Race #13
June 29th
On Sunday we reached a milestone of 700 Consecutive nights racing. It was a great day for our team celebration wise. We gave away over 400 Frisbee’s and 4 kids bikes. The track promoters were gracious to us and the fans awesome and excited to get a Frisbee and see two girls and two boys win bikes. Two bikes were for children up to 5 and two for girls and boys us to 12.
Sunset Speedway promoters were very gracious and not only created this sign, but allowed us to be front and center on the race track for our special night, and to give away Frisbees, as well as four kids bikes.
We handed out tickets to the children before the races. During intermission Spencer Lewis, the track announcer, interviewed me before the bike draw.
Our pit crew was wearing Quaker State uniforms because, though this race happened to fall on a Modified night, and we wear Lincoln Welders uniforms, this car is also sponsored by Quaker State. We wanted to show emphasis to Quaker State because they have been with us since the first night our streak began on June 5th 1987, and are the primary sponsor of our 2013 Impala Late Model.
The Frisbees had all three cars that were involved in reaching this milestone, as well as the Quaker State logo. Our crew handed them to the kids in the grandstand right after the bike presentation.
When the celebrations were over we went back behind the scenes to our pit pad that was more like an intensive care unit for our race car. We still had a very serious steering issue. My crew worked hard all day on our car but we could not get it to steer competitively or safely.
Unfortunately we did not finish our 700th Night feature. We did start it, but the car was in desperate need of the proper part and all teams we asked did not have the part, and being Sunday, there was no race shops open.
Our poor outing did not overshadow the moment and the smiles we put on the kids faces. This milestone would not have been possible if it were not for some awesome people. First, I thank God for bringing all of these things together.
My family for their support and dedication, my crew and friends who at times stayed up all night to make sure we got to the next race. Thanks to our fantastic sponsors, especially Quaker State for being with us for this incredible streak and long before. To all our suppliers, engine builders, and repair shops for making sure our parts and repairs were ready for the next race….and to many who gave me the parts, the car, or engine, and with grace said I could pay later. To the race track promoters and owners who supported me, we say thank you.
All four bikes were sponsored. Marvin Freiburger, Gord Coates, Denny Snider and Quaker State. Knightworks lettered the bikes and we were grateful to these men for their support.
My crew was awesome again this weekend. They worked nonstop, trying to get our car in race condition. Right up until the on track ceremony they continued to check ways to fix or make our car better, and I am so appreciative of their dedication and incredible effort.
We also received an award of congratulations from the CVM, the class we raced in for 33 full seasons. President Dave Trendell and long time competitor Ron Easton who is also one of our team sponsors from Oakville Trailer and who helped fix our car prior to the season starting.
The NASCAR record for consecutive starts is 788. We have been averaging 25 nights a season for the past 46 years, and maybe we can pass that mark. Our goal is to have fun, promote our sport and sponsors and do what we can to make fans have a memorable visit when they come to the races. We are so blessed.
Update
Early Monday morning we started working on our car to get to the bottom of the lost steering and engine problem. It was too bad for us because we were 3rd in points and have now fallen to 8th. We can make it back with some strong racing over the next month.
Ron Easton, one of our sponsors gave me a hand most of Monday afternoon. He found the problem with the steering and fixed it. We reassembled the car and I took it for testing on Tuesday of this week to make sure….and it was perfect.
Coming Up
Our next race is Saturday July 5th at Capital City Speedway in Ottawa. This will be the first for our team to race at Capital City and will mark our 38th different track raced on. We are looking forward to a fun day in Canada’s capital city.
