8/18/08

 

            This week I am going to talk a little more about what happens behind the scenes instead of what happens on the track. 

            The race weekend started off with the crew putting the final touches on the two cars, the Super Late Model and Late Model, and loading up on Friday night.  I was having dinner with a potential sponsor, so the crew really stepped up to the plate and made sure everything was ready to go.  We think it is vital to be ready to go by the day before we need to head to the track, being prepared is a very important team function for us, so if we need to go to a test n tune on a Friday night we are loaded by Thursday and for a Saturday race we are loaded by Friday.  So while I was enjoying a nice rib-eye the crew was hooking up trailers, pushing cars, going through tools, and so forth, MAN DO I LOVE THIS CREW.

            Saturday morning started as usual, my son Jimmy and I were off to the grocery store to purchase all of the food and beverages for the guys.  Six cases of water, 4 cases of soda, Gatorade, some beverages for after the races (wink!wink!), and the food for the evening.  We try to eat good and healthy why we are out in the 100+ degree weather, but at the same time I have to get something that the guys will actually eat.  I mean come on now these are race guys.  So tonight’s menu consisted of jalapeño cheese burgers on whole wheat buns, fresh fruit, chips, and a tossed salad.  Come on now I said we TRY to keep it healthy!

            We arrived at the track at about 1:30 meeting up with the other half of the crew.  Half of the guys meet for lunch at 12:30 while I and a few others skip this lunch and meet them at the track.  The guys met a gentleman named Robin at lunch and now he is joining the crew for the night. Robin is a truck driver from Canada and was looking for something to do, hence a new H-Town Racing crew member.  He was great help, he did whatever was asked and was able to jump right in.  He was texting his wife Sally throughout the night and got himself in trouble.  He was letting her know how much fun he was having and she got a little jealous.  So now next time Robin is on a run to Vegas he is going to be bringing Sally and we will have two new crew members.  Robin is a great guy and we are glad we got to meet him.  He is an avid photographer and took a bunch of shots for us, look for them to be up on www.htownspeed.com soon, the only thing is the guy talked a whole lot about sandpaper, I think it must be his favorite tool!

We pay our entry fee and move on in.  Once we get into our pit spots everybody has a job, it works like a well oiled machine, and the cars are rolled off the trailers and the pits are set up.  We head over to pre-race tech and check in.  The Super Late Model was a little too short on the wheelbase and the Late Model’s roof needs to be raised, other than that we were ok’d by the tech crew.  So back to the pits we went.  The roof situation was allowed to be fixed before next race (August 30^th Double Mains – Gates Open at 5:00 pm) but we had to fix the wheelbase before qualifying.  I jumped in the car and the crew started to work, about an hour of measuring, degreeing, measuring, degreeing, up and down, up and down, and me falling asleep in the car,  we ready to hit practice. 

            The game plan was to practice on our qualifying set up and keep tweaking it to improve, we headed out and the car was very, very tight, I couldn’t even turn the wheel enough to steer it left.  I backed it down a little bit and was getting ready to come off when we went into turn one and the lower control arm broke completely off of the chassis.  I stopped the car about five feet from the wall, and waited for the tow truck to bring us the hook.  We ended up back in the pits with the car on four stands, zero good practice laps, and trying to figure out how we should proceed.

            Crew members Pat and Sonny were off to grab hardware and tools, no matter how much you think you are prepared you never have everything, while Crew Chief Joe, John, and Jr. were hard at work tearing everything apart.  I was trying to replenish my fluids while fetching tools for the guys who are lying on the 130 degree blacktop.

            We got the car back together but had already missed qualifying, LVMS was nice enough to allow us two laps to see if the car was going to hold together, it did and we pulled back into the pits and loaded up all of the goodies for the on track autograph session.  I love the autograph session, it is always so nice to see all of the kids who are amazed by the cars.  They treat you like a NASCAR star. 

            So now we are now sitting and waiting, our feature is the last feature, and everything is ready to go on the cars.  We are sitting around and notice a huge lighting storm and some pretty ugly black clouds that look like they could be heading our way.  So we decided that we should get as much as possible loaded up in case the sky opened up a can of whoop a$$ on us.  We only left out the few things we needed to make the proper tire adjustments, and a few emergency tools.  We headed up to the fence and watched some of the other races.  The storm was moving away from us, and it was now time to head to line up.

            Since we missed qualifying we had to start dead last, in the 20^th position.  We worked our way up to about 14^th and in the final laps we were passed, however I was able to tuck back in behind the car that passed me and pick off three cars and finish 12^th.  In post race tech heads were pulled off, two cars refused and we are still waiting results of the other four cars.  So before we left the track we moved from 12^th to 10^th, and we could possibly pick up a few other spots depending on what tech finds.  I would rather earn them, but when we had a night like we did we will take them however we can.

            We are looking forward to the week off, we will clean and go over each car with a fine toothed comb and see if we can improve on our performance of two weeks ago.  We try to keep a tight group so we are all playing in a fantasy football league together this fall.  We will be having a nice bbq and holding our draft on the 23^rd, and will be getting the cars ready for the Double Main night on the 30^th.

            I also need to mention that August 29^th is my 10^th wedding anniversary and my daughter Codi’s 9^th birthday.  I have to thank my family, especially my wife Erin, for putting up with all of the long hours and missed meals for racing.  If it wasn’t for their support I could never achieve my dream of competing in a Super Late Model and trying to make a difference in the community.  There support means everything to me, thank you very much! 

            So the Labor Day Weekend is going to be very busy for me.  We are heading up to Parawon, UT on Friday the 29^th to celebrate our anniversary and Codi’s birthday.  We will head up early Friday morning and get some fishing in, have a nice dinner by the campfire and get a good nights rest.  I will head back to Vegas on Saturday morning, race and then head back up to Utah after the races to spend the rest of a wonderful weekend with the family.

Once again,  I want to let everybody know that we will be having two of the H-Town Racing cars in the Findlay Chevrolet Showroom from 9-1-08 to 9-8-08, this is the best Chevy dealer hands down, if you tell them you seen them at the races they will take very good care of you, come check out the cars.  They are located at the 215 & Rainbow and for more information go to www.findlaychevy.com!  I would also like to thank Dr. Mary Ann Shannon – Las Vegas Orthopedics, Team Rivera Independent BeachBody Coaches, SFC USA Inc. www.sfcusa.com, and Black Mountain Graphics for their continued support!  See ya on Saturday!

 

 

 8/12/08

 

            A much better week for H-Town Racing Inc.  We worked very hard all week on both the Super Late Model and the Modified, and our lap times showed it.

 

            As I have mentioned before we have been struggling with the qualifying set up on the Super Late Model ever since we have moved up to this division from the Charger Division, in 2007.  We re-grouped as a team and worked every night on tweaking a little here and a little there, on the scales off the scales, weight jack in weight jack out, let me say my arms were tired from jacking the car up so much.  We made some cross weight, shock rebound, spring rubber, sway bar, and tire pressure adjustments.  And it actually worked.  We picked up six tenths on our qualifying run, and were only four hundredths from the trophy dash.  However we didn’t think of how this would affect our race set up.  We went to the race tire pressures, but didn’t adjust anything else.  We realized this was a huge mistake as soon as I got on the gas coming out of two, the rear was very loose. 

           

            I was able to get a very good initial start only to have it taken away by a caution and a full re-start.  The re-start wasn’t as good as the initial start, but we did not lose any positions, so we were ok with that.  After fighting the loose condition on exit for the first few laps, the rear tightened up right along with the whole car.  Very Tight!  We knew there was nothing we could do except hope for a caution and try to get the tires to cool off a little bit.  Just our luck, the first feature I can remember in a long time that went caution free.  So we did not get the break we wanted with a caution, but we did catch a few breaks when three cars running in front of us lost their engines (I think), anyway they all pulled to the center of the track thus no caution.  Like I said we could not get a break, three engine problems and still no caution.  We held on to make it our 9^th top ten of the year and were bumped up to ninth after the third place car was dq’d. 

 

            We built the brand new modified over the winter and have been working out the bugs ever since.  We were having some transmission troubles that were killing us on starts, so we switched it out and went to a whole new set-up, only to have the throw-out bearing fail.  The clutch would not fully disengage so we took it out completely.  Our crew chief and brother Joe Petrie has been trying a whole bunch of non-conventional things with this new mod, and his latest had to be his craziest.  We did some stuff with springs and shocks that was a “little out there.”  And guess what?  It is the fastest the new car has ever been.  The car could drive so deep into the corners that  Pat lost his brakes,  he had to ride them so much not to hit the rear of the car in front of him.  We ended up 6^th but that was because we had to start at the back, the crew chief did not want to take any chances with the new set-up and no track time.

 

            Behind the scenes we still are plugging away trying to secure a sponsor for the up coming school year for the Race to Success Reading Program and the 2009 season.  We had a very good meeting yesterday with a potential sponsor, probably the best lead so far.  However, we are not going to count on anything until the deal is signed.  I just want to let everybody know that we are working day in and day out trying to secure the funding needed to continue the program.               

 

            On another note,  I want to let everybody know that we will be having two of the H-Town Racing cars in the Findlay Chevrolet Showroom from 9-1-08 to 9-8-08, this is the best Chevy dealer hands down, if you tell them you seen them at the races they will take very good care of you, come check out the cars.  They are located at the 215 & Rainbow and for more information go to www.findlaychevy.com!  I would also like to thank Dr. Mary Ann Shannon – Las Vegas Orthopedics, Team Rivera Independent BeachBody Coaches, SFC USA Inc. www.sfcusa.com, and Black Mountain Graphics for their continued support!  See ya on Saturday!

 

 8/4/08

 

            After the month long break it sure was good to be back at the track.  It was a very important night for us, DOUBLE MAINS. 

            We started out the weekend with test n’ tune on Friday night.  After the last race night, July 3, we knew we had to tighten the car up on exit.  We did a little bit with some spring rubbers and shock adjustments which helped tighten the car up on exit; however it also tightened it up on entry and through the center.  It wasn’t bad, but it could be much better.  We decided to leave it alone and put new tires on it for Saturday.    

            Saturday’s day began early to ensure we could get the tire sizes we wanted.  After getting them mounted we hurried to make sure we didn’t miss any practice sessions.  The game plan was to hit as many sessions as possible to get the tires to grow and only make adjustments before qualifying.  We had a total of three sessions.  For qualifying we made one more spring rubber change to try and loosen it up just a little on entry and through the center.

Once again qualifying was an issue. I REALLY NEED TO WORK ON THIS!  We were two tenths slower than our practice times while everybody else is three to four tenths faster than their practice times.  Once again, I REALLY NEED TO WORK ON THIS!

We started in 17^th for the first main, thanks to my sub par qualifying skills.  On double main nights it has always been our strategy to be cautious so we can survive in order to be able to start the second main.  We worked our way up through the field and ended up finishing 10^th.  The car was still tight through the center, but we were happy with another top ten.

The crew really went to work between the mains to try and make the car better for number two.  Spring rubbers, sway bar adjustments, stagger adjustment, shock adjustments, and re-scaling the car was the plan.  We finished just in time to head over to tech before the second main.  After scaling we headed to line up and waited for our race.  During this wait I decided I would rather have it be 125 degrees with low humidity, than the 95 degree heat and 80% humidity that I was experiencing.  Talk about misery.

During the second main the car seemed to be a little better, but not good enough. We started 10^th and finished 9^th.  We are on that edge of being almost as fast and feature winners, but not quite yet.  We are going to be working hard on our shock and spring package for this upcoming weekend.  Either we will be a little faster or a lot slower, but at least we will know which direction to head.

 

7-24-08

During this month long summer break we have been very busy at H-Town Racing, not necessarily on the cars themselves, but working behind the scenes on a variety of race team aspects. 

It has been real nice not to be thrashing in order to fix any wrecked cars, I think this is the first time we have had a nice break, one without major repairs or engine re-building.  We knocked out the maintenance aspect of the Super Late Model, Late Model, and Modified in the first week.  The crew has been working at the shop part-time doing some spring cleaning, I know it is no longer spring, but I couldn’t think of a better name for it.  I have been working behind the scenes trying to land a new sponsor deal, networking with our current sponsors, and trying to improve our marketing campaign.  (I am always working on improving our marketing campaign!)

This break has also allowed me to spend extra time with my family, and I have loved every minute of it.  The kids go to a 12-month school, so we can’t spend the days together, but it is real nice to be able to go home after a day of work at my regular job and have dinner with the family and be able to tuck the kids in at night.  During the season there are so many nights that I don’t get to see them at all, either because of wrenching on one of the cars or sponsor commitments.  I am very lucky to have such a supportive wife and kids.

We are looking forward to the Team Raucci event this Saturday, Carlucio’s Italian Restaurant, July 26, 2008 from 5 to 10 pm.  Vinny is a great guy and we are honored to be part of his teams event.  There will be several Bullring driver’s with their cars on display and signing autographs.  That is one thing I really enjoy about being part of the Bullring, it’s like a big family.  Don’t get me wrong, like in every family there are issues, but when help is needed it seems like everybody forgets about the little stuff and sticks together. 

I also have to give a big thank you to the Southern Nevada Hispanic Employment Program for honoring me as the Diversity Champion. It makes very proud to know that the Race to Success Reading Program is working to help the students with the many challenges in life. I will hold the award as a great honor for a lifetime!  The SNHEP helps with recruitment and retention of employees for Southern Nevada business’s, and awards several hundred college scholarships to hard working students giving them a chance to succeed with a college degree.  It was great to be part of an event that included Senators Harry Reid & John Ensign, along with Congresswoman Shelley Berkley.  Thanks again, it will always be treasured!

And a final shout out to Findlay Chevrolet (www.findlaychevy.com), Team Rivera Independent Beachbody Coaches, Dr. MaryAnn Shannon, Black Mountain Graphics, and SFC USA Inc. for all of their support.

Looking forward to the double mains on 8-2-08, we will be trying to survive the first one and get a top five in the second one talk to you soon. 

 

7-9-08 - Copied from www.lvms.com Racers Blog - Driver Jim Petrie was asked to be a weekly blogger on www.lvms.com for the remainder of the season, click below to view http://www.lvms.com/news/racer_blog/

Since this is my first entry to the lvms.com driver blog, I will tell you a little about myself and the rest of the H-Town Racing team. We currently have four cars that compete at The Bullring. The #1 Super Late Model driven by myself, Jim Petrie, the #2 Late Model driven by team member Jeff Bargerhuff, the #1 Modified driven by my older brother Pat Petrie, and the #1 Charger car driven by team member John Wright.

We have been very lucky over the last few years and have had great sponsorships, during that time I was able to move up to the Super's. We were able to build a new modified for Pat, add the Late Model for Jeff, invest into the Charger, and launch Jimmy Petrie's (my six-year-old son) racing career in a Micro-Kart that competes at the Las Vegas Karting Club track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

After we realized how lucky we have been we decided we needed to give something back to the youth of the Las Vegas Valley while using our racing. We started the Race to Success Reading Program in September of 2007 at two local, at risk, low income elementary schools, Dr. C. Owen Roundy Elementary School and C.T. Sewell Elementary School. The program was more successful then we could have ever dreamed of and the results were astronomical. Between September 2007 and May 2008 the fifth grade students at the participating schools read over 1,300 books. The program helped bring the students back to being able to enjoy reading, which is especially important in today's computer, video game, and i-pod world. Not only did the students learn how to enjoy reading, but the program also helped raise reading scores, build confidence in students, and made them part of the greatest sport in the world, racing!

Fast forward to today, we are still running all of cars, but are unsure from week to week if we will be able to make it to the track the following week due to the loss of our primary sponsor. We sit down each and every week to see what the budget is and what we can afford to run the next week. We have found ways to make sure the Super, Modified and Late Model have been at the track every week. We have had to miss a few nights with the Charger, but John is doing alright for himself, currently ninth in points.

I have been working night and day to secure funding for not only our racing but for the Reading Program as well. If our current situation does not improve it looks as though we may have to cancel the reading program for the upcoming school year, since it is funded entirely out of our racing budget. This is where it saddens my heart, when we first implemented the program it was just a way of giving back, but as the school year went on and I saw the results, excitement and success it brought to the students, my outlook for the program changed. The Race to Success Reading Program became my primary focus and being on the track became secondary. However, as I always say to my kids, "Never give up!"

We would like to thank our 2008 sponsors Findlay Chevrolet, Las Vegas Orthopedic's Dr. Mary Ann Shannon, Cookie Rivera - Earn Extra Money and, SFC USA Inc.

The Night of Fire was exactly that for the H-Town Racing #1 Super Late Model, very, very, hot! We ended up arriving at the track with three cars: the Super Late Model, Late Model and Modified.  We practiced the night before but were still unhappy with our lap times, especially myself in the Super Late Model. The team practiced for three sessions and then I decided I needed to rest to be able to make all 76 laps, even though we made the car better we still were not where we wanted on the stop watch.

We rested and tried to stay cool until the driver's meeting. We headed over and listened to our track director say, "Outside temperature is 118 degrees, and track temperature is 149 degrees!"  All I could think is that everybody out here must be crazy!

We qualified poorly, as usual. I really need to work on that! We ended up in the 17th position for the beginning of the race.  I always run faster in the race, so I always say it's racing not qualifying :).  We were able to pass our way up to 8th, where we finished on the lead lap, without getting passed by anybody. By the end of the race we were running with cars that have won features and qualify for the dash every week, so I think during the break we will work very hard on our qualifying set up to see if we can't crack the top five by giving ourselves a better starting position. 

I had a great holiday with my family, we are very lucky that we got to spend so much time together.  We started out by having a great time at the track on July 3rd, both on the track and in the stockyard.  We then had all three of our cars as floats in the Boulder City Damboree 4th of July parade.  We had three of the nicest trucks out there, of course from the best Chevy Dealership in the world Findlay Chevrolet, and we decorated our trailers and had special guest Pit Boss and dealer Patricia with us.  I walked the route handing out promotional stuff not only for H-Town Racing, the best Chevy Dealership in the world Findlay Chevrolet, but also to help promote LVMS.  We ended up handing out over 5,000 promotional items!  We then headed over to the family BBQ, ate and celebrated Independence Day for the greatest country on planet earth!  All in all a great racing and family weekend, and isn't that what it is all about!

6-8-08

 

A few things have been going on, we had a very good meeting with a potential sponsor last Friday, hopefully this will come through and then everything I list in this blog will be a lot easier.

 

The Super Late Model is crashed, the Late Model is crashed, the Modified still needs a ton of work on the handling, and the budget for the Charger is week to week.

 

I hit the wall all by myself in the first practice, and I can’t even tell you why.  I don’t know if my acceleration at a different point caused it, if something broke, or what?  All I know is that the guys worked their butts off just to be able to get it out there to take the one lap and pick up some points, once again A BIG THANK YOU TO ALL THE GUYS, you are the best.  We are trying to find the parts now, if so we should be able to get it out there for the double mains on Saturday, just the matter of finding the parts.

 

Jeff is a little worse off than me.  On lap 3 coming out of turn two a bunch of them piled up in front of him, he could not avoid it, and his night ended early.  The car is in pretty bad shape.  The goal right now is to have this it ready by the July 3 race, and rent one for the next two weeks.  We are going to have to put a lot of work into it just to be able to get it off the trailer.

 

We still can’t make the mod turn, and haven’t had a chance to start on the new one.  We were shooting for this weekend but now we probably have to put that on hold to try and get the other two done.  So we will tweak some more and see if we can’t improve it.

 

John was running a very solid race in 3^rd before he got taken out.  It sent him to the back and he was able to work his way back up to 6^th.  Tech punched somebody and that sent him back to 5^th.

 

This week’s motto:  Don’t let disappointment get into the way of progress!

 

 

6/2/08

 

            I know it has been awhile since I have updated this blog, but we have been very busy with all aspects for H-Town Racing.  As most people who check out this site know Nevada State Bank has decided not to renew their contract with us, this brings a huge amount of work to us.  We have been working around the clock in order to gain new sponsorship, we have been very lucky to have Findlay Chevrolet, Dr. Mary Ann Shannon, Team Rivera – Independent Team Beach Body Coaches, SFC, and Black Mountain Graphics, they have helped us get through the last few months as we work to secure a new primary sponsor.  If you know anybody who may want to come on board as either a primary or associate give them my number, we would love to meet with them.

            We have had a few bites from prospective sponsors, with some meetings scheduled in the upcoming weeks, but we never count our chicks before they hatch.  However, I am not worried, because I know we offer the absolute best sponsor packages, and nobody can match what we do for our sponsors, and our sponsors can not gain the exposure we provide through any other avenue, so I know we will land somebody even bigger an better than our past sponsors.

            Onto racing notes:  We have been working very hard on the Mod to get it to handle better with no positive results.  We are moving to plan b, which we hope to have implemented by this Saturday’s (6/7/08) race. 

            We took the Super to SG Speedshop to have a new set-up put on it, and boy are we glad we did.  The car is about 7 to 8 tenths faster and I think after a little more practice behind the wheel we will be running up front.  This weekend we were not able to qualify due to clutch issues and had to start at the back, we worked our way to around 10^th three times.  We were involved in “race incidents” and had to go to the rear of the field twice, and this after we already started there.  I do have to admit it was a lot of fun, probably the most fun I have had behind the wheel in two seasons.  Thanks to my crew chief and brother Joe Petrie for all of his hard work and being patient with me over the last season and a half, and to all the rest of the crew for making sure that car is there week after week, even though we had nothing to show for it.

            Jimmy’s baseball season is over until the fall, and he was able to take the Kart out this past Friday for a little practice.  He was able to get two sessions in and improved each session and was better than the last time he was at the track.  Once some of the best fun I ever have at the races.  We spend quality time together as an entire family, and I love to see Jimmy have fun and improve.  We are looking forward to being out there a lot more often.  Well I know this isn’t much, however, back to work until I get that new sponsor, but I promise to try and keep up the blog.  Talk to you soon!

 

 

4/28/08

Not too much to talk about regarding this past weekends race.  Same old same old, if the car can’t turn you don’t go very fast!  We have decided to scratch everything to this point and start over, hopefully this will work!

 

It is going to be nice to have this upcoming weekend off.  Give us some time to rest, and work on the new set-ups, while marketing for our sponsors!  It will also allow me to get ready for the Race to Success Night at The Bullring, and work on bringing in some much needed associate sponsors.

 

I am very proud to announce Team Beachbody Independent Coach Cookie Rivera has signed on as an associate sponsor for the 2008 season.  In a nutshell, if you want to make extra money with little time invested, give her a call or e-mail her for more information.  My wife and I have signed up with her and are now bringing in an extra $750 a month, with less than 2 hours and $0 out of pocket a month.  It really works!  People who have signed up with her are retiring from their jobs!  It is also a lot of fun!  Check this out,

 

“EARN EXTRA MONEY! And get healthy!  What could you do with an extra $400-$1000 or more per month?  Please join me from 7:00 to 7:30 pm on Tuesday nights to learn more!  As a single parent it’s a challenge to maintain everyday living needs and still keep my children actively involved in extracurricular activities! To learn how I have MET the challenge call 702-373-1761 or e-mail me at cookie.rivera@cox.net !  One on one presentations are available by appointment!”

 

 

 

4/21/08

The Bullring

 

Another night down, and some of the problems fixed.  Looks like we got a pretty easy week coming up.  THANK GOD!  We can actually get in some quality family time.

 

As far as my night, in the first ever SLM/LM Combo race, not bad, but plenty of room for improvement.  We had one practice session, with only getting one lap in.  As soon as I entered the track the same damn engine troubles.  I pulled off and the crew got to work.  They removed every fuel line, ripped the top of the fuel cell off, and started on the wiring AGAIN!  We found two possible problems, the pick up in the fuel cell pre-screen was filthy and could be preventing fuel pick up problems, and one of the MSD connections appeared to be burnt.  We hard wired the distributor and removed the pre-screen.  We missed all of the rest of practice, so we are have to go qualify on brand new tires that have not been heat cycled, and on top of that I have never driven on these harder tires.  So qualifying was not good, posting a 16.5 and ending up in the 16^th starting position.  However, the engine had no signs of “the issue.”  So on to the feature.  We started outside row 8, the tires still haven’t been heat cycled and now we are on the track with guys we have never raced against.  The car was real tight, however we were able to work our way up to 12^th until a restart.  The guys up front brake checked so I slowed up, the 89 of Wayne Jacks didn’t and ran into the back of me and spun out.  LVMS decided that since there was contact, eventhough I am the one who got hit, I had to go to the rear.  Now we are sitting in the 17^th position, a very bad call by LVMS.  We were able to work our way to 11^th overall and 8^th in the SLM’s results.  This just goes to show you that the Late Model class was out of control, they were running Super’s with a different tire.  I like the combining because, it expanded the field and no body was really slammed.  Plus it will save us about $1000 every two races.  I will give kudos’ to LVMS on this decision.

 Pat’s night reminded of the electric powered bumper cars you see at the traveling carnival.  Pat started outside row 1 in the heat race; he got a great start, making a clean pass on the outside and into turn 1, however the 77 decided he didn’t like that and took him out.   They both were sent to the rear, Pat was able to work his way back up to a 5^th place finish.  In the main Pat was fighting a real tight car, and went into turn 3 behind the and instead of getting on the brake he pushed the clutch in and spun the 77.  He was sent

to the rear again!  He ended up with a 7^th place finish, as many 7 as Pat’s

been getting he should go try his luck on the old megabucks!

 

Bargerhuff was taken out on the first lap in turn 1, when a car spun

and everybody checked up, and was sent into the wall.  He had a flat, and a broken heim.  The crew was able to get him back out, however he was several laps down.  Not to much damage, we will get him ready to go back out again this weekend.

 

We would like to thank all of the CT Sewell 5^th grade students that helped out at the Henderson Heritage Parade on Saturday morning.  They held a used book drive, and handed the books out to children sitting around the parade route.  They are such great kids, I am so glad we are partners!  Also, Findlay Chevrolet for letting us drive those

awesome vehicles in the parade.  Pat was able to drive a beautiful lifted and fully customized Avalanche, while I was using a Hybrid Tahoe.  What great vehicles.  Thanks Again Doug!

 

4/14/08

LVMS has decided to combine the Supers & Late Models.  I actually agree with them on this decision.  Putting the Supers on the 970 is really going to help us, both on the track and in the wallet.  It will be interesting to see how this works out.  We are going to have to miss the tire testing session this Friday night, I have a previous commitment.  This is going to hurt us, however in life you have to roll with the punches.

 

As for this weekends re-cap, here we go.  As for my Super, another bad night.  It has been all of 2007 and now all of this season, and we are still struggling.  It gets very disheartening when the guys work so hard to get the car ready and we continue to have the same issues.  Once again the car began to miss once heat got built up in the engine.  We borrowed the MSD box from the #80, a new coil, a new pick up in the distributor, and all new wiring, and the same thing.  When we unloaded the car last night zero fire in the engine.  Now not only do we have to replace my ignition box, but we also have to replace the box on Ben’s #80 also.  We have found a problem with the race-mate alternator and are hoping this was the problem; we are going to disconnect it and put the new box in, and hope for the best.  This is where the tire session on Friday would really help, since we only get the 8-lap sessions on race day, it ignition problem never happens.  Not enough time to get it heated up, so we will replace everything and have to see what happens in the feature next weekend.  We are trying to form a plan to see if we can run both the LM & SLM with both cars.  We will have to see how it works out, but this will give us more track time, not only to solve engine problems, but also work on the set up.  We took all shocks for both the Super & LM and ran them on the dyno.  None of them were perfect.  We are going to change one set at a time, and then replace and change the next set, until all of them are set where we want them.  This is going to take a lot of time and money, but it should be worth it in the long run.  Chris Clyne was a tremendous amount of help, with the shocks and working with us to make the car turn better.  We were able to run tough for the first 10 to 15 laps, and then the tires went away.  We knew that tires would be an issue, it was the third night on them, but we had to suck it up knowing of the tire changing rule.  We will make a few adjustments and then hope for the best.

 

We fixed the engine troubles in the LM of “The Banker”.  However, we found an oil leak out of the remote oil filter housing when we arrived at the track.  Pat worked for hours and finally was able to get something on there in order to get Jeff out for the features.  We robbed parts from Pat’s truck!  Jeff was able to start both the LM & SLM race, but leery of the patchwork we attempted to just get him out there; he took only one green flag lap in both divisions to get the money and some points.  Other than the oil leak, which will be fixed Monday night the LM is ready to go.  All 4 cars are racing again this Saturday, so it will be a long week. 

 

 

4/7/08

The Bullring

This weekend’s race highlight was Pat Petrie in his modified.  The race was both exciting and nerve wrecking, and it ended with disappointment.  Joe tweaked on the set up after the heat race as complained the being real loose.  We scaled it and the cross weight was 8% off.  A few wrenched here and there and Joe and Jr. got it where they wanted.  Pat did not have a very good starting spot, I think inside row 4.  The car was ten times better and Pat moved through the field up to second.  Once he was in second, behind Charlie Wahl, there was a yellow and they started single file for the restart.  Pat got a great start, a little unusual for him J, and drove it as hard as possible into turn one.  He was up the door of the #29.  The #29 didn’t see him there and came down, Pat checked up hard to avoid contact and spun himself out.  It cost us a top five, but it was nice to see Pat make that move, and see the new modified work. 

 

Jeff Bargerhuff never got his night started.  After one practice run Car Chief Tim Rubel seen water coming out of the valve cover breathers.  We pulled them off and seen water, never a good sign.  We drained the oil and water and parked the car for the night.  We did not have the time and did not want to open the motor at the race track.. When we got the car unloaded yesterday we stripped it down, what we thought may be a cracked head or blown head gasket turned out to be worse..  A cracked #2 cylinder.  We will pull the engine tonight and off to the machine shop tomorrow, hoping to get back by Friday in time to make Saturday’s race.

 

John Wright had a very nice run.  The car handled extremely well, especially for 2 year old tires.  John ended up in the 7^th spot, turning times of 18.2.  The only place he was getting beat was under the hood.  John seems to look a lot more comfortable this season, and top fives will be coming real soon.

 

Ben Morris had a terrible weekend.  After an off season of working his butt off to get the new car put together he ran into nothing but problems.  He took the car out on Friday for practice to shake it down and the starter exploded on the track. So he loaded up and on to American Racing Supply Saturday morning.  They had a starter but not the right one, so Ben took the wrong starter to teammate John Wright and john was able to morph both starters into one.  First Ben lost the top piece to his window net somewhere between our pits and tech.  After a scavenger hunt it was found and Ben was able to go out for practice.  He complained of the clutch not working.  The crew went to work to find the problem.  The disks were bound and would not release.  After tearing the tranny and everything else out, and re assembly it still didn’t work.  Well we decide that was ok, we just start it in gear and Ben would have to be careful not to stall it.  We fired the engine to get some heat in it and CLACK! CLACK! CLACK!  Now it's knocking.  We tried to diagnose everything we could, and even had to pull Dad into it.  He thinks it is probably a rod bearing.  So no go for Ben!  What a disappointment, he worked so hard and hasn’t been able to see the reward of a race yet!  Keep you r head up Ben, you will be ready by 4/19/08.

 

As for the Super Late Model, not much to say.  The fuel problem from the week before actually wasn’t a fuel problem.  We think it may be ignition, so we will trouble shoot and work on the set-up and go after it again.

 

I would like to thank all of the fans who came over to see us during the on-track autograph session.  It is always great to meet racing fans, and visit with the kids.  Thank you for your support!

 

 

4/3/08

The Bullring

 

 Well the first race was not what we wanted, but it could also have been worse.

 

I was right between the 6^th and 8^th fastest car in practice, it looked very promising to qualify into the Dash for Cash, until we went the wrong way on the set-up for qualifying.  AARRGH!  We ended up qualifying 15^th, and that put us into inside row 7 for the feature.  A long night ahead of us.  We were able to work our way up to 13^th when the fuel pressure began to drop, the car began to surge and sputter at high rpm’s, not a good combination for an engine were turning 7500 rpms.  I pulled of the track to end the night, did not want to hurt anything or get in anybodies way.  As soon as I pulled in the crew was right there to yank the hood off and see if they could see anything.  I got the radio call from crew chief and older brother Joe that two other cars pulled off also.  So I went back to pick up those two extra spots, in this horrible points system every position counts.  We ended up 12^th, not what we wanted, but like I always say, “It could have been worse.”  The crew will be putting a long night in tonight in order to finish the car, I can’t be there because I have a meeting with an additional associate sponsor, which looks very promising.

 

As for the rest of the team Pat got crashed coming out 4 to get the green flag, the steering column broke and he was unable to get back out.  He ended up 8^th, but with the point system the mods are on, it wasn’t too bad.

 

Jeff impressed me very much.  I can’t explain what an improvement he has made since last year.  He jumped a start with a few laps to go, but he learned from that mistake.

 

John also didn’t have the best of luck he was running right around the sixth spot when his right rear went down, he had to pull in on a green flag, and we were able to get him back out there only two laps down.  He ended up 9^th.

 

So all in all, not the way we wanted to start the season, but “It could have been worse.”

 

 

2/10/08

LVKC Kart Track at LVMS

Jimmy Petrie #1 Micro Kart

Jimmy, in only his second time ever on the track, showed great improvement and had a blast.  He began the day in the first practice running lap times around the 1 min :25 second mark.  After he came in, kart chief and driving coach Pat Petrie Jr. (also Uncle Pat) talked a little with him about pedal technique and he went back out for his second practice.  The accelerator cable broke on the third turn and Jimmy coasted to a safe zone on the track and waited the session out.  After the second practice ended and the cable was fixed he went out an qualified, he picked it up 8 seconds and turnd in a 1 min :17  second lap, which put him in the 11th position.  The Kart was left unchanged for the heat race as Jimmy was getting faster each lap.  In the heat race he was able to knock another 7 seconds off of his time turning a 1 min : 10 sec lap and finished 11th.  Uncle Pat checked a few things over and decided it was best to leave it alone and see if Jimmy could pick up some time just on his driving in the main event.  He started in the 11th position in the main event and made two quick passes to move to 9th by lap two.  Each lap his times were improving, until he saw Mommy, sister Codi, and cousin Megan standing near the spectator fence watching.  He wanted to say hi, so he would wave to them all the way down the long straight away, thus giving up the 9th position and ending up 10th.  He also improved his lap time by another 6 seconds turning in a 1 min : 04 sec lap, an improvement of 21 seconds from the beginning of the day.

What a FUN day.  As a father who races himself, I have never had this much fun during a day at the track.  When I asked Jimmy for a quote for the website, he said "What's a quote?"  You got to love it!