5/14/12- It's race week! Sunday we kick off the 2012 sprint car season by going to Stuart to celebrate Stuart Raceway's 60th year of racing! I'm excited to try out the car and see how it stacks up after an offseason of work. Some upgrades were made to the car, and a second on-board camera has been acquired, so you can ride along all season long!
2/9/12- We're back! I apologize for the virtual abandonment of this site during the past few months, I've had some issues arise in my personal life that caused racing to take a backseat for a while. However, the plan is to return to the track in 2012! I'm making a number of updates to the website over the next few days. All results for 2011 are updated, a tentative 2012 schedule has been posted, and I'm hoping to make updates to the photo and video pages soon. I'm excited to be celebrating my 15th year racing in 2012, and hopefully we can come up with some fun ways to celebrate. As for the progress of winter preparations, I'm making some upgrades to the car, and it looks like we're on track to be ready for the Sunset Plaza Car Show March 16-18. I'm working on a couple of surprises for the show, including potentially giving fans a chance to test their skills behind the wheel of a sprint car! Check back for regular updates, and lets get ready for 2012!
8/7/11- A very quick update, I finished 2nd at Stuart on July 31st, and am heading up that way tonight. This website may not be updated for a week or so as I head for vacation, but check back after next Sunday's season championship at Stuart for a rundown of the season up there, and news on the rest of the year. Also, I've got several more videos that will be added soon!
7/27/11- At Albion last Friday, we were terrible in hot laps and the heat race. The car was unpredictable, and it looked like it was going to be a rough night. However, I made some changes to the car, and hit on a pretty good setup for the feature. I ran the high line for most of the race to take the fourth position, coming up just short of the 3rd place car of Nick Bryan. Sunday at Stuart, it was an evening of not quite good enough, as the car was decent in the heat, and very good in the feature, but I was unable to get around Ron Krysl in either race and had to settle for second. I return to Stuart this Sunday looking to pick up a win on my birthday!
7/19/11- Last weekend was a good one, with strong runs both Friday and Sunday. Friday brought my long-awaited first visit in a sprint car to Riviera Raceway, and the car was pretty good all night. I led much of my heat race until I jumped the cushion, letting Veldon Judge get by, while I held on for second. In the A, I started inside the 2nd row, and after a couple of early cautions, had an epic back and forth battle with Gregg Schuetz for the remainder of the 25-lap race, a battle that came down to the last corner, with me narrowing nabbing second place. Sunday, I headed up to Stuart, where in the heat I took advantage of a rare mistake by Ron Krysl to pick up the heat race win, and in the A I led flag to flag for my first feature victory of the season. A great weekend, and the team should be carrying a lot of momentum into Friday's visit to the Boone County Raceway in Albion.
7/12/11- I'm finally back with another update. We're finally avoiding some rainouts and getting some racing done, and things are getting busy. July 4th and July 10th I went up to Stuart, and ran 3rd both nights. We found an issue with the rear suspension at McCool Junction back on June 30th, and after fixing that the car has been substantially better. Coming up this week, Friday we visit Riviera Raceway here in Norfolk for the first sprint car race there in a decade, then Sunday we return to Stuart. Hope you're able to make it out to the races!
6/27/11- Another weekend, another rainout. Got about to O'Neill when the races were cancelled, but we were lucky to make it home and get everything put away before the storm hit. This week, I'm racing Thursday with the ASCS at McCool Junction, and I plan on doing some exhibition laps Friday at Riviera in anticipation of the July 15th show. Then, July 4th we head to Stuart for the big Independence day show up there. Should be a busy, but exciting week.
6/22/11- I'm out of town this week, so just a quick update. Finished 9th at Albion last Friday. Not what I was hoping for, but I may have found the source of the handling issues so far this year, so perhaps we can take something positive from an otherwise dismal effort. No video however, the lens was covered in mud about a lap into the heat race. Regular, full updates will resume next week.
6/16/11- Sorry about the lack of an update earlier this week. Went up to Stuart last Sunday, and it was an interesting evening. Went out for hot laps, and the engine was stumbling badly, causing me to pull off immediately. We made some adjustments before the heat race, and went out only to find it wouldn't start at all. Just as I was ready to pull off the track, I realized that in my frustration I hadn't turned the fuel on. Oops. Anyway, I ran third in the heat race, and started on the pole for the A on a very, very dry track. I was unable to get the jump on Ron Krysl, and fell to second after one lap. I moved to the top, and after a couple laps Adam Walton stuck a nose inside of me. We ran side by side for 2-3 laps like that, with me right up against the wall, even bumping the backstretch wall at one point. Coming out of turn 2, Walton slid up in front of me, so I moved to the bottom and got under him going into 3. We then ran another couple laps side by side, this time with me on the inside, before I secured the position, where I finished. Overall, it was a lot of fun. Video of the first part of the feature is available on the videos page. This week, I'll be traveling to the Boone County Raceway in Albion Friday night for what should be a great night of racing. Early indications are that we could have a pretty good car count, by my count there's at least a dozen cars that are confirmed or likely to be there, with several more that stand a good chance of joining us. It'll also be my first chance of the season to race against my nephew, Brant O'Banion. Be sure to check out his all new site at obanionracing.com.
6/7/11- Finally got to do some racing again yesterday! Went up to Stuart, and had a decent night. I struggled a bit getting off of the corners all night, and finished 2nd in the heat, and 3rd in the dash and A. I was pretty happy overall with how the car was working in the heat race, but the car was a bit too loose off of the corners to run the way I wanted to. However, it was a lot of fun, and I'm looking forward to going back next Sunday.
5/23/11-Unfortunately, not much new to report. We've lost the last two weekends to the weather, hoping to get some racing in this weekend. Friday night we're slated to head to Albion, and Sunday we plan on hitting the season opener at Stuart.
5/14/11- Just a heads up, the races tonight at Eagle Raceway are cancelled. Our next event will be Sunday, May 22nd at Stuart Raceway. Hope to see you there!
5/9/11-Not
exactly the start I'd envisioned for the 2011 season. Broke a shock
bolt in turn 1 on the first lap of the heat, causing me to spin in
front of the field and cause a pileup. We were able to make repairs for
the B, unfortunately I spun again running fifth, this time due to
nothing more than driver error, and ultimately came up one spot short
of transferring to the A.
2011 Season Countdown
Although I've only raced at Eagle Raceway a handful of times, it has quickly become one of my favorite tracks. In anticipation of the start of the 2011 season this coming Saturday at Eagle, this week Rick36.com will be counting down my top 5 favorite memories from racing at Eagle. Check back every day through Friday to follow the countdown, and come to Eagle Raceway Saturday night to help kick off my 2011 season!
I was out of town Thursday and wasn't able to make it to the computer, so today I'm posting a double-shot of the top two events on the countdown. Thanks for reading, lets get the 2011 season underway!
1. 2007 Nebraska Cup On paper, nothing in particular stands out about this night. I finished 3rd in my heat, and 15th in the A. However, this night was pivotal in the course of my racing career, and was probably the catalyst in me shifting my concentration from stock cars to sprint cars. This was my first visit to Eagle as a racer, and my first sprint car race anywhere other than Stuart or Albion. At the time, I was still driving my dad's old 1990 Challenger that he ran in the late 90's in IMCA Sprint Car competition. We went to Eagle with no intention of being particularly competitive, just thought we'd have a little fun to end the season. Starting on the front row of the heat, I jumped out to an early lead, and held it for several laps before winding up 3rd, which was an unexpected result to say the least. Locking myself into the A against a tough field of 36 cars was unbelievable. I didn't run particularly well in the A, I'm pretty sure I was the last car running, but this night I proved to myself that even with a 17 year old car I could run competitively at Eagle.
2. 2009 Eagle Shootout This one had two major things going for it. First, this night I logged my best finish ever at Eagle, coming home ninth in the A after starting 14th I believe. Everything was working well, I stayed out of trouble, and was able to pick up several spots. What made it better was that this night the crowd was easily the biggest one that I've ever raced against. Free grandstand admission, with the added bonus of NASCAR's Ken Schrader racing in the modifieds, meant an overflow crowd to this event. There were well over 10,000 people in the stands, to the point where they were having to turn people away, and fans were lining the fence outside of the track to try to get a glimpse of the action. It was pretty cool to see that many people in the stands, and at one point I walked to the fence and handed out photos to kids who weren't able to get into the race track itself. Racing in front of a full house is always more fun, and to run well on top of that just made the night one of the most exciting of my career.
3. May 8, 2010 Another entry from 2010, this one from the opener to my 2010 season. Why is this one memorable? Simple, this night was the first time in my career that I got upside-down. In the middle stages of the A-feature, I was working my way through the field, and was trying to find a way around Nick Bryan. Going down the backstretch, I intended to run the bottom and drive underneath, using some good dirt coming out of turn four to clear him. However, going into turn 3 Nick slowed, and having nowhere to go I ran over his left rear and went for a relatively soft flip, but one that ended my night. Turns out that Nick broke a driveshaft, and running the middle of the track he had nowhere to escape to, and I unfortunately was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
4. August 28th, 2010 This night was all about untapped potential. This was my second night back in the car after having sat out for over two months, so I was quite excited to be back in action and ready for a good night. Unfortunately, the brake problem that had plagued me the previous weekend at Stuart returned, and as a result I had little to no braking power all night. Despite this setback, the car was working very well, and I was able to transfer out of the B into the A. Pulling off of the track, I quickly realized that the little bit of braking power that was left was gone, and I sailed past my pit and coasted toward the staging area full of hobby stocks, struggling to avoid traffic and figure out how to get the car stopped. I was able to turn around and coast enough to let my momentum run out, and we were able to get some pedal back in the braking system, enough to start the A. Again, the car was good, but due to having almost no brakes I chose to pull in early rather than get caught up in a situation I couldn't avoid. Memorable, but I still wonder what could have happened if I'd had brakes.
5. 2010 Nebraska Cup This race was special for a couple reasons. Forty-one top drivers from around the country were there, including Jason Johnson, Brady Bacon, and Tony Bruce Jr. I'll never forget how cool it was to stick a nose under Brian Brown in the heat race for a moment, knowing that just a month earlier he had been on the pole for the 50th Knoxville Nationals. The downside to facing such a stout field was the difficulty of making the A. Unfortunately, a mistake early in the heat doomed me to the B feature. The second notable thing about this night was that in the B, I had what was easily the worst car I'd ever driven at Eagle. A terrible car and a tough field meant that I didn't end up with the results I'd hoped for, but after a 2010 season that left me sitting on the sidelines for most of the year, I was grateful for the opportunity to race, and had a great time doing it.
