2017 RESULTS

2-19-17

​Night #3 of the New Smyrna World Series

I was in Johnny Gilbertson's car this week.  It is a good car with a powerful engine.....that had a few problems.  To make a long story short, I only went about 5 laps and got out.

Steven was hard at work changing tires.

2-25-17

4-17 Speedway in Punta Gorda

This was the first sprint car race at this track for about 4 years.  I really enjoyed our visit; the track restoration is very well done!

The engine woes continued on the 22X.  We were smokin' out the fans and competition all night before finally parking after 9 laps.

I did manage to spin out in practice, and get in a tangle during the heat race.  

At least I had Roslynd and Steven working in the pits tonight!

I know, not racing, but I think it was pretty significant!   

Roslynd and I got married on 3-18-17!

So that was some great news.  Then on our honeymoon, we got some terrible news....

Family man, devoted son, friend, champion...

Dave Steele was lost in an accident at De Soto Speedway on 3-25-17.

He was a true friend of our sport, especially here in Florida.  We will not accomplish what he did: helping  fellow competitors, winning the big events across the country, all while raising a beautiful family.

4-8-17

Citrus County Speedway

This was my first trip back to Citrus in 3 years.   Wow, what a cool track!   The whole place is so much nicer since the new owners took over, repaved it and cleaned it up.  Thanks!

Of course we were racing under a cloud tonight; this was our first event since Dave's accident​, and I can tell you, our buddy Dave was really missed.  The track did a autograph session/fundraiser for Dave's family, and it ended up raising $5000+.  Thanks to all!

During that session, we had our cars on the front straight to meet the fans.  Dave's wife Lynn appeared.  With a big smile, she gave me a friendly hug and thanked me for coming to the event.  I was too stunned to notice, but I will bet you that she did that for every driver there.  She is an amazing woman and mom!  Here we were, at an event to remember her husband, and she was the one consoling us.  

We had a good field of 20 cars and an exciting race.  One problem however: I had my first DNS in sprint cars.  I broke something in the rear end in practice.  I thought we had it under control, but it broke again as soon as we pushed off for the heat, so we were done for the night.

Oops, I turned it around in practice.

We were busy trying to get it together, but this was not our night.

5-6-17

New Smyrna Speedway

Audible sigh...  This track has my number....

At least the car ran well and I finished, but I was not competitive all night.  I need to rent this place and learn what to do here.

9-20-17

Test and Tune at Showtime Speedway

My 15 year old son Steven climbed in for his first laps in a sprint car.  It was quite a jump after several years of karting, but he did great and LOVED it!

Former TBARA champion and all-round sprint car hot shot, Larry Tyler was roaming the Showtime pits.  He stopped in to coach this new driver.

10-14-17

Citrus County Speedway

After 5 months, I finally got back in competition.  Ok, so I missed the set-up, but I hung in there and finished.  We had 18 cars tonight, I started 15'th and ended up 11'th.

12-2-17

4-17 Speedway, Punta Gorda FL

Hands down, 2017 has been my least productive year in racing for the last 25 years.  Life was just too complicated and busy this year to race with focus, or any frequency.  At least this night, at the very beautiful 4-17 Speedway went decent.  We had a great time and actually ended up with a 5'th.  Here's to making 2018 a better racing year!

I am so happy this track is back from the dead.  The new operators have done an excellent job!

My bud Johnny dominated the race, but lost out for a minor infraction in tech.  He deserved to win, but tech had the final say.