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2011 Season is almost here

4/26/2011

We are at the end of April and about five weeks away from the local race season opener. It's been another long off-season but we have been working hard to find some more speed in the car. The racing industry is always evolving and improving so if you just stick with what you got you are going to get freightrained by the competition. At the end of last season we were very impressed where we had got the car to for speed but we know that there is always room to improve.

At this point right now we don't have an official name for the car yet as we haven't secured a title sponsor but we are still looking and hope to have one soon. We have decided that for the 2011 season that we are going to change our paint scheme. We have run the same paint scheme for the last two years and thought we would change it up this season. It might be the first time since 2006 that the car won't be mostly white. I'm not going tell you what colors we are going with but it's going to be a pretty radical change. To get the first look at the car for the 2011 season we will be at the Man Show. It is on May 12th, 13th and 14th out a Credit Union Centre.

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Keystone Light 150-Season Finale

9/28/2010

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The Keystone Light 150 was our last race of the season and we had the car probably set up the best all year. It was a long day at the track for us with the gates opening at eight in the morning. In the first practice session we had the second fastest time, so we knew we were in the ballpark. In the second session we weren't as fast but the car was working well and we had put a lot of laps on the tires so we were happy. When it came time for qualifying we had the car dialed in pretty good as we qualified with a 14.5 which was good enough for fourth spot. In the heat race we started on the back row on the inside with the 24 car of Cameron Hayley on the outside. Within 5 laps we had worked our way to the front but the 24 followed us through the field and was able to make it past us at the end.

Going into the feature prior to the invert we were sitting fourth position. With Emond and Hayley taking the front row challenge that made us second. Then the dice roll from the flag tower brought out a seven putting us in the sixth starting position. Right from the drop of the green flag Trent was moving to the front, and within 20 laps had grabbed the lead. It wasn't until lap 70 or so that there was much pressure from behind. Cameron Hayley and Vangool were right behind on one of the restarts but once we hit traffic they would fall off. Shortly after lap 110 Trevor Emond made it around Vangool and Hayley and was right behind us. For the next 20 or so laps it was a neck and neck battle with the 17 of Emond, but with 11 laps to go the car got a little loose coming off turn two and made contact with Emond putting the car into a spin and bringing out the caution. With only 11 laps to go the just wasn't enough time to make it back to the front. We settled for with place finish.

When the smoke cleared and the dust settled we finished the season in the second position in the local WSSL standings behind Greg Vangool, and third in Dakota Dunes Casino WCSLMCS behind Trevor Emond in first and Greg Vangool in second.

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Bryce Mann Memorial

9/9/2010

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This past Saturday we had the pleasure of running in the Bryce Mann Memorial Race. The day started off great we unloaded the car and it was fast in practice but we still needed to make changes. Going into the night we really needed as many points as possible to catch Vangool for the points lead as we were 15 points behind him. In the first heat race we made our way up to the front fairly quickly and stayed there for the win, but with Vangool right behind us in second we only gained one point. In the second heat race we had to start at the back, and just like the first heat race we made our way up to the front to second place. After a five lap battle with Dave Bone for 1st place we made the pass. Right behind us though was the 24 car of Cameron Hayley. Within a lap or so he was able to sneak past us for the lead and we held on for second. Just to let you know that it was our first time racing with Cameron Hayley and he definitely lived up to the hype. For someone to only be fourteen and drive the way he did was quite impressive.

With Vangool finishing in fourth we were able to gain another two points on him. Going into the feature things were looking good, and with it being the Bryce Mann Memorial race the feature was going to be 75 laps. The feature started off great as we were making our way to the front and lap 29 we made slight contact with the 24 car with the right front and his left rear. Unfortunately that affected something on the front suspension of the car and it was falling off the pace. A caution came out at lap 49 as Vangool spun out all on his own (which was good for us as it put him behind us). Once the race got going the car started to come back to life and Trent was making a pass on Dave Bone, but just as he cleared him Vangool was on the bumper of Bone and coming out of turn 4 Vangool hit Bone, which in turn caused Dave to hit us which spun us and Bone. Once the cars were lining back up during the caution we couldn't understand why the race director didn't send Vangool to the back with us and Bone but she didn't. With ten laps to go we were only able to make it up to sixth. With Vangool finishing in second we lost the three points we had made up and lost another four points, leaving us with an 18 point deficit going into the final race on the 18th.

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TCU Financial 150 Recap

9/2/2010

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I'm going to try something for this blog entry so we'll see how it goes.

-Left the shop at 6:15
-arrived in Davidson for Breakfast at 8:00
-arrived at the track at 9:45 and unloaded
-practice started at 12:30 and we logged 85 laps and thrashed on the car the whole time. We were 4th fastest out of 14 cars.
-in between practice and qualifying we made a rear end gear change and a threw a fresh set of good years on and sent the car out for qualifying
-qualifying was at 5:15 and we were second fastest behind the 17 car of Trevor Emond
-in the first heat race we started at the back as they invert the field from qualifying
-the race was 20 laps and we made our way up to second but a last lap pass by Vangool put us to second.
- prior to the inversion for the feature we were lined up in the sixth spot, with an 11 being rolled our starting spot didn't really change much
-the race started around 8:30 and it was a clean start and stayed green for 40 laps which hasn't happened much this year. When the caution came it was a good thing as we were more than half a lap away from the leaders
-once the race got back underway we started picking cars off, which wasn't easy as Kings Park Speedway is extremely hard to pass at. By Lap 90 we were in third spot behind Emond and Vangool. After alot of attempts to pass Emond we finally made it by him at lap 130.
-for the last 20 laps we put strong pressure on Vangool for the lead but couldn't quite make the pass and had to hold on for second place.
-with the way this transpired in the points we didn't make up any ground on the Emond in first and Vangool in second. But with one race left and there possibly being a big field of cars to finish off the season, anything can happen still.
-this Saturday is the second last race of the year and there is a lot on the line in our local points in this race as it will be the last time to race against just the local Saskatoon cars. For us to gain ground on Vangool in first spot we are going to need to try and sweep all three races if we can.
-gates open at 5:00 and racing starts at 6:00.

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Cruise Night

8/25/2010

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This past Friday night race showed the effects on teams from the previous race six days prior. There was three teams missing that weren't able to get there cars done in such a quick turnaround, and the ones that were there still showed some damage from the last race. It was a good thing that there was only one caution in three races. That didn't mean that guys were letting up at all though.

In the first heat race we had to start at the back due to our DQ in the last local race. The car was working good and was fast but so was the 55 and 77 so we ended up with a third place finish. In the second heat race we got a second place finish behind the 14 of Glen Hertzke. In the feature race it started off a little dicey as early on in the race it was four wide going down the front straightaway with us on the very inside. By the time cars made into turn one the cars had sorted out and it was only two wide. By about lap 10 we had made it up to second place and had to chase down the 55 car for the lead, but the 77 wasn't far behind us. By lap 15 we were running side by side with Vangool. After a hard fought battle for ten laps he got the better of us and we had to settle for a third.

This Saturday we are heading down to Kings Park Speedway in Regina for the fourth race in the Dakota Dunes Western Canadian SLM Championship Series. We don't know what to expect down there as this will be the first time to this track with a crate motor, as well they have done some re-paving since Trent was last there in 2004. The last time he was down there he won the race so we are hoping for more of the same. Qualifying starts at 5:00pm and racing starts at 6:00pm.

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Not a Good Day

8/19/2010

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This past Saturday night was not a good race for the #70 LA Weight Loss Chevy Impala. The night started off good as we qualified 4th out of 20 cars and won the heat race starting from the seventh position. Before the feature we were lined up in the second position but with Trevor Emond taking the $1000.00 challenge to go to the back and the inversion being a twelve, so we started in the twelfth position. The race started off good and we were moving our way up through the field but on lap 35 there was a wreck on the back straightaway and unfortunately Trent was at the tail end of it. The car got some front end damage and knocked the toe out pretty good. We stayed out on the track and kept logging laps with left front fender rubbing on the tire the car wasn't very good. But after a caution the car started to come back to life and Trent started working his way through the field. We were sitting in fourth place and going for third when coming down the back straightaway on the inside of Jeff Riemer he turned down on us causing the right rear tire to blowout. Once the car came into pits we noticed that there was alot more damage than just a blown out tire. We sent the car back out but the night was over a few laps later when the caution came back out and saw that rear end was not pointing in the right direction. We ended up finishing in the 15th position with a DNF.

We have alot of work to do before the car hits the track this Friday but now we are back to local racing. This will be our third local race, with one more on September 4th. The gates open this Friday at 5:30pm and the green flag drops at 7:00pm.

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Blacksun Recap

8/11/2010

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It's been three weeks since our last race and we have had time to cool down from a disappointing 8th place finish in the Blacksun 150. The finish was not an indication of how good our car was that night. The #70 LA Weight Loss Chevy Impala was definitely a top three car with a great chance to win the race, but around the 50 lap mark of the race the rear of the car had a small fire and had to be put out by the safety crew. Once the car was back on the track it took a while for the speed to come back but in the last 50 laps we were back up to speed and charging through the field. Trent got the car all the way up to fourth position but because of a questionable call from the tower we were scored one lap down from an altercation with an official. So with that we settled for an eighth place finish.

This coming Saturday we will be running in the Propane Plus 150, which is the third stop for the Dakota Dunes Western Canadian SLM Championship Series. Going into the event we are sitting in third place with a thirteen point deficit to make up on leader Trevor Emond in 17 car. We are hoping with some of the changes that we have made from last race that we won't have any issues this time. This is a big race for us because the title sponsor of this race is Propane Plus Automotive. This is our crew chiefs business that he owns and operates. So we want to do extremely well for this event. Racing is this Saturday, the gates open at 4:30pm, with qualifying starting at 5:00pm and the green flag drops at 6:00pm.

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Upcoming Blacksun 150

7/20/2010

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The second race in the Dakota Dunes Western Canadian SLM Championship Series is the Blacksun 150. In the first race we had a pretty good showing with a top three finish, but we have room for improvement. For the first race we had 23 cars show up and for this one we are hoping to see around 20 or more. After the last race we didn't have much stuff to do to the car as it was running good and didn't sustain any body damage. So we will just tweak on some stuff that we have been working on to make the car a bit faster and a little more consistent. The race is this Saturday. The gates open at 4:30pm, qualifying is at 5:00pm and racing starts at 6:00pm.

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Dakota Dunes 150 Results

7/7/2010

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The Dakota Dunes 150 was a big success!! We had 23 cars show up for the day and we had 22 cars start the main event. In the first practice session we were the third quickest time but were still having some issues with fuel pressure. So we made some changes in between the two sessions and unfortunately it didn't help. In the second session we were 6th fastest, so we had some more work ahead of us. When it came time for qualifying we ended up in 5th place with a time of 14.745. It wasn't our beat qualifying effort but the track was greasy and we were only 2 tenths off the pole. Shortly after qualifying there was a slight rain delay and thankfully the clouds parted and we were able to get underway with only a short delay to dry the track.

In the heat race we started in 6th place and made quick work of the field to get up to the lead and held on for the win. The car was working great as we turned the fastest laps we have ever ran in that race. Before the inversion for the feature we were sitting on the pole from winning the odd heat race. When the dice were rolled to determine the inversion it was a 12 meaning we would start on the 6th row on the outside. To spice things up the top two qualifiers started at the back for an extra $500.00 if they won the race.

The race got underway and by lap 10 the first caution had come out and we had already made up four spots to 8th. By lap 20 we had made up another spot but not only the yellow flag come but there was a red flag. There had been a crash in turn with two cars but the worst was when the 07 went to miss the wreck he spun and drove up on the hood of 79 car, and then was hit by the 09 car that landed him on his roof. After the track was cleared we were in fourth place. As the race went on Trent picked off the next two positions to get up to second where we stayed all the way until lap 147 when the 17 of Trevor Emond was able to make it past us by giving us a little nudge coming out of turn 3 and we had to settle for 3rd.

It was a good points day for us as we were able to shrink our points deficit to 4 points out of first place from the 13 we were faced with going into the night. Our next race is the Blacksun 150 on July 24th.

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Inaugural Dakota Dunes WCSLMCS Race

6/22/2010

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We are only four days away the very first Dakota Dunes Casino Western Canadian Super Late Model Championship Series race. We are very excited and can't wait for this five race series to start. The winner of this series not only do they get the bragging rights of being the WCSLMCS Champion they also get a trip to Martinsville Virginia to watch the Nascar Sprint Cup race in October. So there is alot on the line. We are expecting upwards of 25 or more cars to show up for this event.

The one thing about these 150 lap races is that Trent has alot of experience in the longer races. These races not only count for points in the Dakota Dunes series but also count towards the WSSL local championship. With thirteen point deficit that we need to make up now it's going to be a tough uphill battle, with six races to go we should be able to do it. This Saturday qualifying starts at 5:00 pm and racing starts at 6:00pm. This is a must see race that you don’t want to miss.

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<<Previous

2011 Season is almost here

Keystone Light 150-Season Finale

Bryce Mann Memorial

TCU Financial 150 Recap

Cruise Night

Not a Good Day

Blacksun Recap

Upcoming Blacksun 150

Dakota Dunes 150 Results

Inaugural Dakota Dunes WCSLMCS Race

Matthew Stauffer

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