Jason and the Shop Motorsports team headed up north for a couple of weeks. It all started with a run in the Ollie’s Challenge race at Sharon Speedway in Ohio. A top five finish was accomplished but it wasn’t what Jason was looking for.
The next night of racing was to be at Donnellson, Iowa after a long night of driving. With a loaded heat Jason managed a fourth place finish placing him twelfth on the starting grid. With a run up to second the team was pleased with the forward progress and ready to head to Knoxville Speedway for the ASCoT race on Friday night.
Jason pulled off a big win at Knoxville making this just his second win in a 360 car at the speedway. Jason also has three wins in a 410 car at Knoxville. The team is prepared to make a run for the 360 Nationals coming up at the end of July.
Off to Hartford SD for a ASCoT Tuesday night show that once again just didn’t produce the results the team was looking for. With a hard fought battle, the car was missing forward bite to move up any better than a eighth place finish.
Last night of the Northern swing the team saw more ASCoT action at Huron Speedway, a track that Jason won on just last season. The results were the same this year with Jason’s sixth win on the National ASCS Tour.
Knoxville Bound
Jason and Bobbi are headed for a “World of Outlaw” weekend at Knoxville Speedway in Knoxville Iowa. With the KKR, Remington car repaired after a rough start at Lowes Motor Speedway a couple of weeks ago, Willie and the crew are looking for a better finish than the last outing. While climbing from 16th to 5th before contact with Steve Kinser that sent Jason into the wall, the Mopar engine was running perfect and the newly formed team showed a lot of potential for the upcoming weekend.
Jason has wins at Knoxville in both the 360 and the 410 division including a prelim feature win at the Knoxville Nationals. The team is looking for a good test session for the upcoming 410 Nationals.
The Shop Motorsports team will be back at Knoxville on June 20th for a ASCoT event. Jason is the leading winner with ASCoT in 08 with four victories, including the $10,000 to win Ronald Lane Memorial in Florida.
With a schedule change from the Midwest, on June 14th Jason will be flying out to Calistoga Speedway in California for a 360 Civil War series race with his new crew chief for next season, Paul Silva. Trying to get a few races in this year with a new team and new crew chief Jason is likely to have more changes in the upcoming schedules. One thing that will not change is his commitment to the ASCoT Schedule in 08.
The Cajun heads for the World of Outlaws
After a very successful start to the 2008
season Jason will make his debut in the
Kasey Kahne Remington JEI Tuesday
night at Lernerville providing Mother Nature
doesn’t have her way again. With his eighth
International win coming last Saturday night
at the Devils Bowl in Mesquite, Texas, Jason
is looking to add to his two World of Outlaw
wins in the past. Thursday and Friday, Jason
will be at Williams Grove where he won his
last World Of Outlaw feature that came in 2005.
Then it will be off to Lowes Motor Speedway
for next Friday’s event and then Saturday night
at Virginia Motor Speedway will be Jason’s final
night for the Kasey Kahne team until the Knoxville
Speedway events on June 6th and 7th.
Race Results: April 5th
ASCS Gulf South Action
Saturday: Heat 1st Feature 1st
After winning with the ASCoT in Oklahoma City,
Jason headed to Champion Park in Haughton, La
to compete with the ASCS Gulf South Series in Marvin
and Peggy’s Pearson #11 Eagle. Running the top side of
the track Jason took the win in his home state. “It was great
to win in Louisiana, exclaimed Jason. We don’t get to race
in Louisiana very much so that made it special, especially
being the Josh Loftin Memorial race.
Off to Texas headed to Pearson #11 for the last race with
the team until after Knoxville Nationals. The night started
off great winning the heat race coming from the back.
After drawing the #6 pill Jason had his work cut out, but
chased Channin Tankersley for the first 11 laps. Channin
got in trouble flipping after contact with a lapped car and
Jason inherited the lead and never looked back. The race
didn’t go without incident for Jason however as the left
rear tire went down to about 1 lb of air sitting under the red
flag and the engine was only hitting on seven cylinders
after breaking a push rod. With a clean track in front Jason
managed to build up air pressure in the left rear and keep
the momentum in the engine to take his third win in as
many weeks.
Race results: Feb 29 - March 1, 2008
ASCS Gulf South action
Friday: Heat 1st Feature 1st
Saturday: Heat 1st Feature 16th
The inside scoop;
The Friday night started off great. It was nice to be back racing for Marvin and Peggy Pearson. They purchased my car that we ran in just a few races last season.
They changed the colors to black to red and the # to 11 but if felt just as good as last season. The Wesmar engine ran flawless all weekend long. Friday night went all our way as we won the heat and A Feature. We were coming off of a high after a great start in Florida earlier in the month. As good as it went Friday night it went just a bad Saturday night. Wining the heat was nice but we ended up drawing a eight pill inversion for the Feature. Even with a extremely heavy track we were still able to make our way to the front. After seven laps I found myself in second chasing Garry Lee Maier. My car was just a little better than Garry so I decided to make my move. Just as soon as I moved up the track Garry broke a drive line and went up the track right in my path. Well I nailed the wall pretty good and took a few end over end flips to finally land on my side. Although I had no injuries we just couldn’t same the same for the car.
Next race will be at the Devils Bowl in Mesquite, Texas in the Shop Motorsports car.
The 2008 race season started off with a bang! Bobbi and I made our way back from Australia, landed in the good ole USA on Tuesday and met up with The Shop Motorsports team on Wednesday in Tampa, FL, to go over the car and get a little practice in. It's good to be home!
Racing action kicked off Thursday for the 2008 Winternationals and the first night of the ASCS National Tour Point Series. We started 3rd in the 4th heat and ran 2nd, just behind Kenny Adams. Our 12th place starting spot in the feature was not what we had hoped for, but we worked up to 6th and were pleased with a top 10 finish, especially since we had a little trouble with the smaller right rear tire.
Friday's action had us starting 5th in the 4th heat, finishing 2nd. The top 8 cars redrew for the A Feature starting spot, so we started in the 7th position. We were pleased with our 2nd place finish. I chased Terry McCarl, but the feature was a green to checker and the opportunity to get a win just wasn't there.
Thursday and Friday's action left us in a great position - 2nd in Winternational points and starting the main event on Saturday on the outside front row. I can now tell you what a perfect race car feels like; the team had The Shop Motorsports/ King Racing/ Pope Transportation/ Custom Equipment Designs #41 dialed in! She was sweet! When the green flag dropped I surged past Gary Wright and took off to lead all 40 laps. The feature did have three cautions, the last one on lap 30. The last 10 laps were fun as I had 5 lapped cars between us and 2nd place.
Great victory to start off the year and very pleased to win the Ronald Laney Memorial race. Ronald was someone I looked up to as a kid and it was an honor to win the race.
Special thanks to a great bunch of sponsors and friends that made the trek to Florida for the race: David and Joy, Pope Transportation; Chuck and Justin, CED, Inc. Also, it was great to have Dad and Uncle
James with us too.
Overall, just a great weekend! Bobbi and I are happy to be back!
- Jason & Crew
More Christmas Cheer for Happy Feet
28th December, 2007
"Christmas cheer for team with Happy Feet"
Friday 28th December 2007, Adelaide, South Australia. Jason Johnson continued his sensational form to make it three wins in a row for the likeable American racer.
On 26th December at Adelaide's Speedway City Johnson set only an average time trial to end up being seeded 10th. This was to be a long night was ahead for the DFR team.
After two stellar heats where the Supaloc Man of steel moved forward at rapid pace where he finished highest on points. Drawing a one marble gave him pole for the "A" dash. Trevor Green in the S11 got the jump but was quick mowed down by the impressive high line speed of Johnson. A slide job put on Green for the lead was deemed to have been infield by the officials so the GT bobcat/Advanced line marking pilot Johnson was relegated two spots to now start the all important "A" main from position five instead of pole.
In the "A" Johnson sat tall in the seat and was first to find the high line in turns two and three on freshly prepared track. He quickly moved forward dropping to the bottom on turns one and two. A restart bought out by Phil March pulling up for a" professional free kick" put Green, Farr then Johnson in the nose to tail restart.
Johnson took Farr on the high side through three and four before setting sail for the S11 of Trevor Green and the win.
A polish lap had the crowd on its feet prior to stopping the Supaloc/Armorall/ Jim Beam backed eagle racer on the front straight. The appreciative crowd roared as Johnson alighted from the car with the checkered flag.
Riverview Raceway, Murray Bridge - 27th December - On the tight little bull ring Johnson set 14th quickest time of the 38 cars to take the green in time trials.
Heat one would see a power house drive from sixth starting position to take the win. Heat four was an exciting affair with the pristine Supaloc racer trying all lines in an attempt to move forward provided an extremely close third.
With third highest points after all heats were run this provided a position two start for the all important "A" dash. Robbie Farr in the Q7 J& J chassis got the jump and held out the fast finishing Johnson for third.
Starting from position three Johnson followed farr and Tatnell through turn one to being his chase. A beautiful dive across turns one and two saw Johnson move into second as the yellows came on for the spinning Tatnell.
At a further restart Johnson powered around Farr in turns three and four to run away with the win.
Series Points - Tatnell - 1412, Dumsney - 1400, Farr - 1392, Green - 1358, Johnson - 1324
Johnson takes silverware at Latrobe
16th December, 2007
Johnson stands tall and delivers
The Supaloc man of steel, Jason Johnson returned to the winners circle in round eight of the Wanless World Series Sprintcar championship conducted at Latrobe International Speedway last night.
Having time trilled poorly( 13th) Johnson had more than his work cut out for him in the heat races if he was to figure in the feature race.
Heat one starting from fifth Johnson powered high along the back straight to pass all that had started in front of his Supaloc/ Armorall backed racer before driving away to take a commanding win on a dry slick track.
His second was a tech book lesson in slick track driving. Having quickly moved to the front on the high groove he powered away to finish nearly half a lap in front.
After all heat races Quick time winner Brooke Tatnell sat a top the points followed by the V5 of Max Dumsney and Jason Johnson in third. Brooke drew a two pill for the invert to put Johnson from pole in dash won with the Australian one of Tatnell starting from two. Johnson had the best of the drag start and held a six car length lead to flag. This giving him the pole for the all important feature race.
The first attempt to get the feature away saw Johnson quickly take the lead leaving turn one and two only to see the yellow flag fly for Trevor Green whom had cut his tire down. Attempt two saw Johnson again take command and circulate with ease on the black track.
A number of race stoppages worked the advantage of Johnson as he was continually presented with a clear track to work his preferred line. A late race lunge from Tatnell spurred Johnson into action and saw him take off again to finish a comfortable winner from Brooke Tatnell and local Adrian Redpath in for third.
The entire DFR team were pleased to get the bad luck monkey off their backs and return to the winners circle. The team were seen to celebrate with a "Happy feet" dance just prior to trophy presentations.
The team now prepare for the hectic Speedweek starting December 26 at Adelaide's Speedway City with wind in their sails.
Suploc Racing
14th November, 2007
"Wild Wild West"
The Good, The Bad and The West
The Supaloc Sprintcar team was fast straight out of the box. Having the not being able to shake the car and crew down with the normal Adelaide Sprintcar masters being cancelled the team hit the open spaces of the Perth Motor Plex stealing quickest time in qualifying.
The following two heat races saw Jason Johnson and his Supaloc/Armorall/ Jim Beam racer on top of the points ladder. Drawing a two marble for the dash put him on the outside front row of the all important dash to determine starting positions for the final.
Jason took the lead of the dash into turn one and was never headed from local hot shoe Luche Monte and World number one Donny Schatz. The beautifully present USA 5 racer was half a second quicker then the next quickest car on the track.
The feature was soon to be a sad story. " as soon as we fired for the feature I knew there was something wrong, I was just hoping it was a plug lead" explained Johnson. Within three last the Supaloc racer was shut down while running second.
"'We burnt the motor down and took a couple of pistons out" explained crew chief Adrian Fergusson. "We were running a new fuel system along the lines of what Jason has had such success with back home but it let us down".
The team changed to our second smaller motor on Saturday to again take the challenge. With the great support of GKR transport or damaged motor was being shipped back to our Adelaide engine builder for extensive repairs.
Night two presented as a repeat of night one with the Supaloc 5 again setting quick time in qualifying. The speed of the Advanced Linemarking/Starks Bakery backed racer had many tongues wagging.
Heat one saw Jason move forward in a militant fashion to finish fifth from his tenth starting position. Heat five saw a lesson in slick track driving as Jason powered from his ninth starting position to take the win.
The team again headed the points going into the dashes. A two marble put Jason from the outside, a position that would see him power away with the win.
The feature was a very different affair. Drivers took to the freshly watered infield instead of the harsh dry racing track. This turning the race into a joke to be kind. We also ran infield with the majority. On the final lap we Jason had his right rear on the concrete only to have Brooke Tatnell drive by him on the inside?!?!??!?. Officials lacked any control and allowed the race to be a finished.
With limited points in the bag the team has some hard yard to catch up over the next 13 nights of racing.
Tonight sees the team compete in Kalgoorlie in central Western Australia. With a forecast temperature of 41 degrees it will not only be the racing that's hot.
Points after round two: Brooke Tatnell- 294, David Murcott - 278, Max Dumesney - 278, Robbie Farr - 278, Danny Reidy -266, James Mc Fadden - 266, Donny Schatz - 264, Trevor Green - 264, Jason Johnson 258
The Cajun Sensation Adds American Flavor To Wanless WSS.
“The Cajun Sensation” Jason Johnson, from Eunice Lousiana, is a confirmed starter for the 2007-08 Wanless World Series Sprintcars and team principal of the Disbury Family Racing outfit Darren Disbury is looking forward to another strong year with his American import.
“We are doing World Series!” motioned Disbury.“We love being out on the road.”
“I have worked hard with Steven Green and we are happy with what the SPA (Speedway Promotions Australia) has addressed and the other things they are working on.”
This summer Johnson is sitting third on the ASCS overall standings with some 21 feature wins on the season.
In 2006, Johnson scored 24 race victories in Australia and the United States to become one of the winningest drivers in America and was voted the #1 360 driver in the country. Johnson then switched to a 410 c.i. motor for the biggest event on the planet and drove the Shop Motorsports #41 all the way to the podium with a standout third placing behind Donny Schatz and Joey Saldana at the 2006 Knoxville Nationals.
There is little doubt that Johnson is a major draw card for the series. Johnson has not finished outside the top five in points in any of his five attempts at running the World Series Sprintcars championship.
He finished runner up to Max Dumesny in his first attempt in 2003/04, fifth in 2004/05 followed by a third in 2005/06. He again has the dubious honor of finishing runner-up to Max Dumesny over the past two seasons.
“There is no doubt I am out there to win this Wanless World Series Sprintcar championship.” “It is the sole reason I keep coming because I want to win that series.” “At this point in time winning that deal means more to us than even the Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic.”
Johnson at least stole a portion of the Dumesny glory last season when he claimed the Speedweek honours including victory in the final leg at Premier Speedway Warrnambool. The Speedweek victory was bitter sweet for the family owned team that is without equal when it comes to professionalism and sponsor exposure.
The pitfall however of showcasing his ‘product’ at such high levels is that it creates the general conception that they are running one of the largest budget operations in the land. “Darren’s presentation is far more superior than the cashflow is that is for sure.” explained Johnson. “He makes it all look three times bigger than it really is!”
“It is only through the generosity of sponsorship that we are able to go racing.” noted Disbury. “We have the smallest truck on the road and our whole team is made up of part time guys” "At the end of the day, we are just a bunch of weekend warriors!”
What Disbury does with his limited budget however is quite remarkable and his focus on what is important remains paramount. “We race hard but we enjoy our racing.” “At the track we are serious as hell but at the same time we are one of the most laconic teams on the road.”
The pairing of Jason Johnson and the Disbury family is a match made in heaven.
Nothing has been handed to Johnson on a platter. He has had his fair share of knocks on the way up and at one time spent his days living in a suitcase as he waited for his opportunity.
Family is the grounding for Johnson and with wife Bobbi in tow, their affiliation with the Disbury household is as close as you could find. My kids are jumping out of their skin knowing that Jason and Bobbi are coming back.”
“Jason just loves the Australian lifestyle and he and Bobbi are truly a part of our family.” "He knows that as long as I am a car owner, and he wants to come back to Australia that it will always be his seat in my car.”
And why would Disbury want anyone else, the statistics alone would suggest he is on to a good thing. Johnson is tenth on the all time World Series performance chart with 8 wins and 29 podium finishes. Over the fifteen rounds of World Series Sprintcars last season Johnson only finished outside the top four on two occasions. He finished on the podium ten times scoring two victories at Latrobe and Premier Speedway.
“Jason is a professional and it’s all about the winning.” “At four o’clock on race day he just changes. He is focused and very hands on.” “He just wants to be the best he can be.” “As far as he is concerned 2nd is the first loser and he hates running second.”
Johnson echoed Disbury’s sentiments. “If we had of won it that first year on the tough budget we had would have been a Cinderella story.”
“Last year we had a stellar year and it got down to those last couple of nights.” “It’s a challenge racing those 15 or so rounds because you have to be on your game every single night.”
The prospect of the team claiming the Wanless World Series Sprintcars triggers a rare emotional switch from the guy with the generally subdued persona. “If we could win the series then that would be the pinnacle.” beamed Disbury. “For us to win World Series together… wow… I’d hate to think how many days we would party for!” “At the end of the day we don’t have the resources of some of the teams so we will just do the best with what we have got.”
The Supaloc Racing / Armor All Eagle with the Maxwill powerplant will be strong, there is no doubt about that, and it is time for the team to turn the tables. The Speedweek victory last season was a huge boost to the team’s confidence and now the equation is quite simple.Two plus two plus two must now equal one.
Thank you!
A great big HUGE thank you to everyone - family, sponsors, fans and crew members for a great season!
If I was to thank each of you individually, I would have a book on my hands, so I will try to just hit the high points. Know that Bobbi and I really appreciate each of you and your contribution to our successful season.
Mr. Lanny - Thanks so much for your continued support. I could not drive for a better owner.
Wolfie, George, Big A, Larry aka "Old Timer", and everyone else that helped with the car this year. You guys worked your tails off! A great big thank you for your help in keeping us quick on the track and fixing things quick at the trailer when we needed to. Wolfie - keep that drawing magic bottled up for next year!
David & Joy Pope - We loved that you were able to join us for so many races and look forward to your continued sponsorship and friendship in 2008.
Tom Lorenz - It is always great to see you at the track. We appreciate all you and the entire team at Smiley's do for us.
Danny & Naomi King - I know this was a tough season for both of you. We miss Steve very much. Thanks for your continued support. We were proud to help carry on Steve's legacy and take the ethanol rig up and down the road this year.
Chuck, Sandy and Gary at Custom Equipment Design - It is always a blast to be in your area. Chuck, we love it when you have time to join us on the road. Thanks again for your support.
Leland and Barbara Caldwell of CCR Concrete - we are so excited to have you on board as a new sponsor for the 2008 season. Thanks for hanging out in Little Rock with us.
Jerry Russell of Eagle Chassis - I so appreicate your advice and you making yourself available to me at all hours of the day and night.
To my folks and family - thank you for your continued encouragement, even in the down times.
To the greatest fans a driver can have - Thank you for continuing to come out and support us. You guys are what keeps the sport so much fun!
And to Bobbi - hey, you're the greatest!
Thanks to everyone - we look forward to even more fun next year. Need a vacation? Come join for some racin' Aussie style -you'll love it!
- Jason
Racing at the Rock
Race results: October 25-27
Thursday - Saturday, Oct. 25-27, 2007 - ASCS National Tour Race & Short Track Nationals, Little Rock, AR
Thursday: Heat: 1st Qualifier: 6th Feature: 9th
Saturday: Heat: 2nd Qualifier: 3rd Feature: 4th
The Inside Scoop:
The 2007 US racing season wrapped up with the final ASCS National Tour Race and Short Track Nationals in Little Rock, AR, this past weekend. Over 110 cars arrived in Little Rock for this great event.
Thursday's track was very heavy thanks to the rain that Mother Nature provided earlier that day. Thinking back over the season, we contended with a lot more rain than usual. I guess Mother Nature has become a sprint car fan!
Half the field qualified on Thursday, the other half on Friday. The top three cars from each night were locked into the top starting positions for Saturday's main event.
We started on the pole of the first heat on Thursday and won it, which put us 5th in points. Since the qualifier is inverted, we started 8th and moved through the traffic to the front. We were leading when the white flag dropped. Unfortunately the right front steering arm broke sending me off the track in turn two. I managed to get it back on track and fought hard to reach the finish line, finishing 6th. Since we were 15th in points we started 15th in the feature. The track was hard to pass on, and we had to settle for a 9th place finish - the night would have certainly been different if we could have held on to the lead in the qualifier.
Saturday didn't start off so well. I ended up in the catch fence during hot laps. The Shop Motorsports team did a bang up job getting the car ready for the heat. We started in the back of the heat, in the 10th spot, and finished 2nd. We lined up 8th for the Qualifier and finished 3rd which made us 2nd in overall points. For the main event we started in the 8th position because of the six cars that were locked in from the preliminary nights. We quickly made it up to 4th. I was able to catch up to the leaders in traffic but couldn't get in a good enough position to truly challenge them for the lead.
Our feature finish was just good enough to overtake Wayne Johnson by six points and end the season as the Runner-Up for the ASCS National Tour. This is the second year we have finished in the number two spot. You can guess what we will be gunning for next year!
It was truly a great weekend with great friends and sponsors hanging out - that is what racin' is all about! We have many people to thank for all their support, friendship and help this year. We will send that separately so you don't have to read a novel this time.
Bobbi and I are off to Australia later this week to begin the race season Down Under. We will send updates periodically so you can keep up with us as we race the # USA5 for Disbury Family/Supaloc Racing Team.
Stay in touch everyone - we will see in you January at the Winter Nationals in Florida.
After our trip to South Coffeyville, there is only one word to describe this one: magical! It is the kind of weekend we dream of, and this weekend was what dreams are made of!
The Shop Motorsports team, along with 50 other cars pulled into Devil's Bowl Speedway for the 2007 Winter Nationals and Wesmar challenge.
On Thursday we set aside car prep to play in the first annual Smiley's Hoosier/Southwest Golf Tournament. I was lucky to get paired with local race fans Jr. and Trent Jenkins and with Fred Linder of Pro Shocks. It also didn't hurt that Fred is a really good golfer. While we didn't win any prizes for our golfing prowess, Jr. did take home the grand door prize - a complete DMI rear end. That was cool!
On Friday our drawing luck again did not show up. There were 72 pills in the cage, and we drew pill #70. This actually turned out to be in our favor. The track was very heavy during hot laps. But by the time they started the fifth heat it had widened out. We started 8th and roared up to a 2nd place finish.
Our drawing was a little better for the dash, we drew 4th which means we started 4th and then also finished 4th. The set up changes we made for the dash just didn't work so we went back to what we had for the feature.
We started 4th in the feature only to have the front cars get tangled up on the start. On the restart I got to start outside pole and put my foot into it. We lead all 20 laps and locked ourselves into Saturday night's show.
After this feature we switched gears to run the Wesmar-challenge. This is a 3 segment race with the winner being based on points. And instead of cash we are racing for racing parts. The Shop Motorsports team had our eye set on the grand prize, the Wesmar engine.
We drew 14th for segment 1 but got to start 12th when someone lined up wrong. We rocketed through the field in those 12 laps that went green to checker, finishing 4th.
For segment 2, they inverse the field so we started 8th and shot to the front to win it!. This made us 2nd in points and locked us to start on the outside pole for the final race on Saturday.
Saturday night we pulled in with high hopes. Neither Mr. Lanny nor I have won the Winter Nationals, and we really wanted to take the trophy home! We drew 4th for the dash, started 4th and finished 4th. The set up was not quite what we were looking for so we changed it before the feature.
I started 4th in the feature, was up to 3rd after 3 laps, moved to 2nd fairly quickly then battled Wayne Johnson for the lead. Once I got past Wayne, I lead the rest of the laps, securing our first Winter Nationals title.
We didn't have much time to celebrate our victory as we had to prepare for the final segment of the Wesmar challenge. We started outside pole along side Gary Wright. I jumped Gary on the start only to have it called back for a restart. I knew I was faster than Gary and needed to put some distance between us because he was leading the points. On the restart I still got to him and took off, cruising to the segment 3 victory. While we were excited about the victory, it wasn't enough. Wright finished 3rd, clinching enough points to win the challenge and the Wesmar motor. We finished 4.5 points behind him and were pleased to take home a new Maxim chassis.
The last race of the year in the states is coming up - The Short Track Nationals - in Little Rock, AR, Oct 25-27. While Wright pretty much has the ASCS title wrapped up, we are only 36 points behind Wayne Johnson and have our sights set on a 2nd place ASCS National Tour finish.
Saturday, Sept. 29,
2007 - ASCS National
Tour, West Plains,
MO
Heat: 5th
Feature: 8th
The Inside Scoop:
We pulled into Beaumont
looking to make it five for
five. The last four times we
had been there we left with
the trophy in-hand. We
got off to a rocky start
when in hot laps we had a
miss in the motor. We did
some work on the #41 Shop
Motorsports car and went out
for the heat race, starting
in the outside front row. We
were able to get the win but
developed a vibration in the
drive line.
The team changed the drive
shaft before the dash, and
we lined up fourth for the
green flag of the dash. As I
put my foot into it, I
realized the motor was still
missing. Fortunately we were
able to finish 2nd.
After the dash, The Shops
Motorsports team worked on
the motor again, including
changing the
MSD box, timing
and the spark plugs.
We started second in the
feature and raced away,
unchallenged for the lead.
There were several restarts.
Travis Rilat, who was
running 2nd,
tried to make a run at us,
but we were able to maintain
the lead and win by a
straightaway.
A special thanks to Jake,
son of Gary and Tracy
Douglass with GT Bobcat,
based out of Mt. Gambier,
Australia. Jake made
the trip all the way from
Australia to be part of the
team Friday night.
After a trip to the car wash
we headed north to West
Plains, MO. We stopped off
in Texarana to pick up a
member of the team - Big Al
- and he drove us the rest
of the 600-mile journey.
Things definitely did not
got as we would have liked
in West Plains. The goal was
to gain points on the
National Tour leader as we
went into the race 3rd
in national points.
The track was very heavy
during hot laps, so we
loosened up the car for the
heat race, only to find that
the track had gotten a lot
slicker. On the 2nd
lap I got in the marbles and
spun. We restarted in the 9th
spot and was only able to
make it up to 5th,
which was not good enough to
make the dash.
Since there were only 25
cars, everyone started the
A. We started 13th.
Unfortunately for us the
feature went green to
checkered and I was only
able to make it up to 8th
on a very slick track. We
were able to maintain our 3rd
place standings in ASCS
National Tour points but did
not gain on the leader like
we had hoped to.
This coming weekend we are
planning on racing a two-day
race in South Coffeyville,
OK, an ASCS Sooner Region
race. If weather does not
cooperate, we may head for
Pike County, Mississippi,
for a Gulf South Region show
down.
