Yeah I know I'm way behind on this but here goes. Since my last update we've had two semi final round losses and attended the Lucas Oil Nationals at BIR. The most recent semi final round loss was this past Sunday against Richard Randall. He went on to win the event over Jay Merfeld. Other winners included John Ihm in Trophy and Dave McWilliams in Super Pro. For a complete list of Sunday's winners check out www.tristateraceway.com. We will be back at TriState this coming weekend for racing both Saturday and Sunday. Along with our attempt at another trip to the winner's circle in Pro Eliminator, Duane will be racing Pro Cross in the Beck Family Racing 1964 Chevy Malibu in preparation for his Super Street debut at the Division 5 event September 8 - 11.
I've added a few BIR pictures to the Miscellaneous Photo Gallery. I'm working on putting together another website that will be used for posting pictures we don't have room for here and also will allow anybody to post pictures or comments. Stay tuned for further updates.
7/15/2008
So close! We almost did it. Our day in Pro ET ended with a .006 second red light to Richard Randall in the final round. Our attempt at being 2008 TriState Raceway King of the Track ended with a .003 second red light to current Super Pro points leader Jerry Dietz. Two final rounds the same day makes for a hectic day but I'll take it like that every time. Next time we'll win them though. Congrats to Richard and Jerry of course but also to Jon Ulbrich for his win in Sportsman and Gregg West for his win in Trophy. Michael Chitty won Super Pro and Garrett Chitty won in Junior Dragster to make for a nice Father/Son day.
7/8/2008
My fault. I thought I updated the site but it turns out I forgot to upload the changes to the server. Where do I start? Friday the 27th of June was the Christen Brothers "Eve at the Drags" Gambler race. DBK Racing made a 2nd round exit. Then the rains came and forced the cancellation of the evening entertainment by The Meerkats. Saturday was the 15th Annual Christen Brothers "Day At The Drags". We once again found ourselves ending our day in the 2nd round. Consistency isn't always a good thing. Sunday was TriState Raceway Points race #8. Things were going better today. Driver and Crew Chief were on the same page and the truck was doing what we expected it to do. From Gregg West of Great Escape Motorsports in the 1st round all the way to the final round, nothing came easy. The semi-final round put us against Sabrina Neimann. She's a good racer and an always tough competitor so the delay between rounds from John Davis Jr's oil-down made for some extra tension. In the final round the truck was on it's quickest pass of the day but Duane raced the far end of the track perfectly and avoided breaking out. Win #2 on the season felt good.
Sunday July 6th Points race #9 didn't go well. Due to questionable starting line conditions DBK Racing was eliminated in the 1st round. Hopefully those will be resolved before next weekend's racing.
6/21/2008
OK I'm disappointed. A former co-worker who has been in Michigan for the past 2 years tells me the site is not working. He says it's been down all week. It worked on my computer but that is where the site is based. I checked a different computer to verify what he was telling me. I apologize for things not working properly. I need you to let me know when things need attention.
The racing world lost another member today. Scott Kalitta was killed in a qualifying accident. I'm not going into details about the wreck, the internet has plenty of that. He won back to back Top Fuel Dragster Championships in 1995 and 1996. He left the sport a couple times to run his father's business but couldn't stay away. Carl Edwards won the NASCAR Nationwide Series race Saturday night and refused to do his trademark backflip out of respect for the Kalitta family. He didn't think it would be appropriate. I got to talk to Scott a few times at Brainerd. A lot of people thought he looked mad and mean but that couldn't be farther from the truth. He was always approachable and easy to talk to. He will be missed.
6/11/2008
It's still raining in Iowa. We got rained out Sunday morning. There have been some close calls this spring but we managed to get the racing in. Not so this week. It rained hard Saturday night and started up again early Sunday morning. There was never any doubt that racing would be cancelled for the day. Saturday night was fun. The thunder would wake you up but then the wind would rock you back to sleep. Things are looking better for the coming weekend. Hopefully things will go a little better. Those people in Iowa could use some drying out time.
6/4/2008
Sunday ended with a 2nd round loss to Joey Notch and his Chevy Luv pickup. Kurt Mullen took the win in Pro Eliminator over Jim Ulbrich.
We would like to congratulate all of the graduating seniors but especially Aaron Heim, Melinda Boettger, Samantha Hovden, Amanda Krensky and Natasha Nelson.
5/26/2008
Where do I start? Saturday was looking good at first and then the excitement started. Matt Kohl was having transmission problems with his Beretta. Everyone jumped in to help but it wasn't enough. Duane offered Matt the use of the truck so he could race Super Pro. That meant the truck and crew chief got to pull double duty. Duane finally got the chance to see what the truck looks like going down the track. Matt turned on the red bulb in round one by .013 seconds. Well we gave it a shot. Duane ended up losing to Kurt Mullen in the third round of Pro with a .003 second breakout. Sunday started quick so we could beat the threatening weather. We felt good about our chances but 2nd round saw a .006 second breakout to end our day. Sunday evening was spent in the treeline at the campground for the Memorial weekend potluck. The food was great and the conversation was terrific as always. Things got interesting when the storm sirens sounded. Everybody in the campground ended up in the storm shelter. Things were a bit crowded but the conversation continued so it wasn't too bad. Eventually the rains ended and the wind died down so we could get some sleep.
Congratulations go to Jim Ulbrich for his win in Pro and Tony Robertson for his win in Super Pro Saturday and Sunday's winners - Dave Ashley (Trophy), Pat Weber (Sportsman), Sabrina Niemann (Pro) and James Halverson (Super Pro). Next up is a maintenance day Saturday and Points #5 Sunday June 1st.
5/19/2008
Now that's how it's supposed to work. Our day ended in TriState Raceway's Winner's Circle. It felt good to be back. The truck was running the dials and Duane was doing his job on the starting line. The competition was tough all day. Second round Duane used a .007 second reaction time against Jay Merfeld. Third round it took a .013 second reaction time along with a 9.302 on a 9.29 dial to take the win against Kurt Mullen's .026 R.T. and 10.507 on his 10.49 dial. That win gave us the bye in the semi-final round. The other side of the ladder was dominated by Richard Randall. His dials were near perfect all day. We were hoping to face him in the final round but he lit the red bulb in the semi-finals. In the final round Duane got the advantage at the starting line and played the other end to take the win. Next week we have Saturday and Sunday racing at TriState.
5/6/2008
The weather was great for the first points race of the 2008 season at TriState Raceway on Sunday. We brought our A game but went home disappointed. Round one in Pro Eliminator went to our opponent due to a .007 second break-out and round one in Super Pro also went to the opposition because of a -.007 red light. The car count was low but the competition level was high. We'll try again on Sunday May 18th at TriState for Points #2. Congrats to Kurt Mullen for his win in Pro ET and Matt Kohl and family for his win in Super Pro. Check out Matt's website on our racing links page. Log on to his Racing Forum and share your thoughts.
4/21/2008
The track was right where we left it! It was nice to see everyone again. Everyone agreed it's been a long winter.
Saturday found us sitting in the tower with Reid and waiting out the drizzle and fog. By the time the sun decided to make an appearance it was too late to do anything. Sunday didn't start out any better. The fog was thick but it finally burned off around 10:00 or so. We made our first attempt about 11:00 and found the track to be slippery and unpredictable. Traction was not good. Track staff worked on the starting line and it got somewhat better. We tried a few different things until the truck made it down the track a couple of times. Then it was time to load up and head for home. Next up is Points #1 at TriState Sunday May 4th. Hopefully the track will come around.
4/11/2008
It's snowing again! Sometimes I wonder if the racing season will ever get here. The plan is still to unload and test next weekend. It seems like a long ways away. I'm really looking forward to my 1st Boonie burger in 6 months. Boonies is a family restaurant located in beautiful downtown Earlville, Iowa. If you're ever in the area be sure to check it out.
Fellow racer and all around nice guy Matt Kohl has a new website up and running. Be sure to check it out on our racing links page.
3/31/2008
There is currently snow falling out of the sky and the temperature is 29 degrees but the schedule still says we'll be racing in 3 more weeks. Well testing anyway. Track time is track time.
We are glad to welcome Sweet Towing & Repair and State Farm/Steve Carroll Agency back for another year. And as always Sput is providing the horsepower. We would also like to thank Dean Mesenbring for putting the powerglide back together after the case was sent off for recertification. The new Hoosiers have been mounted and aired up. The support vehicles are being prepped for the season so we're getting closer. The plan is to be at TriState Raceway April 19th for the first test and tune. Come and join us!
3/3/2008
Well, everything is back together and ready for the racing season. We fired the engine tonight with no issues. The sounds and the smells brought back memories of the track. We're less than 2 months away from the first test and tune so we need to start putting the program together. It's that time of the year when we make lists to make sure we have what we need to do this right.
Sput's Racing Engines has a new website. I've put a link on our Racing Links page and our sponsors page. Check it out.
2/3/2008
Will the season ever get here? I'm ready to go racing. Last month we got to share an evening of good conversation and good food with Gregg and Pamela West. That made me even more eager to get back to the track. They're trying to organize a gathering in northeast Iowa sometime soon. I hope something can be worked out.
I recently added two links to the Racing Links page. The first is www.chevythunder.net. It is a message board dedicated to motorheads. I've only been a member for a short time but I'm getting to know some of the regulars. It's a great place to hang out. The other addition is www.dragracingheaven.com. Drag Racing Heaven is a store in the Southbridge Mall in Mason City, Iowa that specializes in drag racing items. Clothing, diecast, novelty items...etc. You can shop in the store or online if you prefer. Their website has a lot of different things including photos. Be sure to check it out.