Wanna Race?

- Pad roll cage
- Bolt two doors shut
- Paint number on car
- Tow car to track

Things I have left to do before racing Friday night!

My car is finally ready... almost. I'll be back out to Hiway 92 Raceway this weekend ready to go again. I had a blast racing a couple years ago, but when my car refused to be resuscitated, I put my helmet on a shelf in the garage and closed the door. But my friend Greg, found an old Neon that we were able to put a good roll cage in and get ready to race over the past couple months.

We've taken out a less than adequate roll cage, replaced it with a really good one, installed a racing seat, stripped off former sponsorship decals, rerouted the airbox, replaced a rusted out fuel tank and refinished some wiring that had gone bad. There are still a few minor things, but for the most part it's ready to race. This Friday we'll put it to the test.

I have to admit, as much of a redneck as it may make me sound - I've missed racing. I've learned a lot from working on the cars, and that's nice (especially on days like yesterday where I saved about $130 just by changing my own brake pads on our van)... I love having the chance to get to know people outside the church and hopefully redefine for them what it means to be a Christian (or at least open the door to the possibility that church people aren't all boring)... But mostly, I've just missed having something where I just go have fun.

So Friday night - I'm going to fight life's capacity to suck the fun out of me and force me into cubicles of bland repetition.

Wanna race?

Summer's end...

Well, racing's over for the season. I think I ended up 4th, maybe 5th, in points - which isn't bad considering I missed so many weeks. The racing was a blast and it was great to meet some new people and spend some good time with the students that helped me out most weeks. The sad part of it is that my timing belt broke about two laps from the finish of the last race. If you don't know... that's really bad. Most engines will basically tear themselves apart if the belt breaks... I haven't dug into it yet to see if that's the case.

Dakota started preschool this week. He doesn't always respond too well to being told he has to do what everyone else is doing, so this should be an interesting experience. When we pulled up to the Y (where the preschool is), he wanted to go in the main doors and around to the back of the preschool "so we don't have to go through all that crowded part." (which was where everyone was lined up waiting to take their kids in). He doesn't like groups, but there's one little boy from our small group at church who is in his class, so he followed him around all day yesterday.

We also got started back into our regular schedule in our student ministry yesterday. I'm still wondering what adjustments we can make to be more effective, but right now I'm at a loss. A lot of the students just seem to be coming with no expectation of God having anything to say to them. Almost like it's just such a part of their routine that they're sleepwalking through it. Time to wake up...

1-1-1

Finally made it through a whole night of racing without any 'incidents'. Didn't hit a wall. Didn't blow a tire. Didn't break anything. Didn't have any mechanical issues. Didn't even scratch the new paint job!

Didn't lose. Despite having the wonderfully fortunate opportunity to start in the very back row for the main, I was able to get through all the traffic and win all three of my races last night. And for the first time on a Saturday morning... my car's ready to go for next week's race. Too bad I'll be out of town this next Friday! Oh well, at least the car's ready to go when I get back. (Of course that doesn't mean there won't be any tinkering whatsoever.)

New Look...

Huge thanks to Greg - who painted my car while I was out of town! Now, it's fast AND it doesn't look like a pile going around in circles.

First Win!

My second time out, I hit the wall (see a few posts back). This was the result:

Actually, that is what the car looked like after about 4 hours of pounding, pulling, twisting, sledgehammering good times! It was a really frustrating afternoon last Friday. I wasn't sure that I would be able to race that night - actually I wasn't sure the car would ever be race ready again. It was pretty twisted and things not quite lining up right.

But, with despair hovering like the stench of a dead carcass, I pulled it out to the track anyway, knowing that I might not be able to race and hoping against all mechanical logic that it would be ok. I didn't get there during practice, so I was a little anxious for my chance to time in. Just wanted to see just how the car would run and handle. Got all my gear on, buckled up, etc. and turned the key... nothing.

A battery cable was loose enough that the juice couldn't flow, so nothing happened. Got that adjusted and started and turned off the car several times and ready for the trophy dash. Went to line up for the start... all geared up... buckled... nothing. This time, I worked out a better solution to the problem.

Despite missing the time in, and the trophy dash, I was ready for the heat. I'd won two heats in previous weeks, but that was before smashing the face of the car into the wall of Turn 4. Determined to take it easy (not sure that means a whole lot to anyone driving a car on a race track), I headed out for the heat. Things felt pretty good. I was right with the leaders and made one move to the outside for a pass, but when the back end started to slide out again I decided to not push it too much. So I finished third in the heat.

After waiting for the other classes, it was time for the main. I got held up a little bit behind a slower car at the beginning, but made it around him without too much problem after a bit. I settled into second spot, but was really pushing the leader (and by pushing, I mean following very closely - and by very closely, I mean inches). I worked my way to the outside of him and passed on the outside WITHOUT ending up in the wall. After that I pretty much checked out and finished about a half a lap ahead of the second car. A much better ending than the week before!

I got this trophy and I'll get a check this Friday for winning, but a really cool and unexpected thing was a little deaf boy who'd drawn a picture of me winning. He came up afterward to give me the drawing. It was pretty cool - and a good reminder of what's important. I'm here to be a light for people. Even in the midst of competition and grease and banged knuckles and bent sheet metal, it's about being an ambassador for Christ. I got a fan. Someone noticed me. May he see Him.



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This is the size of my engine, btw. Pretty sure it's the smallest one out there, but it likes to run!

Oops

Friday night started out really well. I got to the race track at a good time. My car passed the safety inspection. I timed in with the second fastest time in my class. That means I started the trophy dash in the back of the pack (they do inverted starts here with the fastest cars in the back). I finished that race second (out of 6 cars).

Again, for the heat race, I started in the back of the pack. This time, I made it past everyone and won the race. Things were going really well. We'd adjusted air pressures in the tire and I'm getting a better feel for what the car needs to get around the track quicker.

So we get started in the main. The last race of the night. I was in third place and really pushing the guy in second (not literally). I was a little faster and just waiting for the right moment, when he'd bobble a little and leave me enough space to get past. As we went into Turn 1, he slid up just a little and I darted into the open slot below him - just as he recovered and decided he wanted to drive in that same patch of asphalt. We banged side to side - no damage, no loss of control - and kept racing.

I'm now in second, and I just had my first contact with another car. I didn't really know the guy and wasn't sure how he was going to respond. As the laps wound down, I got to thinking a lot more about where he was behind me and less about keeping my car on the the right line around the track. Honestly, I was afraid he might retaliate and try to spin me, so I moved up on the track a little bit to make sure there was plenty of room if he thought he could pass.

The problem is... someone had spilled a bunch of oil up high and there was still a lot of track dry up there. Track dry is great for soaking up oil off of asphalt. It's lousy for creating traction on asphalt. I started to slide around turn 4 and slid right into the wall. My first crash!!! The front end's all bent out of shape and the car wouldn't start back up because the battery cable actually popped off the terminal on impact. My night was done, but the car should be ok. I should be able to get it bent back into shape (mostly) by this Friday night and be back out there. Fun, fun, fun...

First Race

Sometimes in life, there are things you think you’d like to do, but never get to do them for one reason or another. I’m thinking about things that you’d think are so exciting that they may be a little too scary to try – serious white water rafting, hang-gliding, skydiving… things like that. This last Friday night, I got to do something that I’ve always thought would be a blast but never really thought I’d do.
When I was a kid, we’d go out to the Casper Speedway and park grandpa’s camper at the entry to Turn 1 and watch the races. I remember hiding out with my cousins and brother inside the RV and watching through the little window in the loft whenever the sprint cars came out. They were loud and I said they “scared my ears.” But, like many little boys, I thought it would be fun to race.
Last summer, I was sitting out at Highway 92 Raceway East of Gering with Ted Grant and our boys and the announcer started talking about a new class they’d started. The idea was you get a cheap little 4 cylinder car, strip it, put in some safety equipment, and race it. Ted and I both got that little-boy-with-a-fast-car look and talked about how fun it would be.
Greg Elliott helped me find a little Plymouth Colt sitting in a pile that the guy was willing to part with for $150. We put in a new clutch to get it running and built a roll cage, and Friday night, Matt Snyder towed me out to the track and I got to race. It was as much fun as I ever thought it would be. Not that this is some high-powered precision work of automotive wonder… but it was a blast. I’m really looking forward to Friday nights at the track this summer (though I’ll miss a few for my brother’s graduation, CIY, etc.)
There were a number of times when I remember thinking how ridiculous it was for a grown man to be putting so much effort into boyhood fantasies of racing a little car around a track. Sometimes, I questioned if I just needed to grow up and put those dreams away. I’m glad I didn’t because what I experienced was great.
Living in Jesus is full of things much more spectacular than driving around in circles. The dreams God has for our lives far exceed the thrill of a short track win. Pray that God would give you the courage to follow His dreams. The message of the cross may be foolishness to the world, but when we live that message, what we experience will be a life that is unparalleled by anything else... the full life that Jesus came to give. Don’t let anything cause you to miss it.

Drive Fast, Turn Left!

Racing starts this Friday night! My car is oh so close to finished. I still need a paint job, final welding on the roll cage (about 80% finished now), new battery, and sponsor checks! After all this work, I'm really hoping I don't put it into the wall right away! It's pretty exciting to think about getting out on the track - kind of nerve racking too - what if the car's just got no speed?!

The downside has been the annoyed looks I get from LuAnn when I go out to work on the car and the fact that I'm selling my other car. Since I got the 4runner, I just don't really need another car sitting around, but I like the Avenger and really don't want to get rid of it. After driving the 4runner around for a month or so, I got the Avenger fixed and drove it a little today. It just feels so much quicker and more fun... maybe I'll make it into a race car!!!

If you're around on Friday night, come out to the Hwy 92 track and say hi. I'll be in the little Colt with a 94 on the side (haven't picked a color yet, but the old color's red, so that might be a safe bet)!

Car and Radio!

I've been working on the race car lately trying to be ready for the start of the season - very soon!. This is pretty much what it looks like at the moment. Not much to look at, but it'll be a lot of fun. Actually right now, it's up on jack stands waiting for us to put the transmission back in. Had some help today from Greg and Kyle to put in a new clutch.

It's been fun to learn a lot about the machine and stuff!

Another new thing lately has been the radio show I'm doing right now. A Christian station here in town let's some of us youth ministers come in and take over the air for a few hours on Saturday nights. It's been a blast!

Buckle Up!

Just bought a car that I'm going to race next season! No pictures, yet, but it's a 92 Colt (for a small 4-cylinder class) and it cost $150. Hopefully I can clear the space in my garage quickly and start stripping it down. Some of the students are into cars, so I'm sure they'll love helping with that part. Anyway, we have several months before the season starts, so there's a lot of time - but there's a lot to do to it also. Looking forward to hanging out with a few of my guys and building the car. If anyone wants to send us sponsor money, feel free to do so!