2010 News Archive

We took the car out one final time to Champion Park for practice Thursday night with the intention of getting the car to work on the bottom. After starting off the year so far behind the 8-Ball this video shows how much we have learned about the car and what adjustments to make mainly due to the efforts of crew chief Johnny Vaught - we can't wait until next year!!!! You can see the video on the video page!!!

It was a short field tonight at CPS with only 12 cars showing up to do battle on a super dry slick racetrack and for what would be the final race of the year. We were excited to try out the new shock extension for the left rear as a potential solution for more body roll in the corners. Ryan started 4th in heat race one and was able to take advantage of two cars getting together to move him up to a final finishing position of 2nd place which was our best of all the heat results all year. We moved the right side bars for the feature, pulled a rubber out of the right front and took some left rear bite out of the car for the feature. Ryan started 3rd and got really lose on lap one cutting across the infield and returning to the track in 8th position. We originally were thinking we could end up with a solid top five but the best he could do was work back up to a 6th place finish. The good news is that is the best finish of the year at Champion Park so we are very happy still. As always we thank God for a safe night of racing - its been a great year - thanks to Chevyland, Airaid, Pizza Hut, Pepsi, Autozone, Bells Towing and Omni Specilality Packaging!!

After a long and very hot 2010 racing season - the final Championship Points results were released today by Champion Park Speedway and we ended up the season in 16th place out of a total of 94 different modifieds that competed at CPS. We are VERY happy with the results especially when you consider that we ran at 4 different tracks during the season and only competed in a little more than half of the points races at CPS. Special thanks to Chevyland, Pizza Hut, Autozone, Pepsi, Airaid, Omni Special Packaging and Bells Towing & Recovery for your support.

There were 20 modifieds on hand tonight at Champion Park Speedway and the new shock / spring package made a huge difference in how the car performed on a "tacky-heavy" track with a lot of bite. Ryan had the best heat race of the year finishing 3rd behind the 02 BJ Robison and and the 21 of David Winslett which put him on the outside of row 4 (8th) for the Feature. The track surface conditions went through the typical CPS change and was dry slick by the time the Modifieds pulled on the track for their main event. We knew we were in trouble on the Green flag lap as the car was very bad tight and Ryan dropped back as far as 12th before finishing up in 10th fighting a push the whole time. The changes made over the past two weeks made the car very fast on the heavy track but killed the performance in the Feature - so a happy medium will have to be found. All in all it is a good night when you can load the car up without a scratch on it which we did. As always we give glory to God for a safe night of Racing - Thanks for checking in!!!!!

Well kind of........Long time family friends Greg and Bill Heron stopped off at the king of all dirt tracks "Eldora Speedway" for some World of Outlaws action and to to date is the "furtherest" a Humphrey Racing T-Shirt has made it outside of LA we think?? We have sent some out to many different states from our Ebay shirt sales, but this is the first "documented" case. Thanks Guys - and remember to keep those cards and letter coming LOL!!!!

Ryan was right when he exited the car saying that was the hardest 10th place finish he had ever worked for!! For the second week in a row over 22 Outlaw Modifieds were on hand in the super hot and humid summer weather to battle it out and as usual the car's performance in the heat race forced Ryan to start deep in the field (15th). Ryan had a great battle with Robert Miller and Billy Robinson for almost the whole Feature race and we were able to load the car up in one piece!!!! In other news it was another first for the Humphrey family as Ashlin (Ryans youngest sister) took to the track as a driver for the first time ever thanks to Brian Bell of Bells Towing and Recovery. Brian spent the whole night teaching Ashlin the finer points of driving a Factory Stock by having Ashlin ride with him in his races before turning the car over to Ashlin to drive in the Beginers Class - and the wild thing is that Brian was brave enough to ride shotgun in the car with Ashlin driving!! (LOL) Ashlin had a good night finishing 6th and on the lead lap of her heat race and coming in 10th or 11th in the Feature!!! Thanks Brian so much for helping make my little girls dream come true. And while we are thanking people - I want to thank Johnny Vaught who has helped us more than words can express - as he calls it "his science project" - I contribute the way the car is running now to Johnny and his years of experience and willingness to take on that "crazy 4 bar rear suspension". I also want to thank Amy Matthew (Ryan's Girlfriend) for all she does in filming every time Ryan is on the track and her help cleaning in both the shop and trailer!!! We also thank God for another safe night of racing!!!

8/15/2010 - FROM 22ND TO 8TH!!!!!
The weather and action was hot tonight at Champion Park Speedway with 23 Modifieds on hand to fight it out. As usual Ryan drew the highest number possible starting him 8th in the final heat race and that was were he finished fighting a very lose car all the way. The 8th place heat race finish put Ryan on the rear of the 23 car field for the A-Feature, but Ryan was able to race hard and clear his was to a 8th place finish. This is the third straight "Top 10" for the team and we thank God for a safe night!!!

We wanted to give a medical update on Ryan for those of you who have expressed concern. Background - Ryan has been dealing with abdominal pain for several weeks and the decision was made last Friday that a CT Scan and upper GI scope should be conducted to make sure there was not anything serious going on. God blessed us with the first half of the news Friday that he was free of any type of serious (tumor) blockage and that the symptons are a result of IBS. On Tuesday we received the rest of the story that the biopsy test results from his stomach was negative and that those symptoms could be treated with medication. We thank God for the answered prayer and thank you all of you who shared your concerns over the past few weeks!! We will be off this weekend as Ryan will be out of town. Thanks for checking in!

After coming off a great race in Many last weekend it was back to Champion Park to fight it out with 16 modifieds from the northern part of the Ark-LaTex. With temperatures over 100 degrees and no recent rain the team could tell the track was going to slick off early so some modifications were made to the chassis for the heat race. After the green fell it didn't take long to realize we went the wrong way finishing 4th in the heat after starting 3rd. We went back with what had been working and Ryan looked much better in the Feature moving from 12th to finish 9th. He should have gotten 6th or 7th, but the final gear (5:67) was not the gear to have in the car in this field! Sister Ashlin fnally got her shot on the track, however it was on the right side of the car in a Factory Stock. She wants a car, but Mom and Dad are still thinking on that one, but this gave her a feel for what it's like in racing conditions and she came off the track with a big smile - which is not good for Mom & Dad. She actually ended up riding shotgun for a heat race win tonight!! Not sure how she helped with the win, but we saw her hold up one finger to make sure the driver new only one more lap to go when the white flag came out. (LOL) We thank God as always for a fun and safe night - be sure and check back for more updates!!!

The team headed back to Sabine Motor Speedway tonight for only the second time in 2010 since Champion Park was closed this weeked and what a great night it was as 23 modifieds were on hand to fight it out. Ryan started on the pole for his heat race but ended up 4th as the car was a little off, but a shock, wedge and wheel offset change during intermission allowed Ryan to power forward from a 16th starting position to 5th in the Feature!!!! Special thanks to Johnny Vaught who has spent MANY hours in a hot shop over the past few weeks helping us get the car dialed in. We also want to thank Bubba Mitchell for letting us borrow a couple of shocks. Most especially we thank God for a safe and good night!!!! Next week it will be back to Champion Park as we continue to dial in the Chevyland/Autozone/Pepsi/Pizza Hut/OMNI/AIRAID modified.

Mother nature had different plans this weekend forcing Champion Park Speedway to call the program early Saturday afternoon after we worked all week swapping motor, springs and shocks. Its still up in the are as for wha tthe plans will be for this weekend with CPS closed. May be a good weekend for a road trip if we dont decide to race at Ark-La-Tex!

While Ryan is under doctor's care with some intestine issues, Johnny Vaught came over to the shop and helped "dad" install the "big" motor back into the car Tuesday night for this weekends racing action. This is the 377 that we had problems with the first race of the year at Texas Motor Speedway - it sounds good, but this block weighs a little more than a standard chevrolet block so we will have to make some major chassis adjustments Thursday night. We went ahead and moved the motor as far left in the car as we could get it and we may change up the right front spring. Our goal is to loosen the car up more on entry - we went the wrong way for the feature Saturday night. I want to thank Scott Burson with Scotts Cutom Art for the fine photo's taken at Champion Park Saturday night and which you can see up now on the site.

Saturday started early as the team was up at 6:30am packing a last few items before making the trip back home to Saline, La for the annual Watermelon Festival. Uncle Gene Humphrey let us use his ATV to pull the racecar in the parade while Ronnie and Janice lead the way in the vette (with the A/C). After spending most of the day in Saline visiting with friends and family - it was time to load up and head back north to Champion Park for a little modified racing action. This was the first time on the track after fixing the ignition problem and Ryan did the best he could with a car that was tight most of the night. A full field of modifieds were on hand and the tight condition only allowed a 6th place finish in the heat and a 15th place finish in the Feature. It was good to be a little more competitive and racing for position, but the car did not want to turn in 3 & 4 which cost us several positons at the checkers. Plans for this week include installation on the "big" motor and doing a little spring changing. Thanks for checking in.

We will return to the home front this weekend as Humphrey Racing takes part of the annual Saline Watermelon Festival this weekend in Saline Louisiana. It's been 2 years since we participated in the event, but we are looking forward to the fun and it looks like the weather is going to be a little cooler. We will have goodies from Chevyland to throw out during the parade as well as some gready candy!! After the activities in Saline are over the team will head back north to Champion Park Motor Speedway for a little racing action!! Hope to see you either in Saline or at CPS Saturday!!!

We have no hair left to pull out - after fighting chassis issues for the first few weeks - now a motor problem will not go away - Ryan could have easily had a high top 10 finish in a very tough field that included the Armstrongs, Robinsons, Washburns, Chris Hennigan etc. but instead the same engine miss would not go away - this is after the team went through the fuel system over the past 2 weeks incluing builing a better by-pass, new filter, fuel cell removal and cleaning. etc. We stayed after the races tonight and hot lapped the car looking for the problem. We installed the backup carburetor, 8 new spark plugs, re-set the engine timing, and did several on track fuel regulator adjustments none of which worked. So that means the problem is in the Distributor which will be in the shop first thing Monday Morning. It must have a module going out. It was amazing how good the car looked even at about 75% horsepower - Ryan was able to hang with the pack racing several cars and stay on the lead lap the whole time. This issue will be solved before next weekend!!!

After having 2 weeks off for a family reunion and the Chump Car Series race at Texas Motor Speedway last week, it back to our normal life with the modified at Champion Park Speedway this Saturday night. We have gone through the fuel system and hope to have the source of the high rpm engine skip fixed. Stop by and say hi this week at CPS!!! See you there!!!

Well after thinking we could do no better than 13th, out the blue sky the 12th place car fell out with about 2 hours left in the race. Team Shade Tree was 29 laps down from 12th position but at 2 minute lap times and 2 hours to go Ronnie went out for the final leg of the race and put the team in a solid final position of 12th!!!! The teams total laps ended up at a even 600 laps around the road course at TMS which works out to about 1200 miles with only one hour long break - WHAT A WEEKEND!!!! We pulled into Shreveport about 7:00PM tonight and we are some tired puppies!! Again there are no words to describe how busy this weekend was and how many different things went right. The car ran perfect and everyone was safe!! All the drivers (Gene Humphrey, Greg Heron, Scott Worn, Josh Worn, Michael Hudson, Ronnie Humphrey and Ryan Humphrey) did a great job. Machiel Hudson ended up with the fastest lap time of the weekend at 1.52 seconds. Ronnie was second fatest at 1.54 seconds. Pit support was supplied by Amy Mathew, Joe (?), Gail Humphrey, Janice Humphrey and Bill Heron. We could not have done it without you!!!

Ronnie Humphrey just finished up a 2 hour run as the laps close in on the finish of a hard and long race. We are officially in 13th position with a sizeable cushon on 14th, however it looks like 12th is out of our reach unless the #26 Ricky Bobby Wonder Bread car has trouble. Right now Josh Worn is back out on the track and Ronnie has requested that he gets to close out the last leg of the race that officially ends at 12:15pm cst. Everyone one is so excitied and the BMW has performed near perfect!!!

Michael Hudson has just replaced Ryan Humphrey behind the wheel and we are now in 15th - Ryan became only the second driver to complete a full 2 hour session. There are no words to describe how insane this is - I have been racing for 29 years and have never experienced anything like this - To push a car to its limits lap after lap and hour after hour - everyone up and down pit road is tired, wore out and can barely stand, some cars are having extended periods in the garage area - insanity is all I can say at this point - I am so tired I can hardly stay awake and then you have to get back in the car and race door to door at over 100 mile per hour - on a NASCAR oval track and road course in the dark - insanity pure insanity!!!! Would I ever do it again....not sure but I glad we were able to take part in the first ever 24 hour race ever held here at Texas Motor Speedway. We really want to finish this thing........

Gene Humphrey just took control of the wheel after a 2 hour driving period put in by Ronnie Humphrey. The Beamer continues to perform perfect even after 14 straight hours of pouding through the 2 mile road coarse of Texas Motor Speedway. The cooler night time air has helped out lower lap times with the cooler track temperatures. Stay tuned - we have come so far - we hope to go all the way now!!

6/19/2010 - 7:45 CHUMP CAR RACE UPDATE - UP TO 19TH!!!Yes we are very excitied to move into the 19th position since we are the only car here on high performance street tires and stock BMW suspension!!! The old man Ronnie Humphrey just ran the fastest time of the day with a 1:54 lap time at a average speed of 65mph and a top speed just under 115mph. We are about to enter into the night portion - things will now get very interesting!! Keep chacking back!! You can also follow the race live at www.chumpcar.com under the forum section - there you will fine real time racing updates from the reporter here on site (under the banner "just got home")!!

The Beamer continues to run perfect (knock on wood) - we have completed 7 of the 24 hours - several cars are having mechanical issues and tire wear is starting to show up our right side rubber. At the 4 hour mark we were in 24th position mainly due to us doing 7 driver changes in only 4 hours which cost a ton of track position but our goal was to make sure everyone got a chance to race and now we are on the second round for everyone however we are now staying in the car for minumum 1 hour stints. The BWM tops out at about 120 on the front chute and you can run 100 through the apron of turn one and two - The most fun section of the track is the "s" curves in the road coarse where we can run 80 mph!!! The factory ABS has saved us several times. We have a mandatory caution at 7pm for a 1 hour safety check - we will service the tires then and check everything out.

After a four hour trip this morning we pulled into Texas Motor Speedway at noon and went straight to work getting the "beamer" ready for tech inspection. The Chump car officials had originally said there would be 50 cars here at this race but by the end of the day - only 28 official entries made the pull here. We passed at the first attemp through tech inspection with only a couple of very small item that took less than 5 minutes to correct. Just being able to be at TMS and work in the Sprint Cup garage area is so cool. We had to attend a "new driver" class from 5-6pm for drivers with no previous road racing experience - they pretty must just explained all the different flags that the corner workers will use and the pit stop rules. The cool thing was our meeting was held in the infield media center and the a/c was on!!!! We added some camber to both front tires along with some other small items to the car - now we just have to see how long it runs tomorrow. We have a drivers meeting at 10am and the race starts at 11:00. I'll try to do some updates as we have time.

We did the final touches on the car today including a little exhaust system modification, fire extingusher mounting, roll bar padding etc. The only thing left to do is to slot the front suspension mounts for some camber on both front tires. We took it down I-49 for a little spin tonight and it ran good so its pretty much ready to load. We plan on heading out frist thing Friday morning so we can get into tech early in case there are any problems - but hey what could be wrong with a $500 car?? Our drivers school / meeting is at 6pm on Friday and the 24 hour race starts at 11:00am Saturday morning - should be just right at about 95-98 degrees by then LOL. See ya!

6/13/2010 A LITTLE FUN TEXAS STYLE
Uncle Gene Humphrey had scheduled a trip to the Texas Motor Speedway to take part in the Team Texas Driving school a few weeks back and due to a smaller class size Ronnie and Ryan were able to joing in on the fun Saturday morning. Gene was able to lap the high banks of Texas 20 different times while Ryan made 10 laps around the tri-oval. After it was all over it was a quick 5 hour trip back over to Weston La for a family reunion. The action returns next Saturday back at the Texas Motor Speeday for the Chump Car Series race. Looking forward to it.

After putting in several hours re-working the complete brake system on the car under the supervision of Johnny Vaught - the handling issues went away. We have been fighting a corner entry push with chassis adjustments while the problem was front end brake drag the whole time. The original bulder of the car had several things wrong on the front end however, tonight at Ark-La-Tex the car looked the best it has ever looked and Ryan was able to run anywhere on the track and was running lap time consistant with the other 30 cars there. We noticed a engine skip on the second time out and it started getting worse in the third session so we decieded to park the car until we determined where the high speed miss was coming from. We will take the fuel system apart on Saturday and look there first. Uncle Gene Humphrey also got the Dart motor delvered this week so - it will be installed as well!!!

Well we delivered the 325i over to Scott Worn's shop tonight so he can start servicing the car to get it ready for the big event on 6/19/2010. We have to install a master kill switch and some other small things like tranmisson cooler, change out the fluids etc. The car drives very well at speed and I can't wait to get it on the track. The Shade Tree Engineering team drivers for the Chump Car Series race will be Ronnie Humphrey, Ryan Humphrey, Gene Humphrey, Greg Heron, Scott Worn and Josh Worn. Team captain is Janice Humphre with support from Gail Humphrey and Amy Matthew.

Please keep the Goodman family in your prayers as they cope with the tragic loss of Donald as the result of a heat race accident at Monroe Motor Speedway Saturday night. Donald who started racing in 2008 was 42 years old and the father of 3 children. Donald also owned and operated Goodman Flying Service which was a crop dusting company operated out of Chase Louisisana - his racecar number "602" was the style plane he flew. It's hard to understand why these things happen but we must remeber that God is in control. Service will be this Friday at the Chase Basptist Church in Chase, La - may God bless his family during this difficult time.

Sorry.....should have said "Chump" car series. Yes for the first time in history Humphrey Racing (Dad) is going road racing but not on the level that Boris Said, etc. run......no this is the wild and crazy world of the Chump Car Series which stages races at the largest name race tracks across the country. The kicker is you have to have a $500 car (not including safety equipment), minimum of 4 team drivers and you race for 24 straight hours!!!!!! Johnny Vaught has a nephew (Daniel Vaught) that has been racing in the series and says it is actually the coolest thing he has ever done......so after reading up and seeing all the fun on You Tube - we wanted to try it (we had never heard of it until last Saturday - so to stay in true form - Ronnie finds a perfect $500.00 road racing car (1991 BMW 325I!!!!!) on Craiglist Thursday night, buys it Friday morning, strips it Satuday morning, and puts a cage in it Saturday night!! There are two different series; the Chump Car and the "24 Hours of Lemons" (Yes like the fruit). Both series have basically the same rules with the difference being the 24 Hours of Lemons races 2 different races on a given weekend and the Chump Car Series is a test of man and machine for 24 stright hours!!!!! We are trying to get the car ready for the June 19th race at Texas Motor Speedway which should be pretty easy since the car is left pretty much "stock". Be sure and check back for more updates on Team Shade Tree Engineering"

It was great having long time family friend Johnny Vaught turning the wrenches Saturday night at Champion Park Speedway. Also lending a hand was Late model stand out Casey Noonan from Sylvania, Ohio. Casey, who is a 2009 Late Model track champion and former Eldora feature winner is on a temporary assignment installing a piece of equipment at Libby Glass (Shreveport) which is where Johnny Vaught has been employed for many years. Im not sure how the two got together on racing, but it's been great having the two hang out at the track and at the shop during the week. Both were instrumental in solving the brake issues Monday night!! Thanks again guys!!!

We were still able to make it to the track after sister Alyson's graduation in time for Ryan to run his heat race, but with no hot laps the chassis set up for the night was a shot in the dark. Champion Park had the first dryslick track we have seen so far this year due to local temperatures being in the 90's this week. After having to start last (7th) in the heat due to missing the registration / sign in - Ryan was still able to end up forth at the checkers even though the car was off pace due to the slick track conditions. Major adjustments for the A-Feature including LR wheel offset, J Bar adjustment, wedge adjustment and removal of 20 pounds of lead on the LF Frame rail seemed to help but the car was still not as comfortable as needed on the dry track conditions. Then out of no where, both front brake calipers locked up ending the night early with a DNF. We were credited with a 12th place finish in the Feature. Not sure what is going on with the front brakes, but what we thought was fixed after the first race in Many has shown back up again - we will unload the car today after church and see what's going on. Thanks for checking in.

After being off for a couple of weeks we were able to go back over the car and boy did it ever make a difference tonight at Champion Park Speedway. Two weeks ago at CPS, the car was so far off we knew some drastic were in order and after doing a little research and making some major spring and weight distribution changes - the car was totally different tonight. There was a super fast field of 28 Outlaw Modifieds on hand tonight at CPS - all of which were fast-top quality cars. Ryan lined up 8th in the third heat which was full of some heavy hitters, but thanks to a much better handing car, Ryan was able to come home 5th and gain the final transfer spot just holding off the Mullins "X" car from Monroe at the line. Ryan was scheduled to start 15th in the A-Main, but we elected to start in the 20th position as the track was getting slick and we did not want to be in the middle of the pack not knowing the full impact of some intermission bar adjustment on the 4 Link. The adjustment we made were just what the car needed and all was going good with Ryan actually getting up to 11th before getting collected in someone else's wreck in 3&4 cutting down the right front tire and cutting a brake line. The good news is the car was much better and Ryan gained some much needed experience in the new Shaw!!! I must mention how great it was visiting with all the race fans who took part of the Champion Park Speedway Fan appreciation night!! Thanks for stopping by and saying Hi!!!.

The new 2010 Humphrey Racing T-Shirts will be available by next week. At this point we will mainly have sizes Lg and XL, but will have a few 2XL and mediums. Printed by Action T-Shirts in Dallas (who does the World of Outlaw shirts) the shirts feature the best in multi color and design art on the front and back. Introductory price of only $10.00 will put you in style!!! Email Ronnie at racerrwh@bellsouth.net or call 318-294-7316 to place your order!!

With the NHRA in Houston, we took the weekend off from circle track competition and headed south for a little 8,000 horse power drag racing action. Alyson and Ashlin have always wanted to meet Ashley and John Force and this was part of our mission for the weekend. Ronnie's mission was to talk to Pro Stock Driver and distant (very distant LOL) relative Ronnie Humphrey of Troy Humphrey Motorsports. It was a great weekend and the highlight being able to spend time with the Troy Humphrey Motorsports team and driver Ronnie Humphrey. Alyson and Ashlin actually got to sit in Ronnie's car directly after the second round of competition!! Ronnie is the brother in law of Pro Stock Champion Greg Anderson and Mr. Troy Humphrey actually had Greg come over and meet his "distant cousins". We really appreciate the time that they gave us - we can't wait to see them again at the Dallas NHRA event later in the year! We have several menu pages of pictures from the NHRA action this weekend - just click on NHRA at the top!!!!!!!

There was a full field of 20 modifieds on hand tonight at Many and even though Ryan's night was cut short due to a locked up right front brake caliper - the night was a success as the new Shaw chassis is by far the most superior car we have ever had. Ryan started 7th in his heat race and was able to progress forward to 4th when the checkers fell - then after electing to start 18 in the feature - he had moved up to as high as 12th when the right front brake caliper locked up, halting any additional forward progress. The bottom line is we love the Shaw Chassis and can't wait to get our big motor back. We have a little adjusting to do to free the car up and work out a tight condition but the car is very promising!!! Thanks for stopping by and checking in!

As is the case with all new high tech developmental concept vehicles - the project pit cart made his maiden voyage this week (at night in order to keep the project a top secret and away from the media (LOL) ACTUALLY - After getting an idea at this years Chili Bowl in Tulsa - the Humphrey Racing pit cart has roared to life. What started out as a snapper rear engine riding lawn mower - we now have a Honsnaper???? Built with the finest technology available from a 1982 Honda 3 wheeler, John Deere tractor rear axle and light weight aluminum racing wheels and slicks.....Ronnie now has a way to be even more lazy!!!!Check out the pit cart tab to see more pictures.

After finding out the problem with our main motor - we decided it would be best to go ahead and install the backup motor in order to give Gene plenty of time to get the other motor back together right. PTS has the damaged head right now and they are trying to figure out the best way to repair it which looks like the use of a brass rod is in order. The 355 will do fine until the 377 is ready. We plan on being at Chevyland next Saturday for our first public showing of the year for them (provided our decals make it in on time). Come by and say hi if you are riding around town next Saturday looking for something to do and why not buy a new Chevrolet while you're at it?? They have a great looking "black" turbo charged 2010 ZR1 Corvette for $121,000!!!

Well after months of dealing we are finally able to announce that Chevyland will join forces with AutoZone as a headline sponsor for the 2010 racing season. We are so excited to have them on board with us and look forward to working with the fine folks at Chevyland during the 2010 racing season. Stay tuned for some neat stuff we will be part of through out the year!!!

After a long cold night and day at Texas Motor Speedway and figthing motor troubles all week, the motor finally sent a message tonight that it is sick and needs internal help. We were sure we had it fixed last night after relpacing the intake gasket but the first time Ryan got on the gas the motor was off and dropping oil pressure was a sign that our weekend was over. 120 modifieds were here to fight it out for 22 starting spots,but the 15x modified will not be part of the action Saturday night.

Well the first night at the 2010 Dirt Track World Championships was a tough one - as the hole night was spent chasing a oil leak on the 15x modified - There are so many cars here you have to wait forever to get on the track to see if your problem has been fixed or not. At 10pm last night we determined that the problem was due to a intake gasket that the motor had sucked in causing oil to go directly into the number 6 cylinder of the motor. A local speed shop has a trailer here so we were able to get all the parts needed and refired the motor up at 11:30pm and installing new intake gaskets. The night was not much better for Trent Humphrey as he collected a car that spun in front of him at full speed. He and Douglas worked until 12am repairing body damage and rear suspension brackets. There are 200 cars here and qualifying is tonight however the weather may slow things down - reight now (1:12pm) its misty rain and about 40 degrees!! - Thanks for checking in.

Well the weather man sent a great day for practice at Champion Park Speedway today and we were happy to take advantage of it!! The Walkers had put a lot of work into the track to make it smooth, but the surface was full of small holes made by the roller packer which in turn made it very hard to get some bite. Over all the give the performace of the Shaw a passing grade, but the car was a hand full in the corners (Ronnie even took his turn behond the wheel and was scratching his head when he gout out). We did not have a good gear for the bottom of the track so the only place left to run was on the top and it was slick city up there! After fighting some brake issues, we found out we had a leaking brake line and that the master cylinders on the car had been installed backwards (by sizing) by the original car builder - so 2 new master cylinders will be installed before TMS next week! We came back to the shop tonight and put the car back on the scales and found that things had settled in the suspension some which was contributing to how the car was driving. But again we are happy overall and look forward to the new season.

Well after a cold day of working in the shop - the modified is back on its feet and ready to be scaled. Long time family friend and former La. State Champion Johnny Vaught came over and performed a perfect bearing grease job and used he many years of racing experience to set the hub bearing tension just right. A new rear "TMS Legal" rear spoiler and rear filler panel was installed today along with some additional work to the hauler. Plans at this point are to work stocking the trailer next week with spare parts and tires and be ready for pratice at Champion Park on 2/20. Then its on to Texas Motor Speedway on the 25th! Thanks for checking in!!