Update from Octoberfest 350

We arrived Saturday morning for the Octoberfest 350, at Hagerstown Speedway, unloaded the car and got ready for competition. During warm ups entering turn three, 3 cars spun out, leaving a lane to the bottom of the track for me to get by. As I went thru the wreck, the car I had gone around got back in the throttle, trying to save the spin, and slammed my whole right side, pushing the rub rail into the rear tire, and smashing the whole body into the frame. After returning to my pit area, the crew worked feverishly to repair the car, to make the qualifying heat race. If we did not make the heat, we would have to start at the rear of the consolation race, with 40-plus cars out on the field, attempting to qualify for 26 spots, which would make passing on this speedway a difficult task. The crew, as they normally do, kicked into high gear and made the repairs, with the help of several friends, to include Bob Kriner who is a well known engine builder from Chambersburg, PA. We took him from engine builder to body man on Saturday afternoon. We started 5th in the heat and held it until a caution at halfway, when a competitor tried a risky outside move and made it work, dropping us into 6th. The next lap I tried the same move and was unable to pull it off, which allowed a car on my inside, forcing me to work the outside, until I had cleared that car and settled back into the bottom. At the checkered we finished 6th, which was one spot out from qualifying. That did start us on the front row of the consolation race. We started and finished 2nd, qualifying us to start in 24th position on Sundays' 100 lap event. Sunday, as the event started, I worked my way through the field as best I could. We had made changes to the car for the event, yet the car was not working as I would have liked it to. The car was very tight entering the corner, and continued tight the whole way through. This was making it hard to handle in traffic, and slowed my lap times terribly. Then adding to the problem by creating excessive tire heat and wear, around lap 60, I had worn the right rear to the point of no return, and got a flat. The caution was thrown for me, and to the pits I headed. The crew went right to work, changed the tire, and sent me back out without losing a lap. We continued to finish 15th after starting 24th. This is not the successful weekend that we had hoped for, but after all the issues we encountered, we were pleased. Once again, I have to thank the great crew I have, that never lets me down. This is a team sport, and these guys always go after it with all they have. Also, thanks to Bob Kriner for helping us out. He's always there for me when I need anything, even a helping hand, as a body mechanic. This is the last event of 2008. Now it time to prepare cars and equipment for 2009. Bob Kriner and his shop are working on several engines for next year. I will keep everyone updated on the off season progress, on the website. So stop by the website at www.delrougeux.com for new photos and other information that will be posted. Later, Del

Octoberfest Postponed

After traveling to Hagerstown Speedway and setting in the trailer and watching the rain fall for 6 hours straight, they had to postpone the Octoberfest 350 until November 8th and 9th. The rain moved in the area over night Friday, and continued through Saturday, which was going to make it impossible for the track crew to get the track into shape. The whole team is off for another two weeks, with rebuilding of the cars starting on the other cars in the shop except for the 08 Bicknell which is setting prepared to race at Hagerstown Speedway on November 8th and 9th. I hope everyone’s kids have a safe and happy Halloween, and hope to see everyone at Hagerstown Speedway in November. Later, Del

Weekending Update for Sept. 21st

The weekend did not start out as I had wished. We brought the new 2008 Bicknell car out for the Sharon Apple Fest Nationals. We had to run time trials, and didn’t time in very good, we were 22nd out of 41 cars. We started 7th in the heat race and didn’t make any progress forward; the car was laying over on the right side and not gaining forward bite when I exited the corner. I went to work thinking of all the changes I needed and the crew went to work putting a new Bilstein shock package on the car, and making other adjustments. We started 4th in the consolation race, by the end of lap one I had the lead and was putting the car through the paces. We won the race by half a lap. The car felt great and did everything it needed to. Sunday was the A-mains; we had to start 22nd because of qualifying poorly. We did our regular maintenance on Sunday morning, ran warm-ups to start the evening and started making changes for the feature event. We made changes to the car to handle on the dry slick surface. The car worked great and we were passing cars on all grooves of the racetrack, we worked our way into 5th place by the time the checkered flag flew. I was happy; we took an ill handling car to a great racecar by the end of the weekend. We are off now until the end of October, the weekend of October 25th and 26th we will be racing at Hagerstown Speedway for the Octberfest 350. Until then we are working in the shop, getting equipment ready for next season. Stay informed on the website www.delrougeux.com of all things going on with the team and sponsors. I personally would like to thank all our sponsors and supporters. You guys all make it so great to do what I love to do. Also thank you to all our fans for being there week after week. Later, Del

Update for the month of August

I need to start this update with an apology; it’s been a very hectic end of the season. Not in a good way either. August 15th we had a very dominating win at Lernerville Speedway, the car was great and working perfectly. Between The Kriner family and Pat Macaulay of Bilstein shock absorbers, they each had some ideas we tried and hit a homerun! The next night was a Modified Tour Inc show at Mercer Raceway Park; this place is not one of my favorite tracks. It has a tendency to be a brutal race, but we worked through, started 20th and finished 11th, escaping with minor damage. The next night at Tri-City we came home 4th, it was a very competitive 4th, just could make a move to the front, very tight racing. The next week is when the wheels fell off the cart. We had to start 12th after winning the week before. As we moved forward on the start, there was a spinning car in turn four, I made a move to avoid it and was hit in the left front and shoved into him. As he went over our car, destroying the front clip and damaging the engine, even knocked the carburetor off the intake. We headed to frenchville, started work at 12 midnight and finished at 12 noon to head to Sharon. Dialing in the 03 car all night we started 18th and finished 7th. The following week we raced the 03 car again, while our frontline motor is at Kriner’s getting freshened and repaired. We finished 7th again at Sharon, slightly down on horsepower with this motor. The next night we raced at Eriez Speedway, the backup motor proved good on this track, it was not a big horsepower track. We finished second in our heat and were going for the lead in the feature about lap 12 and the leader lost the handle of his car and drove into my right side, we were able to continue, but damage had been done, we ended up finishing 3rd. Through this rough season we still managed to finish 3rd in the final points at Lernerville and Sharon. 6th in the final points at Tri-City, and we are on the move in the Modified Tour Inc points, we are now in 5th with only several points separating us from 2nd. The good motor is now back from Kriner’s, and is strapped in a new 08 Bicknell chassis. We are ready for the big Advance auto parts / Modified Tour Inc show at Lernerville on Sept 12th. I have to give a huge thank you to the whole crew, this has been a very rough end to the season, but they have never slowed down. They work all day and night if needed to keep these cars going; in times of adversity you find out what type of people you have working with you. Let me be the first to say, “I have the best crew in Dirt Modified Racing “. Foot full of throttle Head full of determination The will to get the job done Later, Del

weekending 8/10 update

Another weekend started at Lernerville Speedway, started 9th in the feature after finishing third in our heat race. The car felt great on the start; on lap four I had slight contact with another car on the right rear tire. As I entered the next corner the car was slightly different, I knew the right Rear shock was broken. I drove the next 21 laps without a right rear shock, the car was slightly ill handling, but we had faded back to about 10th and worked my way back up to 5th by the end of the race. Actually was side by side for 4th at the line, but we were scored in 5th. Saturday was Sharon Speedway; we had the car prepared in the afternoon and ready to go racing. We started 9th in the heat race and worked our way into 3rd by lap 2. A caution flew for several cars that had wrecked, on the restart the cars handling was terrible, I fought the car and hung on for a 4th place finish. When the crew took the tire pressure readings we found we had a new right rear tire that was leaking. That was why the cars handling went away. We readied the car for the feature, it was a strange track, and the groove was really narrow and had a big cushion. It was hard to make passes, you needed to pressure the guy in front of you into making an error and capitalize on his mistake. I was able to make several passes to end up finishing 3rd from our 5th place starting spot. We worked our way into 3rd in the point’s standings at Sharon Speedway; we are 2 points out of second, and 70 points out of the lead. We are doing all that we possibly can to capture this title for the second year in a row. Some luck coming on our side would definitely help! Sunday night was at Tri-City Speedway again, but Mother Nature had plans of her own. We rained out about 5 p.m. We loaded up and headed home for Frenchville, pa. This week we are racing at Lernerville, A Modified Tour Inc show at Mercer Raceway Park and the last night of the year at Tri-City Speedway. Till next week, hope to see ya at a racetrack. Later, Del

update week ending of aug 3rd

It’s been a hectic past couple weeks. Two weeks ago we competed at Lernerville, and Tyler County Speedway. Placing fifth in both races, not a terrific outing, but we did move forward. This past weekend we had Mr. Kriner and his son Clint racing with us. We all had a great time with them. Friday at Lernerville we started 7th, and were into second by lap 10. I felt comfortable with the car and was happy to just ride there for a bit. About lap 15 I made a move for the lead, as I was beside Kevin Bolland for the lead, the caution was thrown. This gave him the advantage to know where I was running; he changed his line on the restart and took my line. I spent the rest of the race moving around trying to find a faster line, but with no success, we settled for second. Saturday after a nice breakfast at King’s Family Restaurant, with a sensational waitress serving us, we headed to Sharon Speedway to prepare the car. We started seventh in the feature after finishing second in our heat race. The car was great from the start, hard contact was made with my right rear tire twice early in the feature. This changed the car slightly, but still was very drivable. We worked our way into second and were tracking the leader down, we entered heavy lap traffic. I was troubled with several lap cars and lost the leader, we were a bridesmaid for the second night. We started Sunday with the normal car maintenance for Tri-City Speedway. We finished 3rd in our heat and started the feature in 7th. We worked our way forward to 5th, the car was okay, but we still need to get a better handle on Tri-City’s slick racing surface. I have to thank Randy Williamson and Pat Macaulay for working with me and getting the car handling much better. Also The Kriner’s were a great help to have with us this weekend. Will be racing at the normal three tracks this week, see ya all soon. Later, Del

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