Well thats all for the 2009 season….what can I say, I tried and it wasn’t a total loss. First of all I would like to to thank Jeff Hanna for an awesome job all year long, dude is a hard worker and he kept me safe throughout the year…also thanks to Kris Kamburelis for stepping in when Jeff was not available. Believe it or not I have been busy since I got home from Dover last Monday. Picked up a 2008 TEO and it didnt work out because of a bent roll cage that the fabricator wouldn’t fix. Dick Hicks is the man….he told me to be prepared if he said no, and he said no after we went through it. So I picked up a 2006 TEO that was driven by Chris Busta at Malta. Its a nice ride and Chris is going to be an associate sponsor on the car (K-Bass towing) he got 6 wins in the car. Yup, right now I have 2 race cars and Im tearing 1 down to put the 2nd one together…oh yeah, before I forget I sold my hotrod to some guy in New Hampshire, ol yeller is gone!! Bitter sweet moment seeing her go down the driveway on an open trailer but its time to move on. Cant wait 6 months and counting til next year and Im already lyeing awake thinking about a new paint scheme!! haha-so I am off to Syracuse for Super DIRT week and I will crewing for my buddy Kevin Grof and his son Kale is racing out there for the first time. Should be fun…..all right peeps, I will keep you updated as the off season goes on and once again pray for lots of snow!!!! Talk soon!!

Mike

  Can you believe this year is over?? I have 1 more this Friday 9/11 (with a rain date of Sunday-go figure) looks like rain again. Well the hot rod is FOR SALE…I posted it on www.flag2flag.com if you’re interested. Just trying to get ready for next year so we will see what happens. Well not much to say because I went camping instead of racing this past Friday. Yup missed a points night but after all the crappy stuff that happened this year I dont even care at this point. So hopefully back next year with some newer stuff and some better luck. I will update after this Friday night and wrap it up. Still have some stuff we are going out to Syracuse for during Super Dirt Week Oct 6-11. Should be fun….talk to ya soon. Be safe!!

 Mike

 Maybe so but I still have about 4 or 5  races left…its getting so close I can taste it!! First win is coming soon….haha. Hey maybe I will win the LAST race on dirt at Malta before we go to asphault next year (oh boy). The car is ready early and looks like just me and Val in the pits tomorrow….gonna be fun. My crew chief(s) are doing the vacation thing (Jeff) and the military duty stuff (Kris) so wouldn’t it be funny if it was just me and the “main squeeze” in victory lane!!! Well guess what? looks like MORE RAIN!!! So come out next weds (Aug 26th) as we go at it during a midweek show. We are the supporting division for the cvra100 modified show. Gonna be a ton of cars and we gotta get it done in the heat race to even get into the show….

  Well, like I said we are winding down and its time to get the 97B going. Hope to see ya all in victory lane and hope this weather gets better!! I have a few more races left at Malta, maybe I will try the McDonalds weekend race at Fonda and Im really looking forward to Rolling Wheels speedway during Super Dirt Week XXXVIII (38). Gonna run with the big dogs again and we will be more prepared this year…haha. See ya soon and hurry up, the season is ending beforing you know it!!

Mike

  Well its been a couple of weeks but we made it back. To say the least, Im glad to be back and if you were at Fonda last week to watch me you know what I mean then…I had fun but I was not even competitive. Totally dofferent in an open wheel car compared to the ol street stock days. I learned a lot though and will be better prepared next time.

  Anyways back to the The Great Race Place- I started 5th because I won my qualifier 2 weeks ago and I was third by lap 2. The car was running great and I really thought this could be the night. Well I hung on to 3rd until 1 lap to go and I missed my marks going into turn 3 and slid up about half of a lane and thats all Tim Hartman jr needed to get by. That kid was all over me the entire race. I knew someone was back there and I was givin er all she had. That kid is the cleanest racer out there. I spoke with him and his dad last week at Fonda for quite awhile and those guys are good people. So I amtaking this weekend off and going camping but will be back next week. Cant wait…..I think we finally got the ol girl rollin again…hey, did anyone see me on FOX23 Fasttrack last night?? haha…..my head swelled up!! Im ok now, after all I did only finish 4th. See ya soon

Mike

 Not much to write about recently. Ran the Bowl up in Vermont week before last and it was nice to get back up there. Finished 4th in my heat and started 19 in the feature and the car wasnt too bad as I made it up to 13th and it was a 50 lapper. Then the car car stopped getting better and the next day found a bent left rear rotor and a broken suspension piece holding the rear axle, yup another excuse another broken racecar….I ran Malta Friday night and won my heat race and then the rain came!! Car was awesome and I turned the quickest laps I ever have at Malta. I thought I had something for em but will have to wait another week and by virtue of winning my heat I should be starting up front…..Well if we rain out again this Friday I may be making my debut at Lebanon Valley this Saturday. They have a Budget Sportsman race there and I’ve heard some good reports from fellow drivers about the place. I was there this past Sunday in the pits for the World of Outlaws sprintcars and those dudes are totally nuts. I was actually supporting my buddy Kevin and his son in the 358 modified race. Nice to be back there and it brought back a lot of memories when I used to go there as a 10 year old and cheer for the 97 of Donny Ackner……cant believe 30+ years ago!! Well wearever we end up lets go racin!! Update to follow. Wish me luck!!

Mike

  I cant believe the year this has been…sophmore jinx at Malta?? ya right, well I got back in the top 10 2 weeks ago and then took last week off the do some camp time. Well this past Friday was really bad with my worst finish yet. Yes of course, another points night! It seems like all of my decent finishes are on non-points nights and the really bad ones are yep you guessed it, points nights. Well I figured out the problem with newly overhauled motor. It was the first night out with it so I kinda expected something to go wrong, and it did. Turns out that I mis-indexed the distributor when I put the motor back in the car and caused it to overheat. I finished 3rd in the B-main the it was getting hotter. Tried a couple things for the feature and went from 24 to 16th and had to pull off with a boiling hot motor. I did the smart thing and pulled off the track. Well, talked to the engine builder today and now everything is squared away, I hope. Going back this Friday to see what we can do. Wish me luck, talk soon.

Mike

  Wow, I must be getting lazy in my old age….well this past Friday was really nothing to write home about. I started 15th and finished 11th. I was looking at 9th and while going to the outside of another car on the front stretch he came up and pinched me into the wall which caused me to lose a lot of momentum….to tell ya the truth I almost lost the car, haha. I regained control and it was only a couple more laps  so there i was 11th place and in one piece.

  Well last Friday was a career best for me in the in the Budget Sportsman class. I started 19th and finished 4th….man was I pumped. I was the 2nd fastest time during the race to the leader by just .322 seconds or just over a quarterof a second. Anyways the ol girl was hooked up on the outside and thats where I kept it. Got by 15 cars that way so it must have been working…well back to the track this Friday 6/19 for my next points night. Its been a dreadful year for points and i just have to take it one race at a time. Still have the rest of the season and I think I can get into the top 10 if all goes well, right now Im 28th after 2 terrible finishes. Looks like I have my work cut out for me. Wish me luck and see ya soon, its time to get going!!!

Mike

  Well its been a couple weeks since my last update. Actually I did not even race this past Friday due to a backlog of projects at the camp and crappy weather to boot. Last Friday though was a sight to see…well not really. The car was good in warm ups as usual (cant really tell much) but I was pumped about starting up front. Well at least I was supposed to start up front by virtue of the top 12 from the previous week being inverted, meaning I finished 12th the week before and I should have started 1st. But seeing that my usual black cloud was in full bloom I was relegated to starting 3rd…(dont ask me). So anyways, the green flag drops, the car takes off like a rocket and I proceeded to run up the back side of the 2nd place car and flatten the right front (brand new tire) and fold up the rim. Here we are….lap one and Im already an idiot. They bring out the caution for me and the crew (Jeff, Kevin and Kale) throw on the spare in the hot pit area. I proceed to the track only to held by the pit flagger who for some unknown reason, holds me there for it seemed like eternity, and then sends me out!! I look up the front straightaway and here comes the whole field of 24 cars!!!! I was as they say “an angry young man” at this point. man did the ol girl start honkin….haha. I passed 6 cars in 2 laps and the  leaders never caught up to me. Yellow came out and i was on the move at the next restart. I think I got up to 15th but by doing so went off the backstretch and got the car sideways off the track and was taking some heavy hits of heavy clay into the underside of the car. Well that all leads up to the bad news….motor was losing power, thought she was done. I could practically collapse the floor board with the throttle I was pushing it so hard. So I start getting passed by cars I had already gotten by and I was hoping at this point the race would just end……I think I got 19th, unreal. So we load up and set sail for home. The next morning I cant sleep of course and Im out in the garage around 7am unloading the car and I look underneath and see a plug wire hanging down. It got ripped off when I was doing my Dukes of Hazard remake on the backstretch. The last 8 laps on 7 cylinders……

  Well here we go again. This Friday the 5th of June the circus heads back to the “great race place”. I will once again have to qualify through the heat race and hopefully get a decent starting spot for the feature. Car is just about ready and Im getting excited to get back at it. Last year My buddy Kevin took me by the shoulders and said one word “patience”. I have it written on my dry erase board in the trailer….i need to start reading it before I jump in the hot rod, and no more Rockstar Energy drinks before I go out….haha!!! Well as usual, wish me luck. Thanks for reading……

Mike