Apr 1, Linden, IN: Well, I was going to update with some funny "April Fool's" prank about how we secured the much needed funding to go racing, but honestly, my heart just isn't in it. So, no, there's no news yet. I wish I could say differently, but there's just nothing to report. We will not be in Pevely for this weekend's WoO race, although I have run well there in the past, and really wish we could be there racing, it's just not going to happen. Carl is still working hard on some plans for us, but we just have to be a little more patient and hope for the best. In the meantime, we are keeping busy here at ye old Linden shop, keeping all of our karting customers up to speed and working on a few other little projects around the shop. I want to take just a moment to thank all of our fans for their interest in our racing schedule this season. We've gotten quite a few emails and letters via snail mail, even a few phone calls asking about our plans for this season. I wish I could be more concrete and let everyone know what's the deal, but until there really is one, I just can't tell you any more than I know now. Thanks again and keep checking back to see if anything new develops. You'll read about it here first.

Mar 1, Linden, IN: Well, it's been a while since I posted on here, so I thought I should update everyone, even if there's really not much to update about. With the World of Outlaws not offering tow money to us this year, we were forced to sit out the Florida events and the subsequent travel west afterwards. As it turns out, we may have made a wise decision, as those teams travelling full time this season have suffered through numerous and quite costly rain-outs of events that saw them travel coast to coast and back again to race only one night in Manzanita. That may also attribute to the unusually low car count at Manzi, where, in the past couple years, there has been enough cars to constitute a healthy B and even C mains. Things are simply status quo here. We have neither signed a title sponsor, or have come even close to announcing one as of yet. That does not mean that we aren't trying. The Lord willing, we will be back on the tour full time as soon as it is financially feasible. Now, however, without the "winner's circle" fees, commonly referred to as "tow money", we will need even that much more money to go out and compete. Keep in mind that we will not get our usual free pit passes now either. That, alone, will cost our team plenty over the course of a night or a season. Honestly, right now, we are entertaining several potential schedules. One, obviously, wouild be to jump on the tour and follow the remainder of the schedule regardless of preferential treatment per sea. Of course, that would entail some serious financial backing, but would also allow us some freedom to pick and choose wisely the races we enter since we wouldn't be racing for points. Another possibility has been a limited schedule mostly in the midwest, with some bigger races highlighting our schedule, ie King's Royal, Knoxville Nationals, etc. We have also courted some sponsors about hitting a local track or two and campaigning there weekly or nearly every week in a market that would make sense for them. Among those up for consideration, but not limited to, has been Knoxville, IA and Western Pennsylvania. We have continued to talk to several up and coming minority drivers about potential partnering of teams as a way of starting a grass roots driver diversity program, a la Mike Woodring in years past.We may still be leaning in that direction in the future, but our immediate needs are to fund our own team and get back out there racing as soon as we can. Right now, it's just all up in the air. Patience has never been much of a virtue of mine, so I suppose that's my trial for the time being. Again, everything is sitting here in the driveway, just waiting for a call. I don't have a clue who that call might be from, but we're hopeful and prayerful that something will turn up soon.

Jan 23, Linden, IN: Well, it's bitter cold here in Indiana, and I don't see us headed south anytime soon. Florida is looking rather iffy for us at this time. The rig is sitting in the drive ready to go. All it needs is about $600 worth of fuel and the insurance premium paid up to date. Our cars from last season are loaded in the trailer and pretty much ready to race. We haven't scraped together enough money to freshen engines yet, so that worries me a bit. I'd rather not run our stuff in the condition that it is in, and it will take some dough to get things freshened up right. Only the top 20 in points from the previous season are being offered tow money for Florida. Although some select local teams will receive tow money (some even more than the regular WoO members), we, our team specifically, will not be offered tow money for Florida this year. With so many top teams there, it is unlikely that we'd leave Florida in the top 20 in points, so a trip to the west coast is cost prohibitive for us. I seriously doubt that we'll compete in any west coast events this year for that reason. Not my choice, but I have to run my race team as a business, (not a personal write off). I loved the scenery in CA and really enjoyed racing at Chico. Calistoga is as scenic as anyone could possibly dream of, even if the racing wasn't that great. I was really hoping to get to Hanford or Perris or some other tracks that I've never been to out there as well. If we have sponsors that would like to see us at certain events that require additional money, then we're glad to accommodate their desires, but as long as all of the money comes out of our own pockets, I can only afford what my family can afford. After all, we ARE the "Blue Collar" team. We've got jobs and bills to pay just like 99% of you. We have hundreds, if not thousands, of fans and similar car owners across this country that pull for us each year, and that is encouraging. I like to think we represent "the little guy" out there and we try to do the best we can with what we've got. Unfortunately, the current business environment is continuing to squeeze out the little teams. Competitive racing has always been about money and the haves vs the have nots. That has really not changed, but it is a bit discouraging to see how things have changed in the past year or so in racing's top touring series. I'm not disgruntled, rather, I am thankful for the blessings we've gotten. We had, and still have, a chance to go race with the best of the best. We keep our heads up and keep marching on. I wouldn't say that Florida is definitely out, because I never say never, but unless we get some real help, real soon, it just doesn't make sense for us. Carl and Sarah are still working hard on some sponsor projects and if something comes through quickly, we'll jump right out on the road with the WoO. Right now, we're also considering running some local events and filling in with some WoO or All Star events. We can likely afford to run some weekly shows, but the travel just wipes us out financially with the Outlaws. We're not alone in this problem.There are several temas that are in the same boat. Everyone is just trying to keep their heads above water, while a half dozen well funded teams will duke it out this year and enjoy all the spoils. In MIke Kerchner's words, "It is what it is."

Jan 7: Linden, IN: Happy "belated" New Years to everyone. I certainly hope Santa was as good to you and yours as he was here at our house. Keep in mind, that the big, old, bearded, fat, red suited guy, (no, I didn't dress up), isn't the reason we celebrate...there's much better reason to celebrate this time of year! Through all the adversity we experienced, not just in the '07 season, but throughout my career, I am constantly reminded of how blessed I have been to even have the opportunity to go to work every day in my own business, drive a WoO sprint car, and to live in a free country that allows us to worship a God that makes this all possible. The shop is getting busier, which is good. Money has been tight, as is usual this time of the year for everyone, I know. Our business is somewhat seasonal, so we try our best to budget for it, but nonetheless, it's nice to see some pick up in sales here recently. Hopefully we'll get caught up and be better situated for the World Of Outlaws opener in Florida just a few short weeks away. It seems like we just got back from there! We''ll likely start the year with our last years car and try to scrape together some sponsor bucks as we go. We do have a fellow working on some sponsor programs for us and some really cool ideas that might evolve if all goes well. Maybe nothing will result, but you don't know until you try,and if it's the Lord's will for us, something will happen. It would be nice for me to be able to come on here and announce a big sponsor deal, but in reality, there are many deals in the works all the time. Some come to fruition, some just whither away on the vine. None go without a concertive effort on our part to attract and keep sponsors from year to year. Little or big, all of our sponsors are dear to us. We truly are a "family" team and our sponsors are just one part of this family. Be sure to patronize our sponsors if you ever are in need of their products or services. If it weren't for their benevolent hearts, we wouldn't be able to continue to do what we are doing.
Here's a quick link to our current sponsors just as a convenience to those of you who may not be aware of all of our marketing partners.
>> Sponsor Links here <<

December 23, Linden, IN: Merry Christmas to all of our fans, friends, and sponsors. You are all considered family to us! Sorry it's been a while since this page updated, but honestly, there's not been much to report on. Seems we had a server error, or I didn't upload the pages correctly last time. Either way, hopefully you didn't miss my little blurb too much before the holidays. No late breaking news or anything, just lots of deals "in the works". We had a meeting recently with a "professional" money finder, ie marketing guru, who I honestly trust. We've been less than successful at getting the much needed cash support to operate a sprint car team at anything greater than the local level it seems, and now we find ourselves racing against Tony Stewart and Kasey Kahne budgets on the Outlaw tour. It's only going to get tougher to be competitive. We've always had great support from our product suppliers but unfortunately, that doesn't put food on the table, or fuel in the rig. He's got some out of the box ideas for finding the necessary cash to do this deal right, and Sarah and I really like what he has to say anf offer right now. Right now, I've got some huge aspirations of campaigning our own team for a few more years, and then working with other drivers through our team as a driver development program of sorts. There's a LOT of very talented drivers who simply never get the chance to display their talents because of lack of funds or connections, or whatever. If we ever do get something rolling where we have some money to work with, we'll be certain to pass it on. It's been fun to watch some up and coming young talent in sprint cars through the years. Some make it to Cup level and all the accollades that come with it, while others just fade away into the blue collar world like most of us. It's frustrating to not be able to afford our own team let alone someone else who is deserving of a shot. It's sort of in my master plan to drive these things a few more years and then continue to be involved in the sport as a team owner, coach, and mentor to younger drivers coming up through the ranks. Like I said, it's just something we've been tossing around for a while now. If anything comes to fruition, you will hear about it here first! Things are busy, as can be expected this time of the year, here. Business has been slow, but steady. I may even get to start my shopping later tonight! LOL We'll be travelling back to Pennsylvania between Christmas and New Years to visit with all of our family there, so don't expect any updates until after the first of the year.

Dec 7,Orlando, FL: Well, we're down here at the annual PRI show in sunny Orlando.We started the morning off in Linden,Indiana with an inpromptu snowball fight at 4:30 in the morning thanks to a couple of inches of fresh wet snow and a wide awake 6 year old. When we landed at MCO, (Orlando airport), we got our typical tourist rental car and headed east to the beach just in time to dip our feet in the Atlantic. Imagine, just hours after being frozen and worried that the roads would become impassible to the airport, we would be splashing in the ocean! The show has become a necessary business expense, as well as a pleasureable vacation for our family over the last couple years. We enjoy seeing many familiar faces and some that we only get a chance to see once a year or so. We got a chance to chat with Bob Bennett and "Pops" Mickel while at the show. Bob got his first ever Williams Grove win early this year and that's a feat that few will ever match. Congrats, indeed! Bob & John were full time supporters of the Gumout Series a few years back with us and we still enjoy spending time with them when we get a chance. The PRI show has once again grown larger than ever. One thing I noticed though, was that with the new (better?) wider aisles, is that you can walk the show much faster than in years prior. Is this good for vendors? I usually make a quick walk through the entire show, taking a few notes as I walk, on booths that need more attention from my better half later in the weekend. I found myself walking so fast this year that if a booth had a drag car or something that didn't particularly fit the usual mold of a sprint car, that I rarely gave the vendor's booth a second glance of interest. When the show was in Indy, I was literally forced to stop and look at everyone's booth, whether I was interested in their product line or not. A lot of times it got me thinking of ways to cross use a product in our shop that I may have not thought of otherwise. The stagnation of foot traffic forced a captive audience for vendors that is now missing in Orlando. Oh, ok, I'm still crying about affording tickets to Orlando vs driving to Indy and sleeping in my own bed each night, but in reality, there's some merit to what I am pointing out too. I shared this thought with a couple of vendors at this years show, and was reminded that the show has really evolved into an "event" now, with races coinciding with the show, which quite honestly, detract from the show. Let's face it, if you are setting up there to sell your goods, it's a little disconcerning that your audience leaves early due to a scheduled race nearby. And while "Bud on the bus" seems like a shameless plug for the race across town, providing free rides and alcoholic beverages for show attendees seems to be counterproductive in my opinion. Keep in mind also, that many of the perspective buyers were kept busy (even days prior), at the race track preparing their machines instead of perusing the spacious isles of the trade show. One step outside the motel room told you that Orlando is THE place for a trade show of this magnitude, but I might remind you that inside the Orange County convention center, the weather is just the same as inside the Indy convention center. 72* and artificial lighting seem to be the norm once you are inside the building to conduct business. The warm outside temperatures only tempt you to spend more time AWAY from the show and at the many other attractions that Orlando has to offer. Oh yes, Orlando, the fun capital for families. How can a racer, or small businessman tell his wife and kids he's headed to Orlando in December for a "trade show" and NOT take the rest of the family with him? If he takes his family to the show, that just made the trip that much more expensive, additional flight tickets, motel room size, meals, additional days, etc etc etc. Oh, and don't even talk about attraction ticket prices...WHEW! The price of Disney for a day is about the same as the cost to do the entire trip alone for the week! Being the "frugal butt" that I am, we chose to spend a few dollars on miniature golf, and an evening at the Pirate Dinnner Adventure. If you enjoy mini golf at all, you HAVE to try one of the MANY courses around Orlando. Even if you hate golf, the grounds and all the unbelievable landscaping are worth the ticket prices.The show will continue in Orlandofor some time to come, in my opinion, and we'll just learn to deal with it.Iwas not entirelysurprised tosee the likes of GlennSander and Jack Elam not represented at the show this year. That's a first for aslong as I've been going to the show I think. Mnay other companieshave choesen to skip this show. The scheduling of the show, (close to Christmas), coupled with it's proximity to a virtually non-racing area of the country, make it less profitable to do business I'm sure than when in Indy. The Orange County convention center and the city seem to have jumped through hoops though to keep the show where it is. Right now, I doubt it is possible for Indy to get the show back without pulling a rabbit out of their hat. Remodelling the old convention center still will not suffice. We still have the old dome stadium to deal with, and while the football team will get their new stadium, it is doubtful that even with millions spent, that Indy will be able to handle a convention as large as PRI again in it's current location. PRI has now become the 45th largest trade show in the world....now that's incredible, considering all of the other "mainstream" industry that is out there.

Nov 14, Linden, IN: We enjoyed a great day at the Indiana Sports Chaplains Roundtable held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway yesterday. Good friend, Pastor Dudley Balmer, invited us to attend the Chaplains conference and we really had an enjoyable time. The meeting was spearheaded by Bill Houston of Sports Spectrum radio and magazine and brought together a real cross-section of Chaplains from all sorts of professional and amateur sports. We certainly learned a lot more about the workings behind the scenes that our friends put into serving our industry as well as many other sports fields. The conference was held upstairs in the media room, overlooking the frontstretch and start / finish line of the IMS. There were Chaplains and Pastors from a variety of backgrounds, which really made it informative and interesting to hear the troubles and testimonies from many different viewpoints. Although many were from traditional stick and ball sports, ie football, basketball, etc, a lot of what these folks came to share were applicable to the motorsports venue as well. Motorsports Chaplains from the IMS, ORP, USAC, RFC, National Speedway Ministries, and George and Sherry Huff, along with Johnny Parsons, Jr, from American Racing Ministries, were represented, as well as Dale Hop, a professional motorcross rider from FCA, and ourselves. Charlie Swaney, from Tyndale House Publishers was on hand to give everyone in attendance a free copy of Colts' coach, Tony Dungy's, newest book. There was plenty of other free materials to help witness and build a Bible study or chapel service around as well. There were some great displays of reference materials and other useful items to draw from. Just tapping the minds of all the others that participated is worth attending this event alone. There were professional basketball and football players, including Carl Brazley of the NFL, coaches, chaplains from a variety of collegiate sports from Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Athletes in Action, and other organizations all represented. Each had their own interesting angle on the challenges of working within their respective disciplines. Before attending the event I had questioned just exactly why we were supposed to attend this meeting. We're certainly not ordained ministers or chaplains by trade. We're simply racers who live by our beliefs. God has a plan for all of us, and while we don't always understand what that is, I guarantee you, He has a plan. Does this mean that we'll lead Bible studies and prayers at World of Outlaws events next year? Seriously, I don't know. I really don't know what is in store for us. Right now, I don't know how we can afford to get to the very first event of next season, but I trust that He will provide for us if that's His will. Another thing that being a Christian racer has allowed me to learn is patience. Things don't always happen as quickly as I would care for them to. Everything seems to take longer than I am willing to admit. That's where patience and trust comes in. Consider my age and the kind of racing and schedule I am trying to do with my family. How can anyone even attempt to do this crazy schedule without having God in your corner? "With God all things are possible." We've been very blessed and fortunate to have met a lot of great folks along the way who have helped us out tremendously. I honestly think we just need to keep doing what we are doing by being a witness while we're out on the road, and if the opportunity presents itself to share our love for Christ with someone, then so be it. Will this lead to a fellowship meeting or Bible study somewhere down (and along) the road? I really don't know. I do know that we would welcome the opportunity to do something along these lines if it were made available to us. I think we've pretty much already been doing that in a small degree. We don't push our beliefs on anyone, but I think it's pretty evident that we are available and willing to share with anyone who asks. There are certainly much more qualified people than ourselves for a Bible study or daily prayers at the drivers' meetings. There are a few tracks, Knoxville, IA comes to mind, that already do a great job at ministering to the drivers and their families, but honestly, the series lacks someone full time to be there for all of us who have daily needs. Pastor Dudley and his wife Nancy, who head up the National Speedway Ministry, would do a great job in this capacity in my opinon. We have long expressed a need for childcare and a travelling chaplain with the series, and the Balmers would be a perfect fit for this. Unfortunately, like everything else on this earth, it takes money, and lots of it. Please continue to keep us and the Balmer family in your prayers.

Nov 3, Charlotte, NC: Final race event of the year! Our time trials from Thursday pre-determined where we'd start all night, 41st of 48, so knowing that it would be an uphill battle, we decided to buckle down and race hard, regardless of the outcome. We did manage to out-time some fantastic cars and were just a tick off of fellow J&D Engines driver, Danny Smith, (who we're excited for that will be racing full time with the World of Outlaws again in '08 for the first time in 20 years! Now that's some experience! Congrats to Danny for putting together a pretty neat deal.)
The track would be much more to our liking tonight, (drier and certainly more slick.) Still plenty fast, but now you had to actually drive the race car, not simply "hang on". In the final heat race, I would have a spirited race with last year's Williams Grove National Open winner, Doug Esh. We traded some friendly slide jobs back and forth until finally he got around me for good and I watched him motor away down the straights. It was fun actually racing with someone of his caliber though. Sidenote: Although the "PA posse" may have not faired so well at the World finals, it does go to show that when there is no racing going on in eastern PA, that these guys really do leave the porch with several, a dozen or more, in attendance. :) We would wind up 9th of 11 cars for the heat, but still had fun. The C-main would see us start in 3rd. With Jac Haudenschild and Danny Smith on the front row, our only shot was right on the start. We did, indeed, get a good start and I got my nose under Smith going into one, but the cushion was still the fast way around. I would try a few more times during the remaining 6 (what? only 6 laps?) in the C-main, before being challenged by fellow #18 competitor Tony Bruce, Jr. I was able to hold off Tony, but had a great race with him the last couple laps. I would go in on the cushion and had trouble a couple times coming off of four,where Tony would show me a nose. On the last lap, I went to the bottom, and sure enough, it was sticky enough to run down there as well, and we were good enough to hold him off for third. Although we did not transfer to the B, it was a good way to end the season. We were competitive with cars of a a MUCH higher budget and/or experience level, and raced hard every lap. That's a big reason we came to this race. We sure didn't want to end the season losing a motor and moping about it all winter long. We raced one last weekend, and can hold our heads high and really get our nose to the grindstone over the next couple months to build better cars and engines to strengthen our program to make it more competitive for '08.
The downside of the weekend, was the lack of tv coverage for the guys in the B and C-mains, which they failed to show. Sprints weren't singled out, however, as the Late Models saw one of their B-mains erased from the coverage as well. They did televise the sprint heats pretty much in their entirety, but it seemed kind of funny that there were pre-taped interviews that replaced the C and B-mains. Personally, I would have really liked to see the C-main on telvision instead of the heats for us. Considering that our race with Tony was really the only battle on the track, would have meant some valuable tv time for both of our teams. Then the fact that Haud goes on to come from the tail of the B to finish a very close fifth was missing likely the very best passing of the entire night! When you have live tv, you can't forsee what the race will be like though, I understand that. Things got shuffled from the itinerary that we were given, and live tv just forces you to do what you have to do to keep the program moving. We did sit through about a half hour of track prep during the live telecast. That surely had some guys in the production room pulling their hair. Nobody likes to sit through water truck races. I can say, howver, that the track at Charlotte for this weekend was by far the best I have seen it in all the years we've been making the twelve hour trip south to Nascar-land.

Nov 2, Charlotte: OK, I'll be politically incorrect and call it Charlotte, I'm allowed to. I've spent plenty of money at Lowe's on home repair and appliances and don't think I need to advertise addiotionally for them in my blog (which is worth how much again?) LOL Anyhow, The Brown & Miller, Staubli, Lincoln Welders, Friends of DirtVision.com, Triple XXX Family Restaurant, K&N, Hoo Ahhs, AutoBGood, (did I miss someone?), J&D Powered, Maxim was ready for action. We would get to hot lap on a greasy, slimey, (almost typical), Charlotte track and promptly get the car all slopped up with the native red clay. Thankfully, we brought along a "qualified" engineer to help scrape mud on this trip. Jeff Nelsen, a good friend of ours, and fellow racer from Rapid City, SD, made the trip down to Charlotte to spend some time cleaning up the mess we brought off the track. It was almost amusing how slippery the track was, as I joked that I let Kinser pass me in hot laps. I guess Steve was feeling "racey"...LOL The track would eventually tack up and get blazing fast again with a heavy choppy cushion with lots of sticky stuff up above it. Let's just say that it was sticky enough to turn over a late model or two during the night.
In our heat, I would line up outside Jac Haudenschild and kind of figured he would be the guy to watch. Jac hasn't been qualifying well all year it seems, but when it comes time to race, you can bet he'll have his elbows up. Coming from the back, Jac would make the top five cut and make the transfer out of our heat. I wasn't quite up to that task. I did get a pretty good start and got up between Smith and Ellenberger going into turn one, but gave it back coming off turn two as Haud blasted by the gaggle of cars I was in the middle of. One thing about our motor program, our "stuff" takes off good! I think I passed one car and just sort of fell in line on the cushion. By the end of the heat I was pretty much babying the car, knowing we weren't going to transfer on a track this sticky. We kept the other cars in sight, but only finished ahead of McCarl, who had troubles all night. I did get a pretty good start in the C again, and passed a few cars getting into turn one, but that was all she wrote, as the track was just locked down and on the hammer the whole time. I would finish 6th of 11 cars.

Nov. 1, The Dirt Track at Lowe's Motor Speedway, Concord, NC: Day one of the "World Finals." Today would be time trials for both upcoming nights and really determine the rest of our weekend. Knowing that we were going into the weekend with our oldest motor and oldest car, we weren't expecting much and on a MUCH better than usual Charlotte track surface, the times were really competitive on a wide open race track. A very fast track with all the best racers in the country there, wouldn't be the best scenario to use our oldest equipment, but again, we are not in a points race, and it was a "safe" use of our equipment at the end of the year. After losing our best engine at Knoxville, we really didn't want to lose our number two engine with as many races as were on it. Our old dash 12 motor has been as strong as a rock, and we knew we could count on it, even though it might be down a bit on power to the top dogs. Understandably, we didn't time real well, but in all honesty, we were only one second off of quick time. Considering that we are running a $15,000 motor and the guys that timed real well were all running latest greatest $45,000 and up motors, we really weren't all that disappointed. Of course, we ran used tires all weekend too, but that wouldn't really have any bearing on our times. We sure weren't spinning the tires, and were running wide open all the way around the track, so tire sharpness meant little in the overall picture. Would new tires have made us even a tenth of a second quicker, I really doubt it. We did manage to out-time some very well funded teams for Saturday night, and that was pretty cool. When a team has a million dollar budget and barely out-times us, or times slower than us with what we brought to the table, it just means that we were getting everything we had out of what we brought. That always brings a smile to my face. Of course it would be more fun to go out there with a really hard hitting motor, and new tires each time, but I can still manage a smile when we overachieve.

Nov 5, Linden, IN: Well, we're back home here at the shop in Linden and thankful for a safe and fun trip to the World Finals in Charlotte. Looking back, we really did have a good time. the weather was great and the racing was pretty decent. The tv show really didn't do us much justice, but then again, we weren't a front runner by any means either.

Oct 29, Linden, IN: Well, it's official, we're headed to Charlotte for one last Hoo Rah. You can check out the press release below for specifics and all the shmooz appeal, but the bottom line is that we are going to race with the WoO at Charlotte this coming weekend. Hey, it sure beats sitting at home and watching it on tv! We're taking our old car and our oldest -12 headed motor, so we don't expect to be a player in the race itself. We also know they won't show us any, if at all, but we figure we owe it to our sponsors and our loyal fans to head to this big show anyhow. It will honestly be a great show for the fans to see so many quality sprints and latemodels compete in the same nights of racing. The live TV is a bonus for the whole deal and you can't knock that it adds to the excitement just a little. I'm not sure how that will play out for track conditions or for our team specifically, but it will certainly be an enjoyable weekend of racing for the more well rounded fans of both sprints and stocks.

official press release: Oct. 29, Linden, IN: SC Motorsports headed to the World Finals

The SC Motorsports team will take to the track for one last event in this 2007 season. Dubbed "The World Finals", the weekend places the best of the best in the World of Outlaws Sprint Cars toe to toe with the best of the World of Outlaws Late Model series. In an event of many unprecedented firsts, the inaugural World Finals, taking place at the Dirt Track at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, NC, will see three nights of competition on the 4/10 mile red clay surface. The World Finals will be punctuated this year by live television coverage for the first time ever for the late model series and feature the World of Outlaws sprints in their final points event of the season. Coverage can be seen live, November 3rd from 8-11 pm (est) on the Speed Channel. SC Motorsports driver, Brian Carlson, is looking forward to getting back behind the wheel for such a prestigious event. "We've had just a terrible year and are really eager to get back racing again." Carlson had struggled early on in the season travelling fulltime with the World of Outlaws sprint series for his second straight year. The 2007 SC Motorsports season was highlighted by a dash run at Dixie Speedway in Georgia before a leg injury suffered during a crash at the Lake Ozark Speedway ended Carlson's season early. Carlson came back to score a couple more dash starts with a 4th quick effort in time trials at Fargo, ND, and a surprising heat race victory at Sedalia, MO, putting an exclamation point on his season to that point. Carlson's season was just starting to turn around when a catastrophic engine failure at this year's Knoxville Nationals put the team even further behind. "We felt it was important to come back and run this last race of the year for our sponsors and all of our loyal fans. We want to show our support of the other drivers and owners who have made this season the most competitive season ever on the World of Outlaws trail." The SC Motorsports team's list of sponsors includes: LincolnWelders, Goodson Shop Supplies, Brown & Miller Racing Solutions, Staubli, and Friends of DirtVision.com. For more info on Brian Carlson and his SC Motorsports team, please visit them on the net at: www.CarlsonMotorsports.com.

Oct 5: Looks like we made the right decision on the Princeton Nationals as 60* weather and rain forced the cancellation of Friday night's WoO event. I feel for the teams that made the grueling haul out there to maybe get to run Saturday night. Now that everyone's in town, hopefully they get the second day of the show in.
Ever wonder why insurance companies drag their feet on paying claims to doctors and hospitals? I'll stop before I even get started on this one. Let's just say that when the series had K&K insurance, the claims were paid right away. My experience with "Rand" has been less than satisfactory. We got a bill/collection notice today from the hospital in Missouri where I was attended to after my crash back in the spring. It seems the insurance company missed this one. Or maybe refused to pay it, who knows. They are still "negotiating" the bill with the hospital ($10,000+). What is there to negotiate? I was there, they worked on me, they released me, now pay the stinking bill already! Holy cow, it's been more than 5 months now! The last "deal" they offered the hospital was less than half of the amount owed. Can you believe that? Needless to say, the hospital turned their ridiculous offer down. Can you imagine being offered HALF of YOUR paycheck? The insurance company is playing games, and my credit, not worth a plug nickel anyways, is at stake.OK, I said I wouldn't start - too late. BUY MY SHIRTS people! Online is still your best bet. Noone else gets a cut, not WRG, not DIRT, not WoO, not anyone! We accept visa/MC/AmEX and most bank debit cards if that helps anyone.

Oct. 1, Linden, IN: Well, believe it or not, I am actually getting used to "domestic" living. Cutting the grass BEFORE it needs baled, taking AJ back and forth to school, and getting groceries at an actual grocery store versus a truck stop, convenience store, or Wal-Mart that has big rig parking. Then there's taking time to get my hair cut at an actual barber here in town, or how about shopping for home improvement items? Of course there's all the "honey do" projects that have been put off for, literally, years. Yea, you might think that I'm getting used to all this "normalcy." Fooled you. I have definitely NOT been missing all this. Oh sure, it's been an "interesting" change from our "what I call normal" lifestyle on the road all the time with the WoO series, but we really miss travelling and racing. As tempting as it seems to go back and hit a few more races before the year ends, it's just not financially feasible right now. Sure we could afford to go back out, but at what expense. I'm not looking for a tax write-off, or net loss right now. The schedule is really thin between weekend races, and hefty on miles to rack up. We had considered the Princeton, MN show, but with the possiblilty of foul weather this time of year in Minnesota, a long trip to run possibly one night would be unwise. Now we are planning on staying here at the shop and working on some other projects to better prepare for next season (which is only a few short months away.) The Charlotte race is still not out of the question entirely. There's still some logistical hurdles to clear, but that could be do-able. Some of the better funded teams have spent the last couple weeks here in Indiana doing some testing. That's something we want to do as well. Although a lot of this season we spent "testing" some ideas I had, at a points race is no place to be "experimenting" with things. We're still considering our engine builder options for next season as well, and that's not a change I really wanted or expected to make. We've been real happy with our relationship with J&D and I'd hate to part ways, but we'd be foolish not to at least explore our options and see what else is available to us at this point.We're still looking into possible partnerships for our team as well. With the cost of fielding a competitve WoO car at an all-time high, we need some help. Even the Nascar guys are teaming up and sharing resources. It only makes sound financial sense, and would be a move in the right direction for ourselves as well. If we can team up with an exisitng team, and or get someone else to become a business partner, it would sure help over the course of a season.
In regard to rules changes for next season, it seems that coooler heads and smarter minds have won over the earlier ideas of drastic wing changes and the sort during the Williams Grove owners' meeting. Now, instead, it sounds like our current wings will be legal, possibly with some slight modifications. This is MUCH welcomed news! Another welcomed addition, is the addition of a "non cockpit adjustable" rule, which will eliminate the need for adjustable shocks and torsion stops from inside the car. Although I have purchased much of this for the 2007 season, I think this is a wise move to further cut costs of competing AND make the competition better, ie more passing. That's something we ALL want to see more of. Look for the wing rule to raise its ugly head again for 2009 - it's what they,WRG, are wanting. Why is it that guys with no background in working on these cars are the decision makers on rules? Answer: "Well, I didn't ever work on a sprint car, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn express last night." Boy, I sure do miss Shane Carson. He's worked on sprinters plenty -- C'mon WRG, he's already on payroll, let him have a shot at the rules.
It seems the bigger topic of discussion at the Williams Grove "owners summit" was that of t-shirt revenues again. Why is this really that big of an issue to WRG? Has t-shirt sales been down that much from the series' perspective? Could it be because the trailer rarely has a good selection of new and exciting designs? I, for one, find myself buying shirts each year from the WoO t-shirt trailer. Many times the shirt I really wanted is unavailable in my size (large - go figure), or they are real plain and simply "boring." Kids sizes are difficult to stock appropriately, so I understand that, but large? C'mon! Bigger issue, you have to go back a few years to see some really exciting shirts. Nowadays, all of the driver's shirts are so much more colorful. They'll have multiple cars drawn on one side, new reflective or glow in the dark inks and the sort, that make them more interesting (to me anyway.) I have always thought that Diane Schatz has done the best job at promoting their driver (Donnie) through merchandise sales. I would assume that their sales are second only to Steve Kinser. Dana Kinser does a great job as well for Steve. Multiple designs, releasing new shirt designs every few weeks, die casts, etc, etc....these two gals have done it right. The rest of us only WISH we had a percentage of shirt sales that these two ladies have garnered. Although much of the credit is given to the driver and his accolades, I think that many over look the equally earned credit that is due to these women in their respective t-shirt trailers. Further hurting series shirt salews may be the popularity of Nascar stars Kasey Kahne and Tony Stewart shirts available at our races now. Let's face it, the popularity of these two guys is a two edged sword for sprint caar racing. Their popularity brings some much needed spotlight to the series, but with it also comes higher spending to compete with the series, and now to have to compete with on shirt sales. So, why does WRG really want to eliminate the driver's vendor trailers? Well, I am sure there are a miriad of reasons. One being sales tax collection and liability, both tax AND insurance-wise. Keep in mind, these aren't the days of Ted we are dealing with anymore. This is BIG business. We're talking millions of dollars AND shareholders' investments at stake. Personally, I think it's a great idea for the smaller teams to have their merchandise represented via the "official" WoO merchandise trailer. Personally, I cannot justify sending a seperate truck and trailer, person to man it, all the fuel expenses, insurance, etc, etc for the small amount of shirts I sell each year. Inaddition, there are tracks that insist on charging the drivers to set up their trailers. Stands to reason, they typically charge their other weekly vendors, souvenir sales, photographers, etc. This is even more prevalent at the Nascar venues we occasionally visit. Many other teams are in the same boat as us on this issue. There are some teams that can rightfully justify the mass expenditures of putting an seperate vendor trailer out on the road. Kudos to them, but the bottom line has got to be very narrow for them, IF they are operating it above the board, ie collecting state sales tax, etc, for every state we roll into. This is a touchy situation, because most everyone feels that selling drivers t-shirts is necessary to keeping the team (or at least the driver) out on the road for the whole year. While I agree to some extent, t-shirt sales alone aren't why we race. For a team like ourselves, a lot of times it means being able to afford a new tire, or a motel room once in a while versus sleeping in the rig when it's 90* out. Maybe a good family dinner somewhere as apposed to a sandwich on the run, (often times meaning walking through a drive-thur at midnight.) Keep in mind that you have to sell a LOT of shirts to afford a new spec tire at $186 each. There's not that much profit in shirts when purchased in smaller quantities, like all the smaller teams do. Purchase 300 at a time and your profits escalate. When I look at other teams, who share t-shirt trailer space per night, that makes a little more sense to me financially. Split the expense, but still have a presence behind the grandstands. Unfortunately, somone's wife usually ends up stuck there most of the night and can't even enjoy much of her spouse's racing. Is the WoO stocking drivers' shirts so terrible? I guess to some it would seem so. Obviously, they, WoO, would expect a cut for offering their service to display and sell our shirts. Personally, that's a much better deal for our team than to justify our own t-shirt trailer. But to a few teams, I can see that being a problem. If the control of t-shirt sales is so paramount to WRG, one has to ponder, what's next? We already have a spec tire instituted by WRG. Will they want to purchase the tires in large quantities directly from Hoosier tire, and then send their own tire truck to each of our races, thus forcing teams to purchase the tires from them. Would fuel be the next step? How about homologated wing rules, where you can only purchase wings from certain manufacturers who meet WRG's criteria. That's already been discussed. While these items weren't discussed at the Grove Summit, who's to say they won't be on the agenda at the next meeting? Gaining the upper hand on t-shirt sales seems like the series strong arming the teams into submission. While I doubt that is there intention, it does cast some fear and doubt about the motives of the organization. Something which has caused much strife since their purchase of the series some three years ago. Can't there possibly be some medium ground on this t-shirt sales issue? How about the obvious -- let those drivers who wish to send their own merchandise trailers to each track, do so, and those who can't afford, or choose not to, be included in the WoO merchandise trailer. Now obviously you wouldn't have as much frontage or room for multiple items in the WoO rig, but you know that going into the deal. As it was proposed last year, WoO were to purchase driver's shirts and even offered to pre-pay a "wholesale" price, which was decided last year at $10 per shirt. Now, I don't buy that many shirts on each order, and I could stand to sell them a large quantity of shirts for $10 each to have them available to all the fans at all the tracks every night of the year. That's a bargain in my book. Just my opinion, remind you. I retail my shirts for $15, while most teams sell theirs for upwards of $20. Keep in mind that these teams demanding $20 or more are purchasing at much larger quantitites than I do, so they must be profiting much more as well. Now, would there be a problem if WoO chooses to sell my shirts at $20 instead of "my" suggested retail price of $15? No, it's all supply and demand. If people choose not to buy my shirt over a "name" driver, I have still been paid my agreed apon purchase price of $10. You see what I am getting at? As loong as the series doesn't tell me what price I have to sell my shirts for to the fans, I have no problem with that. For some teams though, this would mean literally thousands of dollars lost due to being forced to sell their shirts to the series (a la wholesale) rather than directly to the fans (retail). Noone is knocking the drivers for making some money on their shirts, but the series will sure take it on the chin for trying to profit doing the same thing, am I wrong? Then the idea of arranging the drivers' shirts in the WoO trailer in some sort of order. By points? By popularity? Here exists the possiblility for favortism. Why does your local grocery store place Pepsi on the end caps or in a high visibilty area some weeks, and Coke products are most visible another week? There's a lot of negotiating and deal making for that highly sought after prime frontage. Usually it comes down to who offers the "better deal." Ie, better discount, some tickets to the Pepsi 400, and other perks like that. I don't think we want to get into that whole mess. The downside of all this whoopla is how the whole deal came down. More or less by upper management telling the teams, this is how it's going to be. The same as the wing rule came down. It really gets feathers ruffled when we're told what we can and cannot do with our own merchandise. Maybe things can still be negotiated out, hopefully for all the teams that this affects, it can be. There are much bigger things to concentrate on, I think, than percentages of t-shirt revenue, etal. 'Til then, you can always buy your Brian Carlson "blue collar team" shirts right here online shipped to your door for just $15 +$5 shipping and handling. And we are extending our sale on shirts to include two shirts of your choice sent to your doorstep for $30. ;)

Sept 24, Linden, IN: Happy Birthday AJ! It's AJ's 6th (going on 16th) birthday. We're all doing well here; just trying to get things in better order to go back racing. I'm not sure, at this point, if we'll finish out the year with the WOO or maybe just try to head to Charlotte in November for the season finale. Without tow money, it's hard to justify the remaining schedule. Right now, there's not much point in our going, but if it interests our sponsors, then we'll be sure to go. Charlotte's not exactly my favorite place to race, and with it being the first live televised late model event as well, it will be a mess for sure. Picture 40 sprint cars and 140 late models all fighting for the hill to get up to the track...hmmm. The sprinters took up half of the pits when we were there with 30 some cars. I'm not really sure where that leaves all the others. If it rolls off smoothly, it should be a great show for the fans though. Let's hope that the live tv coverage doesn't detract from the experience of being there live for the 20,000 or so that will be on hand.
Rehashing my last update: It seems the wing rule is not set in stone per say. It will be open for discussion (maybe) at the owners meeting near William's Grove this weekend. In the past, this meeting was merely a statement from upper management, rather than open to discussion, but I understand there are many upset with the announcement of wing rules changes without some input first. Supposedly there are two guys really pushing the rule change on wings, spearheaded by Lasoski. I'm not really sure why Danny is wanting the change, I haven't talked to him and rarely do even when we are at the track. I have heard that few, if ANY other sanctioning bodies and tracks will follow the WoO on this rule if they institute it. Another thing was brought to my attention, was the fact that we had wing rules this year that for the most part, were not enforced. I personally saw one competitor win a race ($10,000) after he was told his wing was illegal 2 hours before hot laps and the wing remained on the car. I guess it was an oversight? The next week, the same competitor was told the same thing..."that wing is not legal." The guy goes on to finish in the top three and was paid. So, I guess my point is this....IF you make a rule, or change a rule, will it be enforced anyways, or does it matter who you are? What is the real motivation behind the wing change? I know, I know, I'm not out there every night right now, so what does it matter to me? Well, I would think it matters to everyone who is involved in sprint car racing, from wing manufacturers, to drivers at their local Saturday night track. From the car owners that fork out the needed cah for these expensive cars, to the fans in the stands that pay their hard earned money to see us race each night. Every single time there is a rules change, it costs these car owners more and more money. Meanwhile, the purses stay the same and ticket prices continue to rise. For the health of the sport, that's a trend that simply can't continue. I, for one, would like to see rules remain steadfast for say 5 years.

Sept 5, Linden, IN: For whatever reason, with some time off, away from travelling with the series, a number of fans and other car owners have been asking, emailing, calling, etc, to talk to me about rules changes and how they might affect sprint car racing over the next year or even ten years down the road. I, honestly feel a little out of the loop so to say, because we're not out there hearing all the latest gossip. Instead, it seems, we are on the receiving end of most of it, and people have been asking me my opinion of several "rumored" new rules. A new wing rule paper was handed out at Cottage Grove, Oregon to all the teams and caught many by surprise. Some are pretty upset, some are indifferent. Who knows, maybe even someone likes them, I couldn't tell you that. I can tell you that, unlike last year, when DIRT officials met with car owners and drivers both in group sessions and one on one, noone from the World of Outlaws has contacted us regarding rules changes or asked for any input this year. We found out second hand, then contacted the series for an explanation. I can say that we were emailed the new wing rules for the WoO sprint series for 2008, entitled, the "2008 FINAL TOP WING RULE". Now, to me, that implies it is not open to further discussion. In a conversation with one of the largest wing manufacturers, and most popular among the WoO regulars, I was offered some insight to the discussions that went on in a conference call between WRG officials and a few wing manufacturers. Let's just say that they are not all pleased with the direction either. The rule states that the wings will now be flat top and include a 3/4 inch wickerbill. The total depth of the center section will be limited to make it more like the narrow body mile wings from the late 80's and early 90's.The corners are to be at 90* angles, ie no more slanted, or parallelogram, wing sideboards. Flat top and wickerbill??? Williams Grove went to flat top with NO wickerbill a few years ago and had all sorts of problems....Knoxville just allowed wickerbills back on flat wings last year I think.....Why all the recent concern on belly depth?? Even the front wings will all be made illegal and obsolete, as the '08 template will not allow angled sideboards or current center dish location. From what I gather, the "final" wing rule for 2008 is under much scrutiny as I type this. Who knows for sure really what the rules will be, but it looks to me like Ben Geisler and the folks at World Racing Group have taken it apon themselves to implement a new wing rule that will make ALL of our current wings illegal and necessitate everyone, country-wide, to go out and purchase brand new wings. Next question, what do we do with our current wing inventory? It's a good thing the Chinese are willing to pay top dollar for our scrap aluminum. I can't wait to get $25 at the local salvage yard for our "dirty" aluminum top wings. It's considered "dirty" because it has paint, powder coating, vinyl graphics, and steel pop-rivets contaminating it. As a result, I recently saw a seller / dealer on ebay offering brand new wings for 1/2 of cost -- that's right, a brand new wing from a dealer for under $300! Too bad it's illegal now. I wonder where the buyer will use it? Obviously, I'm not in favor of this particular wing rule change. I just hate to throw away the three usable wings that I have here right now. One only has a couple nights on it. It would have been nice to have a market for them first! If they are going to make such drastic wing changes, why not just go to a 4X5 wing like we discussed last year, make the sideboards even side to side, ala 1980, or no wing at all and be done with it. I think they're just chasing ghosts. I guarantee you that there's not a competitive non-wing team out there that says they have too much horsepower or that build new motors to make less power just to hook them up. Even without the wing, the good guys are hooking up the best motors available. Don't think there isn't TC involved a little there too. OK, while any team capable of sustaining a year on tour with the WoO certainly can afford new sets of wings each year, how will this affect car counts at the local level? Will all of the local tracks mandate the WoO spec on their wings as well? What's wrong with this picture? Isn't that what DIRT/WRG has been touting all along, that they are trying to revive 410 sprint racing in the US, INCLUDING the local level? As I understand it, Ben wants to "unhook" the cars more than the current tire rule has accomplished. Let me add this, I also recently saw an ad for a fellow selling out a pavement sprint car with three engines, all of which are WoO caliber! IF it takes that much horsepower to be competitive in a non-wing pavement car, maybe the wing isn't really the problem? Then again, how can you possibly hook up a motor like that on ANY pavement car. Hmmm, makes you wonder. If they, Dirt Motorsports / World Racing Group, HONESTLY want to "unhook" the cars, they might look beyond the wings and into the traction control.....OOOPS, did I say that? Maybe it's because it would be difficult to find it, or that they don't want to step on anyone's toes. I can't honestly tell you why it is not addressed.
Want to unhook the cars? Unhook the traction control -- seems pretty simple to me.

How about reducing wing angle? With tire pressures, bar rates, etc, that might be a subjective thing to tech post race, but it would certainly "unhook" the cars more than going to a completely new wing design. It looks to me like some guys are stalling their wings already by running them too steep...but hey, if you've got enough motor to pull that sail down the straights, it's still an advantage getting into the corners. Won't we now run our new '08 flat wings, with a lot of extra drag built into them, at an even steeper angle to create downforce to suck away horsepower and necessitate even more horsepower spending? Sure seems like this rule is aimed all the wrong direction. Am I missing something? The new wing rule goes into effect at the first race of 2008 on the fast, wide open, Volusia half mile. I wonder how steep wings can get before crankshafts start breaking?

Why do some guys have all kinds of adjusters and knobs in their cockpits? Well, that's a no-brainer....it's obvious there is an advantage, given your driver knows what to do with them. What about the $500+ adjustable shocks & adjustable torsion stops that continue to hook up cars more and more?? Now I'm seeing adjustable wing stands (height) and adjustable rear radius rod pick-ups all remotely controlled from inside the cockpit. Again, eliminating them doesn't cost the teams a penny to implement the rule change...Teams can still use up their adjustable shocks, just no "in cockpit" adjustments (ie cable). I plead for this rules change last year and it fell on deaf ears I guess. I have since bought a half dozen adjustable shocks to the tune of $3000 or so, and STILL would prefer a rule banning the cockpit adjusters!
There has also been some discussion about the current tire rules. I seriously doubt they will change anything on the tire rule, but you never know. PA teams and a few tracks are considering going to an "RD12 or harder" rule on both rear tires -- NO SC stuff. For whatever reason, some teams back there have been rather vocal about not liking the new S C tires. That would be a blow to the pull that the WoO has right now. Knoxville has a 3 year deal with Hoosier on the SC tires as I understand it...so I doubt WoO would do anything more than POSSIBLY mimmick Knoxvilles rules, ie harder left rear (RD12).

Reducing the cubic inch ruleto 360? Nah, that won't work. Period, end of discussion. It costs nearly as much to build a competitive 360 as it does a 410 with the current weight rule. Take one look at a three to five year old 360 engine listed for sale, then look at a three to five year old 410 motor. The 410 is pennies on the dollar every time. 410 cylinder heads have evolved too much in recent years, that's the main reason that older 410's do not hold their value. The spec head, for all of its flaws, has kept the resale value of a competitive 360 motor in check. The valve train lasts much longer in the current 360 engine than in the current 410's. That's not a result of the cubic inches, but rather of the current 410 cylinder head evolution and design. A similar scenario could result from a spec 410 head (tried by Emmet years ago and failed miserably). IS it time to try it at a national level? We're replacing thousands of dollars in wings, shouldn't cylinder heads be looked at more seriously? I'm not saying I have the answers...far from it. But I think there needs to be a consortium of sorts that should include all of the car owners. We all recognize that aside from travel expenses, race engines are our number one expense each year. Tires are creeping up there as well, with thanks given to the new tire rule of '07. Purses haven't gone up in many years, and track promoters are troubled to cover the current bills of operating a track in the black. Although most track promoters will tell you that this year has been a banner year as far as ticket sales for WoO sprint shows, they'll also be quick to tell you how they lose money most every weekend on their local shows. There will always be rich car owners and drivers willing to spend their own money to run with the WoO series, but how many local car owners can afford to sustain the growing economic pains that are being placed apon them today? Only the future will tell. For me, I hope that any rules changes should be thought out thoroughly and brought about without haste. So far, nearly all of the recent rules changes have cost our team, and many others that I have spoken to, more money, not less. If it honestly makes the racing better, as claimed, then I have to support it for the fans' sake. After all, I want to see this sport grow too! :)

Aug 27, Linden, IN: Still working here at the shop. We sure miss seeing the west coast and our friends in Oregon, but we've really got to tighten the belt and suck this up for a while until the WoO returns to the plains states. We're tentatively looking at a return to the series at Spencer, IA, or possibly Topeka, KS. AJ is really enjoying school, so we may look closer at Topeka, as the Spencer race is on a Tuesday. We've contemplated running a few local shows, ie the Midwest AllStars show at Bloomington, IN, a place where I got rookie of the year WAY back in 1993. There's also the upcoming All Stars sanctioned Hoosier Fall Classic at Lawrenceburg, IN, or even a few local Ohio or PA shows just to stay sharp. In all honesty, we're enjoying spending some much needed home time with our family and spending more time with our church here at home. One thing that we all miss when we're on the road is that fellowship or "churching up" that we all need once in a while. Our sport has seen a recent rise in sponsorship from some "less than savory" companies. It's so tempting when money is dangled in front of car owners and drivers by these companies, that some are willing to compromise their beliefs or standards. This is one thing we have never done, nor will ever. We've been working very hard trying some different angles on sponsorship to try to get more Christian companies involved in a motorsports outreach, if you will, through our team, but it's been a tough sell so far. There' s LOTS of interest, but funds seem tight everywhere right now. Tying the two things our family loves the most together, seems like it's too good to be true. Maybe it is, and maybe it isn't, we'll just have to wait and see what is in store for us. We've also been in contact with Pastor Dudley Balmer and his wife Nancy about going on the road full time with the series possibly next season. In addition to the usual pastoral duties, the pastor and his wife could likely provide much needed child care for the teams with small children travelling with them. Personally, I feel this is a much needed service that would help keep families closer together during the busy summer months whilst their dads are busy racing and trying to make a living on the road. It's another fantastic idea, but one that needs some serious sponsor backing before such an undertaking could occur. If you know of anyone who might be able to help with such a venture, you are welcome to contact Pastor Dudley directly through their website at National Speedway Ministries

Aug 13, Linden, IN: Rob Lee, editor from ThePaper24-7, our local Montgomery county newspaper had a nice article featuring our team in the most recent paper. You can read the entire article, found on the front page of the sports section, via the web at:
http://www.thepaper24-7.com/main.asp?Search=1&ArticleID=11167&SectionID=24&SubSectionID=&S=1
Rob, and the entire staff at ThePaper 24-7, has done a nice job covering our team over the past couple years now while travelling with the World of Outlaws.The PR generated from articles in the local paper has got to be a big boost for our sponsors, both locally, and nationally.

Aug. 9, Knoxville Nationals: We timed in just so so. Certainly better than we had the last couple years. We actually drew a good number for qualifying, which should have really helped us. The first two cars to take the track for time trials were first and second quick (Shaffer and Martin). So, reallistically we should have been in the top 15, right? :) The motor just didn't sound real sharp though. This was a fresh bullet from J&D that we just picked up before coming out here to Iowa, so I was pretty excited about our chances. In the heat race, we would start 4th with Lasoski on my back bumper. The first start was called back due to the "Dude". On the second start I got a good jump and hit the bottom of turn one wide open in third place, but slid up the racetrack a bit and wound up fifth or sixth coming off turn two. I went back to the top for the next few laps and was reeling in the R9 car of Winner. We were way faster through the corners than he was, so I was still pretty happy. Then the engine just let go on lap 6 as I entered turn three. Not a pretty sight. It gave me no warning, and we were really coming when it let go. Even if we would have ended up in the B-main for the night, I would have been in the middle of it, and have scored some decent points, likely to make the C or front of the D for Saturday night depending on how I would have run Saturday morning. It was all for naught though. About ten laps was all that motor was good for. The other two motors we had with us weren't fresh, so I really didn't want to take a chance at losing one of those as well on a non WoO points event and now so far behind in Nationals points. This fresh motor (now a complete loss), was to be our motor for the west coast trip as well. We scrounged up our last few dimes to get it freshened up. We were debating whether or not to head west with the WoO for this next trip even before this happened, and had tentatively decided to follow them west, despite the lack of tow money that is offered the top 20 in points. Coupled with Dirt's decision to not offer us anything to help on fuel expenses to go through Canada and over the Rockies, and that we just lost our best motor, we rethought our decision, and decided to head back to Linden. Phone calls to all but Carlton Riemers went unreturned this week. We were even told not to call the main office and some other personnel that we had dealt with personally in the past. Certainly not the open door policy that was so open last year. There are a couple of other teams that are on the fence as to continuing to follow the deal without compensation as well. It's a shame, but honestly, it's just too expensive to follow the deal without some incentive. We asked, and simply weren't offered any. Personally, I think it's a loss to the series and the fans when the lower tier teams like ourselves are forced to head home this late in the season. In the Ted (Johnson) era, they would have helped get as many teams to the left coast as possible, especially with fuel at $3.00+ / gallon. But that was then and this is now. It's a business and I understand their decisions "sometimes", but it seems like some of the budget cuts are aimed in the wrong direction if you ask me. I could suggest a few other places to cut some expenses, remember, I am an Industrial Engineer / aka "bean counter" from Purdue, but I doubt they would be listened to at this point. :) Now we are open to about anything. Our owners meeting at Knoxville was anything but enlightening as well. As disillusioned with upper management as we are right now, I would jump right back out on tour in a heartbeat and meet up with the WoO whenever and wherever, if we were offered the same tow monies and incentives as the top 20, or could find a sponsor to pay some of the tow expenses and pit passes.

Just how much does it cost to get back on the road for the west coast trip? We had to ask ourselves before we could ask sponsors and potential sponsors. Realistically, we'll need $30,000....that replaces the motor we lost at Nationals and a few bucks left over for diesel. Any sponsor ponying up that kind of "mula" would have the whole identity of the car as far as I'm concerned. Albeit, it will NOT be an alcohol, tobacco, or porn company, as is the current trend amongst some other teams currently on tour. At some point you've got to stand for something. I will NOT sell myselfor my family out and promote or represent a product which I do not believe in just for a quick buck.
Right now, there's not much sense in making the trip west unless we have a good shot at making the show each night, and we just lost our only fresh motor. Could we make it there on $10,000? Yea, it would cover the fuel for the 4000 miles roundtrip to Edmonton and back to the tune of about $2000...and that doesn't even include following the tour through the rest of the west coast tour (likely another $2000 in fuel alone.) That leaves $6000 to freshen one of the motors that's still together minus shipping it to us on the road somewhere. I'd absolutely love to head west, but I just don't think it's going to happen. If anyone out there reading this blog has got someone in mind, we'd be VERY receptive to hear their proposal! Without a little more help, it's just not feasible. Unlike Steve Kinser, (see quote NSSN March 25, and the Knoxville Raceway paper this week,) we spend EVERY dime we have to go racing, because we love it that much. My feeling is that sponsor monies should help subsidize the teams' expenses, not completely alleviate the owner's responsibility to fund the team. We've got some great sponsors this year, but none are for any "big" money. Most are friends and smaller businesses that just want to help out in any way that they can afford. We'll try to do some school show and tells and some tradeshows and keep working on some money yet to finish out this year better and start looking towards our plans for next year. I am not ready to retire, that's for sure. We still love sprintcar racing, so I really don't look forward to selling out either. I know what would happen, I'd end up buying most everything back again and be even further upside down financially if we did something like that. Racing is in your blood and you just don't step away from it that easily. Sarah is on the phone this morning still trying to put something together to rejoin the Outlaws. She wants to do this deal as badly as I do, and the kids will certainly miss seeing British Columbia and the Pacific Northwest again. We may end up running some local shows, IRA or unsanctioned local shows, I suppose, if nothing positive develops soon. It's not what I want to do, but what we are able to afford at this point. We are certainly open to any and all suggestions. We don't always understand why things go wrong or why they happen the way they do, but it's God's will for us to miss the next race or races it seems, so we'll just have to figure out what He has in store for us next. Despite all the bad luck we had, Knoxville was not a complete loss for us. We got to meet up with some great friends: Cheeshead Ken, Jeff, Cody, and Liz (from SD) were all there to help us out. JJ and Big D (from DirtVision), and Grandpa and Grandma Al & Julia were there cheering us on. We looked AWESOME in our new Awesome Racewear pit apparel and driver's uniform. More and more teams are getting their crew and driver uniforms from Awesome, and it's no wonder. A very special thanks to the Pelkie's from Ohsweken Speedway, and the fine folks at Awesome for the absolutely "awesome" racewear! In my opinion, we were the best appearing crew at the Nationals -- especially looking at the kids in their adorable matching uniforms. I'll get some pics on the site asap.

Aug 8, Knoxville Nationals, Knoxville, IA: After working the last 48 hours or so straight on the car rebuilding it just for the nationals, we arrived at Knoxville only to find rain, rain, and more rain. While pitting and working out of our trailers seemed like a great relief for all of us, the rain just never let up and didn't stop until 3 1/2 inches of rain had fallen on the fairgrounds. Tonights qualifying program has been moved to Friday night, while Friday night's show will be run at noon on Saturday.

Press Release: Aug. 5, '07:

Coming off of nearly a month away from the circuit, due to an injury sustained while racing with the World of Outlaws at Lake Ozark Speedway, Brian Carlson returned to the World of Outlaws in a big way. Carlson timed eleventh quick on the ultra-fast half mile State Fair Speedway in Sedalia, MO, then backed it up with an eye opening heat race victory over a star studded field, including, Danny Lasoski, Donny Schatz, Joey Saldana, and Jac Haudenschild. “We had a great run right out of the box there. I just wish we were able to do that every night,” the Linden, Indiana resident beamed. Carlson continued, “It‘s just so tough out here right now that every night is like the Nationals except without the help of the deep inversion in your heat race. I really think that everyone has stepped it up a notch or two this year and you can see it on the racetrack. Car owners are spending more money, drivers are driving harder than ever, and crews are working even longer hours to make sure their car is the best prepared out there. That pretty much sums up racing: money, desire, and commitment. Two out of three just doesn‘t cut it at this level.” Despite that strong run, Carlson has seen little success since his return to sprint car racing’s elite touring series, the World of Outlaws. A good showing at Fargo, North Dakota for a race televised on ESPN2, and another A-main start at Lebanon Valley Speedway in New York state dotted a somewhat discouraging past few weeks on the road for Carlson’s “Blue Collar Team.” “We’ve been trying some things with the chassis, and while you can learn something sometimes, it really can hurt your on track performance at times too. You’re not going to just try some new wild idea and expect it to work every time. If something new worked out here, everyone else would be doing it. With being gone for so long, (missing events while injured), that put us out of the points deal, so we’ve actually got the freedom to try some things and work on some stuff for next year or just plain race to have some fun without all the pressure of points or tow money to worry about.” The World of Outlaws offers it’s top 20 in points appearance money, which helps in affording the long hauls these teams endure to get to the next venue. “With our team, our car has to pay for itself from night to night. If we’re not in the show, we’re losing money as a team. With fuel for the rig costing $3.00 plus a gallon and the lack of tow money, it’s just not feasible to drive these rigs across country three times a year without some serious sponsor backing. The television package (ESPN2 and Speed), has got to be great for the fans that can’t come to all of our races. I would think that it’s good for the series, as far as attracting new fans and potential sponsors, but I’ve never looked at tv as the answer to all of our sport’s problems. Nascar has a stranglehold on the media and public’s attention right now, and even if we shared a small portion of that spotlight, I don’t see it ever coming to the point where all our series’ drivers are household names, a-la Nascar. It, (television), hasn’t exactly brought the much needed sponsor dollars to the teams either. That’s unfortunate, because I think a lot of teams were kind of banking on that. You see some teams dropping off the tour now that are much better funded than our own. I think that maybe some of those teams, like the rest of us, were just hoping to attract some new money to their teams with sponsorship help from all the new television exposure. Honestly, I think it’ll probably take a couple more years before teams can really reap the benefits of the exposure we are getting today. The tv package we have is good, maybe the best we’ve ever had, but we’re just not popular around the water coolers on Monday morning yet. Until fans go to work and start talking about our races, the marketing people at major corporations won’t know what we have to offer. Even then, it‘s a tough sell to the wine and cheese crowd that typically don‘t attend grassroots type dirt track racing in America. In general, I think that our appeal may be more geared toward mom and pop businesses. Machine shops, car dealers, energy drinks, etc, that are looking for niche markets to develop their products and market them on a much smaller scale than at the Nascar level which has gotten so expensive just to get a sticker on a quarter panel these days. We’ve all been working very hard at raising the professionalism of our sport to possibly catch the eye of the corporate big wigs, but it’s just not going to be an overnight success story.” Despite not having the big dollar sponsor that some of his competitors have, Carlson and his “Blue Collar Team” will enter this week’s Knoxville Nationals, the Daytona 500, if you will, of sprint car racing. The small farming community of Knoxville, Iowa plays host each year to the biggest sprint car event on the calendar, and virtually every sprint team from across the country, and as far away as Australia come to compete in this four day event. “Everyone brings out their best and newest stuff for this race. We’ve got a new car back at the shop, but we just don’t have the time to put it together right now. If it didn’t still need painted and lettered, we could probably throw it together in a couple days, but it just takes so long to do the paintwork that is necessary before we even start to assemble it.” Instead, Carlson will field the same car that he’s been running much of the season already. “We’ve run Maxim chassis for quite a few years now and I’m real happy with them. We’re kind of struggling a little right now, but we’ll get going again. This car is the same as our new one, so we should be ok. We’ll hang some new parts on this old car and make it work, we’ve got no choice,” Carlson smiles. You can catch the Carlsons and the running of the 47th annual Knoxville Nationals live Saturday night at 9pm CDT on Speed Channel.

Sponsor Spotlight:

Triple XXX Root Beer & Family Restaurant, West Lafayette, IN:

Triple XXX Root Beer and Family Restaurant, a local tradition, has become a valued marketing partner with the SC Motorsports team for the 2007 World of Outlaws campaign. Greg and Carrie Ehresman, owners of Triple XXX Family Restaurant and Route 66 Diner came on board as a marketing partner late last season to help the SC Motorsports "family" team with driver, Brian Carlson, behind the wheel. Located on the edge of Purdue University's West Lafayette campus, Triple XXX, "on the hill but on the level," has long been a common eating and meeting place for students and locals alike. Recently, the Ehresmans opened a second location, called Route 66 Diner, with a distinctive and historic mother road theme. Both restaurants feature the same menu and serve up heaping helpings of all your favorite foods. Triple XXX will be featured on The Food Network in the coming weeks in a show called, "Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives." The show will Air on Saturday, August 4, 2007 at 10:30 PM EST, Sunday, August 5, 2007 at 1:30 AM EST, Saturday, August 11, 2007 at 5:30 PM EST, and Sunday, August 12, 2007 at 6:30 PM EST. For more information on Triple XXX Root Beer & Family restaurant, please visit them on the web at: http://triplexxxfamilyrestaurant.com/index.html

For more information on Brian Carlson and the SC Motorsports team, you can visit them on the web at: www.CarlsonMotorsports.com

Aug 4, Beaver Dam, WI: Rain, rain, and more rain. All day sprinkles, combined with an occasional light shower, put an end to the two day show at Charter Raceway. The show has been tentatively rescheduled for Sept 16th, (don't quote me on that).

Aug 3, Charter Raceway, Beaver Dam, WI: I've always liked Beaver Dam. We always seem to do well there. We held the track record there for a few minutes in '01, I think it was, and have had several good runs there in recent years. I guess tracks are like that, you like them if you have run good there. If you crash or tear up a bunch of stuff, then it's usually not your favorite place to go. Last year we timed really well (4th quick, I think), and led all but the last lap of the B-main, when Sammy Swindell passed me and we finished second. This year we would not be so lucky. We had trouble in hot laps with the car not picking up fuel, and again it reared its ugly head in time trials yielding a very poor qualifying effort. This fuel problem is something we've been chasing for a few weeks now, and thought we had changed everything. Now we were to the point of changing things a second time around. We decided to change the fuel cell in its entirety, and that seemed to help it a bunch in the heat race. The motor ran and didn't starve for fuel in the corners or at the end of the straightss. That was a relief, but starting at the back was not where we needed to be. For the B-main, we would further fine tune the fuel system to now take away some of the excess fuel that we had been giving the engine in trying to get it to run the past couple nights, and that made it better again, but still there was not much passing on an atypical Beaver Dam, sticky and rough, racing surface.We made a few more adjustments to make the engine and chassis a little better for the next day and had our hopes much higher, only to be dampened by daylong rain showers. We did get to spend some social time with longtime friends Cheesehead Ken and his daughter Taya. Both were a great help in the pits all night.We also got to visit with JJ, (of Dirtvision fame), and spent an hour or so sharing stories and laughs with a true fan of ours and of the sport. JJ has got a true sense of humor, even if she is only eleven. :) We got a surprise visit from Nick Grommes, a former karting champion and customer of ours for several years. Nick is currently wheeling a pavement midget to much success (4 feature wins in 5 starts, I believe he said), at Grundy Co. Speedway in Morris, IL.

July 28th, KC Raceway, Alma, OH: Some 8 hours drive later, and we're in southern Ohio racing for a tv race at KC. I would get a decent draw number and time what I thought was going to be about in the middle of the 49 car field. Instead, we were only 35th and that would result in us going straight to the C main for the evening. I tried some things in the heat race running the bottom a-la Kelly Kinser a few years back at KC, but the top was still much faster. In the C-main I would start third, and fall to fourth as Hannagan got a good start. I fooled around on the bottom and was actually pretty good, but couldn't make much headway with the car directly in front of me until I finally tried the top with a few laps to go. I was tons faster on top but couldn't clear the third place car each time I got a run on him. I would settle for fourth. Even though we were mired in the C main again, I still felt like we had made some progress on the car set-upand had the car pretty decent top or bottom, just way too slow in time trials that hurt us again.

July 27th, I-96, Lake Odessa, MI: It's been a while since we were at I-96, but we've had some success on the big old half mile, so I was sorta looking forward to coming back. The track hasn't changed a bit. While corn grows just off turns two and down the backstretch, nothing could be planted into the track surface. The place was rock hard down the straights as dust flew in time trials. Turns 1 and 2 would come apart a bit and stay crumbly through the night, but the front stretch was downright treacherously black slick. I would spin the tires badly both laps coming off turn 4 and time terribly. I almost transferred through my heat though, finishing 6th, just behind the last transfer spot, held by Greg Wilson. In the B, I would start 8th, and be racing for 4th at the flag stand when the engine just shut clear off entering turn one. The car plowed up the race track in turn one not under power and that was all she wrote. I pulled off a lap later as the engine would idle but not race. Another opportunity lost. It was going to be a tough B-main, but even still, we had as good of a shot as anyone.

July 26th, Flynt, MI Wal-Mart parking lot: We would do our routine maintenance on our race car and spend some family time while on our day off. AJ even got a new bicycle and enjoyed riding all around the back lot while we were there. Seth just ran along side him trying to keep up.

July 25th, Ohsweken, Ontario, CN: From all accounts, the promoter of Ohsweken has spent BIG dollars putting this facility on the schedule, and it shows. The overflowing crowd showed their appreciation as well. This track has got to be in the middle of nowhere like no other. I doubt that even D could find this place!(directions or not) Ohsweken Speedway is located on the Indian reservation and is about an hour and a half northwest from the falls. The track staff were honestly happy to see us make the trip and hopefully with the size of the crowd this night, promoter, Glen Styres, made some serious dough to help offset what he's been putting into the track. While we were all a bit hesitant about racing in another country, I think the border hassles were worth it. The track surface stayed nice all night. I would time just out of a guaranteed invert spot and ahead of some good, well-funded teams like McCarl, Martin, and others. .I wouldn't make it through our heat race as veteren Danny Smith raced past me on the start. Although I had a shot a time or two at making it, I just couldn't get going in the heat. I would start outside the front row of the B and pretty much had my mind made up we were making the show from the start. Unfortunately, I softened the car up a bit too much for the track and that cost me. I wheelied the front end on the drop of the green not once, but twice, before the flagstand, and that allowed several cars to zip right under me.By the time I had it gathered back up I was probably in eigth or ninth so. I would work my way back up to 6th at the endand was clearly faster than the two cars directly ahead of me, Breen, and Zemken, who got the last transfer spot.I was really disappointed, but at least we knew we were fast enough. If I would have just left the car alone, we would have made the show, but I really wanted to make the car better yet and it just didn't workout for the start.We would enjoy a hot sandwich at the track after the races were over, then much to our surprise, be rewarded with a gift certificate from the track and race suit manufacturer Awesome Racewear. Awesome Racewear is located in nearby London, Ontario, and were on hand to personally talk to us after the races and to present us with the certificate for a new suit. Those not familiar with Awesome's work need to look no further than the last two years' winners of the best appearing crew award from the Knoxville Nationals a la Chad Kemenah's crew last year, and Brooke Tatnell's crew the previous year. I'm really looking forward to getting a new suit, (it's much needed), and am really excited to be working with Awesome for our crew uniforms as well. Thanks so much to Awesome and the fine folks, Pelkie's and Styres', from Ohsweken Speedway to make this all possible. We would leave the track feeling pretty good even though we didn't make the A. We would pretty much caravan to the border crossing at Port Huron, where pretty much every team got grilled by the US customs officers and were pulled around back to get things sorted out. Seems we didn't have a form filled out which listed the country of origin of each part and tool we had with us while in Canada. While we all had detailed inventory lists, not many of us had this additional form showing the country of origin of each item. I'm really unsure why this is even asked for or what this information is used for. Furthermore, I have no idea where some of the parts are made. I know my Maxims come from the good ole USA, that's what's most important to me. As for some of my tools, I believe there are a few in the box that will say made in China on them regretfully. Other than the little glitches at the border coming back into the US, things went relatively smoothly and was a rewarding experience for both the teams and the fans in my opinion.

July 24th, Niagara Falls, CAN: We would get a day off to catch up on some car maintenance and even getto sleep in a nice hotel for a change. Thanks to Fred at the Cairn Croft Best Western on Lundy Lane for the friendly accommodations. Fred's a local racer who competes with the Southern Ontario Sprints and other events at Ohsweken Speedway. He helped a lot with getting fuel delivered on race morning as well. There's lot to see and do around Niagara besides the falls. We didn't have much time to spend after we got the race car back together, but we did get a chance to take the kids to see the falls and we all got soaked by the mist. Even with the shuttle bus from the hotel, we walked easily ten miles that day. The little guys walked most of it as well. We all but filled the digital camera with pictures from the evening. We capped the night off with a pizza party in our room.

July 22nd, Lebanon Valley, NY: Night number five in a row for the travelling stars of the WoO. I have always run good at the Valley and was expecting the same tonight. The track was probably the best I have ever seen with moisture and plenty of calcium to keep it there all night. Last year the place took rubber in time trials! While the track surface was indeed much faster and stickier, that just made our time trial efforts weaker. I would time 23rd of 31 cars on hand. I would race hard in our heat, and follow Chad Hillier every lap but just couldn't get around him to transfer through the heat in to the A. That would put us in the B main starting fourth. With Danny Smith and Jason Sides starting behind us, I was worried about missing yet another A-main start. On the start I would push Randy Hannagan past the flagstand and jump to the bottom to secure second going into turn one, getting around pole setter Tony Bruce, Jr. Hannagan was long gone as our motor picked up that ever too familiar stumble right in the center of the corner. With such long straight-aways at the Valley, it really didn't hurt us much as I held on to second at the end. Sides would be the WoO car to fail to transfer.For the feature, we would go back toour Goodyear set-up and that proved to be really strong on the abrasive track surface. We used the 95, 200 compound left rear GYand it was just right. I charged forward at the start of the race from a next to the back row starting spot to 16th when Dollansky and Haud got together, putting me 14th. I would race well until just a few laps shy of the end when the leaders caught me and I pulled in. It was only later that my car owner gave me heck about pulling in that I was still in a money spot on the track in 16th. I know I was faster than a few cars ahead of me, but I also didn't want to be in the way of the leaders as bad as the car was still stumbling in the ccenter of the corners. There were still three cars running behind me on the track, so that relegated my finish position to 20th. Looking back, I wish I would have stayed out, because I'm pretty sure I could have gotten by Martin, and maybe back past Dollansky, who struggled to go forward after his early race spin.It was still nice to make an A-main after so many nights of struggling. With so many good cars travelling this year, there is always going to be some good cars loading up early. For a change, we weren't included in that group. :)

July 21st, Williams Grove, PA: The beating would finally come to an end. Just like a bloodied prize fighter, we had taken our beating right to the end. While some teams would get really upset about non-performance at the Grove, all I can do is lift my head and say there will be another day, and there will. We didn't expect much, and it's times like this that I am happy just to be here. There are some great quality teams that struggle when they come to the Grove, so we're in very good company when we don't make the show. Congrats once again to Donny Schatz, and team for another gem in his already money-laden crown. This guy has won something like $100,000 in the last week. That's remarkable to say the least.

July 20, Williams Grove, PA: On night two, the track would go dead slow and slick for time trials. Once again, luck of the draw had us going out last of the night with 50 some cars on hand. I think we timed 52nd, just behind Kemenah, and just ahead of Paulus. That's just how bad and slow it was. I believe the track was 2 secoinds slower than night number one, if you can believe that. We just went into coast mode after that disappointment. I raced in the heat and C mains, still trying to evaluate what was going on with the motor stumble in the middle of the corners.By night's end, we would tear into thetank and bladder and still find nothing wrong.By this time, we had changed fuelpumps,mag boxes, coil wires,replaced a bnunch of wire termninal endsand connections, replaced the tach, the ignition switch, most of the fuel lines, etc etc and still hadn't hit on anything that made a difference. You talk about frustrating.

July 19, Williams Grove, PA: Now make no bones about it, I really don't like going to thte Grove. It's not the track or the people. The layout is unique, the straightaway speeds are awesome, and the people are rabid sprint car fans. It's more like going to the dentist. There's no place else that compares to the Grove as far as the track or the local competition. This year has got to be the toughest field of locals yet, in my opinion. So when the Outlaws come to town, you can be sure there will be plenty of guys loadingup on the trailer before the night is up. We've got a lot of fans here in PA, so we hate to disappoint, but we also know our chances of even making the A each night are slim to none. It's all about qualifying, and we simply don't have that down for the Grove. We timed not so bad,all things considered, and raced about the same all night, running the C-main. We decided to take a little different approach and work on some things that I've been wanting to try for a while, but were afraid to jeapordize our chances of starting the A. We figured if we're not going to make the show anyways, then why not try some stuff here? With budget cuts, etc, we've been shoestringing along on used tires, and picked up some Goodyears from Sonny Kratzer (Selma Shell 11H). Since Hoosier hasn't helped us out at all on our tire bills, we decided to give the GY's a try on a night that wouldn't count. The Goodyear fronts have always been good, and these were no exception. The left rears were my concern and I wanted to see if they were as good as or better than the Hoosiers. We ran the Goodyears on three corners for the next three nights and really felt good on them, considering the motor still wasn't hitting right. The thing would just shut off right in the middle of the corners. If it wouldn't shut clear off, it would stumble badly, and just like being out of the throttle, the car would get super tight right in the middle of the corner. That made any kind of tire evaluation or comparson pretty much useless.

July 18, Lernerville, PA: Attempt #2 was much more successful (at least from the track's and fans' persepective. We would not be so fortunate though, as we timed just horrendously. I don't even know why, really. We went out kind of late, but a few other cars like local hot shoe Ed Lynch, Jr, managed to time well going out late, so I guess we just missed the set-up. I would race real well in our heat race and work my way up from 9th to 6th, before the motor started cuttin gout like it was running out of fuel.I lost two spots the first time it happened, coming off turn four. With two to go in the heat, I pulled off. We would scratch from the pole of the C. It didn't make much sense to even try to run the C, when the best we could hope for was to transfer to the back of the B main. With the car not running right, and we still didn't have a clue what was wrong, we decided to load it up and head for our next night of racing in eastern PA.

July 17, Lernerville, PA: Every time we have a tv race at Lernerville, you can count on it raining. Tonight would be no exception. We woud get part way through time trials when the first rains hit. We would start all over with hotlaps and time trials again a few hours later and actually I timed really well (likely good enough to make the invert), when it started raining again. This washed the night out and rescheduled for tomorrow night. We did manage to spend some quality time with friends and relatives that came to watch us race. So the night was not a total wash. :)

July 14, King's Royal, Rossburg, OH: What a terrible night to have a late draw. With 51 cars on hand, we would be one of the last cars to take the track for time trials. The track was already used up from hotlaps, and continuing to get worse. When eventual winner, Donny Schatz, time trials in the middle to bottom of the track at Eldora, there's something screwed up with the place, (and he barely made the 30 car invert). Everyone else would try the cushion, or what was left of it in turn two, and without exception, everyone struggled to get off turn two without hitting the fence. We were no exception and subsequently timed very poorly. All in all, we timed respectively for when we went out on the track. Keep in mind, Paul May, Jason Martin, and Randy Hannagan all timed right ahead of us with similar times, but were all 2 SECONDS off quick time as the track just deteriorated all night. We would be in the 6th heat, and the track was so much slower by then, that Jeremy Campbell, the quickest car in our heat, would not have transferred through the first four heats based on his lap times alone. You could just see it all night, as the track got slower and slower. Now, this isn't so bad to race on a surface that's so slick. That simply neutralizes the field and makes it a more level playing field from the haves to the have nots. Afterall, it's the same for everyone at that point, right? Unfortunately, we don't have traction control either! Seriously, everyone has the same racetrack to race on, but for the track to slow down that much in qualifying is just horrid. It is what it is. We took our beating and drove some laps and passed a couple cars to get C-main money by the end of it all. Lots of dust to wade through to watch a pretty good feature minus Schatz covering the field. (He has a way of doing that the past couple years now). Congrats to Donny for getting that one last gem in his resume of race victories. Once we got home, we went and ate breakfast at Triple XXX and got in a quick 18 at the local Putt Putt. Then D and Cody each had to head home. We really appreciated all of Cody's help while with us the last few weeks. Likewise, D fed all of us over the weekend like no other team can imagine. The kids will miss them both for a while until we see them again.

July 13, Eldora Speedway, Rossburg, OH: The night before the King's Royal. We would time in pretty decent really, right in the middle of the field of 49 cars, and was actually sitting in a coveted invert spot before the last ten or so cars went out on the track. I didn't race particularly well, and didn't transfer from the heat. In the B, I thought we had a real shot at making it, I just got slid by too many cars early on in the race, and kept falling backwards on the racetrack. The car wasn't too bad, just a little tight on the cushion, I just chose the wrong line entering turn one on the start and went in off the cushion and let those guys drive right by me.Once we got sorted out, I think I was nearly as fast, just that I gave it to them on the start like that was frustrating to me as a driver.

July 12th: WoO Driver's Benevolence Fund Charity Golf Tournament, Englewood, OH: My hats off to Mandy Pitman and all the girls who put this deal together. This was a very organized affair and well attended by hundreds of people. I would get the pleasure of playing golf with friend and sponsor, Dwaine Desselle (friends of dirtvision.com), and WoO CFO, Brian Carter. The round didn't start out so well as I dumped D out of the golf cart on the very first hole making a u-turn on a hillside. He somersaulted like an olympic gymnast down the hill and onto the cart path where I narrowly avoided running him over with the cart. It all seemed pretty funny after we realized he wasn't hurt. Maybe having me drive the golf cart was a mistake. While I hadn't picked up a club in exactly 20 years to the day (I golfed the morning I got married), I don't think I did so bad....I topped the ball plenty on some drives, but for twenty year old clubs and a even more rust on my swing, I had a great time. Thank goodness we had Brian Carter on our team, as this guy can really pound a golf ball down the fairways. He easily outdistanced D and I by a full stroke off the t's. We all chipped in at times though and managed something like a 4 under for the day playing scramble golf (take the best shot and everyone plays from there).We all really had a nice relaxing day I think. Very little talk about racing and work related items, just a gorgeous day on the golf course. I almost miss golfing now. I think I'll stick to Putt-Putt though, with maybe a small par3 thrown in for a change once in a while, LOL.The event raised some much needed money for the benevolent fund, which benefits injured drivers.There were some interesting items up for auction as well, including a couple driver's uniforms. I left before the meal and auction because I needed to get back with Sarah, Cody, and the kids, who were busy working on the car in a parking lot in Wapakoneta. All in all it was a great day and for a great cause. Maybe next time we can have it at a miniature golf course and avoid all the lost balls and walking.:)

July 11th, Brad Doty Classic, Lima, OH: (Oh yea, and Sarah and my 20th wedding aniversary.) How she has put up with me for 20 years, I have no idea. We would qualify poorly with slick track conditions and a narrow cushion. We changed about everything on the rear of our car (rear-end, torque tube, ball and housing, etc, etc) trying to find a problem. The torque ball was free at least, so that's a positive. The car actually felt much better and there was more left in it, I simply didn't push the loud pedal enough in time trials. In the heat race (when it finally got started, we were actually pretty good. Through spins and restarts, I would come from fourth and was in third by turn one when I was on the receiving end of a veteran slide job that squeezed me between two cars. I lifted, and that was the race. If I would have just stayed in it, I think we would have transferred. The car wasn't bad at all. We would then be forced to the C-main, so we decided it best to scratch for the night and avoid any possible on track mishaps that would cost us before the big race weekend ahead of us.

July 8th, Pevely, MO: Again, a dry slick bullring that we've run good at in the past. And once again, we would struggle. It's starting to sound like a broken record, but we just can't figure out what this car's doing. The torque ball gets warm and simply seizes up and then the car is awful to drive. It seems good for a lap or two, then just stops working. We've resquared the car umteen times over the last couple weeks and can't seem to find a sweet spot for the torque tube. With a low car count and my experience, we should have been sitting pretty nice for Pevely, and instead, we would struggle in our heat, and then repeat in the B. I was actually pretty good in the B and thought we were better than Martin and another car ahead of him, but a mid-race red allowed the torque ball to seize up again, and the last few laps were just about hanging on.

July 3rd, Huset's Speedway, Brandon (Sioux Falls), SD: We've timed real well here in the past, (2nd quick here last summer), so we felt pretty good going into this night. I would time just so-so, , and race about the same. THe car has been just way too tight over the last couple weeks. We may have hit on something, but we're still searching for answers to the car handling better. Our motor obviously is running well by making the shows at both half miles recently, but my usual strong suit of slick 1/4 mile tracks has quickly gone away. We would race right where we started in our heat race as the track stayed unusualy sticky for Huset's. In the B, I just make more laps and never really get going forward. The car was in one piece, but we're capable of so much more. It's frustrating when you can't just put your finger on what the problem is and just fix it. I keep threatening to pull the old back-up car down from upstairs, but I'm also determined to make this new car work.

July 1st, Cedar Lake Speedway, Somerset, WI: We would stop by the Reed family, some old friends from New Richmond, WI, that we met through racing in the area, and pick up their oldest son, Derek, to take to the races with us. Derek was good help at the track and seemed to enjoy himself as he was beaming ear to ear each time his friends stopped by to chat throughout the evening. We ate good and avoided another night of truckstop food or fastfood, which is always good. Great sharing and family time was had for all. Thanks to the Reed family for putting up with us. AJ got to make his first couple pedals without training wheels on his bike while we were in town, which was pretty cool too. Now if we can get him to show that wreckless abandon he has when riding his motorized fourwheeler, on his new two wheel venture. I've run good in the past at Cedar Lake, but tonight wasn't going to be one of them. The track slicked off like normal for this place. I just messed up in time trials. Well, I wasn't using traction control either. :) I spun the tires hard both laps and just looked terrible. We would start the tail of the heat and stay there. In the B, I was just getting a run on Hindi for the final transfer spot when a yellow came out with two to go. I made a couple charges through the middle of the track, but I just couldn't pull off the pass between Hindi, on the bottom, and Martin, bouncing off the turn two wall. I made it close, but missed the show by one spot. I think we left some on the table, because I was getting faster, and we could have made shock or bar changes to be eeven better before the B.

June 30th, Red River Valley Speedway, Fargo, ND: Now, I've never been a big fan of RRVS, Fargo's fast 1/2 mile , but over the last couple visits, we have timed in pretty well here. Last season for a two night show, we timed in 2nd and 4th and made the show both nights. This year we would again time in 4th and shock a few more regulars on the tour this season. The car was stuck real well and I could pretty much drive anywhere early on. We went off the same notes as last year, and I transferred through our heat and made yet another WoO dash this season. It seems like it's feast or famine this year. Either we time well and make the dash, or we're complete junk. I would race ok in the heat, but the dash would see us start 9th and finish 9th. In the featrue, I would drop like a rock as the car picked up a wicked push at the end of the straightaways again. Before I stuffed the car in the fence, I pulled off and saved what car we had. Not the fninsh we were looking for on yet another ESPN2 show, but at least we got mentioned on air.

June 29th, River Cities Speedway, Grand Forks, ND: With a few races under our belt freom the Gumout days, I was feeling pretty confident going into the Forks race. Unfortunately, the car was extremely tight all night again and we timed horribly on a 1/4 mile track, usually my forte. We would run a few laps in the heat, then scratch from the pole of the C, as we were just really out to lunch. We spent some time resquaring the back end of the car the rest of that night to try to fix the car being bound up problem that we had been chasing for a few nights (since blasting through the cushion at Sedalia), so hopefully we would make it better.

June 27th, we would take a day off to travel to the next track and take in some local scenery. What trip through South Dakota would be fulfillled without making a stop at Wall Drug (a couple days earlier), and at the almost famous Corn Palace? We would finish out our trip to Fargo just in time to spend a little time and money at Schatz' Petro and the Space Alien Diner across the street a couple nights. The kids absolutely loved our time there. Oh yea, we also had a chance to prepare to race that weekend.

June 25th, Black Hills Speedway, Rapid City, SD: A sort of homecoming for our new crew help, Cody, who got to see some friends and family while we were in town for a couple days. Cody's laps of experience at Black Hills Speedway would come in handy, unfortunately, the track really came apart after the WoO officials asked the promoter to cut it up after qualifying. The track did slick clear off during time trials, but it was real smooth. It surely would have taken rubber early in the night without doing some track work, so that was the reason for the call to cut it up. Unfortunately, the track was dug up and graded, which only caused the gazillion rocks under the surface to come to the top and cause all kinds of havoc, which nearly resulted in the race being boycotted by drivers. Supposedly, a fan was injured during the first heat race, and a couple drivers suffered injuries within the first two, when racing was halted. A lot of drivers lobbied to cancel the race altogether, and that was pretty much the decision until Dolansky and Pitman offered to go out and hotlap their cars to test the newly reworked track surface. Every driver and crew member, team owners, etc, were out walking the track picking stones as they reworked the track a second time. When we finally did resume racing, the track was really pretty decent. We wouldn't make it through the B, as just as I got comfortable with the car, strong winds played havoc with the wings going down each straight away. We loaded the car in one piece with minimal rock damage. What could have been a disaster for the WoO, the track, and certainly the fans, ended up being an "ok" night with "ok" racing. I seriously doubt that the WoO will return to Black Hills Speedway, and that's a shame if you ask me. There was a good crowd, and the track obviously could use the fans' support. Had the drivers and officials refused to run the remainder of the program, I fear what would have become of the night, and the future of the speedway. We got to stay at Cody's parents place, which was a great house out on the prairie -- my kind of living -- no neighbors within eyesight and you can do what you want when you want. Thanks so much to them for putting up with our travelling circus as we rolled through their town.

June 23, Dodge City, KS: Night two of the Showdown at Boothill, televised for ESPN2 as part of the WoO SUmmer of Money. We would time in poorly again. I was really hoping to parlay our success at Sedalia into a good showing at Dodge City on tv, but it simply never developed. We were "junk" all night and I really struggled with the car right through the B. We wcould have used a provisional, but, as a team, we decided to save it for another night that we couldmake better useof it.

June 22, Dodge City, KS: We decided to try a few new things on our car set-up as we had SD native, Cody Petersen, on the road with us for a while. Cody has worked with Doug Wolfgang, and several other teams in the past and brings some valuable experience and talent to our team. It's nice to have someone on the road with us that you can trust and has a working knowledge of sprint cars. We didn't time well at all and played follow the leader in the heat race. The car was fast as the cars right ahead of me, even faster than a few, but the track was so good, that there just wasn't any passing. We ran the B-main and pretty much duplicated our heat race effort by just making laps following the car in front of us.

June 20, State Fair Speedway, Sedalia, MO : In my first night back behind the wheel in about a month, I made quite an impression. We timed real well, 11th quick, then led every lap of our heat race and set fast time for the heat (see Mylaps results and times >>> here <<<, over Danny Lasoski, Stevie Smith, Donny Schatz, Joey Saldana, Brooke Tatnell, Jason Sides, Zach Chapell, Jac Haudenschild, and Dion Hindi. Nice line-up of cars there behind me. That felt real good, and we qualified for a dash, which is always good. AJ drew outside the front row for me for the dash, alongside Kinser, and I raced side by side with the King for the length of the front stretch at Sedalia before he slid me into the corner. A nasty slider from Lasoski was expected after soundly outperforming him in the heat race. I knew it was coming, but had to let him go. When he ran me up over the cushion with only a couple of laps, I lost another couple spots that I wouldn't have otherwise. I ended up 5th, but was still all smiles from the heat race performance and simply making the dash. In the feature I would simply make the car way too tight and we quickly dropped to the rear. I stayed out on track the whole race and that was a great work out for my leg.

June 15, Linden, IN: Press Release:

Carlson returns to WoO tour

After more than a month since he last raced with the World of Outlaws sprint series, Brian Carlson is ready to return to the frenzied summer schedule of sprint car racing’s premier series. Carlson suffered injuries to his left leg from a crash during qualifications at the Lake Ozark Speedway, in Lake Ozark, MO, May 12th. After a few nights stay in a local hospital in Missouri, Carlson returned to his Linden, IN home, where his wife, Sarah, and two children, AJ & Seth, anxiously awaited him. Brian was brought back to Indiana via friend and team sponsor, Dwaine Desselle, while the rest of his family were assisted by the Tony Bruce Racing team in driving the SC Motorsports’ hauler back to their Indiana race shop. “It’s been a long last few weeks, but I’m anxious to get back out there,” said Carlson. “I really wanted to come back sooner, but Sarah kept me in check. That’s good, I guess, it’s important that this heals up right and I don’t rush things too much. I hated to miss Kokomo, being practically in our backyard, and the Eagle Nationals was tough to miss as well.” Carlson has a good history with the Eagle, NE facility, winning his heat race on Friday night, qualifying fifth quick on night two and earning a spot in the dash in last year‘s Eagle Nationals. “As much as I wanted to come back, the reality is, I just wasn’t ready physically.” Carlson’s injuries were limited to muscle, ligament, and other soft tissue damage, but fortunately, no broken bones. “Shortly after the crash, Paulie, (fellow competitor on the WoO series and driver of the Tony Stewart Motorsports #20, Paul McMahon,) stepped into the trailer and said it would have been better if it were broken. I bet I heard that from a dozen other people since then, including the doctors. It’s amazing it wasn’t broken as ugly as it looked. My ankle swelled out to about the size of my thigh and turned every color of the rainbow. The swelling is much better now and I can firmly put weight on it again.” Carlson has been undergoing physical therapy to build strength back in his leg and get back on his feet, so to speak. “I’m still ahead of the doctor’s six to eight weeks recovery, so that’s encouraging.” Reflecting on how quickly Terry McCarl came back from a bone shattering injury last season, Carlson made comment on how determined athletes and racers can be at times like this. “It amazes me how quickly your body can heal when you have a positive attitude and a goal. All I have wanted to work towards is getting back in the car as soon as possible, and that‘s no different with most any driver, I‘m sure. The doctors give you a time frame, and you instinctively cut that in half and expect to be ready to go,” Carlson continued. Carlson’s return is just in time to take advantage of all the excitement surrounding the current World of Outlaws television package, which includes the month of money, to be televised on ESPN2. “We’ll miss the ESPN2 opener at Knoxville, (Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, IA), but we’ll be at the next televised race at Dodge City and the remainder of the tv schedule. The exposure is a great boost to our sponsors and gives them their deserved recognition for supporting the many teams that follow the World of Outlaws.” The SC Motorsports team hasn’t been sitting idle while sidelined from the on track action. They recently announced several new associate sponsors, and have been building up cars and parts to come back more prepared than ever. “It’s been tough being here at the shop while everyone else