Doug did an excellent job of changing the right rear tire in the dark and getting me back out on the track where with a new sense of vigor I was able to finish 7th in a critical double points race.  We have to give these guys a nickname similar to Jeff Gordon's "Miracle Men."

The car was handling well at the end of the race and I only wish I hadn't experienced the flat tire.  This week we should only need to fix the left rear hub, add a bigger fan for the radiator and make a trip over to Tire Source to get about 5 tires mounted.  We will also definitely scale the car and tune the chassis some more.

Special thanks to Lisa Marie for the incredible photos and video of the race and for making the flyers for me to sign for all of the fans who stopped by to see us at the end of the race. Thanks to Joe Carr for making all of the adjustments to the Motor and the car!

To our new fans, thanks for coming by and visiting us!  It is a pleasure to go out and race for your entertainment.

May 8, 2004 - Brief Recap

This week was our first race since April 10th.  We finished 9th in the main event out of 16 cars as we retired early due to the motor overheating.  We changed both radiator hoses, filled the radiator several times with water and Red Line Oil's "Water Wetter," and adjusted the timing which wound up being well advanced.

At least on Friday Brian at Larry's Auto Body painted the car and it looks great.

I will provide a greater update by the end of the week, it's late and I wanted to put something in here for everyone to read.

Many Thanks To:      Brian Torliatt and Joe Carr for all of their help this week.