I have been out of pocket at the motocross track with my daughters today, but here is what I have heard.
Beau Stewart and David Applegate each took second place finishes in their heat races. Stewart picked up some decent passing points in his session. TJ Heil spun out of his heat race. Kevin Roberts, Ryan Broughton and Kevin Roberts Sr all flipped in their heat races. Will try to get in touch and find out if they will be able to continue. Next up is two B mains tomorrow morning that will set the field. I apologize if any of this was incorrecty reported-catching information as I can.
Friday, December 31, 2010
Thursday, December 30, 2010
After round two of practice...
Just spent some time on the telephone with a few individuals who are at the Tulsa Shootout:
Mert Tague was hanging out in the pits. She said it is a really fun atmosphere. Most all of the AMSA guys are pitted in the same area. Jerry was up watching the Eco Tech midgets run. Mert says that she heard there were a total of 45 mini sprints signed in. She said Jerry spent some time talking with Emmit Hahn. He is very happy with the mini sprint turnout and says that they will be back for next year's edition of the Tulsa Shootout. Mert says everyone is walking around sharing stories and food...including her own ham and beans.
Ryan Broughton said he is having a great time and really enjoying the track. He compared it to Logansport, only wider in the corners. Ryan's dad was very happy with the way he looked in the second session and said the car seemed to be coming off the corners very well. Ryan said the track slicked off for the second session and a nice cushion developed out by the wall. He said he ran a good portion of the sesssion up there. He said he was trying to give everyone plenty of room in the session as there are still several drivers dialing in both their cars and driving (without a wing). Ryan said no heats had been posted yet, but he feels like he had a decent draw that could put him somewhere up in the front two rows. I asked Ryan how the mini sprints were stacking up against the Eco-Tech Midgets. He said he didn't get to watch them much, but thought the mini sprints were quicker. Jacob Wilson who was standing next to Ryan while I was on the phone with him was shaking his head in agreement. Stay tuned we are working to get some of Ryan's in-car video posted.
I also talked with Thomas Nelson, crew chief for local sprint car driver Mike Weber. Thomas said that they were a little too tight for the first session, but the car was pretty good for the second session. He said they had trouble telling what they really wanted to do as there were several spins in their session. He said that he is really enjoying the atmosphere. He said everyone is really friendly and everything has gone pretty smoothly so far. He said that it is incredibly warm out there- he thought 75 degrees.
Here are a few photos I pulled down from Ryan Broughton...a little blurry, but they help you get in the spirit.
I will post more information as I talk to folks.
Mert Tague was hanging out in the pits. She said it is a really fun atmosphere. Most all of the AMSA guys are pitted in the same area. Jerry was up watching the Eco Tech midgets run. Mert says that she heard there were a total of 45 mini sprints signed in. She said Jerry spent some time talking with Emmit Hahn. He is very happy with the mini sprint turnout and says that they will be back for next year's edition of the Tulsa Shootout. Mert says everyone is walking around sharing stories and food...including her own ham and beans.
Ryan Broughton said he is having a great time and really enjoying the track. He compared it to Logansport, only wider in the corners. Ryan's dad was very happy with the way he looked in the second session and said the car seemed to be coming off the corners very well. Ryan said the track slicked off for the second session and a nice cushion developed out by the wall. He said he ran a good portion of the sesssion up there. He said he was trying to give everyone plenty of room in the session as there are still several drivers dialing in both their cars and driving (without a wing). Ryan said no heats had been posted yet, but he feels like he had a decent draw that could put him somewhere up in the front two rows. I asked Ryan how the mini sprints were stacking up against the Eco-Tech Midgets. He said he didn't get to watch them much, but thought the mini sprints were quicker. Jacob Wilson who was standing next to Ryan while I was on the phone with him was shaking his head in agreement. Stay tuned we are working to get some of Ryan's in-car video posted.
I also talked with Thomas Nelson, crew chief for local sprint car driver Mike Weber. Thomas said that they were a little too tight for the first session, but the car was pretty good for the second session. He said they had trouble telling what they really wanted to do as there were several spins in their session. He said that he is really enjoying the atmosphere. He said everyone is really friendly and everything has gone pretty smoothly so far. He said that it is incredibly warm out there- he thought 75 degrees.
Here are a few photos I pulled down from Ryan Broughton...a little blurry, but they help you get in the spirit.
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| Ryan Broughton's car |
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| This gives you an idea of the magnitude of this place. That's a bunch of race cars and trailers to get under one roof |
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| A freshly groomed racing surface...won't stay that way long with an estimated 700 cars running on it. |
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| From the looks of it, I would say this is the Robert's family pit stalls. |
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| How I spent my Christmas Break..TJ and Phil Heil. |
I will post more information as I talk to folks.
Video from Morning Session
Here is some video from this morning's 1200cc upright mini sprint practice at the Tulsa Shootout that TJ Heil's mom, Kathy was nice enough to share with us.(makes it really tough to be sitting in Cincinnati) As of last evening there were 39 1200cc mini sprints signed in. It sounds as if everyone is searching for the right setup and gearing. They are scheduled for another session last this afternoon. Hope to post more afterwards.
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Moving In
My dad said he has talked to several people as they have been moving into the Expo center getting there spots. A few late local additions include Trey Gustin and Eric Semple, also Mike Weber and crew were rolling out of our shop today at about 10:00 a.m. Last we heard they were about two hours shy of Tulsa...sounds like a long day. Practice for the 1000cc mini sprints is supposed to start at 9:00 a.m. tomorrow morning. Hope to provide a few more updates after practice.
Monday, December 27, 2010
A Change of Plans
This morning started with a reminder of how fragile both life and our plans can be. This morning started with a phone call informing us of my father-in-law's passing just minutes earlier. While he had been ill, no one anticipated just how short his time on earth would be.
While we were looking forward to the Shootout for many different reasons, it will unfortunately have to wait another year (the good Lord willing). The last month and a half has been an all out dash to get a car ready to go, it will be disappointing not to get it on the track. We had a few new trick parts that we were anxious to debut. I guess we'll probably show them off on the site soon. I would like to wish the best-of-luck to all of our customers and friends that are making the trip. I hate to be prejudice but would like to give a special shout out to the several drivers that will be in FOZ Race Cars including Beau Stewart, T.J. Heil, Jacob Wilson, David Applegate, Brett Burrows and Megan Wood. We will sure miss the chance to catch up and enjoy some good racing with each of you.
I was really excited about being able to bring updates back to everyone toughing out the winter at home. All though I won't be able to do it first hand, I will still attempt to do my best to provide updates as I talk with the drivers in attendance. Be sure to check back.
While we were looking forward to the Shootout for many different reasons, it will unfortunately have to wait another year (the good Lord willing). The last month and a half has been an all out dash to get a car ready to go, it will be disappointing not to get it on the track. We had a few new trick parts that we were anxious to debut. I guess we'll probably show them off on the site soon. I would like to wish the best-of-luck to all of our customers and friends that are making the trip. I hate to be prejudice but would like to give a special shout out to the several drivers that will be in FOZ Race Cars including Beau Stewart, T.J. Heil, Jacob Wilson, David Applegate, Brett Burrows and Megan Wood. We will sure miss the chance to catch up and enjoy some good racing with each of you.
I was really excited about being able to bring updates back to everyone toughing out the winter at home. All though I won't be able to do it first hand, I will still attempt to do my best to provide updates as I talk with the drivers in attendance. Be sure to check back.
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Putting the cars in the trailer
Not too exciting, but thought it would be a good chance to test out the new video camera. Here is a quick clip of the cars getting loaded in for the trip out to Tulsa.
Thursday, December 23, 2010
On the ground
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Tulsa Shootout - A Week Away
We're down to crunch time - working fast and furious to get our car done for the race. We leave next Tuesday evening, but the car has to go in the trailer Sunday. I special thanks to the Stewarts for trailering our car out to the event. I'll be sharing pit space with Beau and his family and T.J. Heil and his family. All great people that we really enjoy being around.
The game plan for this portion of the http://www.minisprintracer.com/ website is to bring you as much in the way of blog entries, video and photos as possible leading up to and during our trip to the Tulsa Shootout. How regularly we update will depend on the quality of Internet access inside the Expo Center. We are bringing along all of the digital and video cameras in our house in hopes of capturing all the points of interest. A special thanks goes out to GoPro for providing one of their new HD cameras for the trip. I am hopeful that this will allow us to get some in car footage. We've also seen several of the GoPro cameras purchased at Speed Partz. I will try to track down the guys running those cameras to see if we can post some of their in-car also.
It appears our trip should be an action packed few days of racing. The Tulsa Shootout website says that they are currently expecting in excess of 700 cars. This is a lot of mini sprints and modified midgets considering they have pulled the go-karts from the show this year. In the upright mini sprint category there are at 31 cars from 8 different states and 2 different countries signed in. We know of at least a few additional cars that are not currently signed up that are making the trip. It sounds as if it will be tough to just make the show. If you would like to know more about the Tulsa Shootout, be sure to check out last month's story in http://www.minisprintracer.com/ magazine by clicking here.
You probably have noticed the ffjtv.com logo in our banner above. We are pretty excited about the partnership we have formed with this group. FFJournal is a magazine devoted to the metal forming and fabricating industry. They have created a online channel that features videos on fabricators. It is some really interesting viewing, especially during these winter months. We are planning on working with the group in the early months of 2011 to produce a few episodes that show what goes into building a mini sprint. Be sure to check out their video channel at http://www.ffjtv.com/. Some of our postings during the Tulsa Shootout will be designed to help ffjtv.com viewers understand what a mini sprint is.
We'll be starting with regular posts to this site in the next day or so...stay tuned.
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| Crunch time - trying to pull together all the loose ends on our car so we can get it loaded up on Sunday for the trip. |
The game plan for this portion of the http://www.minisprintracer.com/ website is to bring you as much in the way of blog entries, video and photos as possible leading up to and during our trip to the Tulsa Shootout. How regularly we update will depend on the quality of Internet access inside the Expo Center. We are bringing along all of the digital and video cameras in our house in hopes of capturing all the points of interest. A special thanks goes out to GoPro for providing one of their new HD cameras for the trip. I am hopeful that this will allow us to get some in car footage. We've also seen several of the GoPro cameras purchased at Speed Partz. I will try to track down the guys running those cameras to see if we can post some of their in-car also.
It appears our trip should be an action packed few days of racing. The Tulsa Shootout website says that they are currently expecting in excess of 700 cars. This is a lot of mini sprints and modified midgets considering they have pulled the go-karts from the show this year. In the upright mini sprint category there are at 31 cars from 8 different states and 2 different countries signed in. We know of at least a few additional cars that are not currently signed up that are making the trip. It sounds as if it will be tough to just make the show. If you would like to know more about the Tulsa Shootout, be sure to check out last month's story in http://www.minisprintracer.com/ magazine by clicking here.
You probably have noticed the ffjtv.com logo in our banner above. We are pretty excited about the partnership we have formed with this group. FFJournal is a magazine devoted to the metal forming and fabricating industry. They have created a online channel that features videos on fabricators. It is some really interesting viewing, especially during these winter months. We are planning on working with the group in the early months of 2011 to produce a few episodes that show what goes into building a mini sprint. Be sure to check out their video channel at http://www.ffjtv.com/. Some of our postings during the Tulsa Shootout will be designed to help ffjtv.com viewers understand what a mini sprint is.
We'll be starting with regular posts to this site in the next day or so...stay tuned.
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Our car is almost done and ready to go to Tulsa
www.minisprintracer.com welcomes ffjtv.com along for the ride as we make our first appearance at the 22nd annual Tulsa Shootout. ffjtv.com is an online component of the nation’s premier magazine devoted to the forming and fabricating industry. The online channel features several episodes focused on turning metal into moving art and can be accessed at www.ffjtv.com.
The partnership for the Tulsa Shootout is in anticipation of episodes in 2011 focusing on the building of a mini sprint racing car. Bringing ffjtv.com viewers along for the ride provides an opportunity to introduce viewers to mini sprint racing and short track open wheel dirt track racing at one of the nation’s largest attended events.
An online diary of the trip featuring short text entries, photographs and video will be featured on www.minisprintracer.com or directly at tulsa.blogspot.com. The event takes place December 29th through January 1st with updates beginning immediately as we prepare for our trip. Just like the Tulsa Shootout, ffjtv.com is a great way for motor heads to kill the winter blues.
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