It’s been a pretty uneventful winter in the shop. I planned on doing a lot of work on the car to get it ready for the NYSS season but so many things have gotten in the way. I did put new frame horns on and replaced the fuel cell, neither of which turned out the way I’d hoped. The car is down at Doug Reaume’s getting a body on it at the moment. Hopefully we’ll have it finished in time to get paint and letters on it by practice at Spencer May 9th. Considering what my schedule looks like for the next few weeks I figure I’ll be lucky to get to practice.

So a lot of stuff happened. I got out of the car and let Kelly drive for a while so I could try to figure out what was wrong with it. It turned out there were a lot of things. Unfortunately, I found most of then too late to get any decent finishes. I think we finally had something going at the Fall Brawl and a cut brake line put an end to that. Kelly and I both ended the season pretty disgusted.

Two weeks later I got into a bike accident and hurt myself. I’m still recovering. That hasn’t stopped me from getting excited about next season. AIS is supposed to open back up. The NYSS series is trying to revive the Super Stocks for another season and asked me to be involved in getting the word out and taking care of some of the background stuff. And I got an offer of help from a race shop.  So I’m feeling a little hopeful about things. We’re putting some extra insulation in the garage this week and I’ll be tearing the car down starting this Sunday in preparation for cutting off the ugly bits in the picture and putting on nice straight bits.

After two weeks of thrashing where I had three rears in the car and finally had to buy one, I got the car back to the track. It was pretty out to lunch even with (because of?) new tires. I messed around with it until it felt drivable and took it out for the heat. Despite being dropped back to 4th even the though the lineup said 2nd, I got going pretty well and was chasing down the top 2 when the left rear axle flange came off. I managed to not hit the wall but I figured I was done for the night. As I was looking at it in the pits wondering how I was going to get it on the trailer, some guy came over and said something about the flanges being welded on and that in the future I should have someone run a bead around the back of the flange. A little later he came back and suggested I see if the track welder would weld it back on so I could take the green. So I talked to the welder and after some thought, he decided he could manage it. So I pulled out the axle and went to work closing off the broken brake line. 20 minutes later he handed the axle back and said “I’d run it!”. So I did. 15 laps, 2 spins and a hit in the LR wheel later I brought it home in 7th. Not exactly a stellar performance (though I did get into the top 5 twice) but it was a fun race and kind of impressive considering the shape the car was in.

I’m going to skip the Big 10 race next Friday and try to be ready for the Dave London Memorial on August 16. That’ll give me some time to catch up on all the stuff I’ve been ignoring and take care of some things on the car. Like getting another new rear end…

So some things went on over that last few weeks. And some things didn’t. The Super Stock show for 7/5 got dropped due to low car counts. Mother nature made her opinion known by raining out the rest of the classes. The up side is that the message was received by the drivers and Bobby Lippa rallied support and talked to the track and got us back on the schedule for the 13th as a NYSS show. With some cheerleading and cajoling by some of us, we pulled 14 cars even with a couple of no-shows. I was in a pretty good mood and looking forward to a great night of racing until I made the mistake of going low on the the 11 of John Avery in hot laps and ended up backed into the wall and knocked further down it by Billy Gleason who couldn’t avoid me. So it was a short and expensive night. Three wheels and tires, the rear end housing, a trailing arm, a rotor, one axle, a radiator hose, both ends of the frame, and a lot of body parts were casualties of the crash. I got out of the car thinking I was done for the season. Once we got to the pits, Jason’s guys and my brother helped me get it on stands and looked it over. While it looked pretty bad and the above list of parts were junk, it looked like we might be able to at least take the green and get paid. After working on it for a while an official came down and told us that rather than take any chances with issues on the track, they’d just pay us for last. So we worked on getting it on the trailer, I went over to the stands and watched a pretty decent night of racing (other then Kelly not being able to start due to carburetor issues). As the night went on and I spoke to different people, the possibility of having the car fixed for the next show looked more promising. Jason offered a rear and Kelly offered his help and there didn’t seem to be many more things wrong with the car. I figured I’d think about it for a bit and see how things went.

Saturday night we went to Oswego to see Dad’s car run. After a mediocre time trial and a passable heat run, Dave was coming up through the field from 10th and was running down third when the car shut off. So the racing gods were not smiling on the Millers this weekend.

Sunday morning I dragged the car over to Dad’s shop and met Kelly there. We had it unloaded by 10, hooked up the frame machine, and were bolting the front end back together by noon. I’m amazed at how well the frame pulled out. We loaded the car back up at 5 with both ends straight and most of the body work done. We took it to my shop and had it ready for the new rear to go back in by 7. It is amazing what you can accomplish with competent help and the right tools. I can’t thank Kelly, Dad, or Jason enough for their help. If things continue to move along, I should be ready for Thursday practice for RoC. Since I’m already registered and should get a free pass for Friday, I’ll probably use the short practice and heats for another shakedown. I’ll decide then if I’m ready to run Saturday. If so, I just need about $300 to get there…

Friday night was probably my best chance to win a feature this season and I blew even a top three. After last weekend’s melee at Evans Mills, I got the car back together and the new cooling setup is working VERY well. Considering how mangled the nose was it even looks pretty good. practice was a little hairy but I messed with the air pressures and the car came in pretty nicely for the heat. I started outside pole and expected an easy win against Brandon. Imagine my surprise when he buried it into 1 and raced me hard down the back stretch. He says Blue helped him out with setup and he bought a tires last week and I guess it helped. Anyway, I went in way too deep on both ends and never got back to him until he pushed up and we freight trained him. He ran a great race up until then and almost got his first trip to victory lane.

We lined up the same way for the feature and I was determined not to let him get the better of me again. I got an early start and ran him close through one and two and stayed outside him down the back. he rubbed me going into three and we both collected it up and kept going, unfortunately letting Wright get by underneath. I went around the outside of Brandon down the front and set off in pursuit of Mitchell. After catching him I ran him close for a few laps and got impatient and let him know I was there a few times. He started using the mirror and I decided to work on using timing and another line to try to get by. With 3 to go I got a great run out of two and caught him before he entered three. He started to come down, and rather than staying in it and rubbing him, I backed out, caught his left rear quarter, and spun out. So if I’d stayed in it could I have won it? Maybe? I guess we’ll never know.

Fortunately I came out of the night with no damage and only had to do some tweaks to have the car ready for Friday. I hope we get it in. The weather is looking ominous.

So here’s some news. Kelly may be in a car for a week or so at Spencer and at RoC. RJ Wyman asked him to drive his car and Kelly wants to shake it down first. Hopefully we’ll see him there. Also, Jason is working on not one, but two cars for Spencer. He’s resurrecting Brianna’s car with the help of a donor car. He’s also picked up the old Dave Bock Gran Prix (now a Monte) from Oswego’s inaugural SS race. I drove that car to several top 3 finishes at AIS before it went to the VanTassel family. Hopefully we’ll see either or both in the coming weeks.

So Spencer rained out again. I was really looking forward to racing but I’m glad I didn’t have to deal with the swamp so it was a decent call.

Since they cancelled and Jason has been bugging me to go up, I swapped gears and tires and went to Evans Mills for the Doxtater memorial race. They had a great turnout and it was great to see some of the people I haven’t seen in a while. Dave Fetterly was there but fought handling issues all night. It’s always good to see Dave. He says he may come down to Spencer on the 28th. Jimmy Steffenhagen and Willie Strusz made the trip and said they had a great time and would be back. Steve Denner, Bobby Newman, and Matt Larivee made their return to The Mills from various directions. All tolled, there were 24 cars there. Not a bad turnout.

My night was up and down. I was wicked loose in hot laps and the car felt slow but everyone else seemed just as slow. It turned out I had flat left rear tire. I guess that’s what I get for dragging something out of the barn and not checking it. With a new tire on it the car was much more comfortable and I felt pretty good about the heat. I drew 5 on the way in so I was supposed to start on the front row outside of Dave. But, since he wasn’t happy with the car he decided to start scratch moving Steffenhagen and Newman up to 1st and 3rd. I tried to hold onto the outside on the start but just wasn’t comfortable enough and ended up pulling down into 3rd. After I over drove it into 3 Dave Arbes nudged me a little and took that spot but Newman blew a tire so I ended up 3rd.

I started the first feature 8th and despite getting a good start ended up finally getting to the bottom somewhere in the mid-teens. I settled in to let the field even out but a couple of laps in Doxtater decided he needed the spot in front of me and drove across my nose turning me around. Fortunately, only one car hit me and it was not a bad hit so I got going again. I ran down and passed a few cars and then got helped around again. This time the hit was worse and the whole nose got trashed. I pulled off but Jason’s guys said it looked OK so I went back out. I passed a few cars and another caution came out and I looked at the gauges and saw the temp getting close to 250 so I pulled it in. In the pits I found out the ducting was mangled and the fan was missing some blades. And the bumper mounts were torn off. So I straightened what I could and left the bumper off and went back out. I restarted 22nd or something and was having a great time going through the field when I checked up to miss the 11th place car and got turned. The temp gauge was at 250 again so I pulled off again with 3 to go and got credited with 19th.

I was feeling a little dejected when I got out of the car but the more I calmed down, the more I realized how much fun I’d been having. I was passing cars on the inside and outside and was as quick as some of the top 10 with a bent car. And then I noticed that Jason had won the race. And then someone handed me two $50 bills for the random draws. So I wandered around waiting for the payout and had a nice time talking to everyone. All in all not a bad night.

I wish I could have seen the race. Jason started in the back of the first feature and worked his way up to second. I guess Chris Typhair was doing a great job until he got taken out by a lap car. I’m pretty sure I saw Steffenhagen leading at some point but obviously Jason got by and held off all challengers. I’m pretty excited for him. It couldn’t happen to a nicer guy. He texted me yesterday to say he still couldn’t believe he won a big race. I feel pretty good about the fact that it was in my old car too. I’m hoping for a repeat performance at Spencer on the 28th.

Meanwhile back in my shop… The carnage isn’t pretty. I’m not sure I’ll get everything fixed but it should be OK to race. The power steering is leaking like crazy and the nose is ugly but I’m not going to have time or the money to make it shiny. I’m going to leave the chassis pretty much like it was Saturday night and see how Spencer likes it. If it feels anything like it did I’m going to be pretty happy.

I have to be in Binghamton Saturday night so I’m thinking about taking the car down to Shangri-La 2. We’ll see how Friday goes first though.

So I made a bunch of changes to the site. It seems no one could register, and there was no way to email me to complain about it. I’ve fixed both. And I think I’ve taken care of the broken links, formatting issues, and missing pictures. And I added the forums back. Now that there’s a way to tell me about it, please let me know if there’s something else broken.

Well, I did everything I could to get the car cool and what finally did it was…a fan. I think the other stuff I did helped a lot and probably would have kept it under 200 if I didn’t do any idling. But after the first hot lap session, it came in and blew water out. So I pulled out the fan and shroud I set up during the off week. And the car barely saw 200 for the rest of the night. Time to go find a decent electric fan so I can get the 5 HP back.

The low car count combined with the handicap from my atrocious finishes pretty much handed me the heat and should have done so in the feature. If my calculations are correct, I should have a chance to try it again next week. The turnout was disappointing. I was sorry to see so few cars after the great field for the Big 10 show. Jason had non-racing mechanical woes that kept him home (though he assures me that he and ‘The Girl’ will be there this Friday). I guess Jon Avery was sick. Hopefully he’ll back this weekend. And rumor has it that Billy Gleason has decided to just run Big 10, a decision that disappoints and saddens me. I like Billy and his family and will miss seeing them every week. I talked with Brian Gordon and he’ll be back in Virginia next week and for most of the season (though an angry and seemingly inebriated man on his crew assured me that his car would win the NYSS race on the 14th). I’m told Steve Malin will be there once in a while so that will be nice. I’m also told Chris Vogler will be back in Bobby Lippa’s 15 this week. Hopefully we’ll see some people getting ready for the 6/14 NYSS race too.

I did some looking around and it seems that the nearest track that also runs Street Stocks is Perry. Also on Friday nights… Still, that leaves an awful lot of real estate to pull from for a weekly class. So what’s the problem? I think it’s time to get the word out that you can race at Spencer again without selling your kids into slavery. It’s a nice track with nice people that want us there. Their rules are a little wacky but they’re willing to stretch them to a point to get some cars and that’s something that should get some old cars out of the weeds and back on the track. And I’m sure that if we can find some interest, they may see their way clear to rewriting them for next season. For my part, I’m going to start working on the old 10 and see if I can get it on the track later this season for a few shows. I have a chassis and a motor. All I need is everything else…

Well, Friday afternoon rolled around and the car was all set. I’d done everything I could to fix the cooling issues, adjusted the valves, fixed the kill switch, and even put new tires on it. But the rains never stopped. So I spent a little time this week touching up little things and hopefully I’ll get my vinyl in time to have on for this weekend.

There was some good news over the weekend despite the rainout. Dad got to do 100 at Indy in one of the cars he restored. And Jason finally pulled off a win in my old car. I talked to him briefly yesterday and while he still plans on going to Spencer, he’s going to hold off for a week while he deals with some housekeeping. On the plus side, it sounds like Brianna may come with him when he does show up.

Well, opening night happened. Actually, I guess practice did too but I’ve forgotten to post anything about either until now.

Practice went pretty well. The car ran a little hot but otherwise everything went smoothly. I didn’t get a good feel for how competitive it would be but it felt solid and smooth and I did get to run down a few cars. Of course I also got run down by a few in turn. but since everyone was on different tires, I figured I was doing OK. The important thing was that it stayed together and there didn’t seem to be any serious issues. After practice I picked up a couple of sets of tires for me and Jason and headed home and during the week I worked on lettering and getting the Big 10 tires mounted up. Unfortunately, neither went all that well. One of the tires had a hole in it that I plugged to get the car set up. And we messed up one of the pieces of vinyl and ended up putting it off and just making some numbers.

Friday I got to the track reasonably early and got everything all set up only to find that there were no tires. I guess this was a big issue for a lot of people. Supposedly the Big 10 guys are working on a solution but it was certainly a problem this week. Billy Gleason was kind enough to offer me a right front for the night, but eventually the tires did show up and I was able to get one swapped, mounted, and on the car for practice.

Again, the car felt good. I wasn’t blindingly fast but I was within a second or less of the regulars. I ran pretty even with Gleason and Strusz, and chased down Vogler, but Jason and Wright were a little faster, and Steffenhagen was in another class. Unfortunately, the car started running hot again. We tried a few things during hot laps and seemed to be getting somewhere before the heat.

I started 5th in the heat and managed to dodge a mess on lap one to jump to second. A few laps later Jason gave me a little nudge coming out of 4 to get by on the inside and we started chasing down the leader. But with 3 to go the motor started breaking up and by the last lap I was back to 5th and barely held that for the checkers. The car only made it to turn three before it died on the track and had to be pushed into the pits. We did some testing and eventually found a bad coil. Blue from Willie’s crew was nice enough to lend us one and we got it fired for the feature.

Due to my disappointing heat finish, I started 15th in the feature. We took the green and ran one lap before someone did something stupid up front and caused a pileup in three and four. I missed it and picked up five spots or so and was looking forward to a decent race when I looked down at the gauges and saw that the temp was at 230 again. I waited to see if it would drop any and it kept going up. So I pulled it in and called it a night. Considering that the difference in payout between fifth and last is exactly $0, and that there was so much carnage that only 6 cars finished, I figure it was a good choice.

I’ve been working on the cooling all week and after a lot of research and contemplation, I think I’ve got it figured out. Of course I’m throwing so many things at it that it might be too cool now but I can fix that. I also picked up a set of tires so I’ll be on a close to level playing field for the start of the regular Spencer season. Now I just need to get through tech…