Updated Apr. 4, 2000

• October 23rd, 1999 (ROMCO, San Antonio,TX) - We qualified faster than last time, but still need to be quicker for next time. Some time during the middle of the the race I got a motion sickness feeling (fumes or something) and missed several laps. I got back in the race later, after the crew attached a vent hose to blow air into my face. We finished 24th and completed 108 of 150 laps. Too bad, because I lapped the 11th place car a couple of times near the end of the race. Next race I will have a vent hose and take Dramamine just in case.


• October 2nd, 1999 (SIR, Altus,OK) - The car ran good lap times with our 9 to 1 engine and big carb, although not as much faster as we expected. Either track conditions (cold) or the track tire must be the limiting factor. The car would break the tires loose coming out of the corner if I really smashed the gas. We finished 2nd in the heat race while attempting to run down the leader. We also finished a close 2nd in the Feature race. We finished 4th place in season points at SIR.


• September 4th-5th, 1999 - Saturday night the car felt unsteady going in to the corners. After a lousy showing in the qualifying race we got some good advice from John Silverthorne's Crew Chief Bill Bloss. Bill suggested some changes to the rear end trailing arms and top-link. Dad and Keith made the changes Sunday morning. The car really felt more stable going into the corners Sunday night and we were turning quicker lap times than ever. We started 10th in the 100 lap race and finished 2nd. I thought I might have a shot at the leader after a late race caution, but the small push the car had developed let the leader open up a gap on the straights. The whole crew was excited after the race - it turned out to be a fun weekend.


• August 21st, 1999 - We switched to the Bias-Ply Towel City Retreads and the grip in the corner really improved. Some of my best lap times were in the 18.80s. I got second place in the heat race and 6th in the Feature. I was up to 4th in the feature but the car went crazy loose with about 6 laps to go. We think the tires grew due to air pressure increase. We are trying nitrogen in the tires at the next race.


• August 14th, 1999 - We decided to skip the ROMCO race at San Antonio this weekend. We will try to go back in October and give it another shot.


• August 7th, 1999 - The lap times are finally getting down close to what I would like to run at Sooner. We finished 2nd in the heat race and 5th in the feature. The car was good at the start of the feature but got a little loose with about 10 laps to go.


• July 17th, 1999 - Cheryl and I went down a day early to Sight See in San Antonio before the ROMCO race. We checked out the Alamo and the River Walk and the weather was nice. As we were driving to the track on race day it began to rain. The rain finally stopped by mid-afternoon but the practice schedule was almost all washed out. It sure was hot and muggy - the crew was dripping wet with sweat all day and night. We quallified a little slow but was looking forward to racing and finishing the race. Maybe I could have got faster with more laps on the track. Not to be - the rear axle welded itself to the axle tube on the 3rd lap of the race and we were done. I guess we will try again on August 14th.


• July 3-4th, 1999 - On July 3rd we had severe handling problems in the qualifying race. The car was unstable in the corners. Turns out one of the new tires I purchased must be bad. We changed that tire to another tire the same size and the problem went away on July 4th. We started the 100 lap race in 9th position and finished in 4th place. The car was pushing a little which makes it hard to pass cars in the second groove at Sooner. We should have went with a little more rear stagger to start the race because we were much faster with more stagger on June 26th. I was worried that the car would be unstable like Saturday night (July 3rd) so I didn't want too much rear stagger - my mistake.


• June 26th, 1999 - DNF. We were runing third and the pack was nose to tail when the leader's car broke and the jam up sent my car spinning out of turn 4. Another car could not miss me and hit the left rear tire and bent the panhard bar. The rear end was knocked about 1.5 inches to the right and I didn't finish the race.


• June 19th, 1999 - And yet another Rain Out. That makes 5 this year.


• June 6th, 1999 - Yet another Rain Out, again.


• May 29-30th, 1999 - Yet another Rain Out.


• May 15th, 1999 - We won our Heat race and finished 2nd in the Feature race. I made a mistake in the setup and had too much stagger in the car which made the car too loose. Oh, well.


• May 8th, 1999. ROMCO 125, Houston, TX - We had motor trouble in practice and did not get to race.


• May 1st, 1999 - Another Rain Out. We really wanted a chance to test a new carb and right front spring before going to Houston, but it was not to be. The weather teased us right up until late afternoon when it started raining.


• April 17th, 1999 - Heat and Feature Win! The car was handling pretty good and the little 331 spare motor ran like the big motor - maybe better. We abandoned rebuilding the big motor because of some suspicious piston clearances. A couple of guys were running a little quicker but they had problems in the feature race. That helped me get a chance at the front. It was an exciting side by side race for the lead for the last couple of laps, but the other car ran out of gas with a half lap left in the race. We only had 1 1/2 gallons of fuel left - way too many yellow flag laps.


• April 10th, 1999 - We rented the track for a couple of hours Saturday to do some testing. The testing went bad, good, then bad again. The first bad part was caused by the rear axle trailing arm mounts slipping on the axle. This caused the rear axle to shift to the rear of the car and rub a little fiberglass away on the left rear quarter panel. The crew got the rear end fixed and testing starting going good. The lap times were better than last year and I was pushing to go even faster when I spun out. The motor turned backwards during the spin. As I was building speed after the spin, testing went bad again. The number two cylinder dropped a valve and ended the day. The dropped valve was probably caused by the motor turning backwards, but an early over rev of engine probably didn't help. Also, we were using some new reduced stem valves that might not be up to par. The head and block were saved but the piston with a crankcase viewing window had to go. Dad is rebuilding the engine for the races this coming Saturday.


• April 3rd, 1999 - We worked hard since we picked up the rolling chassis Feb. 20th, and especially the last week to get the car ready to race and the race got RAINED OUT! Dad, Keith, Clint (aka Clinster, Goose...) and Scott (aka Scotty Bob) - thanks for the help. Well, at least we will get to test the car before the first race now.