So here is an update to the events from last Saturday:  After consulting with NASCAR, and realizing that a make-up race would be very difficult to schedule, the officials have decided to count last week’s race as a race, even though it was only 5 laps long.  There is nothing in the tracks rules that defines the length of a race, i.e. a race does not have to run to the half-way point to be considered official.  But a race does have to run past half way to be official in NASCAR’s eyes.  Points for this race will count for the track championship standing but will not count in the national championship standings for NASCAR.  The payout for the race will be the same for all of the drivers: 3 tires for the next race on the 3/8 mile track.  So, last Saturday’s race will count, the winner was Natalie Sather who started outside of the front row and was leading when the caution came out.  Dan Moore was second, followed by Chris Preston, Jeff Knight, Tom Hughs, Naima Lang, Steve Ptacek and Fred Hall.

 

So what about the track?  On Sunday, Danni Johnson and her family, in-laws, cousins, etc. were digging up approximately 150 feet of the front stretch from turn 4 to the start/finish line.   Earlier this week, Lakeside Industries laid new asphalt along the front stretch.  Johnson Productions will be responsible for that bill.  After seeing all of the effort and expense that Johnson Productions have given to this problem, the Cascade Push-Truck Association has donated $500 to the track.  JZ Motorsports has donated $150 and has promised a $25 gift card from their store for anyone who donates more than $100.  Good job guys!!!

 

Add this to the “Never seen that before” list:  Last Saturday, our race was cancelled after 5 laps due to the track being un-race able.  Since the end of last season, the asphalt on the front stretch has been coming apart.  Holes will appear where chunks of the track start to come up.  Several times this season, the promoters of the track have paid to fix the holes and patch the bad areas.  But in a week or two, a new hole will develop.  This week, the track again started to break apart during the Street-Stock race.  The officials tried the best they could to repair the track before our race, but after we started racing, it became obvious that it wasn’t safe to continue the race.  Steve Ptacek had a huge chuck go through the grill of his car and through the radiator.  Fred Hall, who was racing for the first time this season in a beautiful new car had a chunk smash through the nose of his car.  And the flagman was getting bombarded with rocks each time we went by.  The whole front stretch need to be resurfaced.  But remember, the promoters lease the track; Snohomish County owns the track.  And Snohomish County has never repaved Evergreen Speedway.  The original asphalt has to be over 40 years old. 

 

Since the Super Late Model teams had paid their entry fees, practiced, scuffed the race tires, qualified and run 5 laps on them, we wanted to know what we were going to do about this race.  Are we going to make up this race?  And if so, will other teams be allowed to race?  How about we call this a race and award points based on qualifying?  What about the tires?  Will they be impounded for a potential make-up race?  If not, can we use them again if we chose?  These were all questions we had for the officials and the promoter.  After more than an hour of discussions,  it was decided that this would count as a race, points will be awarded based on qualifying, and the track will buy each team 3 new tires for the next race on the 3/8 track in lieu of prize money for this race.  All of this has to be approved by NASCAR, though.

 

The next question is about the track surface.  Will it be repaired?  Will it be repaved?  Who will pay for it?  The WWRA was scheduled to race on the track Sunday but racing was cancelled due to the track surface.  The section of track that is failing gets used more than any other.  It is part of the 3/8 mile track, the 5/8 mile track, the 1/5 mile track, the figure 8 track, and the 1/8 mile drag strip.  During the week, the county also uses it for training drivers of police cars and fire trucks. 

 

The next race for the Super Late Models is on the 5/8 track July 11^th.

 

So the points have been updated on the MyLaps website. For those of you who don’t know, all of the cars that race at Evergreen Speedway are required to have an electronic transponder. The transponder we have are just like the ones that NASCAR uses on the Cup, Nationwide and Truck series races. They are what allow the instant scoring to be displayed on your TV screen during the telecast. MyLaps.com is the website the racers use to see the scoring of our races. I’m not sure how it works, but the track must have to upload all of an events scoring information to the website since the MyLaps website wouldn’t know each track’s points system. Check out the MyLaps.com website and search Evergreen Speedway…there is some cool information as you dig your way through the site. But anyways, the standings listed to the right are up-to-date. Naima’s lead over Mugge is 15 points with Jeff 14 points behind Mugge. There is a 18 point gap back to fourth place Dan Moore, but I’m only 1 point behind Dan and Natalie is 8 points behind me.

This week at the shop, we concentrated our efforts underneath the car. If what we did works, I go into further detail later. If it doesn’t, lets just forget I mentioned it. So the outside of the car still looks a little rough from our contact during last weeks racing. The track’s website shows the Super Late Models running 75 laps this week. Remember, it’s mid-season championships. The other divisions racing this weekend are all scheduled to run 40 lap main events. See you at the track!!!

 

I like to update this site with the results of the races and the current point’s standings as soon as possible.   The web site for Evergreen Speedway list the finishing order of the Main event but does not show the results of the heat races.  And it seems like it takes a few days for the track to update the current points.  So I try to remember the finish of the races and do the math myself to come up with the current point standing.  But this week, I don’t remember the results of the heat race.  Also, it looks like the track has removed the blogs from its website.  This section of this web site served as the Super Late Model blog.  So for the 3 or 4 people who are still reading this, I will tailor this section more towards a personal blog.

 

We had 8 Super Late Models competing on Saturday.  My team asked the officials not to put all 8 cars in the heat race.  Instead, we suggested, run 2, four-car dashes.  They took a vote among the rest of the drivers…we lost.  The initial start of the heat race was waved off and we all slowed going down the back-stretch.  All but the 24 car of Rick Hagar.  Rick was out for the first time this year and doesn’t know that the yellow caution light in turn three is burned out.  So he was ball-to-the-wall until he launched off of my left rear tire.  I felt a bump, looked left and saw his right-front tire going by my window.  The rest of that race was a blur. 

 

I started 5^th in the main.  My plan was to hang out in the back of the pack and try to stay out of trouble.  But after a couple of cautions and a black flag, I was leading the race.  So much for hanging out in the back.  My car had very little forward bite coming off the corners and I finished 5th.  Usually, that means it’s time to change the locker springs in the rear-end.  But the springs that are in the locker are nearly brand new.  So, perhaps my car serving as a launch pad for Ricks aerobatics did some damage that we couldn’t find while inspecting the car after the heat race.  We will tear into this week.  But anyways, Naima Lang won his 3rd race in a row, Steve Ptacek edged Jeff Knight at the line for second place, Natalie Sather had a hell of a restart with just a few laps to go and moved from 6th to finish 4th, James Mugge was 6th (thanks to me blocking him for the final 2 laps), Dan Moore finished 7th and Rick Hagar finished 8th.

 

Next week marks the half-way point of the season.  Come join us for “Mid Season Championship” night.  (I have no idea what that means.)

 

Here are the results from the Double Header June 6th (Race #7 and #8).  Each race was 50 laps, not the 40 laps I said they were going to be.

Race #1
1. (00) Naima Lang
2. (34) James Mugge
3. (06) Steve Ptacek
4. (94) Natalie Sather
5. (16) Dan Moore
6. (48) Tom Hughs
7. (70) Jeff Knight

Race #2
1. (00) Naima Lang
2. (06) Steve Ptacek
3. (70) Jeff Knight
4. (34) James Mugge
5. (94) Natalie Sather
6. (16) Dan Moore
7. (48) Tom Hughs

 

Next Saturday at Evergreen Speedway is “Extreme Night.”   The Super Late Models do not race this weekend.  Our next race will be June 20^th on the 3/8 mile track. 

 

Here are the results from Saturday night’s race on the 5/8 track:

1. (4) Travis Bennett
2. (16) Daniel Moore
3. (00) Naima Lang
4. (70) Jeff Knight
5. (34) James Mugge
6. (5) Tom Moriarity
7. (48) Tom Hughs
8. (06) Steve Ptacek
9. (1) Rod Schultz Jr
10. (94) Natalie Sather
11. (36) Brian Cottrell
12. (95) Rod Schultz
13. (78) Joe Constance

Here are the highlights from last night:

-Travis Bennett comes over from Ellensburg and wins from the pole leading every lap in Darren Stordahl’s #4 car. 

-Shane Harding was scheduled to compete Saturday night but backed his car into the turn one wall during the first practice. 

-Joe Constance had a spectacular crash during the race when his car lost control coming out of turn 2 and hit a tire barrier while traveling backward, sending the car straight up into the air about 10 feet off the ground.  He landed on the side of the car with the roof resting against the inside wall.

-The race was shortened to 60 laps after the red flag to remove Joe and his car from track.

-The race ended on a Green-White-Checkered.  Naima Lang tried to wrestle the lead from Travis on the restart.  But instead allowed Dan Moore to edge him at the line for second place.

-I upset Steve Ptacek when I used my front bumper to move him in turn 2.  He let me know at the end of the night that he owes me one.  I’ll accept that.  For some reason, there is always one or two guys that you seem to race hard with.  Last year it was Dan Moore.  This year it seems to be Ptacek.  That’s racing…

Next up for the Super Late Models at Evergreen Speedway is a return to the 3/8 mile track next Saturday for a double-header.  That’s right; we will run two 40-lap main events.  Also racing this Saturday will be the Street Stocks, Mini-Stocks, Super Figure Eights and the Stinger Eights.

 

Here are the results from the May 16^th race.  It was the fifth race of the season and the first on the big 5/8 track at Evergreen Speedway.

 

#00 Naima Lang

#48 Tom Hughs

#34 James Mugge

#94 Natalie Sather

#28 Chris Preston

#4 Darrin Stordahl

#16 Dan Moore

#06 Steve Ptacek

#78 Joe Constance

#70 Jeff Knight

 

Jeff Knight was driving Chris Preston’s back-up car after Jeff’s car was destroyed in a wreck during the first practice of the day.  To read more about that, click here. 

 

With his win on Saturday, Naima Lang takes the points lead from James Mugge by one point.  The top 10 in points are listed to the right.

 

The next race for the Super Late Models will be back on the big track May 30^th.  Even though we don’t race during Memorial Day weekend, Evergreen Speedway has three days of action planned.  Included are monster trucks on Saturday and Sunday.  Also, Sunday will include hornets, youth hornets, school bus figure 8, boat races, rollover contest, demo derby and fireworks.  Monday will feature drag racing.

 

 

Next up for the Super Late Models at Evergreen Speedway is the first race of the year on the 5/8 mile track.  Also known as the “Big Track.”  The big track is more symmetrical than the 3/8 track and, even though the asphalt is old, it’s not as rough as the smaller track.  For those of you who are long-time NASCAR fans, the track looks and races just like the North Wilkesboro Speedway where NACAR held races from 1949 to 1996.  It has taken a long time for me to get used to running the larger track.  When you get out on the track for the first time, the front stretch looks more like a hallway with the walls on the outside and inside of the track.  You’re going so much faster and your first instinct is to lift as you turn into the corner, just like on the 3/8s.  But you have to really drive the car into the corner.  You have to treat it as a short track.  Throw the car in, slid the car out.  Turn, lift, touch the brake, and right back on the gas as soon as possible.  It’s that getting back-on-the-gas as soon as possible that is the key to going fast.  I’m not sure what other teams do, but we keep the same set-up from the 3/8s in the car.  Just change gears in the rear-end and go.

 

Have you noticed the point battle that is shaping up in the Super Late Models?  Only one point separates the top 2.  Only eight points separates the top 3, and only 31 points separates the top 6.  After 4 races, James Mugge has two wins, Naima has one, and Chris Preston has the other.  Jeff Knight wants a win so bad you can feel it.

 

Also running this weekend are the Hornets, Youth Hornets, Mini-Stocks, and the Renegade V-8.  See you Saturday.

 

Let me fill you in on the rest of the story.  When you do a project like this, there is always something you overlooked or didn’t plan for.  When we went to bleed the brakes, the rod that connects the brake pedal to the rear master cylinder was bent.  That happened when we hit the wall with my foot pushing on the brake pedal as hard as I could.  The next thing that had us scratching our head was when we went to put the drive shaft in and it wouldn’t fit.  For some reason, the car is about an inch shorter.  First we took the drive shaft from the #38 car and measured it.  Being 2 inches shorter than the one from the #48 car, it fit with plenty of clearance.  So I took the long one to Drivelines Northwest and had them shorten it.  Now with the shocks, springs and lead back in the car and the car set at ride height, we set our left side weight, the cross weight and the forward weight percentages.  We could get our left and cross weight, but the forward weight was over 1% too light.  So we had to get a little creative on the placement of some of the lead.  Then on Saturday morning, just as we hooked the trailer to Mike’s truck, the rear brakes in his truck failed.  So we ran down to NAPA, got some parts and did a quick brake job on his truck.

 

So with all of that fixed, the big question was: how will it do on the track?  We had a right rear tire go down in the first practice and used the second practice to scrub our race tires.  In qualifying, we timed in over a half second faster than last week, our fastest time this year.  During the heat race, we started fifth, were very loose coming out of the turns but managed to finish fourth.  Before the 40 lap main, we made 3 different changes to help the car carry more speed thru the middle of the turns and help control the rear end coming off the turns.  We started third in the main, led from lap 2 until 20 when a caution came out.  We have the car running well on long runs.  It takes a few laps to get the heat back in the tires on the restarts and we got passed by Naima on one restart and by Mugge on another.  We hung on for a third place finish, though.  Not bad…not bad at all.

 

Here are the results from the 4th race of the season run on May 9th:

 

00- Naima Lanf

34- James Mugge

48- Tom Hughs

94- Natalie Sather

78- Wade Gaughran

16- Dan Moore

70- Jeff Knight

52- Chad Bennett

06- Steve Ptacek

26- Michael Prudnick (DNS)

 

And the updated top 10 points standings are listed on the right-hand side of this page.

 

That’s it folks…The rebuild is finished.  Mike trimmed the hood and drilled the holes for the hood pins.  We covered the repaired areas of the hood with some black vinyl.  It looks great from 50 feet away.  No one in the stands will believe that the hood was folded in half just a few days ago.  Tracy DeYoung of deyounginc.com stopped by and replaced the graphics on the new front fenders.  It’s cool that Tracy includes installation when you buy the vinyl from him.  Most companies just hand you the cut vinyl and say good luck.  He can install it in less than half the time that we could and make it look 10 times better.  On Thursday, we will set the caster and camber, set the toe, bleed the brakes and mount the race tires for this weekend.

 

Again, I want to thank everyone involved in rebuilding this car: Mike Walker, Roger Habich, Jeff Knight, Fred Hall, Jayelene Hall, Trevor Hall, Tracy DeYoung, Jessie Jensen, Robert Osaki, Darren Hall, Jeremiah Weldon, Speedway Performance, deyounginc.com, and Joe’s Racing Products.  Thank You!!!  I‘d also like to thank my family and the families of the folks listed above.  Thank you for putting up with this obsession we call racing.

 

I didn’t bring my camera to the shop today, so I don’t have any new pictures.  Sorry.  But there really isn’t anything new to see on the outside of the car.  Mike and I built the air box that directs air from the opening in the nose of the car to the radiator.  We also made the close-out panel that connects the nose to the forward hood pin bar just under the hood.  We also changed the oil and added water to the engine.  We started it up and found a small hole in the lower radiator hose.  After a quick trip to the parts store for a new one, we fired it up again and all is well.  Our hood had major damage after the wreck.  The light-weight hoods for these cars are very expensive, so Darrin Hall did some fiberglass repair work for us.  He stopped by at the end of the night with the repaired hood.    

 

You know how goldfish eat? If there is food, they will keep eating and eating.  Mike is the same way when it comes to working on race cars. If there is work to do, he will just keep working and working.    Just like goldfish, I’m not sure that he actually sleeps.

 

 

After work today, I took a zigzag path north from Renton trying to pick up parts and supplies that we will need later in the week. I didn’t get to Jeff’s shop in Monroe until well after dinner time, and saw that the clip was welded to the main chassis and all of the upper bars were in place. Roger, Jeff and the rest of the crew did an amazing job. All I had to do was get the trailer hooked up so we could take the car home. With none of the front suspension on the car, we lowered the car off of the surface plate and onto a dolly and rolled the car into the trailer.  Mike towed the car back to our shop in Lake Stevens. Once there, Mike finished welding the upper bars and the bottom of the clip. He also located the upper shock mounts while I installed the steering rack so we could locate the bracket for the steering quickener. Mike routed the front brake line and welded the taps for the brake line fittings. I also located and installed the skid plate that goes under the engine. With that, we called it a night.

On Monday, Mike and I agreed that if we got the car back to our shop by Thursday night, we would be in good shape.  So now, with the quick turn around at Jeff's shop by Roger and his crew, we are a day ahead of schedule.  I can't thank Jeff, Roger, Mike and the rest of the guys for taking time away from their families to work on this car.  Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!