2024results

2024 RACING RESULTS

Our season kicked off with Steven back in Mike Blake's #81 at Auburndale Speedway.

We were chasing brake problems again, but Steven won the heat race anyway, and had the fastest lap time in the class.

He lined up 4'th in the feature. On lap 2, he was passing third place when that car tried to pinch his car into the infield. Steven held his ground and they ended up tangling. We had to change a tire, and despite having almost no brakes, Steven got back to fourth place. Overall, an unsatisfying night. On to the next...

This was the fifth place hardware from Southern Sprint Car, 2023.

Here are the team's winter quarters. We work outside under the sun and clouds!

CITRUS COUNTY SPEEDWAY

1-27-24

The race night that wasn't! This feature race rained out on lap 8, and will be made up at a future date.

Since there is nothing else to show, here is a picture of the shop dogs, Gunnar and Kaya!

SHOWTIME SPEEDWAY

2-3-24

This was weekend #1 of the two weekend Dave Steele Championship. This first night consisted of time trials, and twin 35 lap features for the winged cars.

We were unimpressive in qualifying. Steven was 7'th and I was 9'th out of 17.

In the first feature, I was running decent, but dropped out around half way with over-heating issues. Steven's car had missed the set-up and he finished 7'th.

A different story in feature #2. Steven said they "fixed it" and that his car was very fast in hot laps. He started on the outside front row, and expected to win. However, the pole position car ran Steven up to the forth lane and ran into his left front wheel. This damaged a steering arm, so the left front was flopping and vibrating the rest of the way. He ran around 25 laps, but the problem was getting worse, so he parked it.

With a good car under me, and some attrition in the field, I made it up to 5'th. The last real sprint car race I was in took place in 2018, and was about 20 pounds ago. At this point, the long day, the mounting tires, the working on two cars and twin features all caught up with me. I was out of breath for the last 10 laps and got passed by two other cars, so I ended up 7'th.

SHOWTIME SPEEDWAY

2-3-24

The second week of the Dave Steele Championship was a non-wing 125 lapper. It was not a productive weekend for us. We had one practice session, and went out to qualify. Steven timed forth quickest somehow, and that was the highpoint of the night. During the race, the handle quickly went away, and the 81 was super loose. Even by wingless sprint standards, it was too loose to contend, so Steven parked on lap 51.

CITRUS COUNTY SPEEDWAY

3-2-24

This weekend was the first edition of the Children's Dream Fund 50 at Citrus. We made the Friday practice session and were around fifth quickest.

The track put on a bar b que for the teams after practice. It was a good chance to unwind and meet some of the teams that travelled into town for this event. Fun!

Fozzy was in charge of qualifying!

Steven qualified 8'th out of 26. Good luck was with us because the track inverted 8, so we were on the pole.

He was very fast from the start, and drove away to a straightaway lead in the first 10 laps or so. In fact, he set the fastest time of the race by a full 0.2 seconds! And we were collecting lap money too.

Sad to say....things changed around lap 10. No conclusive answer yet, but we appear to have had a shock problem because the car went from very fast to very bad in an instant. Steven dropped back until lap 23 when he finally parked it. Damn!

3-16-24

AUBURNDALE SPEEDWAY

One of those nights.....

Steven ran one lap of practice, and noticed that "his foot was cold". That could only mean that we had a fuel leak. Sure enough, a cast fitting on the fuel pump had cracked and was directing a stream of fuel right on his shoe. It took me several hours to get the leak stopped, and we missed all practice and the heat race.

So Steven had his first laps in #85 for 1 1/2 years. He was going pretty well and was headed for a good finish. Then the engine over-heated. I'm glad my driver pays attention to these things! We'll brush off this night and try again.

We made our first visit to Hendry County since last December. It was practice night on Friday and I was in the old 88. During the second session, the new driveshaft broke in half, so I was done for the weekend.

Steven and I stayed over in Clewiston, and hung out with George and Duane in the morning. He was driving George's new Jokers car. We tinkered all day on the car, and it got a little faster, but was no where near as fast as the old car. Steven finished 7'th or something.

4-6-24

HENDRY COUNTY MOTORSPORTS PARK

4-13-24

CITRUS COUNTY SPEEDWAY

YES!!!!

Steven parked it in victory circle tonight. He started 4'th and took the lead in the first half a lap. The car ran great all day; it was the first time in ages that I had nothing to fix!

This was Steven's third sprint feature win in the last year, and MY FIRST as a car owner! It is truly a breakthrough for me, a milestone I am very proud of.

What a blast! We went out to eat with Fozzy and Ant on the way home.

4-29-24

PRACTICE AT AUBURNDALE SPEEDWAY

Steven took his first ride in a stock car today. This was Louis Brashear's pro late model, and we were at a midweek practice at Auburndale.

There were a few issues with this new car, but Steven quickly got up to speed and ran around 100 laps.

5-4-24

NEW SMYRNA SPEEDWAY

A few firsts tonight: this was Steven's first race in a stock car, and his first laps around New Smyrna Speedway. The track ran twin 50 lappers for the pro late models tonight. The gear was off, and Steven ran it as hard as he could, but it was not our night, so he pulled out of both races.

5-11-24

CITRUS COUNTY SPEEDWAY

TWO WINS IN A ROW!

We had another easy night at the track. Everything went to plan again. Steven qualified 5'th, and the invert was 5, so he started on the pole!

We had the fastest car on the track. Steven had about 5 hard restarts, but he never put a wheel wrong and pulled away from everyone.

Southern Sprint Car looked us over pretty closely. They even P&G'd the engine.

For some reason, this win was even better than the first one!

5-25-24

ANDERSON SPEEDWAY AND THE LITTLE 500

We had a heck of a fine week......but with a very unsatisfactory ending.

Scotty, Lauren and I drove up from Ft. Meyers on Monday. On the way back, I drove home with Ryan.

Practice kicked off on Wednesday. This was SASSE Chassis #001. It was trouble-free as we searched for speed.

Wednesday night, Scotty and Lauren hosted a karting and pizza party at Speedway Indoor Karting. Landon Butler smoked the field!

Scotty put it safely in the show on the first day of qualifying. That took off a lot of pressure! We went to I.R.P. for the Silver Crown race, but it rained out.

Naturally, we picked up 0.2 seconds on Friday AFTER qualifying. The car has been great and we were confident for a good race.

Lauren was Scotty's pit umbrella girl and assistant!

Scotty brought along his spare car along...just in case. On Thursday night, he made a deal with "The Weapon", John Inman to attempt to put it in the show. In a matter of hours, John was at the track to practice.

One minor set-back: on Friday, in order to be allowed to practice, all cars had to have the fuel shield in place. We had not made one for the spare car, so a cardboard template was quickly made and tie-wrapped in place. Somehow, maybe it was the heat of the battle, but the car ended up going on track with the cardboard template! The track took issue with this, so a less-flammable version was quickly improvised out of a Pepsi sign.

Race Day!

We tied up a million loose ends, and set up the infield pit spot. Ryan was our gas man.

We all soaked up the pre-race fun with a team made of family and friends. Scotty commented in the afternoon that this had been his most enjoyable day in racing!

Everybody's hero Bently Warren was thrilled to take a selfie with me.....or visa versa.

Racing author, and ole' buddy, Rich Golardi was on hand for another year.

And then, everything went wrong....

It was surreal. After a fun week with minimal mechanical issues, and no problems with the throttle, this happened on the opening lap of the race. The throttle hung open and the car was destroyed in the turn 3 wall. It was a very frightening crash. Thank God for the HANS device, full containment seats, and the farm-boy inginuity of adding tires to the opening in the wall.

The crash dislocated Scotty's wrist and broke his left arm in many places. He spent the night in the crash house and had surgery a few hours after this happened.

We all spent a long and anxious night loading the cars and the entire operation for the trip home to Florida. It was the LAST THING I ever expected to happen.

Over and over we checked the operation of the throttle, and it worked correctly, even in a mangled car.

SASSE Chassis #001 did its most important job. It protected its driver, and designer, in a very hard crash.

6-8-24

AUBURNDALE SPEEDWAY

Back in Florida with the Southern Sprint Car Series.

Steven is working in New Jersey for the summer, so I found myself back in the seat of my #85.

This was a very hot day in Auburndale, and I ended up missing practice. The heat race was a disaster; I was out of control and parked.

We got things sorted out and I was much better in the feature. We had many yellow flags, and my car ended up running hot, so I pulled off on lap 22,

Jerry and Ellie Paquin were on hand to help out.

AUBURNDALE SPEEDWAY

1-27-24

7-26-24

SANDUSKY SPEEDWAY

Steven got a surprise call to run Mike Blake's #81 at a Must See Racing event! It was part of the Hy-Miler Nationals, Sandusky's biggest event of the year. It was scheduled to go on Wednesday night, but the weather did not cooperate so it was changed to Friday.

This was Steven's first Must See Racing event, his first try on a 1/2 mile track, and his first race outside of Florida.

We peaked in practice today. Steven was fastest in his the first practice session. Then we put on 4 tires for qualifying, and managed to slow down. Then just before going out for the heat race, a crew member found that a rear-end component was cracked and ready to break. It would have been a disaster, so we missed the heat while fixing this.

The feature started out promising. Steven jumped to the outside and passed several cars in the first few laps. Then the handling faded and he was involved in an incident that flattened the RF tire.

It was not our night!

Steven and Mike's car were set to get pushed off for practice.

The supermodifieds are the featured class for the Hy-Miler Nationals.

Another driver on another night, but I don't have any other pictures of the 81 at speed.

Hanging out with fellow Florida driver Colton Bettis.

9-21-24

AUBURNDALE SPEEDWAY

We raced 85 for the first time in a few months, and it was not our night. The motor was "off" all night. We got better in the feature, and were pretty fast. Steven started in the back and ran down the lead pack, but when he got there we had lost the brakes and the engine was hot. On to the next one....

At least we had a pit full of friends: Jerry Paquin, David and Jay Stanton, and Raulie Morse!

10-19-24

HENDRY COUNTY MOTORSPORTS PARK

It was time to get a little dirty! George Sands gave Steven and I the opportunity to run his Mod Lites tonight; Steven ran in the A class, and I was in the B.

Steven started on the pole for his heat, but the fuel pump broke at the start. That put him out, so he started at the back of the feature. Steven had fun driving through traffic and got up to sixth.

I started 6'th and finished 6'th. But it was a fun ride!

11-2-24

CITRUS COUNTY SPEEDWAY FOR THE SANDI DeCAIRE MEMORIAL

Mike Blake and his #81 came to town for the Sandi DeCaire race!

Steven had a very eventful night, to say the least. He started 4'th in the heat race and jumped to the outside where he passed three cars and won it going away!

The hottest sprint car driver of 2024 was flown in from Canada to run this event. Arron Williston drove the Stratham #36, and ended up winning. Steven started 6'th in the feature and battled his way up to second. Eventually, Arron Williston got close, so they went at it for about 7 laps. Great experience for Steven although Arron got around for second place.

There was a restart with a few laps to go that shook things up. Steven and Arron got together, but continued on. Meanwhile, a car from 5'th or 6'th passed everyone and drove to third.

We crossed the line in 4'th, but tech claimed the guy who led the whole way, so we were paid for 3'rd. The odd thing was that because the leader got DQ'd, they did not pay him the lap money. Steven ran second for around 20 laps, so Mike Blake was paid the lap money for those laps. Fun fact: this is the third running of the Sandi DeCaire Memorial, and Steven has won lap money from every one of them.

Here is Steven fighting for second with Arron Williston.

12-7-24

AUBURNDALE SPEEDWAY

Oh man, what a night. Steven in the 81 was quick in practice on Friday night, and we knew we would be very racey on Saturday. However, reality struck in the heat when the LF brake rotor broke. Naturally, we were the first feature, and we did not have time to fix it and make the start. Mike and crew did get it fixed and pushed Steven up to the pit gate, but the race was underway and he was not allowed to join, so we were credited with a DNS. Damn!

I drove the 85 in the heat and feature, but something odd happened: as I was driving around in the feature race, I found myself thinking about what was going on with the #81 back in the pits. These cars require concentration, and because I knew I was not fully involved in what I was doing, I pulled out after 9 or 10 laps. Weird...

I drove the 85 in the heat and feature, but somethiyself thinking about what was going on with the #81 back in the pits. These cars require concentration, and because I knew I was not fully involved in what I was doing, I pulled out after 9 or 10 laps. Weird...

2024 Racing By the Numbers

It looks like my racing season is done for the year, so here is the annual review.

49 nights at a racetrack. This includes a few Friday practices.

Steven: 12 nights in a sprint, 2 in a Mod Lite and 1 in a Pro LM.

Rex: 3 in a sprint and 2 in a Mod Lite.

Tracks visited: 15 in 7 states.

New tracks: 5, Sandusky, OH, Knoxville, IA, Jackson, MS, Caraway, NC and Springport, MI

Most frequently visited: Auburndale, 12 nights

Best overall program: the World of Outlaws World Finals

Best race: the 410 feature at Knoxville, July 13

Highlights: Hands down, the best moments in my racing life (so far) came at Citrus in April and May. Steven drove my car to back-to-back feature wins in the Southern Sprint Car Series. I was one proud dad, and took great satisfaction in seeing my own car taking the flag.

The Little 500 with Adema Racing was a fun week, although we ended up having a disasterous race. Mike Blake's sprint gave us some strong runs and a few near-misses at wins. Steven also drove Mike's car in his first Must See start at Sandusky Speedway.

It's been a blast, and I am still ate up with this crazy sport, even after 52 years of it. 2025 is going to look a little different; plans are still unfolding rapidly!