Our team has been sponsoring Rolling Thunder Racing for the past few years. It started in the series run by Rob Larkin, Mini Stock driver from Flamboro. Rob introduced me the Admin members of RTR so I could race with them on other nights. After being there a while it was agreed that our team would sponsor plaques for the various series. The series we sponsored in 2010 included the 358’s and NASCAR Trucks. For 2011, we added another award, the Iron Man, presented to the RTR member who finished the best overall in the five series that were included. Landon Pridemore from Ohio, was the overall winner of the Iron Man award in Season 22. He had to make every race event and run competitive to win the award. Each season runs about 14 weeks, so they can do three seasons in one year. We will sponsor this again in Season 23 that will run until August……..Members of this fun Canadian American series are mostly Americans covering many U.S. States, including Washington, Iowa, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Pennsyvania, New Jersey, New York, Texas, Tennessee, Hawaii and Ohio. I may have missed a State or two. The rest of us compete from Ontario, but Canadians from the Maritimes and at least one from Alberta also compete……..Special thanks to Terry Bauman for this awesome graphic design of Landon’s 5 race cars.

    When we brought the car home from the body shop I was a little uneasy. There was something about the car that didn’t seem right, I wasn’t totally happy, in fact I wasn’t happy at all, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. Shane gave us some paint and we painted the roll cage a shiny black, getting rid of the rusty steel look. That made it better. Covering up rusty steel always looks better, but I was still very reluctant to say we accomplished what I wanted overall. Once my friends and crew started looking at the car, many said it was good, very good, awesome, a home run etc, etc. I think they were lying, but maybe they did think it was that good, maybe I was the one with the problem. I felt Steve Lyons would make it right when he got through with it, then I’d be happy. The paint job was excellent, and with a great lettering job we’d then have the look I wanted……When you tell a painter the scheme, you have to make sure the design is laid out the way as planned before the car is sprayed so he has a chance to get the look you want. Same with the lettering, taking time to make sure colors and trim are explained helps get the desired out come. Both the painting and lettering were perfect quality wise, there was just this thing that didn’t seem right. When I got it home from Creative Edge, David looked at the car, he liked it but said it needed something. Shirley came out, she to liked it but said it needed longer stripes up to the green. I felt maybe, if I filled in the black between the #6 and the Quaker State with a few sponsor decals it would do the job, and that’s what we did……Prior to opening night, the appearance of the car was the furthest thing from my mind. The night we practiced I was told the car looked great on the track appearance wise, and lets face it, that’s one area of racing that has always been important to me. I was at peace now, everything was okay, that is until I got my first picture of the car on the track. I was heart broken. “This isn’t right”, and could now see exactly what was bothering me and what Shirley and David were referring to. I went to the garage to see the car up close and then it hit me, only a little different than the way it hit Shirley. The green had to come back further, to the Quaker State. The stripes in the rear were running out of no-where and needed to have the appearance they were a continuation of the green. The only way to do that was to ask Scott and Shane if they would paint the black area green. They agreed and the car is now getting fixed. It was my fault, I had thought of continuing the green to the back of the wheel well when it was being painted originally, but stuck with my stupid misled plan. Okay it wasn’t stupid, but it wasn’t quite thought out. Thanks to the grace of my sponsor, Carlisle Customz, the car should be done by Thursday. If no one notices, I’m okay with that because when I get any pictures in the future I will feel better knowing the paint job is the way it was suppose to be in the first place. You would think with this much ink written, we would have been talking about chassis dynamics……Now I can focus on more important things like catching the six cars ahead of me in points. Yes, the goal is to win the Championship, and look good doing it. We have a great pit crew and we think our chances are good. I guess we need the sun to shine on our season, and of course the race track…..it’s drenched.

    Al recently bought a Late Model with the aspirations of being the oldest rookie in Late Model history. After last weekend’s run, Al is on the verge of being parked for the season. Track officials have warned him that he has only a few weeks to get up to speed. Hearing that bothered me a little and prompted my team and I to lend Al a hand to get him where he needs to be. We offered to go over his car, provide him with a spotter and guide him for the next few weeks. During this past week we talked, Al was concerned about set up. Though important, I insisted he first concentrate on getting practice, a most urgent part of his journey to making his dream a reality. I felt he needed radios and a spotter over everything else. He eventually agreed and called Dave Trendell at Grisdales and bought a new set of radios. On the 18th of May we went over the car and provided Al with the scale numbers. Here Al and I check out the results from our set up………..One of our crewmembers, Sheldon Bossom, will spot for Al this weekend, and continue doing so as long as Al is in the driver’s seat. Bob Pereria, Sheldon and I went over the car covering the basics. We set the toe, adjusted the ride heights, put the car on stands, added led, and scaled the car to a fairly simple and common set up. I felt bad for Al, I know he means well and would love to see him fulfill his desire. I also know he needs to make sure he stays away from the faster cars and make sure there are no incidents to bring any attention to him. If he can stay trouble free for a few races, get some needed laps in during the week, I think he could survive the season, I think all of us could. Al is 75 years old. He’s in very good health and really wants to do this. He has no experience driving at the speeds the Late Models go. He has never used a radio system. His spotter is also a rookie, never spotted before. A strategy has been put in place, we discussed that as well. Al will go scratch every week, try to keep up with the pack and hopefully progress every race, making baby steps in the right direction. His spotter will get him down out of the way when the leaders come around. It seems simple enough and if he sticks to the game plan and the Flamboro management team gives him a little grace, maybe, just maybe he gets the honor of being the oldest Late Model “Rookie Of The Year” in history.

    The Hobby season opener was rained out last Saturday at Flamboro Speedway. The schedule will start this Sunday at Sunset Speedway with TQ Midgets and OSCAAR Super Late Models. This is the 45th year for the CVM, once known as the Jalopy cars from the CNE days. There should be over 20 cars including Ron Easton #00. Ron will be driving his Coach and no doubt be a contender to win the first race of 2011. Our Quaker State Coupe will be there as we start our 40th season racing with the Hobby club…….Weather looks good for Flamboro Speedway to resume regular stock racing this Saturday night. The track grounds will be soft after the week long rains, but two days of sun will cure that. Hope to see you at either or both tracks.

    In case you weren’t following this saga, I was quite disappointed with our paint scheme when I saw the first picture of it from the May 7th show at Flamboro. My immediate response was “this is not right”. The car was taken to Carlisle Customz to get the touch up it needed. We picked the car up today at closing and the corrections were made to make the car look the way it should have in the first place….my fault. I originally pictured the green going to the Quaker State logo, but when following the design we made the green stripes look out of place, like they were coming out of no-where. After this change we lose the stripe down the door between the black (now gone) and green towards the number, but have a paint scheme that makes sense now. Plus it looks way better. We could have left it the way it was if we removed the green stripes in the back, but they look cool, so now is all good in the appearance department. Thanks to Scott and Shane Howard for squeezing this in and to Steve Lyons for getting the replacement decals made up quickly. Tomorrow night we return to Flamboro for our 2nd show of the season. Then it’s off to Sunset Speedway for the CVM opener on Sunday night.

    Bob, Steve and Rick all helped get us ready for the Sunset races. We ran fairly well considering our carb and clutch troubles early. We worked on the chassis to get the car to turn better through the middle and by feature time I was very happy with the car. Sunset is one of my favourite all time race tracks, and now with the new surface it is my favourite. The track design produces side by side racing, making it fun for the drivers and very entertaining for fans. We finished 5th in the feature….On Saturday night we struggled with parts problems on our Late Model. Things went wrong and combined to make our night miserable. However, we made the best of it and know what we have to do to get the car ready for this week ends Grisdale Triple Crown race. The full story is on Diary Of A Season…..Special thanks to my crew on both nights for working hard to get us as good as possible for both races.

    80 years Hobby experience racing through turn three. Brian Atkinson #50 started in the Hobby club back in 1976. He took a few years off to return in the late 90’s. Ron Easton #00 started in 1985 and has been running with the club most of the past 25 years. This is our 40th season running with the CVM, though the past few years have been dedicated to Late Models. I must admit, I really love running these cars. They are so much fun, especially with the new engine. Our car was much better in the feature and we managed a top 5 for the Hobby season opener. Our next race in the Coupe will be June 4th. I’m actually as excited about that as I am the Grisdale Triple Crown this coming week end. I would like to think I’m excited about any race coming up, but racing with the boys in the CVM is a blast……..our Late Model is in the hospital with a lot of major issues. It needs a new carb, clutches, starter and ring gear. Crazy, but all are broken or totally wore out. Hopefully we have all the stuff back by Friday and if so, looks like Saturday could be a very busy day. We’re hoping to get our car in the top four or five where it should be this week end. I sure would fell good with a strong run…oh ya, and with that parts list, a strong pay day.

    As if we’ve not had enough rain so far in 2011, this past weeks watering has made a mess of the race track that was slowly starting to dry out. It’s not so much the drivers that will be affected, but rather the race promoter who has very few parking spots for his paying fans. The parking areas on the grandstand side are a mess and with constant rain the past few nights, no time for it to go underground. Even if there was time, the underground has to be filling up to the point that drainage is impossible for a week….in spite of this condition, the track owners, who have already lost 3 of 5 race nights, will likely try to get the show in on one of the two days this week end. Racing is scheduled for Saturday, and rain is not. If rain does come, perhaps the show will get moved to Sunday. It’s a tough start to the season for the owners who rely on a certain number of nights to make their budget. Lets hope we get some decent weather and the fans can find places to park. Extra staff will be needed to guide unsuspecting fans who will be looking for high and solid ground…..we should see 20 plus cars for the first Gridale race and with the tough competition, picking the winner may be as tough as trying to figure out the weather. Races start at 6:30 with double heats for the Late Models. Back gates are scheduled to open at sometime between 2 and 3. See you there.

    The second round of qualifying saw this mishap early in heat #4. Jeff Stewart #56 was blamed for causing #33 to spin but was innocent as Lancasters car was rear ended and sent up the track in front of the Kuboto rocket. This was Jason’s first encounter with the speedy Late Models that resulted in him getting spun just as we entered the turn. Ted Horsfall #49 has to take evasive action, with very few options. My brakes have never been slammed on this hard in my seven years in the Late Model class. I’m glad they were working fine because we avoided contact with everyone in this monster jam. The first Grisdale Triple Crown did get the green flag but after eight laps got the yellow because of rain and will resume on June 11th along with the regular Flamboro Speedway scheduled program for that night. We’ll post starting times for that show next week.

    David said after his first few laps in our spare Late Model (the one I should have kept) that “it’s the best Late Model I’ve ever driven”. He finished 3rd in the opening night feature and 7th the following week. Then in only his 3rd night in the new car qualified pole for the opening round of the Grisdale Triple Crown series. David finished runner up in his first heat and won the second qualifier. The 75 lap feature race was rained out only 8 laps in, but will continue on June 11th at Flamboro with a regular show for Thunder Cars, Mini’s and Late Models. Late Model’s will be busy with a double feature night…..this coming Saturday, June 4th, is the second appearance for the Vintage Modifieds at Flamboro Speedway. Thunder Cars, Mini’s and Pro Challenge are also on the program. Should be a great night of racing.

    Hobby’s return to Flamboro Speedway this Saturday night for their second race of the 2011 season. Twenty plus cars are expected with at least seven or eight cars that did not make it to Sunset. Our team will be there as we are commited to racing all the scheduled CVM races. Rick Schurr, son of my hero Glen Schurr, will drive the #36 Chev Coupe five times in his racing debut. Rick is very excited about getting in a race car and I can’t express properly how proud I am to have Rick a part of our team……We finished 5th on opening night and hope to improve that run this week end. My crew are just as excited about this coming race and have worked hard to make sure the car is set up and ready to compete in the tough CVM field. Races start at 6:30, and feature Thunder Car, Mini Stocks and Pro Challenge.

    John Casale has to be reeling after yet another race cancellation. This was the fourth lost night of 2011. April 23, 30th May 14th and now June 4th. This was also the 2nd rain out for the CVM in their already short schedule. The next Hobby race is June 25th. Wow, two races (maybe) by the end of June for the CVM….we are going over our Late Model for this coming weekend, the conclusion of the Grisdle Triple Crown 75 lapper. The first race on the program. Our car was struggling badly last week, but hopefully new shocks and some added adjustments will bring us into the circle of competitors we should be running with….we will also have our Late Model on display this Saturday morning at the Royal Coachman restaurant to help raise itmes for the Flamborough Food Bank. This Saturday is also the first of two Food Bank drives. Hope to see everyone come out to support the track and the local Food Banks

    Last week we noticed our car making a hissing noise in the garage when we were jacking it up after the rained out Grisdale race. It was a crazy noise I never noticed before, so I thought something was wrong. We would not have noticed it at the track with all the noise, but in the quiet of our shop, late at night, we heard this weird hiss. Junior explained it was the left front shock making the noise because of the high amount of rebound, he said it was normal. Well it was normal, but on our car it wasn’t because it was coming from the right front. Earlier in the night I thought about putting on the four brand new shocks I had in the trailer. Usually I put the new stuff on and keep the old used parts as spares. I realized it was quite dumb to have my good stuff on the shelf, that would be like the Leafs getting a super star free agent over the summer and not playing him. I asked Junior if I brought the shocks to him, would he change over the springs, he said yes. It was while he was changing the shocks when he noticed we had the wrong shock on the right front, well on both fronts. We had the high rebound low compression shock on the right side and it should have been on the left. He gave them back and suggested we go to practice Tuesday night. He said “this is a big race weekend and you want to be ready”. We put the shocks on, loaded the car Monday night and I headed over after I was done work. Junior guided us and we did whatever he said. He started with ride heights, then scaled the car, then set the toe, the camber and we were ready to practice. By the time we were done, the third set of 10 laps, the car was awesome. We were able to get into some fast times with the tires we had from opening night, they had two full nights on them as well as another four or five heat cycles from warm ups in the past few weeks. They also got 30 more laps for this session and were still able to get into the 15:3’s. Our car is ready and we’re so thankful we had this chance to learn from a legend who uses the simple basic steps to make a car work. We all know the steps, the difference is Junior makes sure every single one of them is applied, not just one or two or three, but all the basic set up adjustments and checks. Bob Pereira and Gerry Lancaster also came out to help, it was a good night for us, we couldn’t thank Junior enough…..I wonder if he has a set up for the weather? I’m guessing he just might.

    What the headlines will be tonight is anyone’s guess. It could be recognition of the winner of the first Grisdale Triple Crown race, a successful collection for the local Food Banks, or the races called because of rain. Lately the weather has taken the spot light, but we hope that doesn’t happen this week end…..our car will be on display during the morning and early afternoon at the Royal Coachman restaurant. Posters have been placed around town to help bring awareness for the need of items for our local Food Banks. We’ll leave Waterdown about 2:30 and head to the track. Gates open at 2:pm, races start at 5:pm with the first race being the completion of the Grisdale Triple Crown, continuing from lap 8 of 75. Drop by the Royal Coachman and bring a food item to support this worthy cause, and later take advantage of the extra races at Flamboro Speedway for the regular admission price. Hope to see you there.

    Okay, so I had a bad night, but I did get my first win as a car owner thanks to David’s awesome run in the regular night feature. The first race of the program was the remaining 67 laps of the Grisdale Triple Crown. David finished 2nd in that event, then topped that with this win after going to the back of the pack from a black flag for spinning Paul Howse early in the big race. Finishing 2nd was a great run, but picking up his first feature win in 3 years made his night. The full story will be posted on Diary Of A Season on our message board by Monday evening. Congratulations to David, Jeannie and their team….I think they’re still on cloud nine.

    For the past few weeks, Flamboro tow trucks have been removing damaged or inoperative racecars with flat bed service vehicles instead of tow trucks with hooks. I would think this has to be the only option for Ray’s Towing because there’s no way the race track owners could possibly consider this method good for keeping the show moving. Fans will soon get tired of seeing every wrecked car removed using this flat beds because of the time it takes. If using a flat bed was reduced to once a night, it may be okay, it would give the announcer time to do recaps, up coming events, or souvenir program door prizes and give away’s. Drivers waiting don’t like it either. Racecars change while their sitting on the track for a long time, tires cool; engines over heat, driver’s loose focus and rhythm. The best way is the old way, a regular tow truck. It’s faster, keeping the show alive by moving it along quicker. It is possible tow truck companies no longer use the conventional way, because of new car manufacturer designs. I hope they get it sorted out because this method is crazy……..notice the score board, it’s good to see we’re leading at this point, however things changed very quickly on the restart. We’re working on the car to get it to turn better, wait, even a little. I’ve never had a push this long in a racecar since my first few years in the Hobby car. Just like flat bed removing of racecars, having an incredibly tight racecar must also stop this coming weekend……please!text]