Hey all, Just wanted ot say a belated Merry Christmas to everyone. Nothing new to report on the racing front but from all indications there are things going on. Hopefully we will hear something from USAR soon. Until then all we can do is sit and wait.
I've been keeping myself busy, working at Kidd Tire, spending quality time with my family, setting personal goals for 2009 and doing my usual year end re-evaluation of my life. I like to spend this time quietly thinking about my life and where I stand in it. I have also thought a lot about what we were able to accomplish in 2008 with regards to racing and all that we left on the table.
I had high hopes for 2008 but reality quickly set in at South Boston in April. I thought we made good progress throughout the year. I am really proud of the way we ran in the three Championship races that we attempted. All said, I had a lot of fun this year and to be brutally honest, that is the only reason I race.
Hope everyone has a Great New Year-PLEASE BE SAFE....NO DRINKING AND DRIVING!
MK
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
A nice family picture here. Ryan really enjoyed the "big, big race". Lisa had fun watching me too. She probably overdid it a little, chasing Ryan all over the garage area. Ryan liked working on my car but he also wanted to check on his car (Brett Butler's 99 Verve Energy car) and Mommy's car (Tim Bainey's 00 Aaron's Dream Machine) far too often. In this picture he's pointing to Daddy's car during the drivers autograph session.
Here I am wading through traffic. Michael Ritch in the 28 used the top groove exclusively for much of the race. I tried the high groove but my car didnt like it. The further up the track I went, the worse the car turned. The bottom groove was the best for me. Another observation here, the 06 of Bobby Gill surprised me. He wasn't very fast and seemingly struggled all day. I was expecting him to be very strong. He usually excels at the faster tracks on the circuit.Rockingham Rocks!
The USAR Hooters Pro-Cup Series held their final race of 2008, Saturday at Rockingham Speedwayin Rockingham, North Carolina. I had a lot on the line, I knew I needed to finish 23rd in order to place 30th in the points and take home some season ending cash. I was also nervous about racing at The Rock. Keep in mind that our series is a short track series. We usually race on half-mile bullrings and until Saturday, had never raced at anything over a mile in length. I was nervous because, quite honestly, I wasn't sure if I could handle racing at a fast track like Rockingham. Several teams had Data Acquisition on their cars for the open test and reported that they were hitting 170 at the end of the front stretch. I was apprehensive to say the least.
The weekend was a bit different than a usual weekend for us, with practice and qualifying held on Friday and the race on Saturday. I was a bit worried because our crew chief/consultant, Robert Huffman, was in Texas helping a Nationwide team and not at Rockingham helping us. Robert and I have developed a great chemistry and I was nervous not having him there. He had arranged for Shane Huffman, a former series champ and crew member of the 81 Knights Racing team, to be there in his place. Shane jumped right in and worked with my team well. We were only able to get an hours worth of practice for various reasons. That wasnt a lot of time for me to get used to the track and to fine tune our setup, but that was what we had.
I'm proud to say that I got comfortable with the track, the speeds and the line easily. Our car was tight during practice. We were only able to make a couple of changes during the hour that we had so Shane and I came up with a game plan after practice. We changed the sway bar, front shocks, rear track bar and front camber to help the car turn better. Shane was confident in the changes and so was I. We had a mid-pack draw for qualifying and before it was my turn to go, Shane gave me some last minute instructions. Thanks to his advice and the last minute changes, I was able to qualify the car in 17th place with a time of 24.608 at about 147 mph. We picked up .7ths of a second from our practice time, so obviously I was ecstatic.
For race day, Shane had to go help the 81 car and their quest for the championship. Brandon Ward, last seasons Rookie of the Year, showed up at Roberts request to help me call the race. Brandon was great help and I appreciate all that he did for me. The race for me was a typical Michael Kidd race, steady and smooth. I was able to race hard when it counted and take care of the car to get it home for the finish. We ended up 12th. Had it not been for some trouble in the pits (a faulty regulator was severely hampering our pit stops) we would have finished in the top 10 easily. I thought we should have finished 6th or 7th.
I'm really happy with the 12th though. Going into the race weekend I was nervous and apprehensive. At the conclusion, I am proud and happy of our accomplishments. I surprised myself and I really feel like I accomplished something great by pushing myself past my comfort zone. I have much more confidence in my abilities and most importantly, I had the most fun that I have ever had since I first started driving race cars. Rockingham Rocks indeed!
The weekend was a bit different than a usual weekend for us, with practice and qualifying held on Friday and the race on Saturday. I was a bit worried because our crew chief/consultant, Robert Huffman, was in Texas helping a Nationwide team and not at Rockingham helping us. Robert and I have developed a great chemistry and I was nervous not having him there. He had arranged for Shane Huffman, a former series champ and crew member of the 81 Knights Racing team, to be there in his place. Shane jumped right in and worked with my team well. We were only able to get an hours worth of practice for various reasons. That wasnt a lot of time for me to get used to the track and to fine tune our setup, but that was what we had.
I'm proud to say that I got comfortable with the track, the speeds and the line easily. Our car was tight during practice. We were only able to make a couple of changes during the hour that we had so Shane and I came up with a game plan after practice. We changed the sway bar, front shocks, rear track bar and front camber to help the car turn better. Shane was confident in the changes and so was I. We had a mid-pack draw for qualifying and before it was my turn to go, Shane gave me some last minute instructions. Thanks to his advice and the last minute changes, I was able to qualify the car in 17th place with a time of 24.608 at about 147 mph. We picked up .7ths of a second from our practice time, so obviously I was ecstatic.
For race day, Shane had to go help the 81 car and their quest for the championship. Brandon Ward, last seasons Rookie of the Year, showed up at Roberts request to help me call the race. Brandon was great help and I appreciate all that he did for me. The race for me was a typical Michael Kidd race, steady and smooth. I was able to race hard when it counted and take care of the car to get it home for the finish. We ended up 12th. Had it not been for some trouble in the pits (a faulty regulator was severely hampering our pit stops) we would have finished in the top 10 easily. I thought we should have finished 6th or 7th.
I'm really happy with the 12th though. Going into the race weekend I was nervous and apprehensive. At the conclusion, I am proud and happy of our accomplishments. I surprised myself and I really feel like I accomplished something great by pushing myself past my comfort zone. I have much more confidence in my abilities and most importantly, I had the most fun that I have ever had since I first started driving race cars. Rockingham Rocks indeed!
Friday, October 24, 2008
Here I am passing the 02 of Coulter. I think I passed him 3 or 4 times this day. He had the last laugh though and passed me for 13th on the final lap. I tried to fight him off on the green-white-checker restart but my Chevy was too tight on corner exit and allowed him to turn under me and get the position.
Robert, Ryan and I checking out the car. I've got a goofy look on my face for some reason, but I like the picture. Robert is a former NASCAR driver that has taken up crew chiefing in our series. He's been helping me out for a couple of races now. He's really smart and talented. Ryan was at the race and spent some time in the pits on Friday and Sunday. He had a blast. He would pick up a wrench and start working on the car so Daddy would win. I love the fact that USAR allows children in the pits. It makes for a great family atmosphere. I know I have more of a spring in my step when Lisa and Ryan are there.
Monday, October 20, 2008
14th place at Southern National
Hey all-I had a great time racing at Southern National this weekend. This weekend was my first time racing there. Everyone told me it was a lot like Motor Mile Speedway, only a little faster. They were right. To get familiar with it and enhance our chances of victory, we participated in an open test on Friday. The test went well-Robert Huffman, Mike Compton and the rest of the guys were on top of their game with adjustments to the car. I had a little bit of rust that I had to work off, so the test day was beneficial. At the end of the test, I was very happy with the car.
Saturday came and the day got off to an ominous start. The weather didnt look so good with unseasonably cold temperatures and a very low ceiling, with dark, heavy cloud cover. We were able to get our 2 hours of practice in. Robert and I worked to get the car comfortable for the long run and to get as much forward drive in it as possible. We were reasonably successful and at the end of the session we were ranked 20th. Had it not been for a little bit of traffic, we would have run a faster lap. Robert and I believed that we had a top 15 car and we were eagerly anticipating qualifying.
Rain started to fall shortly after practice concluded but after waiting around and making a valiant but futile attempt to dry the track, the race was postponed to Sunday. It still puzzles me as to why we screwed around in the wet and cold conditions for so long. Anyone with any common sense could see that the track wasnt fit for racing, nor would it have been able to have been worked in. If I had been in charge, the race would have been postponed a good 2 hours before they called it. From a promotor standpoint, the conditions Saturday night was going to be brutal to the front gate (fans). Why take the beating? I'd be willing to gamble that with favorable weather forcasted for Sunday, the front gate would off-set the payroll for another day. In this case, a promotor is going to lose his shirt either way, so why do it cold and wet?
The right decision was finally made and we all showed up Sunday to clear, sunny skies. The field was to be set by points which placed us in 33rd spot. Honestly, I was a bit nervous, really the most nervous I had been in quite some time at the race track because I don't like starting that far back with a fast race car. Too many slower cars are in front of you and not everyone shows the type of patience needed. This was proven again on Sunday, with a wreck on the very first lap. Fortunately I was able to avoid it. The race was restarted and we were able to get a clean start. Somewhere around lap 20 we had our first "official" caution. I came to the pits for left side tires and the team did a great job getting us off pit road in a hurry. We didn't gain any spots, but just as important, we didnt lose any. As to our plan, that was to be our only visit to pit road.
Our car was handling well, a little loose on exit for the first 50 laps. I was able to manage the loose condition and was hoping as the fuel load burned off that the car would tighten up. I was able to set a pretty good pace and drive as aggressive as I have driven in the Hooters Pro-Cup series. After lap 50, I started losing the brake pedal. The brakes would fade away, to compensate I had to move the car up the track and use a higher line. Cautions through the middle and latter portions of the race would save us as they would cool off and allow the brake pedal come back to me a bit. The weird thing was that when they would come back, they would be erratic. No two corners would be the same, as in one corner the rear brakes would work and the next corner I would only have front brakes. Sometimes I would have very little brakes in one corner and in the next corner the car would stop on a dime. It seems to point to a master cylinder failing but we will see.
As I said, the numerous cautions was helping us out, but the car mysteriously started getting tight in the center of the corner and tight on exit. The front end of the car was bouncing on entry and acting really weird. I was suspecting a shock was going bad until after the race when we found that a front bump stop we were using had melted away. I was hoping to advance our position in the last 30 laps, but I just couldnt get the car to do what I wanted. I had to settle for 14th spot, which considering we started so deep in the field, wasnt too shabby.
Overall, it was a good day and good weekend for our team. We brought the car home in one piece, with a 14th place finish and with everyone in good spirits. The team worked hard, endured the elements and kept a great attitude throughout. I couldnt be more proud of them.
We now get to look forward to Rockingham and that challenge.
Saturday came and the day got off to an ominous start. The weather didnt look so good with unseasonably cold temperatures and a very low ceiling, with dark, heavy cloud cover. We were able to get our 2 hours of practice in. Robert and I worked to get the car comfortable for the long run and to get as much forward drive in it as possible. We were reasonably successful and at the end of the session we were ranked 20th. Had it not been for a little bit of traffic, we would have run a faster lap. Robert and I believed that we had a top 15 car and we were eagerly anticipating qualifying.
Rain started to fall shortly after practice concluded but after waiting around and making a valiant but futile attempt to dry the track, the race was postponed to Sunday. It still puzzles me as to why we screwed around in the wet and cold conditions for so long. Anyone with any common sense could see that the track wasnt fit for racing, nor would it have been able to have been worked in. If I had been in charge, the race would have been postponed a good 2 hours before they called it. From a promotor standpoint, the conditions Saturday night was going to be brutal to the front gate (fans). Why take the beating? I'd be willing to gamble that with favorable weather forcasted for Sunday, the front gate would off-set the payroll for another day. In this case, a promotor is going to lose his shirt either way, so why do it cold and wet?
The right decision was finally made and we all showed up Sunday to clear, sunny skies. The field was to be set by points which placed us in 33rd spot. Honestly, I was a bit nervous, really the most nervous I had been in quite some time at the race track because I don't like starting that far back with a fast race car. Too many slower cars are in front of you and not everyone shows the type of patience needed. This was proven again on Sunday, with a wreck on the very first lap. Fortunately I was able to avoid it. The race was restarted and we were able to get a clean start. Somewhere around lap 20 we had our first "official" caution. I came to the pits for left side tires and the team did a great job getting us off pit road in a hurry. We didn't gain any spots, but just as important, we didnt lose any. As to our plan, that was to be our only visit to pit road.
Our car was handling well, a little loose on exit for the first 50 laps. I was able to manage the loose condition and was hoping as the fuel load burned off that the car would tighten up. I was able to set a pretty good pace and drive as aggressive as I have driven in the Hooters Pro-Cup series. After lap 50, I started losing the brake pedal. The brakes would fade away, to compensate I had to move the car up the track and use a higher line. Cautions through the middle and latter portions of the race would save us as they would cool off and allow the brake pedal come back to me a bit. The weird thing was that when they would come back, they would be erratic. No two corners would be the same, as in one corner the rear brakes would work and the next corner I would only have front brakes. Sometimes I would have very little brakes in one corner and in the next corner the car would stop on a dime. It seems to point to a master cylinder failing but we will see.
As I said, the numerous cautions was helping us out, but the car mysteriously started getting tight in the center of the corner and tight on exit. The front end of the car was bouncing on entry and acting really weird. I was suspecting a shock was going bad until after the race when we found that a front bump stop we were using had melted away. I was hoping to advance our position in the last 30 laps, but I just couldnt get the car to do what I wanted. I had to settle for 14th spot, which considering we started so deep in the field, wasnt too shabby.
Overall, it was a good day and good weekend for our team. We brought the car home in one piece, with a 14th place finish and with everyone in good spirits. The team worked hard, endured the elements and kept a great attitude throughout. I couldnt be more proud of them.
We now get to look forward to Rockingham and that challenge.
Thursday, October 9, 2008
So what happens now?
Hey all-Just wanted to comment on the recent news of Hooters dropping out of our series. It's really sad for our series. Looking back, when Mr. Brooks passed away, we should have known this was coming. USAR Hooters Pro-Cup racing was his baby and a dream that he alone had-a dream not supported by any of the remaining family members.
So what's next? I'm not sure but I hope someone steps in to take over title sponsorship of the series. Rumor has it that Sears will be stepping in and sponsoring it with their "Craftsman" brand. I have also heard that Aaron's may take it over as well. With the current economic conditions, it's really hard to say how this will play out. There's even the chance that the series could shut down after our race at Rockingham.
I hope not. I don't have a crystal ball with this and wished I had more information. I'm sitting on a large investment in equipment that I may not be able to use in another series. There aren't many other series out there running our types of chassis and no one is running our engine configuration.
I honestly believe that someone will take it over. The series is too good to let die. If the right company would take over the title sponsorship, and the right people are at the helm-the series could grow into something bigger and better than it already is. Change is a funny and scary thing sometimes. Let's all pray that this change is for the better.
MK
So what's next? I'm not sure but I hope someone steps in to take over title sponsorship of the series. Rumor has it that Sears will be stepping in and sponsoring it with their "Craftsman" brand. I have also heard that Aaron's may take it over as well. With the current economic conditions, it's really hard to say how this will play out. There's even the chance that the series could shut down after our race at Rockingham.
I hope not. I don't have a crystal ball with this and wished I had more information. I'm sitting on a large investment in equipment that I may not be able to use in another series. There aren't many other series out there running our types of chassis and no one is running our engine configuration.
I honestly believe that someone will take it over. The series is too good to let die. If the right company would take over the title sponsorship, and the right people are at the helm-the series could grow into something bigger and better than it already is. Change is a funny and scary thing sometimes. Let's all pray that this change is for the better.
MK
Monday, September 22, 2008
My 2 cents on the 09 Schedule....
Hey all...I was talking to a friend about racing and the 09 schedule came up. Now, I know nobody at USAR really cares what I think (I dont mean that rudely either-they have other concerns when they make the schedule and thats ok by me) but here's what I think.
NORTH
NORTH
Race 1-South Boston
Race 2-Lonesome Pine Raceway
Race 3-Mansfield Motorsports Park
Race 4-Salem Speedway
Race 5-Jennerstown Speedway
Race 6-Motor Mile Speedway
Race 7-Old Dominion Speedway
Race 8-Bristol (COMBO)
South
Race 1-South Georgia Motorsports Park
Race 2-Greenville-Pickens
Race 3-Concord Motorsports Park
Race 4-Hickory Speedway
Race 5-Southern National (Kenly)
Race 6-Caraway Speedway
Race 7-Myrtle Beach
Race 8-Bristol (combo)
CHAMPIONSHIP
Race 1-Mansfield or Jennerstown
Race 2-Southern National or Hickory
Race 3-South Boston or Motor Mile
Race 4-Myrtle Beach
Alright, each division would have 4 half milers with 4 bullrings intertwined within. I would start the season in late March and finish up in October. The Northern Division would hit some familiar tracks plus add Lonesome Pine and Old Dominion Speedway. The South would pick up Greenville Pickens and Caraway. Bristol would close out the regular season in a combo race to crown our champions at the mecca of short track racing. The Championship races would feature 2 half-milers and 2 bullrings that would offer a fair test to determine our overall champion. The races should rotate year from year between Mansfield and Jennerstown (both are worthy), Southern National and Hickory, and South Boston and Motor Mile. Myrtle Beach should always end our season.
I honestly don't think we should be traveling to Iowa and Wisconsin. Both trips are expensive (fuel and travel costs are killer right now) and outside our market area. I may be proven wrong but Rockingham, as cool as it will be to race there, is probably too large of a track for our cars. I think the seperation between the big budget teams and the smaller teams will be exagerated there.
I believe that the economy will be the final determining factor for the 09 schedule. How many tracks turned a profit this year or are financially healthy enough to continue to operate? Lakeland is already off of the schedule and I'm sure (based on a hunch, no hard facts) that contracts with Milwaukee Mile and Rockingham have already been signed. It looks like the future of our series is migrating towards bigger and faster tracks. Is that good? My bet is no, but it could be our only choice.
MK
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Probably my favorite picture from the season. Ryan and I were sharing a moment before the South Boston pre-race ceremonies when Kathy Bond from USAR captured this photo. Ryan was eating a bag of chips, asking me questions about the cars. He's really smart for a 2 year old and asks the most inteligent questions. Thank God he takes after his mother!!
Hey all-I'm sorry I've been MIA for the past couple months. What's going on you ask? Just been busy and haven't had time to post anything. So here's the absolute latest-we are not going to Iowa this weekend-dont have enough cashola to go out there. It is a LONG HAUL from Tazewell to Newton, Iowa. When you go that far-the checkbook needs to be healthy. Honestly, I'm not sure (other than contractual obligations) why we even race out there. Sure, everyone says that it is a super facility but there are plenty of nice race tracks that are much closer.
I guess I better give a quick recap as to how our season's been since Salem. We struggled with brake problems at Motor Mile, had a really solid run at Jennerstown finishing around 15th or so, ran second at South Boston until a knot-head took us out, had to skip Bristol due to having too many torn up race cars and nothing in one piece to take, and finally went to Mansfield and ran really well before having a problem with the ignition system with 50 laps to go.
All in all, I'm pleased with how the year's went. We have had a lot of fun racing this year-the Pro-Cup series is a great series to be a part of. The best way to describe it to those of you who don't race is that it's kinda like Cheers (yeah, random 80's reference there)...everyone knows your name and its a great family atmosphere, the officials treat us well, the fans are awesome and the on track racing is competitive.
I've learned a lot this year. I've learned a lot about the newest setup tricks (bump stops, coil binding, etc) but most importantly I've learned a lot about what I need to feel in the racecar to make it fast. The "light-bulb" started to come on in Jennerstown and it went full-on bright in Mansfield. I've also learned the importance of testing. Testing is, without doubt, the most important thing a team can do to be successful. You can do all of the "computer simulation" and all of the "homework" you want at the shop, but if you dont get to the track and put the "rubber to the road" then all you're doing is "spinning your wheels" (literally!)
Our plans for the remainder of the season are to skip Iowa and race for the wins at Kenly (Southern National Speedway) and Rockingham. We have a vigorous testing program in place for the remainder of the season, with tests tenatively planned for Motor Mile, Kenly and Rockingham, with a possibility of a test at good 'ole Lonesome Pine.
'till next time-(hopefully not as long as last time!)
MK
I guess I better give a quick recap as to how our season's been since Salem. We struggled with brake problems at Motor Mile, had a really solid run at Jennerstown finishing around 15th or so, ran second at South Boston until a knot-head took us out, had to skip Bristol due to having too many torn up race cars and nothing in one piece to take, and finally went to Mansfield and ran really well before having a problem with the ignition system with 50 laps to go.
All in all, I'm pleased with how the year's went. We have had a lot of fun racing this year-the Pro-Cup series is a great series to be a part of. The best way to describe it to those of you who don't race is that it's kinda like Cheers (yeah, random 80's reference there)...everyone knows your name and its a great family atmosphere, the officials treat us well, the fans are awesome and the on track racing is competitive.
I've learned a lot this year. I've learned a lot about the newest setup tricks (bump stops, coil binding, etc) but most importantly I've learned a lot about what I need to feel in the racecar to make it fast. The "light-bulb" started to come on in Jennerstown and it went full-on bright in Mansfield. I've also learned the importance of testing. Testing is, without doubt, the most important thing a team can do to be successful. You can do all of the "computer simulation" and all of the "homework" you want at the shop, but if you dont get to the track and put the "rubber to the road" then all you're doing is "spinning your wheels" (literally!)
Our plans for the remainder of the season are to skip Iowa and race for the wins at Kenly (Southern National Speedway) and Rockingham. We have a vigorous testing program in place for the remainder of the season, with tests tenatively planned for Motor Mile, Kenly and Rockingham, with a possibility of a test at good 'ole Lonesome Pine.
'till next time-(hopefully not as long as last time!)
MK
Monday, June 30, 2008
Struggle at Salem, Still get 12th
Hey everybody. I'm sorry I missed giving you a preview of the Salem Race. I've been awful busy and with it being vacation season at Kidd Tire it doesnt look like I'm going to get a break anytime soon. I'm not here to moan about "work" stuff, but if you dont mind I'll tell you about our race at Salem.
Our day started out easy as we were able to unload and get in line for tech really quick. Our crew, Jason, Josh, Chris, Joe, Mike, and HM really hustled and got everything set up in record time. I baby sat the car in the tech line with Joe. We sailed through tech inspection (first time all year without any major violations!) Our rear spoiler was a bit too high, as I had the rear ride heights up a bit. I had them up so we wouldn't bottom out the exhaust during practice. I ended up being able to bring them down during practice so the officials were happy with us when we went through pre-qualifying tech.
Practice was eh-so so. I know that's real descriptive, but hey what can I say. It was what it was. It took me a good part of practice to get comfortable running 8 inches off the wall. After I got "comfy" we were able to start tuning the car and we went up the practice sheet quickly. The car was a bit on the tight side, and something that was puzzling to me was that I still had a bit of steering input in it on corner exit, but more on that later.
I qualified the car 16th. Now, I know that sounds good, but in reality with only 24 cars taking time, it really sucked. The problem? I just got lazy in qualifying. Plain and Simple, I took turn 1 & 2 off and was concetrating on 3 & 4 too much. Had I put a whole lap together-we would have been a little closer to the front, but as the race would play out for us, it really wouldnt have mattered much.
The race started, and we held our own on the start. I wasn't as conservative on the start as I was at Mansfield and we ran well for the first several laps. Thirty laps or so into the race though, the car picked up a bad push on corner exit. I drove through it for a bit, thinking that a caution would be coming any lap. After a while though I had to change my line and start searching for a better way around the track. I tried diamonding the corner, that is driving in hard and low, letting the car drift in the center and then turning it hard left and coming off low. I tried late apexing with no success. I tried the high line and the low line, nothing worked. The push got worse and worse no matter what I tried. During the middle to late stages of the race, I pitted for adjustments and none really helped.
I just resigned myself to a crappy car and made the best of it. It was my intention to race the track for the race and try to put myself in position to get a good finish at the end. Well, I had to do just that, only for the entire race and not for a good (top 5) finish at the end. I guess what I'm saying is that I had hopes of racing smart and getting a top 5 out of it, instead I had to race smart just to finish the darn thing without tearing the RF corner off of it.
So what was the problem? First of all, I missed the setup badly. I brought a package that was similar to what we ran well with last year. It just didn't work this year. I think we had too much spring split in the front or something mechanically was just bound up. I haven't yet debriefed the car to see what was screwed up but i can promise that I wont take the same setup back to Salem next time.
Thats all for now.....next up MOTOR MILE!!!!
Our day started out easy as we were able to unload and get in line for tech really quick. Our crew, Jason, Josh, Chris, Joe, Mike, and HM really hustled and got everything set up in record time. I baby sat the car in the tech line with Joe. We sailed through tech inspection (first time all year without any major violations!) Our rear spoiler was a bit too high, as I had the rear ride heights up a bit. I had them up so we wouldn't bottom out the exhaust during practice. I ended up being able to bring them down during practice so the officials were happy with us when we went through pre-qualifying tech.
Practice was eh-so so. I know that's real descriptive, but hey what can I say. It was what it was. It took me a good part of practice to get comfortable running 8 inches off the wall. After I got "comfy" we were able to start tuning the car and we went up the practice sheet quickly. The car was a bit on the tight side, and something that was puzzling to me was that I still had a bit of steering input in it on corner exit, but more on that later.
I qualified the car 16th. Now, I know that sounds good, but in reality with only 24 cars taking time, it really sucked. The problem? I just got lazy in qualifying. Plain and Simple, I took turn 1 & 2 off and was concetrating on 3 & 4 too much. Had I put a whole lap together-we would have been a little closer to the front, but as the race would play out for us, it really wouldnt have mattered much.
The race started, and we held our own on the start. I wasn't as conservative on the start as I was at Mansfield and we ran well for the first several laps. Thirty laps or so into the race though, the car picked up a bad push on corner exit. I drove through it for a bit, thinking that a caution would be coming any lap. After a while though I had to change my line and start searching for a better way around the track. I tried diamonding the corner, that is driving in hard and low, letting the car drift in the center and then turning it hard left and coming off low. I tried late apexing with no success. I tried the high line and the low line, nothing worked. The push got worse and worse no matter what I tried. During the middle to late stages of the race, I pitted for adjustments and none really helped.
I just resigned myself to a crappy car and made the best of it. It was my intention to race the track for the race and try to put myself in position to get a good finish at the end. Well, I had to do just that, only for the entire race and not for a good (top 5) finish at the end. I guess what I'm saying is that I had hopes of racing smart and getting a top 5 out of it, instead I had to race smart just to finish the darn thing without tearing the RF corner off of it.
So what was the problem? First of all, I missed the setup badly. I brought a package that was similar to what we ran well with last year. It just didn't work this year. I think we had too much spring split in the front or something mechanically was just bound up. I haven't yet debriefed the car to see what was screwed up but i can promise that I wont take the same setup back to Salem next time.
Thats all for now.....next up MOTOR MILE!!!!
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
18th at Mansfield-Great Fathers Day Weekend!
Hey everybody, We had a fun time this weekend in Mansfield, Ohio. The car ran well and the team worked really hard. We had a little extra help this weekend as Andy Wizorek from GEM came up to help us out. Andy works with my brother and also helps Michael Ritch out in the Southern Division. He was great help and a lot of fun to be around. Andy knows his stuff and I'm looking forward to working with him again soon.
Our race weekend was filled with a lot of highs, a couple of lows and a lot of work in between. USAR was able to get practice started on time despite the heavy rains the Mansfield area had overnight and early Saturday morning. Our car was pretty good to start with, the bumps in 3 and 4 were very upsetting to the car. We were tight in the center of the corners too. Andy and I put our heads together and made some adjustments that really dialed the car in. We improved our time with each adjustment. By the end of practice, we had the 12th best speed. The coolest thing was that the car was fast and consistent.
Qualifying was fun. Andy told me before we went out to take it easy getting into the corners and not overdrive the entry. I agreed with him and told him that I wouldnt do it, that I would be smooth and let the car roll free. I practically guarenteed him that I would behave and be smooth. Guess what the first thing I did was? Overdrive turn 1 on the first lap. I buried it into the corner, probably 3 car lenghts deeper than I had driven it all day. Spun it out and ruined that first lap. I turned the car around, thoroughly aggrivated with myself and very embarrassed, I layed down a conservative second lap that put us 16th on the grid. When I got out of the car, Andy had this "I told you so" look on his face. All we could do is laugh, because he did tell me and I promised but I guess it went in one ear and out the other. Typical for race car drivers. Honestly-we should have qualified 3rd, 4th, or 5th but I let us down on that one. I was too greedy, too keyed up, and was trying too hard to be a hero. Next time Andy, I promise I'll listen!!
The coolest part of the weekend, was that Lisa and Ryan were the Grand Marshalls for the race. (Thanks Craig!!) They were a part of Driver Intro's and got to say Driver's Start Your Engines! Lisa was trying to coach Ryan into saying GO DADDY!! but he clammed up with the sight of the TV Cameras. Anyway, it was really special for me. I have to admit, I did get a little emotional in the car hearing them give the command. I'll never forget this weekend and their participation in it. It was probably the best racing weekend for me ever.
The race was pretty typical Mansfield. High Attrition, lots of wrecks and a surprise ending. I was pretty conservative to start the race and let a few cars go by. I didnt want to push the issue too much, I just wanted to get some laps in and let some of the knuckleheads take themselves out. The race was pretty much going our way until a flat tire derailed it. We're not sure what caused the flat, but when the tire went down it broke the sway bar arm and drop link that attaches it to the Lower A frame. It took us a few laps to engineer a solution and to determine if would be safe enough to take the car back out. Mike Compton, Andy, Jason Hagerman and the rest of the guys did a great job figuring it out and getting me back out there. The rest of the race for me was spent running hard, respecting the leaders and burning the brakes off of it. Yeah, on top of everything else, I lost brakes with 50 or so to go. I cant tell you for sure how many laps were left because it sure felt like a 100 or so but I know it wasnt. I couldnt quit. My team didnt quit me so I damn sure wasnt going to quit them.
So the highs were Lisa and Ryan, being fast in practice and gutting it out to take the checkerd flag. The lows were the flat tire and the broken sway bar arm and the surprise ending??? Our buddy Agnew ran out of gas on the last lap and Derek Kale won his first race. Congrats to Derek-he deserves a win and my heart goes out to my close friends on the 73 car. Those guys help me out so much, I wished I could have given them a quart of gas so they could have won that race. Oh well...till next time....Michael
Our race weekend was filled with a lot of highs, a couple of lows and a lot of work in between. USAR was able to get practice started on time despite the heavy rains the Mansfield area had overnight and early Saturday morning. Our car was pretty good to start with, the bumps in 3 and 4 were very upsetting to the car. We were tight in the center of the corners too. Andy and I put our heads together and made some adjustments that really dialed the car in. We improved our time with each adjustment. By the end of practice, we had the 12th best speed. The coolest thing was that the car was fast and consistent.
Qualifying was fun. Andy told me before we went out to take it easy getting into the corners and not overdrive the entry. I agreed with him and told him that I wouldnt do it, that I would be smooth and let the car roll free. I practically guarenteed him that I would behave and be smooth. Guess what the first thing I did was? Overdrive turn 1 on the first lap. I buried it into the corner, probably 3 car lenghts deeper than I had driven it all day. Spun it out and ruined that first lap. I turned the car around, thoroughly aggrivated with myself and very embarrassed, I layed down a conservative second lap that put us 16th on the grid. When I got out of the car, Andy had this "I told you so" look on his face. All we could do is laugh, because he did tell me and I promised but I guess it went in one ear and out the other. Typical for race car drivers. Honestly-we should have qualified 3rd, 4th, or 5th but I let us down on that one. I was too greedy, too keyed up, and was trying too hard to be a hero. Next time Andy, I promise I'll listen!!
The coolest part of the weekend, was that Lisa and Ryan were the Grand Marshalls for the race. (Thanks Craig!!) They were a part of Driver Intro's and got to say Driver's Start Your Engines! Lisa was trying to coach Ryan into saying GO DADDY!! but he clammed up with the sight of the TV Cameras. Anyway, it was really special for me. I have to admit, I did get a little emotional in the car hearing them give the command. I'll never forget this weekend and their participation in it. It was probably the best racing weekend for me ever.
The race was pretty typical Mansfield. High Attrition, lots of wrecks and a surprise ending. I was pretty conservative to start the race and let a few cars go by. I didnt want to push the issue too much, I just wanted to get some laps in and let some of the knuckleheads take themselves out. The race was pretty much going our way until a flat tire derailed it. We're not sure what caused the flat, but when the tire went down it broke the sway bar arm and drop link that attaches it to the Lower A frame. It took us a few laps to engineer a solution and to determine if would be safe enough to take the car back out. Mike Compton, Andy, Jason Hagerman and the rest of the guys did a great job figuring it out and getting me back out there. The rest of the race for me was spent running hard, respecting the leaders and burning the brakes off of it. Yeah, on top of everything else, I lost brakes with 50 or so to go. I cant tell you for sure how many laps were left because it sure felt like a 100 or so but I know it wasnt. I couldnt quit. My team didnt quit me so I damn sure wasnt going to quit them.
So the highs were Lisa and Ryan, being fast in practice and gutting it out to take the checkerd flag. The lows were the flat tire and the broken sway bar arm and the surprise ending??? Our buddy Agnew ran out of gas on the last lap and Derek Kale won his first race. Congrats to Derek-he deserves a win and my heart goes out to my close friends on the 73 car. Those guys help me out so much, I wished I could have given them a quart of gas so they could have won that race. Oh well...till next time....Michael
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Mansfield Preview
Alright-here is the Mansfield Preview.
Mansfield is a neat race track in Northeastern Ohio. It's a true half-mile race track with a traditional oval shape. You make a lot of speed there and it's real difficult to pass. It is a one groove track although it is wide from apron to outside wall. As you pass the start/finish you set up for a low'ish entry to turn one. There's a black strip through the sun bleached asphalt that serves as the "groove". I enter the turn on the lower side of the groove and let the car gradually move up the track as I accelerate. I drive it in pretty deep and use a little brake to keep the car settled. I let the car free roll for a few feet then start back with the gas.
As I do about everywhere else I keep the car tight on the outside wall going down the straight headed for 3. Turn 3 I take a more "late apex" than I do in 1. I enter the turn a little higher and try to cut down the groove in the center so I can maximize speed on exit. Turn 4 exits a little lower than 2 so this seems to work OK for me. There's a nasty bump entering turn 3 so the shock package has to be right.
The keys for this race is to have a good turning race car. You have to be able to turn here-that is the key to going fast. If you can drive into the turns really deep and still get the car to turn then you're going to be the King-Daddy in Qualifying. Another key to this race is pit-strategy. It is so hard to pass cars on the track here, you have to pass as many as possible in the pits. That means pit stops will be critical. Track position will be key so look for the stops to be timed so that you cycle through so that you can get the best possible track position you can get. Finally, we'll be watching for the big one. It seems as if the two races I have been there that sometime there will be a big pile up with 6 or more cars. The good news is that there is room to manuever and miss the big wrecks but the bad news is that because it is so hard to pass, someone will get impatient and lay the bumper to another competitor and cause the aforementioned mess-it's inevitable!
I'm looking forward to Mansfield. I like the track and like the area. I feel like I get around there pretty good and I believe our set-up will be pretty good too. I have a lot of confidence in our team and in myself to get the job done next weekend. My goal is to qualify well (top 20) and get a top 15 finish. Very doable and very realistic I think.
Mansfield is a neat race track in Northeastern Ohio. It's a true half-mile race track with a traditional oval shape. You make a lot of speed there and it's real difficult to pass. It is a one groove track although it is wide from apron to outside wall. As you pass the start/finish you set up for a low'ish entry to turn one. There's a black strip through the sun bleached asphalt that serves as the "groove". I enter the turn on the lower side of the groove and let the car gradually move up the track as I accelerate. I drive it in pretty deep and use a little brake to keep the car settled. I let the car free roll for a few feet then start back with the gas.
As I do about everywhere else I keep the car tight on the outside wall going down the straight headed for 3. Turn 3 I take a more "late apex" than I do in 1. I enter the turn a little higher and try to cut down the groove in the center so I can maximize speed on exit. Turn 4 exits a little lower than 2 so this seems to work OK for me. There's a nasty bump entering turn 3 so the shock package has to be right.
The keys for this race is to have a good turning race car. You have to be able to turn here-that is the key to going fast. If you can drive into the turns really deep and still get the car to turn then you're going to be the King-Daddy in Qualifying. Another key to this race is pit-strategy. It is so hard to pass cars on the track here, you have to pass as many as possible in the pits. That means pit stops will be critical. Track position will be key so look for the stops to be timed so that you cycle through so that you can get the best possible track position you can get. Finally, we'll be watching for the big one. It seems as if the two races I have been there that sometime there will be a big pile up with 6 or more cars. The good news is that there is room to manuever and miss the big wrecks but the bad news is that because it is so hard to pass, someone will get impatient and lay the bumper to another competitor and cause the aforementioned mess-it's inevitable!
I'm looking forward to Mansfield. I like the track and like the area. I feel like I get around there pretty good and I believe our set-up will be pretty good too. I have a lot of confidence in our team and in myself to get the job done next weekend. My goal is to qualify well (top 20) and get a top 15 finish. Very doable and very realistic I think.
Ready for Mansfield??
Hey everyone! I guess I'm done sulking about South Boston and am ready to face the world now. We have been working really hard at the shop the last several weeks preparing for Mansfield. I have KKM001 ready for action and KKM002 almost ready. (KKM002 is the car I wrecked at South Boston for those who want to know) For the first time we will be taking 2 cars to the track. Our friend and former competitor, Kres Vandyke, is generously loaning us his trailer for the weekend and another great friend, Tim Anders of Circle T Pipeline is loaning us a truck to pull it with. A big thanks to both of them for their generosity.
So why did we skip Milwaukee?? Simply put-Money. No, we're not broke or anything like that, it's just that that race was going to cost us a small fortune to go to. With fuel prices as they are, the fact that the race weekend was extended to 3 days (that equals 5 nights in a hotel for us!) it was just to costly for my team to participate. I could have run that race, but probably would have had to take the month of June off for the checkbook to recover. So I made the decision to skip it in favor of racing at Mansfield and Salem.
So why did we skip Milwaukee?? Simply put-Money. No, we're not broke or anything like that, it's just that that race was going to cost us a small fortune to go to. With fuel prices as they are, the fact that the race weekend was extended to 3 days (that equals 5 nights in a hotel for us!) it was just to costly for my team to participate. I could have run that race, but probably would have had to take the month of June off for the checkbook to recover. So I made the decision to skip it in favor of racing at Mansfield and Salem.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
South Boston Sucks
Alright, South Boston the town, track or the people dont suck, but the weekend I had there sure did. WARNING...if you want the PC or sugarcoated version of what happened then check out my "official" press release on www.michaelkiddracing.com, but if you want to know what really happened then keep on reading.
Friday was Tech day at South Boston. This day is for the USAR officials to check cars for safety, technical compliance and to check uniforms for the proper SFI ratings. Our car went through the process fairly early with little problems. We had a small issue with our lead ballast not being "white" enough. That was easily fixed with a can of white spray paint.
After we re-assembled the car we headed to the scale area where USAR does their routine pre-qualifying technical inspection. This area and process is one that we go through every race. This is where body templates are checked, wheel base and tread width measures are taken and where frame heights, crank heights and finally car weight is checked. Our car made it through without any major violations. For some reason the overall template didnt fit very well on the rear deck near the rear spoiler. I was very perplexed by this because it was the same body that passed with flying colors last year. My thoughts were if it was right last year it should be right this year. When we got the car back to the pits and checked it out we did find the problem. The nose was caught on a bolt and had it pushed out to far which cause the template to not fit correctly. It's complicated but if I showed you then it would make sense.
We did have a violation with the tread width that I'm pissed about. I measure treadwidth at the center line of the wheel at spindle height. It is the only place where treadwidth can be measured that isnt affected by camber. At the shop, I measured our treadwidth to be 60 3/8 inches which is 1/8 of an inch below the 60 1/2 rule. No problems right? USAR measures the tread width at the bottom of the wheel which is easily affected by camber. By their measurements I was 60 11/16! A difference of 5/16!! I'm going to be on the phone with Daniel today at USAR to complain about this. They need to change the way they measure treadwidth so that they are doing it right. I'll keep you posted if I have any luck changing their minds.
Now we get to the sucky part of the day, practice. USAR let us on the track at 5:30 that evening. I took our Kidd Tire/The Works Chevy on the track about 5:45 and by 6 we were trying to fix the car so that we could load it and go home. Hell of a day huh? Here's what happened, I had just started running at speed, made 6 or 7 laps full tilt and was feeling everything out when I drove it down into turn 3 and the 11 car was sitting there in the middle of the track. I slammed on the brakes and turned hard right to avoid him. Instead of cleaning his clock, I slammed the car hard into the wall. Don't worry, I'm fine and had no residual sorness. I am pissed though. I am pissed at the whole situation.
I was told by another spotter that saw what happened that the 11 car was trying to get into pit road and was spooked by the 7 car who was underneath him, he slowed dramatically at the moment that I was barrelling into the corner. Now first of all-I am sure the driver of the 11 car is a nice kid, he's only 17 years old and I am not going to get on him too much-I'm not posting this to beat up on him. What I am pissed about is that fact that USAR doesnt do a better job of vetting rookies before allowing them to compete. Last year, no one interviewed me or critiqued me or did any research on my experience, skill or character that I was made aware of. When you look at this kid's resume (a few years of go-carts, a season of 4 cyl. hobby stock and a couple years of dirt modifieds), he doesnt have the experience to race in this series. He could be a great driver and have a career that rivals any Sprint Cup star, but at this moment he doesnt have the experience to compete at this level.
What should USAR do? I think if drivers of this experience level are allowed to compete, then there should be a better rookie orientation process to help these guys adapt to the series. I would be in favor of a mentoring system where veteran drivers are paired up with rookies to help them along or a rookie meeting each week that is more informational and extensive than what is in place now. Maybe Jimmy and a veteran driver need to walk the track with the rookies and explain things that way??
Now if I'm going to point fingers here then I can't leave myself out. No matter what the 11 car did-I still had a steering wheel, brake and gas pedal in my control. I should have done a better job of avoiding the slow car in the racing groove. (I can only liken this to coming around a blind curve and seeing a deer in the middle of the road-that is the best way I can relate this to people who havent driven a race car) Responsibility ultimately rests on my shoulders and I accept that. My spotter, HM could have done a better job of warning me that there were problems in turn 3. He knows this and accepts this too. So it is not entirely the 11 car's fault-we all have responsibility in this.
Well that's what happened. I was home Saturday night enjoying time with Lisa and Ryan while my buddies battled the rain in South Boston. I think I ultimately won that one.
Friday was Tech day at South Boston. This day is for the USAR officials to check cars for safety, technical compliance and to check uniforms for the proper SFI ratings. Our car went through the process fairly early with little problems. We had a small issue with our lead ballast not being "white" enough. That was easily fixed with a can of white spray paint.
After we re-assembled the car we headed to the scale area where USAR does their routine pre-qualifying technical inspection. This area and process is one that we go through every race. This is where body templates are checked, wheel base and tread width measures are taken and where frame heights, crank heights and finally car weight is checked. Our car made it through without any major violations. For some reason the overall template didnt fit very well on the rear deck near the rear spoiler. I was very perplexed by this because it was the same body that passed with flying colors last year. My thoughts were if it was right last year it should be right this year. When we got the car back to the pits and checked it out we did find the problem. The nose was caught on a bolt and had it pushed out to far which cause the template to not fit correctly. It's complicated but if I showed you then it would make sense.
We did have a violation with the tread width that I'm pissed about. I measure treadwidth at the center line of the wheel at spindle height. It is the only place where treadwidth can be measured that isnt affected by camber. At the shop, I measured our treadwidth to be 60 3/8 inches which is 1/8 of an inch below the 60 1/2 rule. No problems right? USAR measures the tread width at the bottom of the wheel which is easily affected by camber. By their measurements I was 60 11/16! A difference of 5/16!! I'm going to be on the phone with Daniel today at USAR to complain about this. They need to change the way they measure treadwidth so that they are doing it right. I'll keep you posted if I have any luck changing their minds.
Now we get to the sucky part of the day, practice. USAR let us on the track at 5:30 that evening. I took our Kidd Tire/The Works Chevy on the track about 5:45 and by 6 we were trying to fix the car so that we could load it and go home. Hell of a day huh? Here's what happened, I had just started running at speed, made 6 or 7 laps full tilt and was feeling everything out when I drove it down into turn 3 and the 11 car was sitting there in the middle of the track. I slammed on the brakes and turned hard right to avoid him. Instead of cleaning his clock, I slammed the car hard into the wall. Don't worry, I'm fine and had no residual sorness. I am pissed though. I am pissed at the whole situation.
I was told by another spotter that saw what happened that the 11 car was trying to get into pit road and was spooked by the 7 car who was underneath him, he slowed dramatically at the moment that I was barrelling into the corner. Now first of all-I am sure the driver of the 11 car is a nice kid, he's only 17 years old and I am not going to get on him too much-I'm not posting this to beat up on him. What I am pissed about is that fact that USAR doesnt do a better job of vetting rookies before allowing them to compete. Last year, no one interviewed me or critiqued me or did any research on my experience, skill or character that I was made aware of. When you look at this kid's resume (a few years of go-carts, a season of 4 cyl. hobby stock and a couple years of dirt modifieds), he doesnt have the experience to race in this series. He could be a great driver and have a career that rivals any Sprint Cup star, but at this moment he doesnt have the experience to compete at this level.
What should USAR do? I think if drivers of this experience level are allowed to compete, then there should be a better rookie orientation process to help these guys adapt to the series. I would be in favor of a mentoring system where veteran drivers are paired up with rookies to help them along or a rookie meeting each week that is more informational and extensive than what is in place now. Maybe Jimmy and a veteran driver need to walk the track with the rookies and explain things that way??
Now if I'm going to point fingers here then I can't leave myself out. No matter what the 11 car did-I still had a steering wheel, brake and gas pedal in my control. I should have done a better job of avoiding the slow car in the racing groove. (I can only liken this to coming around a blind curve and seeing a deer in the middle of the road-that is the best way I can relate this to people who havent driven a race car) Responsibility ultimately rests on my shoulders and I accept that. My spotter, HM could have done a better job of warning me that there were problems in turn 3. He knows this and accepts this too. So it is not entirely the 11 car's fault-we all have responsibility in this.
Well that's what happened. I was home Saturday night enjoying time with Lisa and Ryan while my buddies battled the rain in South Boston. I think I ultimately won that one.
Monday, April 14, 2008
Thursday Test
We finally got to the track Thursday and got a test in. It was a beautiful day with temps in the mid 80's and sunshine everywhere. We unloaded about 10 am and after baselining the car (weighed the car on scales and checked heights so that we knew where our starting point was) we made our first runs at about 11:30. We worked hard through 3pm and made lots of changes.
My goal for the first test was to shake the car down and make sure nothing fell off of it and that there were no mechanical issues before South Boston. Fortunately for us, we only had one minor oil leak that was fixed by tightening up a fitting that was inadvertantly left loose.
The new engine felt really strong and it pulled really well off of the corner. We took our Laughlin car to the test and it was handling well, but I wanted to make big changes to see how it responded. The result? We took a big step forward in chassis evolution and performance. We're about 2 tenths or maybe 3 better than what we were last July for the race. The car drove well and our times were awesome.
So what does that all mean? I'm not sure. I think we will be pretty good at South Boston. The car should drive well but it will be up to me to fine tune it to make it better for race conditions. Being out on the track by yourself is one thing, but when you have 30 other knuckleheads out there with you, that kinda changes things.
I'll promise one thing, I'll be focused on getting our Kidd Tire/The Works Chevy turning and accelerating off the corners well. I promise we will be giving it our all come Friday and Saturday....
My goal for the first test was to shake the car down and make sure nothing fell off of it and that there were no mechanical issues before South Boston. Fortunately for us, we only had one minor oil leak that was fixed by tightening up a fitting that was inadvertantly left loose.
The new engine felt really strong and it pulled really well off of the corner. We took our Laughlin car to the test and it was handling well, but I wanted to make big changes to see how it responded. The result? We took a big step forward in chassis evolution and performance. We're about 2 tenths or maybe 3 better than what we were last July for the race. The car drove well and our times were awesome.
So what does that all mean? I'm not sure. I think we will be pretty good at South Boston. The car should drive well but it will be up to me to fine tune it to make it better for race conditions. Being out on the track by yourself is one thing, but when you have 30 other knuckleheads out there with you, that kinda changes things.
I'll promise one thing, I'll be focused on getting our Kidd Tire/The Works Chevy turning and accelerating off the corners well. I promise we will be giving it our all come Friday and Saturday....
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Monday, March 31, 2008
Clean Team 2008
Just wanted to let everybody know that we will be carrying "The Works" again this year. I'm excited about working with the guys from Greased Lightning again. It's a fun program to be a part of. They push us to be a part of our community and to do charitable work and in return we are able to get TV coverage and the chance to compete for extra money each race.
Greased Lightning is a great supporter of our series. Every person I have met from their company has been nice. They are all of a certain character or personality that is easy going and fun to be around. They have a good moral character and feel a certain corporate responsibility that is refreshing and motivating to be around. It may sound like sucking up, but from my experience, these are genuinuely good people.
Greased Lightning is a great supporter of our series. Every person I have met from their company has been nice. They are all of a certain character or personality that is easy going and fun to be around. They have a good moral character and feel a certain corporate responsibility that is refreshing and motivating to be around. It may sound like sucking up, but from my experience, these are genuinuely good people.
Noticed the widget??
hey everybody, take a minute and check out the widget in the bottom right corner. Yep, thats right, South Boston is the next race on the schedule. That means we get to go racing really soon. I can't wait. South Boston is a really fun track to race on. It's a lot like Motor Mile Speedway in that it's a .4 mile bullring. It's not banked quite as much as Motor Mile but it is still plenty fast. The crazy thing about South Boston is that confounded inside wall that they put up a few years ago for the Busch series races to separate pit road from the track. It really gives you the illusion that the track is super narrow. Wait a minute, it is super narrow so I guess that wall doesnt mean didly huh? Seriously, every driver meeting will start off with "cut your fellow competitor some slack coming off the corners and all spotters need to be on there toes coming off these corners, the track really tightens up and when one car gets sideways it bottlenecks the whole thing". I promise we will hear that at least a dozen times. I know Jimmy (race director) will get tired of saying it, but honestly, all of us need to be constantly reminded of it. None of us want a massive pileup on the front straight.
So how do you get around South Boston? The straights are short and the start/finish line is really close to the entry of turn one. You barrel off with a big head of steam into turn one. Drive it in deep cause the exit of 2 opens up and you can carry a lot of speed on exit. So stay in the throttle as deep as you can, use the brake pedal to set the nose and take the car down to the white line and hug it all through the corner. You'll be just a couple of feet off of the inside wall so dont take it down too low. Once you're in the center of the corner ease back into the fuel, remember dont floor it or you'll spin the rear tires all the way on exit, and let the car start to drift to the wall. The rear straight is pretty short, as I said earlier, so about the time the steering wheel gets straight you need to prepare yourself for turn 3. Just like turn one, drive it in deep, just this time you'll have to use a bit more brake because the exit of four is tighter and you'll need to keep the car low. The lower you can keep the car on turn 4 exit the better. The winner will be the guy that can keep the car on the apron of the track in turn 4 and still get good traction off. Late in the race, guys will be all over the track. A few years ago, Clayton Rogers won a race there using the top groove. Some guys will try that, but I believe the car that can stay on the bottom will be the car to beat. Hopefully, that car will be ME...
So how do you get around South Boston? The straights are short and the start/finish line is really close to the entry of turn one. You barrel off with a big head of steam into turn one. Drive it in deep cause the exit of 2 opens up and you can carry a lot of speed on exit. So stay in the throttle as deep as you can, use the brake pedal to set the nose and take the car down to the white line and hug it all through the corner. You'll be just a couple of feet off of the inside wall so dont take it down too low. Once you're in the center of the corner ease back into the fuel, remember dont floor it or you'll spin the rear tires all the way on exit, and let the car start to drift to the wall. The rear straight is pretty short, as I said earlier, so about the time the steering wheel gets straight you need to prepare yourself for turn 3. Just like turn one, drive it in deep, just this time you'll have to use a bit more brake because the exit of four is tighter and you'll need to keep the car low. The lower you can keep the car on turn 4 exit the better. The winner will be the guy that can keep the car on the apron of the track in turn 4 and still get good traction off. Late in the race, guys will be all over the track. A few years ago, Clayton Rogers won a race there using the top groove. Some guys will try that, but I believe the car that can stay on the bottom will be the car to beat. Hopefully, that car will be ME...
Monday, March 10, 2008
Are we ready yet??
The question I keep getting is "Hey Michael-are you ready to go racing yet??" Well, the answer is uh, yeah. I've got one car ready (the Laughlin car that we finished the year out in last season) and the Hess car is almost ready to roll. I've got the engine in it, just need to finish the exhaust work up, fabricate the radiator ductwork on her and she'll be ready for the track. For the first time in my career, I'll have two kick butt race cars in the stable. I'm really excited about that.
I'm really excited about this racing season. First, I think our team is awesome. Secondly, I'm excited about the schedule. With a couple of exceptions (Milwaukee??), I think the schedule is awesome. Finally, I think I've reached a point in my career where I'm pretty content with what I'm doing and just plan on being myself on the track. I'll be more confident and a little looser at the track on race days. I learned a lot about who I am as a driver last season, basically, I'm just as good as any of these other guys. I learned that if I focus and apply myself, I can do anything they can do.
Now, I know the pre-season is for high hopes, dreams and maybe a little bragging but I'm not going to do any of that here. What I will do is share my goals for the 2008 season with you. My primary goal is to be competitive week after week at each race that I choose to run. Now what that means to me is that instead of riding around trying to protect the car and stay out of everybody's way (like last year) I'm going into each race to race. Maximum effort-don't hold anything back. It might be for 15th spot but I intend to race my hardest for each and every inch of that race track. I'm here to compete this season....Let's go race...
I'm really excited about this racing season. First, I think our team is awesome. Secondly, I'm excited about the schedule. With a couple of exceptions (Milwaukee??), I think the schedule is awesome. Finally, I think I've reached a point in my career where I'm pretty content with what I'm doing and just plan on being myself on the track. I'll be more confident and a little looser at the track on race days. I learned a lot about who I am as a driver last season, basically, I'm just as good as any of these other guys. I learned that if I focus and apply myself, I can do anything they can do.
Now, I know the pre-season is for high hopes, dreams and maybe a little bragging but I'm not going to do any of that here. What I will do is share my goals for the 2008 season with you. My primary goal is to be competitive week after week at each race that I choose to run. Now what that means to me is that instead of riding around trying to protect the car and stay out of everybody's way (like last year) I'm going into each race to race. Maximum effort-don't hold anything back. It might be for 15th spot but I intend to race my hardest for each and every inch of that race track. I'm here to compete this season....Let's go race...
What's Happening with Kidd Motorsports?
Hey everyone, Welcome to my new blog/website. I wanted to do something a bit more old-school and have something more personal to me than the standard driver website. The great folks at Digital Beckley have produced a quality website for me over the past couple of years and for that I am very thankful. I still intend on posting pictures and press releases on that site.(www.michaelkiddracing.com)
This season though, I thought I would start this blog-just to put my thoughts and opinions out there and to report to you how my racing season is progressing. No corporate BS press releases, just me, telling you how my weekend went. The good and the bad. I hope to post a few pictures, maybe some practice times and qualifying times from the weekend. I just might even do live updates from the track on race day. Who knows really, I sure don't. All I know for sure is that here it is-so I guess we'll just take it from there......
This season though, I thought I would start this blog-just to put my thoughts and opinions out there and to report to you how my racing season is progressing. No corporate BS press releases, just me, telling you how my weekend went. The good and the bad. I hope to post a few pictures, maybe some practice times and qualifying times from the weekend. I just might even do live updates from the track on race day. Who knows really, I sure don't. All I know for sure is that here it is-so I guess we'll just take it from there......
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