Hyper Tour
In the summer of 2007 my family and I went on a 7 week tour across the entire US to race at different tracks. It was an opportunity we were very blessed to have and could not have done it without the incredible employees. They work very hard and love their jobs. I must note that the week before we left on this trip was the PA Speedweek. Here are our notes from the trip.
Home Safe
There is no place like home. After being away for 7 weeks on the road, you appreciate the familiarity and your routine at home. We learned a lot about racing, ourselves, and our country. All of us should make a special attempt to help out of town racers. It makes racing a whole lot more fun when others are willing to become our friends. As a matter of fact I have learned that racing itself is no fun at all without the community that goes along with it. We must do all we can to help other racers and to not lose our tempers when things go wrong. If we make racing not fun for others, the sport will fall apart.
South Dakota
In South Dakota they race under the Bad Land Mini Sprint Association. I had to bolt on a stock 1998 F3 on gas to race. Special thanks to Bill Unglert for loaning me the F3. It ran great. We raced at Heartland Speedway on Saturday, a small 1/8 mile track. We won our heat, started 9th in the feature and brought home the win.
Sunday we raced at Black Hills Speedway a large 3/8 mile. Started 9th and finished 3rd.
While in South Dakota, we visited Crazy Horse and Mt. Rushmore. I also got to do a lot of bicycling in the awesome wilderness of the Black Hills.
California
Micro sprint racing in California is strong and competitive. One difference between PA and most of the rest of the country is that in PA we only have one 600cc class. Many other parts of the country have 4-5 600cc classes. They are Outlaw (fully modified engines), Stock, Non-wing, Restrictor, and Turf class. The 250cc two stroke class is non-existent where I have been. I am not sure where they all went because they were the main stay just 8 years ago. We have also seen a very competitive class of Junior Sprints. They run Briggs engines, and we saw kids as young as 8 competing .
Jeff Stelter and his wife Mary flew in from PA to be my crew for the weekend. They were a huge help. There is no way I could have raced without Jeff. I lost my sprocket nut Friday night and did not realize it until we rolled out of the trailer on Saturday. No one out here runs a Suzuki or Kawasaki so we had only one choice. We (Jeff) had to change the sprocket nut between cars (Stock class and Outlaw class). With two heat races in each class, Jeff had to change the nut 8 times, and it was hot out! (And the engine was hot too!) Then Jeff's flight got cancelled going home, they ended up not getting back to PA until Tuesday and had to miss two days of work.
Friday I raced at Plaza Park Raceway in Visalia, CA. This is a small 1/6 mile track in the middle of a golf course and city park. Lots of fans were in the grand stands. There were 32 cars in the Outlaw class, I finished last in my heat due to contact and my top wing falling down. I started 7th in the B main with 6 to qualify, 22 cars start the A main, 16 cars in the B. Third lap of the B I got spun from behind and t-boned by another car. With my car bent up I went to the rear and passed for 6th on the last lap. Started 22nd in A finished 9th in a non-stop feature.
Saturday I raced at Lemoore Speedway. This is a club run track. It is obvious when you are at a club run track, it takes many special people to run a non-profit volunteer run track. Everyone at the track was friendly, willing to help, and glad to see us. Stan Yockey was also helpful with driving and setup advise.
In the outlaw class, I had issues with my engine and did not race.
In the stock class, I ran an 06 GSXR which I must say ran very well. I started 9th in the feature and finished 5th. The track was racey and it was a lot of fun.
Side notes...
3 of the Arizona Hypers came out to CA to race with me again on both nights.
I now know why they call California the golden state. All the flats and hills have very few trees and the grass is dry, giving all the land a golden look. Water is not easy to find and an extensive network of canals provide irrigation for the crops. There are pockets where tons of grape fields and lettuce fields fill the area as far as you can see. The land by itself is not as useful like ours, but with the irrigation they can grow great crops. Did you know almost all of the US lettuce comes from CA?
I also know why California takes a hard stand on emissions and pollution control. When we drove into Los Angeles, (we went to Disney Land for Madison's birthday) we saw smog for the first time, and were shocked by it. New York is nothing when compared. But when we went to the Monterey/Big Sur area we got to see the most dramatic display of land meets ocean you will ever see. Driving down Route 1 from Monterey is the most scenic drive I have experienced. With water a precious commodity, pollution a major problem contrasted with the awesome geography, it is easy to see why the environment is a big issue.
Again I will say how hard it is to come to new tracks for a weekly race where people race ever week for years on end. Although I can adapt pretty quickly, one race is not quite enough to get an advantage. It takes until the feature to get the gearing, setup, and driving technique dialed in. By then I am too far behind. On a big race when I travel, there are several warm up sessions or a day of warm ups to get things figured out. Also the track conditions are different than on a weekly race so the locals are chasing setups along with the outsiders. Of course another intangible is the fact that my father (crew chief) is not with me. He has been a part of my racing forever (25 years). Racing without him and my biggest fan (my mother) there with me is like racing with an arm cut off.
We are currently in Durango, CO. The country here is very clean, crisp and adventurous. Seems everyone here is into playing hard (rafting, bicycling, rock climbing, roller blading, but no micro sprint racing). We are not racing this weekend but will be racing once again in the Black Hills of South Dakota next weekend. We have decided to not attend the POWRi race in Farmington, MO. The driving is extensive and my kids start school that Monday. I am always tired the day after a race and to try to drive 20 hours in one day to get back for school is just too risky.
Daniel Robinson is putting forth a great effort in the POWRi Series. He is currently sitting in 4th place in points, and he has not attended all of the races. Last we heard, Daniel was planning to have a go at a couple more POWRi races, we wish him the best. Check it out at www.powri.com.
Dean Roberson is the car owner and is a new Hyper Racing dealer. Dean and Dan make a great combination to provide setup help and information for the Indiana and Illinois area. Dan has been having great success in his new 2007 chassis and is turning a lot of heads.
Phoenix, AZ
Our between race travel included a stop to see the Petrified Forest and Painted Desert in Holbrook, AZ, and then the Grand Canyon in Williams, AZ. The Grand Canyon will take your breath away at its grandness. It's strange how the temperatures can drop 30 degrees just 2 hours north in Arizona. Also because of the lack of humidity (like 0%) there are very few bugs or mosquitoes that come out at night to fly around lights. The low humidity also makes 100 degrees feel like 80.
Saturday night we raced at Manzanita, Arizona. We have about 8 Hypers that race in Arizona, they have won 15 of the races this year. We also have lots of customers in this area that do not have our cars but buy lots of parts from us. They do not have a chassis builder within 400 miles of them.
Vonn Guilkey and his wife Patti hosted us at their home in Prescott Thursday night. Patti prepared a fantastic meal, and we shared a great time with new friends. On Friday we traveled to Dallas Quick's home in Anthem. Dallas and his wife Ruth Ann gave us a great welcome and tons of friends dropped by there as well to meet us and help eat the delicious food. Both guys went out of there way to let me work out of their garage and offered up anything they could to help out. Many of the local teams came over to join us. It was a lot of fun and allowed us to talk racing all night. This group of people really enjoy just hanging out with each other and made sure that we felt like part of their group.
The race track was in excellent shape and provided some great racing. I finished second in my heat and second in the feature. There were 32 cars. I found out the next day that my R6 had began to melt a piston. I spent most of the day Sunday changing engines (in air conditioning at Quick's house) back to the Kawasaki. We are allowed to run them in California but with a weight handicap.
The Showhauler is sandwiched between two clusters of giant redwoods right now at Big Sur, CA. The scenery here is incredible with the rocky cliff coast line, blue ocean water, and huge redwood trees. Another one of God's gifts to us.
Friday and Saturday we race at Visalia and Lemoore, CA.
Tulsa, OK
We were scheduled to race Will Rogers Speedway on Friday night but the race got rained out. I was disappointed as the track look real racey and real nice facilities.
Saturday we raced at Port City Raceway. Aaron and Beverly Lemmons are the owners, they greeted us with open arms. Very nice track, high banked and real small. Both of these tracks had cement pads at each pit space for the cars to be worked on, I have never seen that before, it made it real nice to work.
It was real strange going to these two tracks, especially Will Rogers. I did not know anyone there except Kevin Bayer and the Factor One crew who were great friends during our visit. At Port City Greg Gran and his driver Mike Ward is the only Hyper car there. With several good quality chassis builders in the area it is easy to understand why. We do have lots of customers there who buy parts from us, many of them stopped by to chat.
Many thanks go to Jeff Foster and Greg Gran for their hard work helping us at both tracks.
I ended up getting crashed out of both races, so not much luck on the small track. Manzanita Speedway in Phoenix, AZ is next, we do have lots of Hyper cars that race there.
Pittsfield, IL
Allen & Cathy Motley put on a heck of a $10,000 show. The track was a little slick on Friday, but they rebounded with one of the most awesome tracks on Saturday. This track is the fastest little track I have ever raced on. It is slightly smaller than Lanco yet we ran a tooth less on the back due to the high banking and high corner speed.
Heat: start 6 finish 5
Qualifier: start 1 finish 1
B Main: start 4 finish 1
Feature: start 13 finish 4
I actually was running second with one lap to go, when I mistook the white flag for a yellow. I had no idea the race was about over (50 laps) I was having so much fun. Yea, I know, just another excuse.
Keep Allen Motley in your prayers, we were told he went into the hospital Saturday night with sharp chest pains.
All three participants from PA made the A-main, Ryan Greth and Tyler DeVault were the other two.
92 cars were on hand, We were having fun all weekend long making new friends, handing out catalogs and talking business.
We are now at a campground in Oklahoma on the Grand Lake. We will try showing the kids how to fish tomorrow. I am mounting my 636 on a row boat as I write.