Hello Everyone!  It's been a while since I've had the opportunity to post a news update.  For the most part, everything has been smooth sailing on our 2007 effort so far.  We've been working hard to get everything in place that needs to be to have a successful season.  Last year we got caught a little behind the 8-ball on spare parts.  One of the major goals this off-season has been to get the spare parts that we need for the summer to go a little easier for us.  So, we have purchased several new parts, so that last years stuff can be used as spares.  So far we have put together a complete spare rearend, and have purchased an extra transmission.  We've also stocked up on front and rear axles, torque arms, wheels, radius rods, etc.  Right now we're looking into purchasing new front spindles and hubs, which should make it so that we will be starting with double of most every chassis part.  For those of you who haven't seen it, I started a 2007 rebuild page so that everyone can view our progress through the winter months.  The car is already starting to take shape, and it is looking good with the new flourescent red powdercoat.  Stay tuned to that rebuild page as I will add more pictures of our progress in the coming weeks.

On the engine side of things, we've received the price quotes that we asked for from Campbell's Racing Engines to upgrade our engine to the top-of-the-line parts.  It looks like that will probably be the path that we will take, which will hopefully boost our team to the next level of competition.  For the most part, the only thing lacking with the engine that we put together in June, was our head and intake combination, which will be a top priority when we have the engine rebuilt in the coming months.

There are a few interesting changes happening with the DIRT as of late.  The first was the introduction of the 5 race mini-series for the big blocks.  Everyone seems to have an opinion on the topic, so here is mine.  I like the idea, but it's going to be really difficult to make it a success.  A lot is going to depend on both the length of the races, and the purse associated with them.  My reasoning for why it doesn't make sense for me to go to the races outside of my home tracks is that in theory, the car counts are going to be quite high, and it is going to be tough to make the feature without any kind of a provisional to fall back on.  If DIRT doesn't pay tow money, which I highly doubt that they would, why would I go to one of these races and put laps on my car for free?  Chances are I will be searching for a track to race at that I know I will make the feature and get paid at least a little something on those nights.  However, as I mentioned before, it all depends on the purse.  If the purse for the mini-series races was $500 to start, it might be worth it to take my chances and try to get in the show.  Unfortunately, I don't foresee this happening.  I just hope that there is an actual mini-series point fund, unlike the flop of the Empire DIRT Series of last year, which paid nothing other than the usual payout.

The second change with DIRT seems to be regarding the normal race payout structure.  This is both good and bad.  I don't hate the idea, because as a one-car, limited budget team, it should help us bring in a little more money to offset the cost.  Of course, nothing has been finalized, but if the purse is restructured so that the middle finishing positions get a little more help, it should be a positive for a lot of racers.  My only question is why DIRT can't add a sponsor or two to the weekly purse and keep the winning amount the same, while still raising the amount given to the middle finishers.  The other issue is that raising the 5th place purse money by $25 isn't going help all that much.  Let's hope the new purse structure is done in a way that there is actually a benefit.  If I had to guess, I don't think a new structure is going to help matters as much as it is a ploy to mask the problems for another season. 

My intention of writing my above opinions was not to bash DIRT's decisions, which upon reading, it might seem.  There is a major money issue in the sport right now, and I've tried to lay out some of the issues and choices that teams like ours now face.  I guess we're all just going to have to wait and see how it all plays out. 

Take care for now, and Happy Holidays!
Chad 

Hello Everyone!  It has been way too long since I last wrote an update for the website, and for that I apologize.  Quite a bit has been going on in the last few weeks.  Many of you may have seen Dad on Channel 10 Rochester News last night.  A major burglary ring decided to come to a head in our yard.  A group of four robbers had chosen our house to be their next target.  Luckily for us, the cops were on their tail and were able to take the robbers down in our yard before they had a chance to gain entry into our house.  Dad was home and working up in the race shop when this all went down.  He said that at one moment he was working on the racecar, and the next he's watching cops hiding behind trees with their guns drawn, in attempt to surround the burglars in our yard.  Thankfully, everything worked out ok, but it was certainly a very tense and scary few moments.  You never think that something like that could ever happen in your neighborhood, not to mention right at your house. 

Over the last few weeks I've been racing a 600cc sprint car for Paul Habeck Racing.  Three weeks ago I ran a Friday and Saturday double race weekend at Black Rock Speedway.  On the Friday night, I had chain trouble and had to retire from the feature after only 2 laps.  On Saturday I was able to get the chain problem squared away and I was able to move up to 4th in the feature before I had an ignition failure, and once again was forced to retire from the event.  Despite the poor finishes, I did run well both days before the mechanical problems set in.  Two weeks ago I ran the sprint at Paradise Speedway.  That night I was able to lead the first 6 laps of the heat race before I was passed.  I held on for 2nd in that race and earned the 5th starting spot for the feature.  The feature was pretty much follow the leader up front and I held on to my 5th position for the entire race.  Overall, I was quite happy to get my first top 5 in the 600cc sprint, as I had run well in all of the previous events, but was not able to make it to the end in any of them.  The following Wednesday on practice night at Paradise Speedway, Paul had a wheel failure and rolled his car 4 times.  Thus, he is now going to be driving the backup car that I was driving for the remainder of the season.  I do want to thank Paul for the opportunity to drive his cars over the last couple of months, as I definitly had a great time doing so. 

As for news on the Modified front, our car is almost completely stripped and we are gathering up a game plan on how we want to upgrade our equipment for next year.  I will certainly keep all of you updated with our progress.  I also plan on doing some pretty substantial updates to the website now that I'm in the off-season, so be sure to check in now and then. 

We will be at the swap meet at Canandaigua Speedway this Saturday, so I will see everyone there.  Until then, take care for now!

Chad

Hello Everyone!  Last weekend I had the opportunity to go and run a track that I had never been to before.  Despite threatening weather conditions, I went to Woodhull Raceway to run one of Paul Habeck's 600cc sprint cars in the New York Modified Midget Series.  Woodhull was an interesting racetrack, with a ton of banking and long straightaways.  It kinda reminded me a lot of a smaller Fulton Speedway.  Due to the fact that I've never run any NYMM Series races, I had to start at the back of the heat race.  Luckily, the heat races weren't that big so last was only 6th. I was able to work my way up from 6th to 3rd, despite a lap one spin that I was forced to do, to avoid some crashing in front of me.  I was riding comfortably in 3rd when my chain kicked off at the halfway point.  So, I was forced pitside with a 6th place heat race finish.  Unfortunately, that meant that I also had to start last in the feature, which turned out to be 18th.  The feature went pretty smoothly for me, and I was able to avoid a few wrecks and pass my way up to 9th at the end of the 30 lap feature.  All in all, it was a positive night because it was my first NYMM event and my first race with a wing on the car, even though I didn't notice a huge difference with it on.  Mainly, I just wanted to come out of the night with the car still in one piece.  Plus, now I can add another racetrack to the list of tracks that I've raced at.  It's looking like I'll be back in the 600 this Saturday night at Paradise Speedway, so everyone should come down and check it out.  Take care for now!

Chad 

Hello Everyone!  It turned out to be quite an interesting weekend of racing.  Friday night was the final race at Canandaigua Speedway for the season.  It also happened to be a Super DIRT Series race so there were a ton of really good cars in the pits.  As it turned out, 41 modifieds entered the event on Friday night.  I knew it was going to be tough to get into the feature again, especially with the track being so tacky with all of the rain that we got at the end of last week.  Not having a super huge engine definitely hurt us during time trials and in the heat race, where we finished 29th and 9th respectively.  I had to start 7th in the consolation race, from which 4 would qualify into the feature.  After two quick accidents involving other competitors, I found myself in the 3rd position and very excited that I had a good shot to qualify.  The car was running great and I closed in on Chad Brachmann for 2nd place.  I made a move for 2nd on the low side of turns 1 and 2.  As I did so, Brachmann seemed to almost half spin on the top side of the track and shot down right into the side of my car.  The contact was really heavy and a lap later he stopped with a mechanical failure.  I could tell that something wasn't right with my car after the contact, but I decided to stick it out and try to qualify, as I was still in the 2nd position.  With 5 laps still remaining, the car was driving too poorly to be as competitive as I needed to be, and I slipped to 6th by the checkered flag.  So, unfortunately, what started out as a promising consolation race, turned into another nightmare as I failed to qualify once again.  Only this time, I had a heavily damaged racecar.  As it turned out, it was the rearend, not the front suspension, that got bent in the contact and made the car nearly impossible to drive.  After surveying the damage, we determined that it would probably be a couple thousand dollars to repair the car.  I was going to run the modified race at Weedsport during Super DIRT Week, but at this point those plans are on hold as it may be better just to put the money into the operation for next season.  So, Friday night didn't turn out as I had planned, but we did run better than we have been at Canandaigua, and I would have qualified for the feature had the contact been avoided.

On Saturday night I had a very unique racing opportunity.  Thanks to Paul Habeck and his micro sprint racing operation, I had the chance to run double duty in both the 270cc and 600cc sprint classes at Paradise Speedway.  I had previously turned some practice laps in the 270 so I was pretty comfortable in that car.  I started 4th in the 270 heat races and was able to hold on for a 3rd place finish.  Since they have a heads-up starting policy, I started 3rd in the feature as well.  I had a pretty uneventful 270cc feature until I got passed for 3rd with 3 laps to go.  I'm not sure that I could have passed the guy back, but he hit the inside berm in turn 1 and opened the entire bottom lane back up for me.  I was able to pass him back with a lap and a half to go and I proceeded to implement my best hug-the-bottom blocking line.  On the last corner, I pushed up a little bit and the guy got a run on me coming to the checkered flag.  From the driver's seat it was a photo finish and I really couldn't tell if I had beat him to the line or not.  As it turned out, I was able to inch him out for 3rd place in the 270cc sprint feature.

The 600cc sprint class is a whole different breed of racing than the 270cc class.  Than add to the fact that I had never driven one of these cars.  However, the learning curve wasn't really that bad.  It took the practice session and the heat for me to get more comfortable in the car.  I made a few changes before the feature and when the green flag dropped the car was really fast.  Within the first couple laps I drove from 11th to 7th.  Just as I was settling in and starting to reel in the next car, there was a big bang as I came off of turn 4 and I realized that the chain had kicked off of the sprocket.  Unfortunately, this ended my race, and I finished in the 15th position. 

I definitely want to thank Paul Habeck for allowing me to run his cars Saturday night.  We all had a great time and hopefully we can do it again in the weeks remaining this season. 

As of right now I'm not sure how much more racing that I'll be doing this year, but if anything pops up, I'll be sure to let everyone know how it goes.  Take care for now!

Chad

Hello Everyone!  Sorry for the lack of an update over the past week and a half.  I have certainly been very busy with all of the things going on right now.  It seems like forever since we have raced the modified.  Over the labor day weekend I tried to qualify for both the Weedsport and Rolling Wheels Super DIRT Series races.  Unfortunately, I wasn't successful, so the Super DIRT Series qualifying curse is now up to 5 races.  Hopefully we can break that curse this Friday night at Canandaigua.  On Monday, I wasn't real happy with the way the engine was pulling the long straightaways at Rolling Wheels, an issue that we'll have to work on over the winter months.  Due to this fact, I decided not to go to the BRP Series race at Little Valley Speedway, which has even longer straightaways. So, I didn't race last weekend, but I think I was busier than if I had raced.  I ended up going to both Ransomville Speedway on Friday and Black Rock Speedway on Saturday to help out a good friend of mine, Paul Habeck, with his 600cc Sprint operation.  Unfortunately Paul got caught up in an accident on Friday, but bounced back with a solid 12th place finish on Saturday night.  Paul's backup car, driven by Ben Kysor, had a great weekend finishing 5th and 10th respectively after starting in the mid-20s both nights.  If everything stays to the plan, I should be making my debut in a micro sprint for Paul Habeck Racing this Saturday night at Paradise Speedway.  The weather should be good, so everyone should come and check it out.  It will certainly be fun to race at Paradise again, since that is where my very first feature win came, in a Microd, back in 1991. However, before we get to the events of Saturday, there is the big Super Dirt Series race at Canandaigua.  This is my last chance to qualify for one of these races this year, and I believe that we are ready to put our best effort forward to do so.  It should be a lot of fun tomorrow night, and I'm confident that we are going to have a lot of success.  See you all tomorrow night and take care for now!

Chad

Hello Everyone!  Last night we drove out to Brewerton and attempted to qualify for the 100 lap Super DIRT Series race being held there.  Unfortunately, I'm now 0 for 3 when it comes to qualifying for a SDS feature.  We had a really good car all night but I think what really hurt our effort was that I had no laps at Brewerton going into the night.  I actually time trialed surprisingly well, which ended up being 21st out of 38 cars.  That effort is a head and shoulders above our previous two time trial efforts on the year, so that is something that we can build off of.  The racetrack stayed really tacky through the heats and consolation races which made passing pretty difficult.  I bobbled once in the heat race that got me shuffled to the back and that put me behind the 8-ball for the rest of the evening.  Unfortunately, I wasn't able to mount much of a charge in the consi, so I ended up missing the feature by 2 spots.  The night certainly didn't work out as I had planned, but we were really competitive, which is a positive.  The car seemed to be driving well again, so I'm excited to bring it back to Canandaigua and see what it can do there.  Hopefully the rain will hold off, and we can get some good racing in this weekend.  Until then, take care for now!

Chad 

Hello Everyone!  On a weekend that was supposed to be a washout, the rain held off and the races were run at both Canandaigua and Weedsport.  This past weekend was the first time that I've run the car since we changed to different torque arms and a little different torsion bar combination.  When I turned the first few laps at Canandaigua I could tell that the car was quite a bit different.  We were finally able to get the car to roll over on the right rear tire and bite enough to pick up the left front.  When the heat race rolled around, the car got extremely tight and we faded back to seventh at the end.  Due to this finish we had to start 13th in the feature.  We ran after the sprint car feature and the track slicked up quite a bit more that I expected.  The car was still pretty tight which created a tight-loose condition for the feature.  As a result we weren't as competitive as I would have liked to have been, but we still finished in 13th.

On Sunday we headed off to Weedsport for the Empire DIRT Series finale.  Due to all of the rain and the overcast skies, the track actually stayed really fast and tacky.  This seemed to get everyone in a frenzy and guys were just driving over anybody and everybody.  Before the night was over, I had been involved in 4 different incidents.  Luckily we were able to keep going through each of them, but the car came home banged up pretty bad.  I think Sunday turned out to be more like a World Championship Wrestling event instead of a race.  Nevertheless, we had a surprisingly good car on Sunday and I was able to drive from 19th up to 8th at one point during the feature.  At the end of the race, I got shuffled back to 11th, but it was by far the best performance we have had all year long at Weedsport.  More importantly, I think we finally came across a baseline setup that I like and can be competitive with.  Only time will tell I guess...

This week is going to be a busy week as there are a lot of extra distance races on the schedule.  The plan for right now is to race Brewerton on Wednesday, and then Canandaigua, Weedsport, and Rolling Wheels on the long weekend.  I hope to see everyone there.  Take care for now!

Chad

Hello Everyone!  There isn't a whole lot of action for me to recap from this past weekend because it ended up being a total wash.  I thought Brewerton had a chance on Friday, but our master plan of having Charlie drive the car was thwarted by a heavy rainstorm that seemed to come out of nowhere.  Charlie did get about 15 laps in the car through hot laps and the heat race, so he at least got a little bit of a feel for it.  For the most part, he seemed to think that the car felt good though, which makes me hopeful for the next time I'm able to get in it for a race. 

Canandaigua was a complete loss, so we all ended up going to the movies to see Talladega Nights.  My personal thoughts were that it was an ok movie.  There were some pretty funny parts, and a bunch of funny catch phrases, but by no means is it going to reach the level of Days of Thunder.  Of course, I don't think that it was ever intended to.  However, if you're a race fan, you almost have to go and check it out.  You will be entertained for a couple hours, that is for sure. 

Sunday evening we got all the way to Weedsport before the rain kicked in.  It actually started raining as we were getting off at the Weedsport Thruway exit.  They tried to stick it out for a little while, but the rain never let up and it was a wasted trip to Weedsport.  So, it is pretty much like I'm on vacation this week.  The car is ready to go for Canandaigua next Saturday, so hopefully the weather will hold off and it will be a good racing weekend. 

On a side note, I will be the guest on Track Talk with Chuck Brownell and Rod McNeil tonight at 6pm on WACK 1420, so everyone be sure to tune in and check it out!

Take care for now!

Chad

Hello Everyone!  It was quite a long weekend of racing, due to the Thursday night SDS race at Canandaigua.  Unfortunately, we didn't really have a weekend to be proud of.  After last week's 8th place at Canandaigua, I was quite hopeful going into the SDS race.  After time trials I thought that I had laid down a decent lap, but in reality it was only good for 33rd fastest.  This put us behind the 8-ball the rest of the evening.  The car didn't really handle all that well and I ended up missing the show by 1 position in the consi.  Five days later I'm still in disbelief that we weren't able to qualify for that race on Thursday night.  It just goes to show how tough the modified division is and that you cannot be off your game at all to be successful. 

Saturday night, the track was still really slick from Thursday night's race, and despite some changes, we struggled all night again.  At the end of the night, I came home with a 15th place finish.  One really cool thing that happened on Saturday was that I was chosen to drive a young Kids Club member around the track in the pace truck.  Thank you very much to Demi Sipple and her family for choosing me as her favorite driver.  It was a really fun experience, and I hope that she had a great time riding around the Land of Legends. 

Sunday night we headed off to Weedsport for round 4 of the Empire DIRT Seies.  Sunday was a lot of the same, where we struggled for the most of the night.  I had a scary moment in the consi race, when Joe Isabell pushed up in turn 1 on the start and I hopped his right rear tire and went flying over the hill in turn 1.  Luckily, I somehow missed hitting all the walls that are down there and all I had to do was drive back up the hill and out of the access road that goes around the track.  We worked hard on the car all night long and I think we got it a little better by the end of the night.  Despite that, I finished 22nd in the feature.

As you can all probably tell, I'm pretty frustrated with the way that the car has been performing in recent weeks.  So, our plan for this week is to take the car to Brewerton on Friday night and have Charlie run the car.  Hopefully, this will tell us whether we have a problem with the car or if I'm the one that needs to step it up.  Plus, this will allow Charlie to better diagnose any issues that we might have with the car. 

Take care for now!
Chad

Hello Everyone!  We were finally able to get a good night of racing in at Canandaigua without any threat of rain.  Although it was only 2 weeks, it seems like we had a month off from racing there.  In those couple of weeks we had made several wholesale changes to the racecar in an attempt to get it better at Weedsport, so I went to Canandaigua a little apprehensive as to what the car was going to be like.  Right away, in hot laps, I could tell that the car was running strong.  With all of the bite still in the racetrack for hot laps I was able to turn some laps where I held the gas wide open all the way around the track.  I've turned a lot of laps around Canandaigua, and to be able to go full throttle around that place in a big block is pretty wild. 

Because of the Super DIRT Series race in Eldora, Canandaigua was a heads-up start on Saturday night.  I drew a good number and got to start 2nd in the first heat race.  Going into it, I was pretty confident that I could have a good heat, since our heat setup has been pretty successful at Canandaigua in the last few races there.  The start was a little shakey however, as John Pfeffer thought he had me clear going into one and almost sent me packing off the end of turn 1.  He came over later to apologize which was a good gesture on his part.  I wasn't upset about it anyways but it was a pretty close call.  As it turned out, I hit the brakes, cranked the car left and came out of turn 2 with the lead after going 3-wide through the middle of Chad Brachmann and Pfeffer.  At least the fans got their money's worth on that first lap.  The rest of the heat race was pretty smooth sailing.  I expected to have some pressure from Brachmann, especially after I got high once in turn 1, but it never came and I cruised home to my 2nd heat race win of the year.  I did have to dodge a spinning lap car on the last lap which made it a little interesting, but I got through it ok for the win. 

Due to the fact that it was a heads-up start, I knew that the start of the feature was going to be tough, with all of the quick guys right up near the front.  That being said, it was kinda cool to actually earn the pole for once, instead of having it handed to me through the handicapping process.  I actually got a pretty decent start and stayed within the top 4 for the first 15 laps.  Around then the car started getting pretty loose which was killing me in the center of the corners.  Combine that with hopping the cushion one lap in turn 3 and next thing I knew I was back in 10th.  One of the most frustrating things with the modified is that if you make one mistake or your car is off just a little bit, you will be 10th before you even realize what happened.  Around lap 25 I started getting my rhythm back and I was able to pass two cars to finish 8th at the end of the race to score my best finish of the season so far.  By no means did I run a mistake free race, but at no point was I in jeopardy of getting lapped and the car seemed to be a good bit better this week. 

The modifieds were taken off of the schedule on Sunday at Weedsport due to the race at Eldora, so we had the day off.  That probably was a good thing since we are going to have a very busy week of racing ahead of us.  Saturday night was filled with glimmers of brilliance which is really good because we haven't run very good in the last month or so.  Getting back some confidence is going to be a big help going into Thursday's Super Dirt Series race at Canandaigua.  I haven't had the greatest of luck getting into Super DIRT Series races this year, so hopefully I can turn that around on Thursday and run my first 100 lap race.  It should be a great show and a lot of fun.  Until then, take care for now!

Chad

Hello Everyone!  Well, it looks like Canandaigua Speedway is getting paid back for those few weeks earlier in the year when it dodged the almost inevitable rain.  There was pretty much no mistaking the fact that the rain was going to hit the track on Saturday night.  Before we left for the track we checked the radar and you could see that it was just a matter of time.  However, we still had to load up and head off to the track.  The rain actually did hold off longer than I had expected it to, but they only got a few hot laps in before the races were called for the evening.  It is starting to feel like forever since there has been a race at Canandaigua now.  Hopefully that will change this coming Saturday. 

So, on Sunday we loaded up and headed off to Weedsport for Round 3 of the Empire Dirt Series.  I had reasonably high hopes that we were going to run better on Sunday than we have in the past month or so at Weedsport.  As it turned out, we might have been a little better, but it was a far cry from where we need to be.  I struggled in the heat again, dropping from 5th to 9th, which landed us in the consi for the 3rd straight week.  This week I started 7th in that race and was able to finish 8th.  That set me up to start 26th on the feature grid.  The feature turned out to be a little wild, in which I had a couple close calls.  The first one came on the first lap when Sean Beardsley and Tim McCreadie went spinning into the wall right in front of me on the backstretch.  Luckily I was able to avoid them, but it seemed like it was a close call from inside the car.  The second close call when Todd Towns spun right in front of me in turn one.  When this happened I was inside the car waiting for the "thud" of contact but somehow I was able to sneek through.  Following those two close incidents, the rest of the race went off without any problems.  Unfortunately, we didn't really make any gains on our car setup, and for the third week, we weren't all that fast.  At the end of the feature, I was in the 19th position, but the main thing was that we didn't have much, if any, damage and we can go back to the shop this week and work further on our setups. 

This coming weekend is a little bit of a unique weekend.  The Super DIRT Series is at Eldora, so Canandaigua is for show up points only.  Hopefully the rain will hold off and we can get a good night of racing in on Saturday.  Due to the Eldora race, the modifieds are off Sunday at Weedsport, so it will only be a one race weekend for us. 

As a side note, I am featured in the motorsports column of the Canandaigua Daily Messenger today, Tuesday 8/1, so make sure to check it out!

So, we'll see everyone Saturday night at Canandaigua.  Until then, take care for now!

Chad

Hello Everyone!  Saturday night was a wash out for Canandaigua, but the weather held off for a great night of racing on Sunday at Weedsport.  Sunday was round 2 of the 2006 Empire DIRT Series which has brought out a lot of really good cars.  The level of competition in the Weedsport races of late has almost been like a series race.  Unfortunately, that doesn't make it any easier for a team like ours, which is struggling.  I would love to say that we turned it all around this past weekend, but instead we struggled all night long again.  When we got there we were really loose, despite setup changes that should have tightened the car up significantly.  From then on we just got looser as the track got slicker.  I ended up dropping from 5th to 9th in the heat race, which put me at the end of the consi lineup.  I was actually able to pick off a couple cars in the consi to finish 9th.  That finish earned me the 25th starting spot for the feature.  The feature was actually pretty uneventful. There was a pretty good wreck on the first lap which took out some lead cars, but for us the race was pretty clean.  The cautions fell at the right times so I was actually able to stay on the lead lap this week.  Of course that doesn't mean that we had a car capable of staying on the lead lap if that race had gone green for the entire distance.  In the end, I ended up finishing 19th.  Overall, it's getting pretty frustrating that every week we go back to the drawing board to find a setup that might help, but so far nothing has worked.  So, again this week we're back sketching out another plan in hopes that we discover some kind of setup that at least makes us competitive.  Our lack of performance certainly has not been due to a lack of effort, so I'm sure that sooner or later we're going to get the program turned around.  We'll be back at it Saturday and Sunday this weekend so we'll see you all there.  Until then, take care for now!

Chad 

Hello Everyone!  We headed off to Canandaigua on Saturday night in hopes that we had gotten the car handling a little bit better.  As it turned out, it was a little bit better, but it still wasn't that great.  I ended up finishing 4th in the heat race and had high hopes for the feature.  I started from the pole position and faded back to about 5th by the first caution.  The car wasn't capable of winning, but it was probably a 10th place car.  On the restart, the car jumped out of gear for some odd reason and I fell from 5th to 15th.  I was able to get the car back into gear and attempted to make my charge back up to the field.  I was able to pick off a couple of the back markers before Vic Coffey pulled up behind me to put me a lap down.  I drove my heart out trying to stay on the lead lap, but on lap 30, I came off of turn 4 and the car started shaking violently.  I shut the car down in fear that I had hurt another motor or a piece of the drivetrain.  When I rolled into the pits it was discovered that a huge section of the tread on the right rear tire had completely seperated from the rest of the tire.  The good thing was that nothing expensive got hurt, but I called it a night at that point with only 5 laps to go.  As it turned out, I ended up finishing 15th on the night. 

Sunday we loaded up and headed off to Weedsport for the Empire Live TV show.  I expected a ton of cars, but was surprised when only 24 cars showed.  I started 6th in the heat race and was able to finish 5th.  Unfortunately, they only qualified 4 cars from the heat race, so we prepared for the consi.  I started on the pole and fell back to 4th by the end of the consi, which earned me the 16th starting spot for the feature.  The cool thing was that the consi was on tv and we were able to get quite a bit of tv exposure, as I led the first few laps.  The track got extremely slick and I didn't get the car as tight as I would have liked for the feature.  I started 16th and fell to 20th at the end of the 35 laps.  I didn't run that great, but at least I didn't get wrecked and hurt a bunch of equipment.  The feature was pretty much follow-the-leader due to the extremely slick track conditions, so there wasn't much hope of advancing through the field anyways.  Although, it would have been nice not to drop any positions, but it ended up that we did. 

Overall, we ran a little bit better this past weekend, but I still think that we are not where we need to be.  Despite the fact that we ran better, our finishes were still exactly the same as the previous weekend, which is a little frustrating.  However, we'll make some more adjustments this week, and hopefully we'll make more advancements this coming weekend.  Until then, take care for now!

Chad

Hello Everyone!  My attempt to make a news update on Monday was thwarted by an evening thunderstorm that knocked the power out at our house until the early morning hours.  However, it's better late than never I suppose.  I would love to say that we had a great racing weekend but that just wasn't the case.  I think my frustration level has reached a new high for the season over the last couple of days.  Saturday night we went out for the heat race after making a few adjustments and the car ran pretty good.  I started 2nd and led the first 7 laps of the heat race.  I got passed on the last lap but I was still able to finish 2nd which was a pretty good showing for us.  For a second I thought that I was going to win my second heat race in as many weeks.  When feature time rolled around the track was extremely black.  I made what I thought were the correct adjustments and I was really confident that we were going to have a great race.  Starting from the pole, I expected to go out and lead at least a couple laps.  To my surprise when I got into turn 1 for the first time, the car was so bad that I ended up sideways on the backstretch with guys going by me on both sides.  We had something really off and I fell to about 20th in 2 laps.  For whatever reason the car didn't even want to go straight, nonetheless negotiate any corners.  Looking back I probably should have pulled in on about lap 10 when none of my in-car adjustments seemed to be helping.  However, I decided to try to ride it out and get the best finish that we could.  That plan was working out ok until on lap 33 the car jumped sideways in turn 4 and I nailed the inside wall.  I ended up doing some pretty big damage which scrapped the left front tire and wheel, as well as the front axle.  We came out of Saturday night in 15th place, but shaking our heads as to what went wrong. 

On Sunday morning we stripped the entire car in an attempt to find the problem, but there didn't seem to be any obvious problems.  So, we repaired the front end, put our Weedsport setup in the car and went to race on Sunday night.  The minute that I went out for hot laps I knew that it was going to be a long night because the car wasn't that good.  At least it was driveable again, but it just wasn't very fast.  I started 2nd in the heat race and ended up falling back and finishing in 7th place.  That forced me to start 6th in the consi, where again I struggled and finished in 7th.  Weedsport is tough to begin with, but when you qualify bad there, that makes things a lot harder.  I ended up starting the feature in 22nd.  I had a pretty clean race, despite having multiple accidents occur almost directly ahead of me.  A couple of times I thought that I was going to get collected, but thankfully that wasn't the case.  The racecar just had no forward bite all night.  We worked on it and seemed to make it better, but it still wasn't that fast.  At the end of the race, I was in 20th. 

Overall, it was a very frustrating weekend because I went into it thinking that it could be our breakout weekend.  Instead, I felt like we took two or three steps backward in our progress.  On Monday we formulated a plan to try another setup for the upcoming weekend.  All we can hope for is that this one works a little better.  The tv races start at Weedsport this Sunday, and I'm afraid that if we don't pick up our program in a hurry, we're going to be loading up early on Sundays from now on.  I expect a lot of top guys to be at Weedsport to try to make a name for themselves on tv.  I certainly don't want to have to watch the feature from the stands, so our hand has been forced to figure out what we're doing wrong.  All we can do is keep trying different things, and hopefully we'll find something that works pretty soon.  You can be sure that the entire race team will work hard this week and we'll be ready to turn things around this weekend. 

This Saturday is autograph night at Canandaigua. We have some really cool things to hand out to the kids so be sure to stop by our car and say hello.  Until then, take care for now!

Chad

Hello Everyone!  We were able to get the new big block in the car for Saturday night at Canandiagua.  I was pretty nervous about the whole situation because you never really know how a new engine will react.  Billy Campbell had a lot of confidence that everything would be ok, and all you can do in a situation like that is trust your engine builder.  I went out for hot laps and when the green flag flew, I was very pleased with the power that the new engine put out.  Everything looked good after hot laps and we prepared for the heat race.  I started 2nd and was leading when we got to the first turn.  The track was really tacky and it was perfect for someone on the front row to check out from the rest of the field.  Accomplishment #1 was leading my first lap in modified competition.  Then, the next thing I know I'm having good lap after good lap and I'm still out front on lap 6.  At that point I was like "Wow, I might actually win this."  Sure enough, I had 8 really smooth laps and I ended up winning my first modified heat race for accomplishment #2.  We were all really happy that we were able to win the heat race, and it just shows how far we have come over the last couple of months.  Better yet, I'm pretty sure that I wouldn't have been able to win that heat race with our other big block.  The new engine has a ton of power, and I'm pretty sure that we now have an engine configuration that is capable of winning races.  I made some changes for the feature to try to tighten the car up a little bit.  We also took a little gear out of the car as we knew that the track was going to slick up.  I started on the pole, and I was pretty confident that I was going to have a good handling car and get a good finish.  Accomplishment #3 on the night came when the green flag dropped and I raced around to lead the first lap of the feature.  I actually lead 1 3/4 laps before I hopped the berm in turn 4 and got passed.  I held my own for the next 10 laps or so before the car started to get really loose.  On lap 18 I got lapped coming off turn 4 as the caution flew, which trapped me a lap down.  The remainder of the race was pretty uneventful.  I drove as hard as a could and also got some help from some of the top runners having issues.  When the checkered flag flew, I was in 10th, which ties our best finish to date.  I certainly struggled with handling issues in the feature, but Saturday was a night that I think we can build off of.  I don't think we are far off from stepping up to the next level and competing for finishes within the top 10.  The main thing was that the new engine ran great all night long and hopefully we are over the hurdle of engine troubles.  We are going to be working on slick track setups this week, in hopes of being more competitive next weekend.  The current plan is to get back to running both Canandaigua and Weedsport on the weekends so I'll see everyone there.  Until then, take care for now!

Chad

Hello Everyone!  For those of you who have not heard, we sold our Pro Stock this past week.  Dion Oakes, who races regularly at Frogtown Speedway and on the Pro Stock tour, purchased the car and all of the spare parts that went along with it.  For a while I didn't think that we would ever be able to find a buyer for the car, but we have now and I believe that it has gone to a good home where it will get a lot of use.  That Pro Stock has a lot of wins left in it, and I wish Dion the best of luck.  Despite the sale, we still have some parts left over that are for sale, so make sure to check out the for sale page if you are interested. 

On a side note, the new big block is back from Campbell's Engines and it will be in the car this weekend.  I look forward to getting back into the thick of things on Saturday night.  Take care for now!

Chad

Hello Everyone!  Another racing weekend has come and gone.  It's hard to believe that we are already at the end of June and at the midpoint of the season.  I would say that we are all well within the mid-season stretch and you can tell that the crunch is on for a lot of teams.  Canandaigua was down 8 modifieds this week from the previous, and a couple, including us, were running injured.  Due to some unforeseen circumstances we were not able to get our new big block in time to run it on Saturday night.  So, we had no other choice than to leave our small block in the car for another week, and try to make the best of it.  That small little motor didn't do half bad last week in the 20 lap races, but we knew the true test was going to be in a full length 35 lap feature.  Despite warm conditions, when we went out for hot laps there was a ton of bite in the racetrack.  Of course, this was not the kind of thing that I wanted to see, being vastly underpowered.  I was supposed to start on the pole of the first heat race, but I elected to start at the rear of the field so I didn't get run over.  Out of 9 cars, I ended up finishing 6th in the heat, but I was losing ground fast to the leaders.  I left the tacky track setup in the car for the feature, because I thought there was no way that the track was going to slick up.  Well, I guessed wrong.  Within 5 laps of the feature both grooves were black and I was bigtime loose.  So, not only was I down on power, but I also had an ill-handling car.  I went down a lap to the leader on lap 13, only to have the caution come out on lap 14.  So, I was trapped a lap down at that point and settled in to ride out the rest of the feature and finish as best as I could.  The race was pretty uneventful from that point on.  I went another lap down late in the race and came home in 14th place.  Overall, I didn't run all that great, but considering that pretty much everything was working against me, I guess we held our own pretty well.  It's a little frustrating to go out there and drive as hard as you can drive, only to watch them pull away from you.  However, with any luck, that will all change this week.  Our new motor should definitely be ready for the upcoming weekend, and I'm more than ready to get back to the level we were at during the first part of May.  Then we can get back to focusing on running better, instead of simply running. 

This week Bob and I are taking the car to a tradeshow event in Illinois.  At the last trade show, the car was a big hit, and I expect it to be an even bigger hit at this show.  We hung a new body on the car and fitted a new set of chrome bumpers.  The new body has a little different paint scheme, and it looks really cool.  As I'm writing this, I'm about 9 hours into the road trip to Illinois.  I have the digital camera with me and I'll be sure to take some pictures of the show.  Due to driving out to Illinois, and the fact that we don't have our big block back yet, we decided to take the night off from Weedsport.  However, you can be sure that we'll be back there in a couple weeks when the mods fire up at CCFS. 

It's going to be a busy week, with the show and the motor change, but we'll be back, and a lot more competitive,  this coming weekend for a big 4th of July racing weekend.  Until then, take care for now!

Chad

Hello Everyone!  What a crazy week it was for myself and my team.  We made it through some tough times trying to get the small block ready to race over the weekend.  It can be summed up that we were all tired, hot, sweaty, and a little bit bloody, (I don't think there was one of us that had all 10 knuckles still intact) just to get a car ready that we knew wasn't capable of winning.  Nevertheless, we stuck with it and had a very productive weekend. 

It was so much work to engineer everything to get the small block in the car that we ended up at Canandaigua a little later than we would have liked.  We still made it in plenty of time for hot laps but everything was a little bit rushed.  We weren't able to get a tach for the small block, as our modified tach isn't made to run on a regular distributor.  So, I had to guess on the gears to put in the car.  I went with a final ratio of 5:88 since we ran a 6:20 ratio in the pro stock, and the modified is 600 pounds lighter.  After hot laps we had a make a gear change because I didn't figure in going full throttle all the way around Canandaigua.  I put in the 5:64 final ratio gears and that is where I stayed for the rest of the weekend.  Those gears were good at both Canandaigua and Weedsport.  The heat race went well at Canandaigua, we were down on power, but still reasonably competitive.  It was twin 20s weekend so we prepared for the first feature.  I had to start 19th due to not qualifying for the handicapping.  We ran really good for all 20 laps and came home in 17th place.  More importantly, I was able to learn quite a bit about turn entry with the car because my corner entry speed wasn't as quick as it normally is.  I played around with different entry lines until I found one that I really liked.  For most of the first feature I was rim riding right around the top, trying to keep my momentum up with the small block.  It worked pretty well, as I was able to pass 2 cars.  Based on our 17th place finish, that's where we started in the 2nd 20 lap feature.  By now, the track had really slicked up and the horsepower disadvantage wasn't as great.  I was holding my own throughout the second feature, until I got some help with a crash at the front which eliminated some cars.  Next thing I know I'm up to 12th at the finish.  I was very pleased with this finish considering our situation. 

On a side note, congratulations are in order for Charlie, who picked up a win in the 2nd 20 lap feature at Canandaigua.  Charlie works really hard at his racing program and there is nobody more deserving of a win than him.

On Sunday we loaded up and headed off to Weedsport hoping for a dry slick track.  After hot laps I knew that we had just what we asked for.  In the heat, I finished 5th, but we were really competitive.  I had to start 15th in the first feature, and from the drop of the green I knew we were in good shape.  The problem was that the track was so slick that you couldn't pass anyone.  I fell back a spot and finished 16th, but we were a lot better than that.  I made a couple adjustments for the 2nd feature and headed back out to try again.  The adjustments we made worked great and we were really hooked up.  The motor issue was barely a factor at all and the car was handling great.  I was able to drive from my 16th starting spot to finish 13th.  We ended up with a little rear panel damage after the second feature, but nothing terrible. 

I also did a audio interview for www.dougsdirtdiary.com at Weedsport, so make sure to head on over to Doug's site and check it out!

Overall, it was a really good weekend.  We knew that we were underpowered from the start so this weekend was all about getting seat time and working on car setups.  As it turned out, we were a lot more competitive than I thought we were going to be.  Even though it was in the back half of the field, I got into some awesome battles on the track that were a lot of fun and this weekend serves as a nice confidence booster for when we get our new big block.  As for our engine situation, we're hoping to have a new big block back in the car for Canandaigua on Saturday night.  Hopefully, this will be a new beginning for our race team and we can get back to the status that we were running before the bad luck set in a month ago.  See you all this weekend, and take care for now!

Chad

Hello Everyone!  I thought I would shed some light on our current engine situation.  Dad spent the day at Campbell's Engines and it was diagnosed that there isn't a whole lot left of the engine that we ran Saturday night at Canandaigua.  The only fortunate thing is that our heads were not hurt, so we are left with the heads, intake manifold, and the carburetor.  Other than those parts, it's time to start over.  Needless to say, there is no way to build a big block virtually from scratch in less than a week so we are preparing to drop in our small block.  Rick Miller has generously offered to let us borrow his extra small block headers, for which I am very thankful.  I'm not sure how fast we're going to be with the small block but I might be surprised.  Being that the races this weekend are only 20 laps long I might be able to hold my own.  We'll have to wait and see.  Take care for now!

Chad

Hello Everyone!  Canandaigua was a washout on Saturday, but despite a few sprinkles, Weedsport got the show in on Sunday night.  During the afternoon we set the car up at Charlie's shop to make sure everything was pretty much perfect.  He also let us borrow one of his HVH carburetor spacers which would hopefully add a little extra horsepower.  So, we headed off to Weedsport with a bunch of optimism that we were going to be really fast.  We unloaded for hot laps and the car drove great.  We were pretty quick and were able to hang right with Danny Johnson during the whole session.  For the heat race I started 6th.  Almost from the drop the green flag the car somehow got extremely tight.  I was able to hold on for 7th place, but it wasn't good enough for a qualifying spot.  So, off I went to the consi for what seems like the millionth time.  We found out that they were only qualifying 6 of the ten cars out of the consi and 4 guys were going home.  Nothing like adding a little pressure to the mix, since my qualifying ability at Weedsport has been a little rough this year.  I thought we were in good shape since I was scheduled to start on the pole of the consi.  I tried to run the low line and before I knew it, I was back in 6th place on lap 3.  I couldn't help but think that I was going to let another Weedsport feature slip away when luck actually turned my way for a change.  The 5th place car broke and the 4th place car hit the wall, allowing me to move safely back up into the qualifying order.  I was able to finish 4th which gave us the 22nd starting spot on the feature grid.  Granted, I was very happy to get in the feature, but at the same time, starting 22nd leaves a long race ahead of you. 

So, we made a few adjustments and I headed out for my first ever Weedsport feature race.  I quickly found out that the starts and restarts at Weedsport are insane.  The fourth turn is just tight enough where you get your speed up and then everyone has to start checking up to make it through turn 4.  It becomes an all-out slamfest during these times, and it's really nobody's fault.  I was running good and got up to around 15th, when there was a restart on lap 13 or so.  On the restart I got hit from behind and turned into the 4th turn inside wall with the left front tire.  It didn't hit hard, but within the next few laps I knew that something got messed up.  I lost most of the positions that I had gained as we were now in a long green flag run.  I figured that I had knocked the toe out on the frontend or something like that.  The caution finally flew on lap 30 and when I slowed down I saw that the left front tire had gone flat.  At this point I didn't have enough time during the caution to go in and get it changed so I decided to limp it home for the last 5 laps.  I was still surprisingly competitive even with the flat tire.  However, I wasn't able to go 100% for probably the last 15-20 laps because of that tire issue.  As it worked out, I finished 18th, but I really believe that I would have ended up around 11th or 12th had I not had the tire problem.  Overall, it was an ok night at Weedsport.  It had its highs and lows, but the main thing is that we came out of there with minimal damage and I was able to learn quite a bit which will help later on. 

Hopefully it won't rain on Saturday and we can get a good night of racing in at Canandaigua.  With my last two finishes being 20th and 23rd, this will be a good time to turn that around and go for another top 10 finish.  Until then, take care for now!

Chad

Hello Everyone!  The Memorial Day racing weekend has come and gone, and it was a strange one for us.  It was probably the most frustrating weekend for myself and our race team so far.  No matter how hard we tried, and how hard we worked, it seemed like there was always something that tripped us up.  Saturday started off well and I thought we were in good shape until the heat race.  We replaced the torsion bars during the week and somehow we must not have bounced on them enough to take a set because after the heat race, our ride heights were way off and the car drove terribly.  I also noticed that the engine didn't seem to be running 100%.  To top it off, when I was going through the first turn late in the race, one of the other competitors came in way too hot and basically T-boned me, which destroyed the left sided door and messed up the left side header pretty bad.  We checked out everything we could with the engine after the heat race and it seemed to be fine.  Before the feature we reset the ride heights of the car as best as we could and went out there to do the best I could given the circumstances.  The race started fine, but then on the backstretch the engine started acting up again.  This time it was worse and I had guys flying by me on both sides.  I did get hit once in the right rear panel which did a good bit of damage, but I was able to settle in at the back for the next 4 laps.  The caution came out on lap 5 and during the pace lap the motor just stalled.  I was able to get it running again it wasn't right, so I made a pit stop.  The engine stalled again on the way into the pits and we soon figured out that the rear float in the carburetor was stuck and the engine was being flooded.  By the time we figured out was was going on we were already several laps down to the leaders so we decided to call it a night after lap 5. 

We worked until 1AM Sunday morning, and then we were back up at 7AM to try to get the car back in race condition for the Super DIRT Series race at Weedsport that afternoon.  We all worked extremely hard and we were able to get the car ready to go just in time.  I knew that it was going to be a tough race to qualify for, but during hot laps I was surprised to find out that we had a really quick racecar.  I drew a good number for time trials and I was really excited to see where I was going to shake out.  When it was my turn to time trial, I started out on the track and when I went to shift into high gear, nothing was there.  I looked down and somehow the shifting linkage had bent the same way it did on opening day at Weedsport.  So, I had to pull off without taking a lap under time.  This was pretty disappointing because I drew a good number and I really think we had a shot at a top 15 qualifying position.  Not having a qualifying time really put us in a hole for the heat race.  I started 11th and was able to work my way up to 8th, but that wasn't enough to qualify.  I had to run in the second consi, where I started 4th.  It was an uneventful race, but I fell back to 7th as the car seemed to lose all forward bite from the heat race.  It's really amazing how fast you can go from good to junk in the modifieds.  Only 5 cars qualified out of the consi so once again we were forced to load up early at Weedsport. 

Overall, it was a pretty frustrating weekend for myself and our team.  We were supposed to run 150 feature laps over the two days, and instead we ended up running a total of 5 laps.  I guess we can file this past weekend away as a rookie year learning experience, to put a positive spin on things.  So, we are going to go back this week, regroup, fix up the damage, and give it 100% again next week.  Until then, take care for now!

Chad

Hello Everyone!  I have the opportunity to write my weekend update a little early this week since Weedsport got rained out again.  It is a little disappointing because we ran pretty good at Weedsport to start the year, and now I have a lot more laps under my belt and I think we are going to be that much better when we finally get back there.  I hope that is the case because I'm going to have to bring my best effort there next week when the Advance Auto Parts Super DIRT Series rolls in.  I'm confident that we're going to run good and be able to make the show, which will be a lot of fun. 

We did get to race at Canandaigua on Saturday night.  It was an interesting night since every other track got rained out early enough where all of the heavy hitters from the surrounding regions were able to make the trip to Canandaigua.  It was the first time in a long while when they have had to send guys home on a regular night at Canandaigua.  It provided a little bit of a tense time for us since I finished 6th in my heat race and had to qualify through the consi.  I had a really good car in the consi and I was able to finish 3rd in that race.  I was really competitive in the consi, and was really able to mix it up with some cars that are more on my level at this point.  It almost felt like I was back in the Pro Stock where I could pretty much pull out of line and pass with ease, which was a lot of fun.  Six cars qualified out of the consi so I was able to easily get in the feature, but it also meant that I had to start 23rd in the feature.  They ran the feature after the sprint cars turned the track into an ice skating rink, so it was pretty much a hopeless cause to try to come to the front after starting in the twenties.  Around lap 25 the car started to get really loose on me, and that definitely cost me a couple spots at the end of the race.  However, I was able to stay on the lead lap until lap 33, which wasn't a bad effort in my opinion after being trapped in traffic for the entire race.  I was able to end the race with no damage, which is always a positive.  We came home in 20th position, which I don't think really reflects the level that we ran on Saturday night.  It was an all-star field which definitely hurt us, but I don't feel all that disappointed with the finish.  I feel that we ran well, and I was able to learn quite a bit, which is what really matters at this point in the game.  All in all, we had a positive weekend which is crucial heading into the memorial day weekend.  I am definitely going to be tested next week with a 50 lap race at Canandaigua, followed by the 100 lap Super DIRT Series race at Weedsport on Sunday evening.  Hopefully, the rain will hold off and it will be an exciting weekend of racing. 

Take care for now!
Chad

Hello Everyone!  I thought  that I would put up a quick post and tell everyone that I did an audio interview for dougsdirtdiary.com tonight.  The interview should be posted on Saturday 5/20.  It was a lot of fun doing the interview, and we covered a lot of interesting topics so make sure that you all check it out!  The address is www.dougsdirtdiary.com .  I've also put a link to his site on the links page.  Take care for now!

Chad

Hello Everyone!  Despite everything that the weather could throw at us, including hail, Canandaigua managed to get the entire racing program in on Saturday night.  As we arrived at the speedway on Saturday night, so did a light rain.  Coupled with the water that was already on the track, the light rain created what may have been the tackiest surface that I've seen at Canandaigua in a few years.  In a Pro Stock, it doesn't make a ton of difference, but that isn't the case with the modified.  Hot laps were quick, but it didn't seem that bad because there was still a good bit of water on top of the track surface.  However, the heat race was a different story.  Basically, the heat race came down to if you had to lift your right foot from the floor, you were going to go straight to the back.  Being only my fourth race in a modified, I had to lift a little bit for the sake of my equipment.  I ended up falling like a brick through the field to the back of the heat race, but that was ok.  In my defense, I did draw a super heat which included almost every big name driver in attendance.  The track in the heat race was almost scary fast for me at this point.  I'm sure that I'll get used to it and pretty soon that type of track condition will be no big deal, but the first time was a little insane.  When you go down the entire backstretch at Canandaigua and realize that your left front tire hasn't touched the track since you were last on the frontstretch, that tends to play with your mind a little bit and start sending signals that maybe you aren't really in control anymore.  It's a wild, yet exhilerating feeling that you really have to experience to fully understand.  But the short version of the heat race story is that I got taught a big lesson on how fast these veteran modified drivers can wheel a car around the track if the conditions are right. 

Despite the less than stellar heat race performance, in which I finished 6th, we did still qualify to be handicapped in the feature.  This put us on the pole for the second week in a row.  When I sat in the stands in the mid 1990s we always used to be like "Geez, that guy is on the pole every week, this has to be rigged."  It is a little ironic that now, ten years later, I'm that guy!  It sure is an awesome feeling bringing that pack of modifieds down to the green flag though.  Unfortunately, I'm 0 for 2 on leading the first lap from the pole.  I'm convinced that you need to be in the outside lane on the start to get that run off the top of turn two.  I really thought I was going to lead a lap Saturday night, but Derrick Podsiadlo was able to clear me by like a foot off of turn 2 and get down in line before we got to turn 3.  So, leading a lap is going to have to wait at least until next week.  The race was a little crazy, and I think that we may have been one of a handful of guys that didn't break or have a tire issue during the race.  The issue that I did face was with my new helmet.  I'm certainly not trying to make excuses for not running all that great, but my job became exponentially harder due to a fogging issue that I was having with my glasses due to the layout of my new helmet.  I probably spent 25 laps worrying more about my visibility than running a good line, and that definitely cost me a few positions on the track.  That helmet problem will be fixed by next weekend for sure, and I can go back to focusing on racing, instead of surviving.  Ironically, despite feeling that this was the worst race that I've driven to date in the modified, due to difficulites that a number of other drivers faced during the race, we ended up getting our first top ten finish at Canandaigua.  I didn't think that we were far off from achieving this goal, but to be very honest I didn't think that it was going to happen this past Saturday night.  Despite the fact that I haven't yet performed at the level that I think I'm capable of, we are doing a little better than I expected.  A top ten finish in a modified at Canandaigua is quite a task when you consider the level of competition at the track, and I'm proud that we were able to accomplish that task in only our fourth race.  It is truly a testament to our hard work and also the quality of equipment that I've received from the One Up Motorsports organization.  I can see how quickly a racer can get depressed in the modified division, which makes me even more pleased to know that each week we keep getting better, yet I leave knowing that I could have done even better yet. 

Next week we are going to attempt our first double race weekend, which should be an exciting, yet busy, experience.  We were going to do that a few weeks ago, but that plan was thwarted by the Canandaigua wreck which left us with no rearend for the Sunday race at Weedsport.  So, hopefully this weekend we'll be able to say out of trouble and pull off the double.  It should be a lot of fun. 

Take care for now!
Chad

Hello Everyone!  We were able to get another race in at Canandaigua over the weekend.  It was cold though...real cold.  I can only imagine how cold it was for the fans in the grandstands.  Our night went really well.  We really need to have a solid, damage free night after last week's wreck.  Luckily, we were able to have just that night.  I started on the pole of the first heat race which included Vic Coffey, Matt Sheppard, Chuck Bower, and Steve Paine.  Coffey and Sheppard managed to pass me in the early laps, but to my surprise I was able to hold off Bower and Paine for the entire 8 lap race, to finish 3rd.  One of my next goals was to be able to get a point in a heat race, and by finishing 3rd, I did just that.  To be honest, I didn't expect that to happen for a while, so it was a nice surprise to finish 3rd in a heat race that had some pretty big names in it. 

So, it was then off to the feature where I was on the pole again.  By this time the track was about as black slick as you're ever going to see it, since we were following the USAC Sprint race.  When the dropped the green flag, I quickly fell to second place, but I was able to hang up in the top 3 for quite a while.  I think it was like lap 12 or 13 when the pack of top guys were able to catch me and start getting by me.  The car drove really well in the race, which was pretty uneventful.  On lap 32 the caution came out for Charlie, who broke and axle and stopped in turn 2.  I was still in 8th at this time.  The restart didn't go so good, and Jeff Brownell and Steve Paine slipped by.  The caution flew again on the next lap when Darryl Ruggles came to a stop in turn 4.  Unfortunately, the second restart worked about as good as the first one and Sean Beardsley and Chuck Bower went by this time.  I was able to hang on from there, but we ended up finishing 12th.  It was a little disappointing to lose 4 spots right at the end and miss out on my first top 10 finish, but that's the way it happened.  I've been joking that I feel like Dave Blaney because I've been running really well, but I just can't seem to finish as high as I should.  Granted, it is only our third race with the modified, and while it is a little disappointing, it's also encouraging that we've been in a position to let two top 10 finishes slip away.  Fortunately, we came out of the race on Saturday with very limited damage, and this week will only be a routine maintenance week.  Last week, we were rushed a little bit, with the damage from the wreck, so it will be nice to get back to the normal routine this week.  Hopefully, next week we'll be able to get that elusive first top ten finish.

I did go to Rolling Wheels on Sunday, but I didn't take the car to race.  Originally, we were going to try to run all of the Rolling Wheels shows, but we decided last week that it didn't really make sense to go.  At this point I only have three races under my belt, and I figured that Rolling Wheels would attract a bunch of good cars, so the chances of us making the race were pretty much nonexistant.  As it turned out there were 45 cars and a lot of really fast racecars went home.  So, by staying home it probably saved us a minimum of $500 that we can put to a better use.  The racing wasn't bad from a spectator standpoint.  It was rather dirty, but not as bad as I have seen it there.  Billy Decker and Tim Fuller put on a good show in both of the 50 lap races, but the key was to be starting up front.  However, that's nothing new for Rolling Wheels.  All you have to do is ask the 2004 Dynomax Weekend Pro Stock winner how nice it is to start up front at Rolling Wheels, lol.

Take Care for now!
Chad

Hello Everyone!  The rain finally stayed away for the weekend and we were able to get some racing in.  We went to Canandaigua on Saturday and it was a pretty wild day.  In the heat race, I started 2nd, and was able to hold on for a 4th place finish.  Steve Paine and Todd Burley got by me, which I think is pretty much a given at this point in the game.  I was very pleased to come out of the heat in 4th, and actually "qualify" to get handicapped for the start of the feature.  The track got unusually dry and dusty for Canandaigua.  So, in just two weeks there we've seen both ends of the spectrum.  Tacky and rough one week, dry and slick two weeks later.  They did put some water on the track before the modified feature, which helped to an extent, but around lap 10 all of the moisture was gone.  In the feature I started 4th, and a little to my surprise, I stayed in 4th until the first caution on lap 2.  Then something even more surprising happened.  On the restart, the top lane was the place to be and I went from 4th to 2nd by the time I got back to the flagstand to take the green.  I slipped to 3rd, but stayed there solidly until the caution flew again on lap 7.  This time I was stuck on the inside line for the restart, and I made a pretty fast fall back into the clutches of the top running guys.  During this time, I was introduced to slide-job after slide-job, and when it all shook out I was back to 10th.  Then came my one shining moment of the race.  I saw Steve Paine pull up beside me in turn 1 and I was able to outrun him down the backstretch and through turns 3 and 4.  He tried the move again in turn 1 and I pulled back ahead again down the backstretch.  At this point I was thinking "wow, I'm holding off Steve Paine."  Then I was sent back into the reality of being a rookie when I hopped the cushion in turn 4 and had to lift out of the throttle and watch him pull away.  I then settled into 11th place and was content to ride there until the end of the race.  My car was going away from me a little bit as the track started getting really black.  Then on lap 19, my race went south.  Something happened with the lead pack of cars, which ended up creating a parking lot of carnage on the frontstretch.  When I came through turn 4, I saw that the track was blocked ahead.  I immediately got on the binders which didn't do very much for me.  At this point the frontstretch was like a sheet of ice and unfortunately I wasn't able to avoid making heavy contact with the disabled Billy Brown car.  I was able to get spun around enough so that I didn't go in with the front end of the car, but I did hit hard enough with the right rear that my race was over.  I ended up bending the right rear tube in the rearend and taking out the right rear spindle, along with a good deal of body damage.  Based on how hard the crash was, I think we came out of it as good as we could have in terms of damage.  We ended up finishing in 18th position, but if I could have avoided the wreck, I'm sure that I could have had my first top ten finish.  I'm excited that the car drove as well as it did all day long, and we are definitely going to improve as the summer goes along. 

Without having a spare rearend, we were forced to the sidelines on Sunday for the race at Weedsport.  However, I did attend the races there on Sunday afternoon.  I'm not lying when I say that it may have been the dirtiest modified feature that I've ever "watched."  And that says a lot considering how bad Rolling Wheels can get sometimes.  At times the cars were not even visible on the frontstretch.

So, we've already started repairing the car, and we'll be back at this Saturday night at Canandaigua to try again.  Take care for now!
Chad
 

Hello Everyone!  The update this week can be summed up in one word...RAIN.  Unfortunately, both Canandaigua on Saturday, and Weedsport on Sunday, were rained out this weekend.  We thought that maybe Weedsport had a slight chance.  I guess that DIRT thought so as well, since they got us all there and signed in, before they decided to cancel.  The minute I saw the racetrack I knew that the show was in trouble because it didn't look like they had even made any attempt to work the track in.  So, we were forced to endure a Sunday afternoon road trip to Weedsport and back for no reason.  We waited until the last possible moment to go, but it was destined to be one of those times where you have to go, but know that you are going to get rained out.  So, it looks like it should be an easy week for us this week, and we'll be ready to go back at it again next weekend.  All things considered, it really works out well, since I will be in Charlotte for Bytronics on Wednesday and Thursday of this week.  Take care for now!

Chad

Hello Everyone!  Another really good weekend for myself and the new 1 Up Motorsports team.  The weather stayed nice for the Canandaigua opener on Saturday night.  From what I hear, it got rather cold in the grandstands, but other than that, it was a really nice day.  I can now officially say that I have my first modified feature under my belt.  I was a little surprised that only 18 modifieds showed up on Saturday, but that was just fine with me because it took away any pressure to race my way into the feature unlike the week before at Weedsport.  Now, when I was running the Pro Stock and it came time to draw for starting position, my luck in that matter was never outstanding.  So, of course, now that I'm in the modified and probably shouldn't be starting up front right now, I draw #4 which placed me on the outside pole for the second heat race.  When the lineup was posted and I saw that I was surrounded by Matt Sheppard, Vic Coffey, and Charlie, I decided that it was probably in my best interest to drop to the back of that heat race since everyone was going to make the feature anyways.  I don't want anyone to think for a second that it didn't hurt me to go scratch in that heat race due of my competitive nature, but I wasn't quite sure how we were going to stack up against the top runners and I didn't see a need to get run over before we even got started.  So, I used the heat race as an 8 lap practice session and stayed around the back.  I didn't really try to push the issue, so we came home 9th in the heat race.  However, it was encouraging that I never lost the pack in those 8 laps. 

At this point we were struggling with the gear a little bit, so we made a gear change for the feature that was definitely the right move.  Feature time rolled around and I have to admit that it was really cool parking out there on the front straightaway for the anthem and then firing the car at the sound of "Gentlemen, Start Your Engines!"  That is the first time I've been able to do any "Pre-race activities" and even though it isn't really that big of a deal, as a driver it kinda makes you feel like you're part of something special.  Rolling around the track on the pace laps, I then realized it was going to be a long 35 laps because the racetrack was not at all in good condition.  The soft area in turn 1 where the drain is, and then another area going into turn 3 were torn up really bad.  There were some points on that track where it would try to stop you on a dime and throw your head forward in the seat, all while still going probably around 80mph.  It was tough, and I sure did get my workout that night, but the race was still a lot of fun.  Saturday night I learned how hard it is to be consistent in a modified lap after lap.  Some laps I would keep the rear tires hooked up and gain on the guys in front of me, and then I would have 2 laps where I just buzzed the tires and lost everything I had gained.  I don't think it was just me having that issue, but more like everyone from 10th to 15th.  I think it just takes time to realize what it takes to be consistent with those cars lap after lap.  The break of the race for me came on lap 20 when the caution came out.  I didn't know it at the time, but I was probably going to be a lap down by the time I made it through the next corner.  If the caution had come any later I would have been trapped a lap down and would have had no way to advance any further.  As it worked out, I gained 3 more positions before the race ended.  My main goal was to finish that race, and it was a bonus that I was able to do it on the lead lap.  I probably could have made a few more moves on guys but I went into that race with a very conservative mindset.  There is no need to start busting up equipment right now if at all possible.  But, I know that the car is capable of more, as well am I.  All in all, I was pleased to come out of the first Canandaigua race with a 13th place finish.  We're going to get better, and I think eventually we'll be pretty good.  Luckily, we came out of the race with minimal damage, even though the car did still take a pretty good beating just from the track conditions.  However, we're now able to go back this week, regroup, and prepare for Canandaigua and Weedsport this coming weekend.

Take care for now!
Chad

Hello Everyone!  Canandaigua Speedway had their practice night on Wednesday.  The weather didn't look so great, but they managed to get the practice sessions in.  There was a little bit of rain, but not enough to keep the cars from running on the track.  The track held up relatively decent.  It got a little rough in the later sessions but you have to expect that being that it is still really early in the season.  We ended up missing the first practice session because when we went to warm up the engine we had a float problem with the carburetor.  Somehow a small piece of dirt or something got in there and made the float stick.  However, it wasn't a big deal to fix and we were ready for the second session in plenty of time.  Charlie had told me that Canandaigua was going to seem a lot faster than the week before at Weedsport and he wasn't kidding.  Despite the vastly increased speed, it was still good to be back "home" at Canandaigua.  Weedsport last week was a little odd since I had never raced there before.  It was definitely good to come back to Canandaigua, since I know that place cold.  The amount of speed that you can carry into the corners at Canandaigua with the modified was almost unreal since I'm used to the Pro Stock where you are heavy on the brakes to make the corners.  Plus, I was again pleasantly surprised at how competitive our times were compared to the top guys.  One of my main fears was that we weren't going to be competitive for whatever reason, but I think I'm going to be able to set that fear aside.  I didn't want to make this jump to the modifieds if I was not able to do it with good equipment.  Thankfully, I've been given good equipment and it seems to be paying off in the early run this season. 

I was able to play around with some shocks and springs on Wednesday night, through which I learned a lot about how the car is going to respond.  It turned out to be a really good learning experience for us.  I wasn't as smooth through the center of the corners as I would like to be, but I think that will come in time.  Despite that fact, I had several people come up to me and say how good I looked out there.  So, that at least helps my confidence a little going into Saturday night.  I'm not expecting enough cars for them to have to send anybody home, so I am looking forward to my first modified feature.  Hopefully we can come out of there with a nice, solid, finish. 

Before I go, I just want to mention that you can now view pictures from Wednesday night in the photo gallery.  I will see everyone on Saturday afternoon, and take care for now!

Chad

Hello Everyone!  Ideally I would have written this news entry on Monday, but circumstances which I will explain prevented me from doing so.  I do however plan to write about my weekends at the races on Mondays from now on.  What kept me from writing on Monday was that we had to quickly clean the car from Sunday and get it down to Turning Stone Casino to represent Digtrack.com at the annual Dig Safely NY members meeting.  I’ve posted pictures of the event, as well as from Weedsport, in the photo section. 

What a wild weekend it was at Weedsport!  The anticipation of the new season finally came to an end when we were finally able to get the new modified out on the track.  Saturday we headed off to Weedsport for practice day.  It was a little chilly, but we were busy enough where you really couldn’t tell.  It takes quite a bit to get my nerves going, but Saturday was a nervous day.  I had no idea what to expect with the modified.  It’s a little hard to stay confident in your driving abilities when you know that you are stepping into a class where guys have made a living for over 20 years.  The time came to finally go out for the first practice session.  I got myself to a spot on the track where nobody else was and when they gave the signal to wind up the cars I did what anyone else would do…I put the pedal to the floor and threw the car hard into turn 1!  Almost instantly I couldn’t believe how much more stable the modified is compared to the Pro Stock cars that I’m used to.  The excitement quickly came to an end however, as the officials came over the radio and said that I was smoking.  I shut the car down and pulled in the pits to find that our fuel pump had gone bad and was blowing oil all over the right-side headers. However, we were able to clean it up and put a temporary fix on it to run two more sessions.  Almost to my surprise, both of these sessions went off without any other problems. 

Charlie loaned us his spare fuel pump to run the Weedsport race on Sunday.  They called for hot laps and as I got out there I couldn’t shift the car into high gear.  So, I had to pull in and Charlie looked at the transmission.  He discovered that somehow the shifter linkage had gotten bent and wasn’t allowing me to shift into high gear.  He did his best to bend it back and we prepared to run the heat race.  My heat race ended up being like an all-star event with the likes of Danny Johnson, Steve Hulsizer, Bob McCreadie, Dale Planck, and Randy Chrysler.  To finish 6^th in that heat race behind those five guys is like a moral victory for me.  What I will always remember from my first modified heat race is that after 8 laps, I could still see Barefoot Bob on the same straightaway that I was on!  If that doesn’t help one’s confidence, I don’t know what will!  So, I found myself one spot out of qualifying and on the front row of the second consi race.  In the consi, I drove way too hard into turn 1 on the first lap and slid back to 5^th right away.  I was able to stay in 5^th but unfortunately only 3 cars qualified.  So, my day ended there, 2 spots short of qualifying for the feature.  However, for my first ever modified race day, I think we did really well.  I really liked Weedsport.  It was a short, fun, little track to drive, and I’m definitely going to enjoy running there weekly this year.  The best part was that I went the entire weekend without hitting a single thing. 

Running the modified over the weekend was just an awesome experience, and I can’t wait to see how the rest of the season turns out.  If things stay like they are now, it’s going to be a really fun year.  The modifieds are really exciting cars to drive.  I know I have a lot to learn, but I didn’t expect to be as competitive as we were right out of the box.  There is no way to really describe how much more stable and comfortable the modified seemed to me based on the Pro Stock that I was used to.  Not only was the power of the big block engine incredible, but the side bite and forward bite in the car was amazing.  It’s really going to be a blast driving the modified this season. 

Over the weekend, I spoke with many people who were very supportive toward my new racing venture.  I am very thankful for the support and proud to know that I have so many people backing me on what is going to be a steep learning curve.  Now we’re off to Canandaigua’s practice tomorrow night.  I hope to see everyone there tomorrow, as well as for the opener on Saturday.  Take care for now!

Chad

Hello Everyone!  Only 1 day left to go, so I guess it's safe to say that it's crunch time.  Thankfully, the finishing touches are coming together.  The spare rims are due to arrive today, the bumpers and nerf bars have been powder coated, and the body was picked up from Pilat's yesterday.  For those who can't wait until you get to the racetrack, I've posted some pictures of the car in the modified picture gallery.  I think the car turned out awesome, and it ranks up there with the best looking cars that we've ever had.  It's almost too nice to even race!

We spent Sunday afternoon siphing and grinding our first set of feature tires which I plan to run for the 50 lapper on Sunday at Weedsport.  Of course, that is assuming that we make that race.  I'm expecting a lot of good cars at Weedsport on Sunday, so qualifying for that race may be an uphill battle after having very little track time in the modified.  Plus, it probably doesn't help that I've never turned a lap at Weedsport in any racecar.  However, I'm confident in the equipment that we are taking there this weekend, so we'll just have to see how it all shakes out.  The main goal for this weekend is to have the modified come out of there in one piece.  Those that have followed my racing career know that I haven't had the greatest luck when stepping into new cars, most of it being the product of really strange circumstances.  So, goal #1 for the weekend is to make sure nothing bad happens to the racecar if at all possible.  Goal #2 is to then put the car in the show on Sunday.  I think the best thing for our team would be the opportunity to go out there and turn in 50 laps (or 48,49 lol) with the best in the business on opening day.  Then we can see where we stack up and find out the areas that we are going to need to work on to get better in the weeks ahead.

It is certainly going to be a busy couple of weeks for our team.  As mentioned, we are planning on running Saturday and Sunday at Weedsport, along with a stop Saturday night to the annual Charlie Donk Racing Party, which is always a really fun time.  Assuming the weekend goes well, our car will be on display Tuesday at the Turning Stone Casino and Resort to help promote Digtrack.com at the annual DigSafely New York meeting.  Wednesday we plan to be at the Canandaigua practice, and then we'll round out the week on Saturday at Canandaigua for opening night.

And away we go back to the racetrack for another exciting summer!  I encourage everyone to stop in and say hello this weekend at Weedsport.  Take care for now!

Chad

Hello Everyone!  The new season sure is coming upon us fast, as we only have 12 more days until practice at Weedsport.  Our car is pretty much ready to go now.  For the most part, Dad and I have taken the last 5 or 6 days off from working on the racecar as one last little break before things really get busy.  I spent some time over the weekend cleaning out the trailer and Dad has been busy building new storage cabinets for the shop.  Mechanically the car is ready to go, but we are just waiting on the body panels to be lettered, which are now at Pilat's.  After talking over schemes with Dan, this car may be our best looking car yet.  I also had word that the new firesuit is in, which I will be able to pick up sometime this week. 

Saturday turned out to be a busy day.  I got up early and rode down to the Parts Peddler swap meet with Charlie, Cory, and Marilou.  Overall, I think we were all a little disappointed with the turnout of vendors and the quality of the merchandise, but you never know with those swap meets.  However, we did come away with some small things that we can put to good use.  Then on Saturday night we all headed off to Jon Miller's racing party.  This year Jon and his crew decided to shake things up a bit and move away from the traditional racing party gig.  They had a night of comedy with 3 different comedians, headlined by Rob Lederman.  They had a great turnout and the comedians put on a great show.  I think it's safe to say that everyone that attended had a great time, and I certainly want to wish Jon good luck with his 2006 season. 

There is one website related thing that I should pass on.  Last week I purchased www.1upmotorsports.com.  Right now it is just a carbon copy of www.chadhoman.com, but maybe in the near future I'll develop a separate 1 Up Motorsports site. 

Before I go, I have to send out a special thank you to Kurt Jaeger.  We were trying to come up with a way to cover and protect the transponder (without using metal as per DIRT rules) when we remembered that Kurt works with lexan to do display cases and other projects.  So we sent out a request to Kurt to create a transponder cover and he came through for us big time.  Now I'm sure that we have the most tricked out transponder cover in DIRT.  Thanks again Kurt!

Take care for now!
Chad

Transitions Landscape and Design has re-signed as an associate sponsor for my 2006 campaign in the Modified Division.  Since 2001, Transitions Landscape and Design has been a dedicated sponsor of Homan Motorsports and I am very pleased to keep them on board as I switch my driving duties over to the modified owned by 1 Up Motorsports.  Transitions Landscape and Design has been a vital part to the success of our race team, which has captured 19 feature wins during our 5 year relationship. 

Located in Macedon, New York, Transitions Landscape and Design is owned by Charlie and Sue Holvey.  Their office can be reached at 315.986.1595.  They offer a wide range of services stretching from landscape work to snowplowing.  For all of your landscaping needs, be sure to give Transitions a call!

Take care for now!
Chad

Hello Everyone! Just thought that I would post and update of our progress. We received a big shipment of parts last week, and over the weekend finished a lot of what was left to do on the Modified. All of the body parts are painted and most of the nut and bolt parts are in place. Next Friday the car will be heading off to get lettered at Pilat's and we can work on getting spare parts prepared. So far, I'm very pleased with the ease of putting the Modified together.

I posted a few more pictures of the modified in the picture gallery. Some of them are a few weeks old, and some were taken over the weekend.  When it is all done, the car is going to look great!

On Saturday night, I took the opportunity to enjoy a non-racing activity, and participated in a euchre tournament at the West Walworth Fire Hall. After the 8 games, I had a score of 79, one point off from a "perfect" score. Unfortunately, another guy there managed to get 83 points, leaving me to settle for second place. Although there wasn't much that I could have done differently, I'm still a little disappointed that I wasn't able to win that event.  Take care for now!

Chad

Hello Everyone!  We are quickly approaching the 30 day mark until the racing season opens for us, and things are definitely starting to pick up.  I sent in the forms for the seasons passes and DIRT license.  To my surprise the DIRT license was processed and mailed back within a week.  However, I'm still waiting on the season passes to arrive. 

There was some unfortunate (or fortunate, depending on how you look at it) news from Friday.  Dad was laid off from his job at Brinkman Precision.  So, at least for the next little while he'll be home overseeing the final touches to the modified. 

The body panels are going to be painted within the next day or so and then the final assembly of the modified can begin.  Quite a bit was done in the last week, with all of the nerf bars and bumpers being fitted, as well as all the wiring being completed.  We also made the holder for the new, smaller, battery, and made a new screen assembly to go in front of the radiator.  So, the main things left to do now are to paint the body panels and to start working on the setup that we're going to take to Weedsport for the weekend of April 8-9. 

On the website end of things, I have to thank Marilou who spent two days scanning in, formatting, and posting a huge picture update which contains pictures from 1998-2005.  Be sure to head on over to the picture galleries to check them out.  Once the final modified assembly begins I will make sure to post new modified pictures as well.  Take care for now!

Chad

Hello Everyone!  It's that time again for an update.  As the main page counter says, there are only 40 more days until the new 1 Up Motorsports Modified hits the track.  The time sure feels like it's going by very quickly.  The new body is almost completely fitted on the Modified.  I'll see if I can get some pictures of it posted in the near future.  Once the body is totally finished, there are only a few tasks here and there before the car is race ready.  The body parts should also be getting painted within the next week or so and then the car can go off to get lettered.  So it looks like we are in great shape to get everything together on time.  This winter was a little tougher having to put together both the Pro Stock and the Modified, but it seems to be working out just fine. 

I also just recently ordered the new Digtrack.com firesuit which looks awesome.  Be sure to go to the photo gallery to look at the firesuit drawing.  Take care for now!

Chad

Hello Everyone!  I've had quite a few questions asked about when and where I'm going to be running this coming year.  The track schedules have finally been released, so I can finally provide an answer.  I've taken the time to post up my 2006 schedule that I will be running.  Due to my new affiliation with 1 Up Motorsports I've been able to greatly expand my race schedule for the upcoming year.  In a nutshell, we're going to attempt to complete full schedules at Canandaigua, Cayuga County, and Rolling Wheels.  Of course, Canandaigua will remain our home track and our main focus, but I certainly look forward to the challenge of a 40+ race schedule.  It should be a very exciting and busy summer.  Take care for now!

Chad

Hello Everyone!  I just thought I would post a quick note saying that I have updated the website a little bit.  One of the main reasons why I finally decided to launch chadhoman.com was to give myself a greater opportunity to interact with the racing fans and the people that I've met throughout my racing career.  I have been posting news items so that everyone gets a sense of what is going on in my life over these long winter months, and many of you have been posting messages in the message board.  In some of the message board entries, I've noticed some questions being asked and I didn't have an ideal way to answer them.  So, today I developed a little "Ask Chad" page where questions can be submitted and I'll do my best to answer them.  I took the liberty to post and answer a couple of the questions that had been asked in the message board recently.  So, if there is anything that anybody wants to know, fire away.  Take care for now!

Chad

With the new year upon us, there are new beginnings for myself and the Homan Motorsports team. A few weeks back I announced that I have partnered with 1 Up Motorsports for the 2006 season and beyond. Today, I am able to clear up the rumors that have been swirling around me for a couple months now.  I am pleased to announce that the deal is finalized and that 1 Up Motorsports will be fielding a big block modified for me to drive in 2006. As you can imagine, I am very happy to be able bring this deal together, and very excited to embark on our new racing journey in 2006. I would also like to send out a big thank you to Charlie Donk for overseeing the process all the way from the car and engine purchases, to the point where the car is almost race ready. 

The timing of the whole situation works out well.  On Thursday night, Dad talked with Jeff Farney and was told that there is a very high probability that the Pro Stocks will not be returning to Canandaigua Speedway in 2006.  This certainly shakes up our plans a little bit since we were planning on running a complete season with the Pro Stock at Canandaigua, no matter what other deals came my way.  However, from the information that we received from Jeff Farney, it doesn't look like we are going to have that opportunity.  Due to this fact, I have posted up a For Sale page with some information on our Pro Stock equipment which is now up for sale.  Please check it out and make us an offer if you are interested. 

Please stay tuned for more information regarding scheduling, sponsorships, etc. which should be coming together in the near future. Take care for now!

Chad