KJ Motorsports Update #4 Race #4

4/6/15

Mother Nature won out on Friday night, but Saturday made for a good race day! Legendary Hilltop opted to race on Saturday and they were paying $1,000 to win, so we opted to stay close to home.

18 mods were on hand and Frankie got 8th fastest time. That started him 3rd in the heat #2, but on the first lap he lost the handle entering turn 1 and got hit. He went to the tail and raced a few laps, but had to pull off due to a flat tire. This started him on the tail of the feature but managed to come back to a 7th place finish. He is still trying to get comfortable with the car and plans to make some set up changes to accomplish that.

I set 3rd fastest time and started the pole of heat 3 beside Ricky Venham. Ricky got a run on the outside and took the early lead. We were battling and making for a good race until we both were going for the same real estate entering turn 3. I got on the binders hard and almost spun. Ricky was able to pull away and I couldn’t catch him before the checkers fell and we got 2nd. This started us 6th in the feature and I made a couple of changes. I now know that one of those changes tightens the car up too much. I had to force the car to turn on entry and we managed to get to 2nd, but had nothing for the leader and eventual winner KC Burdette.

I want to thank the Scythe family for their support and friendship, for they were prepared to go to another track, but when they heard our plans had changed, they opted to drive down from Columbus to watch us race! Also want to give a shout out to my hero, Dustin Jarrett. It’s been a while since I got to see him and also got to see his sister Lindsay and Bro In Law Dave.

It’s time I do a weekly sponsor recognition. I want to give a shout out to Jeff Schilling of Schilling Truss and Building Materials out of Beverly, OH. If you are in need of some new trusses, Schilling Truss is the place to call. They also stock many other building materials, go to www.schillingtruss.com or go to their Facebook page and give them a like. 

This coming weekend we plan to be at Legendary Hilltop Speedway on Friday and back to Atomic Speedway on Saturday. So, we hope to see you all there!

Remember, to make this work, support those that support us!

K-Graphics, Hall’s Auto Repair, Schilling Truss, JS Enterprises, Weekley Electric, Bestway Equipment & Services, KBI Real Estate, Wash-N-Go, Speedee Wash, Zemba Bros., Coughlincars.com, Steve Balderson Construction, Sheet Metal Local 33, Octane Race Products, Poske’s Performance Parts, Hypercoils, Tom & Pam Lemon, Carr Auto Glass, BSB Mfg., Wilwood, Bilstein-XVS, OVDTR.com, Billy Joe & Wanda Hammett, Bill & Patty Welch (RIP), Shaw Race Cars, Lightning Chassis, TSM Enhanced, Bazell & Sunoco Race Fuels, Hoosier, Aero Wheels, Wrisco Aluminum, Impact Race Gear, Billy Lloyd Racing Engines, Mullins Race Engines, Lubeck Community Baptist Church, Iglesia Bautista Jehova Yireh, MSD Ignition, Quick Time Suspension, Willy’s Carburetor’s, KSE Pumps, KRC, AMRA, Gibby’s Dirt Track Racing Nation.

Schilling Truss Inc.Schilling Truss Inc. Truss Lumber Siding Roofing Glulam Contractor Construction Home Supply

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KJ Motorsports Update #3 Race #2 & #3

4/1/15

We took of Thursday morning for Elkin, NC to Friendship Speedway where they were having a Renegades of Dirt show. Thursday was open practice, with Friday being Twin 25’s and Saturday being the big show paying $10,000 to win. 

Thursday, both Frankie and I got some practice time and were able to make some changes to the cars and see what worked and what didn’t.

Friday, Frankie qualified 5th in his group and they were taking the top 6 to the heat race. He made a slight change for the heat and it caused the car to be too tight and he faded back to a 13th place finish. This put him starting 9th in the consi and he was able to make his way to a transfer position and started 17th in the feature and was able to finish in 12th.
Saturday he didn’t fare as well in qualifying and was buried in his heat race and had to run the consi. He came up short in the consi as well and did not make the big show. But he did make several changes to try and learn more about the car and he was pleased with that he had learned.

Friday, I was in the same group with Frankie and I qualified 7th in my group and I managed to get into a transfer position for the feature. Started 12th in the feature and was running along about 9th or so and I looped it in turn 1 and collected another car. It took my right side off, but fortunately it was just cosmetic damage and this gave us our first DNF for the year.

Saturday when we went out to hot lap, we were 3rd fastest out of the entire field. Went out to qualify and I missed my mark in turns 1 and 2 and got too high. We wound up qualifying 5th fastest in our group to start us 3rd in our heat race. We finished 3rd and this started us on the pole of the consi. We went on to race the leader side by side for the last 4 or 5 laps, but finished 2nd and that transferred us into the big show, starting 18th. We passed a few cars, but was not making much progress and the track was horribly dusty and was a gamble as to whether the track was clear or not. After the half-way point, I got plowed from behind and decided then to pull off and not take a chance on tearing it up. If I had been advancing positions, I would have stayed out, but unfortunately I wasn’t and now we have two DNF’s in only 3 starts. Not exactly what I wanted for the weekend, but I’ll take some learning’s from the weekend and hope to improve this weekend.

I want to give a shout out to Jeff and Joe Schilling of Schilling Truss and JS Enterprises for making the trip down along with Tom, Pam and Trey Lemon. Thanks to Tim Cooper, Brian Dennewitz, Tommy Worstell and Mark “don’t believe a word he says” Luning for all their help and also thanks to Jason Brookover’s Team for their help as well.

This coming weekend we plan to be at Legendary Hilltop Speedway for $1,000 to win AMRA race. Then on Saturday we will be going back to Atomic Speedway. So, we hope to see you all there!

Remember, to make this work, support those that support us!

K-Graphics, Hall’s Auto Repair, Schilling Truss, JS Enterprises, Weekley Electric, Bestway Equipment & Services, KBI Real Estate, Wash-N-Go, Speedee Wash, Zemba Bros., Coughlincars.com, Steve Balderson Construction, Sheet Metal Local 33, Octane Race Products, Poske’s Performance Parts, Hypercoils, Tom & Pam Lemon, Carr Auto Glass, BSB Mfg., Wilwood, Bilstein-XVS, OVDTR.com, Billy Joe & Wanda Hammett, Bill & Patty Welch (RIP), Shaw Race Cars, Lightning Chassis, TSM Enhanced, Bazell & Sunoco Race Fuels, Hoosier, Aero Wheels, Wrisco Aluminum, Impact Race Gear, Billy Lloyd Racing Engines, Mullins Race Engines, Lubeck Community Baptist Church, Iglesia Bautista Jehova Yireh, MSD Ignition, Quick Time Suspension, Willy’s Carburetor’s, KSE Pumps, KRC, AMRA, Gibby’s Dirt Track Racing Nation.

KJ Motorsports Update #2 Race #1

3/21/15

This year I’ll be typing up the updates for both Frankie Hall ‪#‎8h‬ and as well as my updates. 

Well Mother Nature played a role in track prep at Atomic Speedway and the track crew took full advantage of it. They had 18 mods and Frankie drew pill #30 something, which started him 6th in the 2nd heat. Frankie made his way to a 4th place finish in the heat, but not without scraping the wall a bit. I promise, I gave him no lessons. He started 8th in the feature and came away with a respectable 5th place finish. His goal going into the night was to bring the car home in one piece and finish in the top 5, so he was pleased with his first night out.

We drew pill #15 which was just perfect. We started outside pole of the 2nd heat beside Seth Daniels and won it. Then started outside pole of the feature alongside Cody Parker and we picked up our first win of the year. I was real pleased with the new Lightning Chassis.

This win had some meaning to it. I was approached by the brother of Bryan Karshner and he said he had a favor to ask of me. Bryan’s family ran KC Speedway for many years and Bryan had continued to help do the track prep for the next several owners. Bryan lost his life a few weeks back from a long battle with cancer. The favor was to go out there and win it for Bryan. I know that if I wouldn’t have won, that he would not have come back to me and said you let me down. But as it turned out, we did win and I dedicated that win to Bryan Karshner! Bryan knew that I always liked a track that was balls to the walls and Friday, I’m guessing Bryan met up with Mother Nature and called in a favor! Thanks BRYAN!

This coming weekend we plan to leave Thursday morning for Friendship Speedway in Elkin, NC for a Renegades of Dirt show paying $10,000 to win. I don’t expect it, but I hope to see you all there, LOL!

Remember, to make this work, support those that support us!

K-Graphics, Hall’s Auto Repair, Schilling Truss, JS Enterprises, Weekley Electric, Bestway Equipment & Services, KBI Real Estate, Wash-N-Go, Speedee Wash, Zemba Bros., Coughlincars.com, Steve Balderson Construction, Sheet Metal Local 33, Octane Race Products, Poske’s Performance Parts, Hypercoils, Tom & Pam Lemon, Carr Auto Glass, BSB Mfg., Wilwood, Bilstein-XVS, OVDTR.com, Billy Joe & Wanda Hammett, Bill & Patty Welch (RIP), Shaw Race Cars, Lightning Chassis, TSM Enhanced, Bazell & Sunoco Race Fuels, Hoosier, Aero Wheels, Wrisco Aluminum, Impact Race Gear, Billy Lloyd Racing Engines, Mullins Race Engines, Lubeck Community Baptist Church, Iglesia Bautista Jehova Yireh, MSD Ignition, Quick Time Suspension, Willy’s Carburetor’s, KSE Pumps, KRC, AMRA, Gibby’s Dirt Track Racing Nation.

KJ Motorsports Update #1 “2015 Season Getting Closer”

1/29/15

Well, a lot has been going on since the end of 2014 and I’ll do my best to summarize. I’ll start with the biggest news. Frankie Hall of Hall’s Auto Repair has chosen to join our team and he didn’t just join he stepped it up. He has purchased a toter in which he & Brian Dennewitz have been remodeling the inside and it will be getting a new facelift on the outside as well. He also purchased a 28’ stacker trailer to haul both cars. I was able to purchase a brand new Shaw chassis to replace the one that I destroyed of his last year and he will be racing it on a regular basis. Can’t thank Frankie enough for all he has done for KJ Motorsports and looking forward to fun times this summer!

Next on the list of things for 2015 is sponsorship. All 3 Schilling brothers have stepped up as sponsors this year. The Schillings have always taken me in like family since Greg passed away in 2008 and I’m thankful for their friendship and the fact that they have chosen me to display their name on my car. So as you go thru the sponsor list at the bottom of this update, please find all of our sponsors either on the web or on Facebook and give them a shout and let them know you appreciate their support of racing and KJ Motorsports and try and support them when you need their product.

So with sponsorship, we were able to purchase a brand new Lightning chassis from Donnie and Vickie Adams. We put this car together fairly quick so we could display it in the PRI show in Indianapolis back in Dec. We still have our set up stuff to complete on the car, but it is basically race ready. We will also have our Shaw chassis ready to go, in which we have had a ton of success with. We will be in both cars as the season goes along. I have my Billy Lloyd race engines and Frankie has his Mullins race engines. So between the two of us, we should never miss a race night unless of course I do something stupid again and decide to take the scenic route at Atomic like I did not once, but twice last year. . . .

So with that said, as of now, we plan to open our season at Atomic Speedway on March 20th and then the following weekend we will make the trip down south to Friendship Speedway in Elkin, NC for a $10,000 to win Renegades of Dirt show. Hope to see you all there!

Remember, to make this work, support those that support us!

K-Graphics, Hall’s Auto Repair, Schilling Truss, JS Enterprises, Weekley Electric, Bestway Equipment & Services, KBI Real Estate, Wash-N-Go, Speedee Wash, Zemba Bros.,Coughlincars.com, Steve Balderson Construction, Sheet Metal Local 33, Octane Race Products, Poske’s Performance Parts, Hypercoils, Tom & Pam Lemon, Carr Auto Glass, BSB Mfg., Wilwood, Bilstein-XVS,OVDTR.com, Billy Joe & Wanda Hammett, Bill & Patty Welch (RIP), Shaw Race Cars, Lightning Chassis, TSM Enhanced, Bazell & Sunoco Race Fuels, Hoosier, Aero Wheels, Wrisco Aluminum, Impact Race Gear, Billy Lloyd Racing Engines, Mullins Race Engines, Lubeck Community Baptist Church, Iglesia Bautista Jehova Yireh, MSD Ignition, Quick Time Suspension, Willy’s Carburetor’s, KSE Pumps, KRC, AMRA, Gibby’s Dirt Track Racing Nation.

KJ Motorsports Update #35 "Season Ends”

11/7/14

 

Well our 2014 season is officially over since Atomic was forced to cancel their last race due to Mother Nature. We raced 59 times this season, which is now our new record for number of races ran in a season. In 2003 we raced 57 times. We had an awesome season winning the track points championship at Legendary Hilltop Speedway, winning the Gibby’s Dirt Track Nation Modified Points Championship and winning the AMRA National points championship.

Here is a recap of our season: We raced at 11 different tracks and got our feature wins at 4 of them. We set fast time 8 times, with one of those being a new track record at Atomic Speedway. We won 38 heat races. We won 19 feature races and finished 2nd-10 times, 3rd-6 times, 4th-6 times, 6th-2 times, 7th-2 times, 9th-1 time, 14th-1 time, DNF’s-10 times, DNS-1 time & DNQ-1 time. We rolled twice (2 different cars) at Atomic Speedway. Had engine issues 3 times. Drove 4 different cars this season. Our 2013 Shaw car, Frankie Hall’s 2012 Shaw by Landers car, Mark Bailey’s 2014 Extreme Chassis & Dean Eckard’s 2014 Victory Chassis.

Tim, Danny and Chad have put in a lot of combined hours over the course of this season. I cannot thank them enough for all they do and want to make sure they are acknowledged as Champions. It’s just not the effort on the track that wins races, but also the work that is done in the pits and in the garage thru the week and they do a lot of that!

 

I need to thank all of my sponsors for their support this 2014 season. Along with the crew, sponsors are another important part of my racing. If there is any way possible, anyone reading this, please consider using our sponsors when you have a need for what they may provide and let them know you are supporting them because of us.

 

I want to give a shout out to Jenni Fussell Cook for producing a new look to our web site. Be sure and drop in at http://www.kjmotorsports.net/and leave a note on our guestbook and be sure and thank Jenni for designing a great looking site.

 

I want to thank Billy Lloyd for all of his support. Billy has been involved with my engines for many years, but has built/refreshed them since 2003. He has been an integral part of my racing and one of the reasons we are so consistent.

 

I also need to thank Frankie Hall of Hall’s Auto Repair. Frankie purchased a complete racecar at the end of the 2013 season and opted to have me drive it. He then had me decal it up like it was our own car and race it whenever we needed to. Well, I not only raced it, I destroyed it. Then late in the season when I had some engine issues, Frankie said, use the one that was in his car. He was a huge help to our championship season. A new chassis has been ordered and should be here by Thanksgiving and we’ll get started getting it back together.

 

I cannot forget the fans. I have some amazing fans that travel some distances to different tracks just to watch us race. I met some great people this year and have picked up some new fans. Fans are an important part of my racing, especially the young fans that need something to look forward to each and every weekend. Racing is a great sport and we need the younger generation to take interest to keep the sport growing!

Our immediate plan is to start preparing our car to get ready to display it at the PRI trade show (Performance Racing Industry) in Indianapolis, IN. This is where every manufacturer involved in motorsports displays their new products for the upcoming season and we will be right there promoting AMRA and sharing Gibby’s points and all of our sponsors with everyone that will be there. I plan to come out with a new announcement prior to the show in December. . .so stay tuned!

Remember, to make this work, support those that support us!

K-Graphics, Hall’s Auto Repair, Schilling Truss, JS Enterprises, Zemba Bros.,Coughlincars.com, Steve Balderson Construction, Sheet Metal Local 33, Octane Race Products, Poske’s Performance Parts, Out-Pace Race Products, Racers Edge Supplements, Hypercoils, Tom & Pam Lemon, Carr Auto Glass, BSB Mfg., Wilwood, Bilstein,OVDTR.com, Billy Joe & Wanda Hammett, Bill & Patty Welch (RIP), Keyser Mfg., Shaw Race Cars, TSM Enhanced, Bazell Race Fuels, Hoosier, Aero Wheels, Wrisco Aluminum, Lubeck Community Baptist Church, Iglesia Bautista Jehova Yireh, Willy’s Carburetor’s, KSE Pumps, KRC, Gibby’s Dirt Track Racing Nation and Weekley Electric.

KJ Motorsports Update #34 Race #59

10/30/14

We were at Atomic this past weekend, Thursday-Saturday for the Open Wheel Championship. We set 2nd fast time, but KC Burdette blew us out of the water with a lap time of ½ second faster. They inverted the top 4 in each heat race, which started us 4th in the 2nd heat. The fastest 10 cars that qualified thru their heat were guaranteed a spot in the dash. So I knew all we had to do was finish in the top 4 of our heat. Jess Hartman took the early lead from the outside front row and Tim Tribby moved up into 2nd and we followed in 3rd. The groove was strictly on the top and that is where Jess ran and Tim ran just high enough that we could not pass him on the outside. So I worked the middle and never was able to make a pass. About mid-way, Tim looped it in front of me and I had nowhere to go and hit him in the left rear. It tore up our front end up, but we were able to continue and Tim was as well. The caution was coming out for some other cars that had spun prior to Tim looping. So by us finishing 3rd, we were locked in the dash. As we assessed the damage, we found that we bent the right front frame horn down which had our steering in a bind. So Chad and I took the car to Nourse body shop, where good friend Sean Schobelock put it on the frame rack and we got it straightened out in no time. Sean also had a piece of aluminum and I was able to build a new nose. The dash was on Saturday and the starting order was determined by pill draw. New race fans Alexis and Allie Jenkins drew our pill for us and got us #5. We had made a set up change to try something and it didn’t work out and we finished 7th in the dash, starting us 7th in the feature. We made another set up change and I made a decision to run the bottom. It worked out well, for no one else was running there, LOL. We were able to pass our way to 4th and I took the opportunity to go to the high side and it seemed to overheat my right rear tire and we faded back to a 6th place finish. I was disappointed not to run better at Atomic, but I just didn’t have the car dialed in. A big thanks goes out to Sean, Stacy and Kalvin (aka George) for their hospitality and giving me a place to stay.

This week, I want to give a shout out to Michael Gibson of Gibby’s Dirt Track Racing Nation OH/WV and Sean Weekley of Weekley Electric. We were lucky enough to win the points title and were named the King of Gibby’s Dirt Track Racing Nation points. Sean Weekley puts up the point monies and Gibby does all the leg work and promoting. Also supporting the point fund is DJ Directional Services, Buckeye Custom Apparel, Lias Tire by Tye Twarog, Bryan Casey Racing, Tri County Overhead Door, DTR Updates, Tom and Pam Lemon, Zach Yost Racing Photography, C&S Racing Photo, Isner Racing Engines, Racers in Christ, Diamond Refinishing& Restoration, and McHugh Dealership. Also need to thank all of the tracks that participated as well. It was an honor for Gibby to come to the shop and present us with our awards. Also want to say thanks to Tom & Pam Lemon, Mike & Angie Haught, Bill & Karen Locke, Lisa & Maddy Cooper for coming out and joining us for the presentation. Also a BIG THANKS to Tim, Danny& Chad for all of their hard work this season. This Championship is theirs as well, cause if they are not there doing what they do, we couldn’t have won it.

Our next race will be at Atomic Speedway on Nov. 8th for the Dan Reno Memorial $2,222 to win. So we hope to see you there!

Remember, to make this work, support those that support us!

K-Graphics, Hall’s Auto Repair, Schilling Truss, JS Enterprises, Zemba Bros., Coughlincars.com, Steve Balderson Construction, Sheet Metal Local 33, Octane Race Products, Poske’s Performance Parts, Out-Pace Race Products, Racers Edge Supplements, Phantom Racing Gear, Hypercoils, Tom & Pam Lemon, Carr Auto Glass, OVDTR.com, Billy Joe & Wanda Hammett, Bill & Patty Welch (RIP), Keyser Mfg., Shaw Race Cars, TSM Enhanced, Bazell Race Fuels, Hoosier, Aero Wheels, Wrisco Aluminum, Lubeck Community Baptist Church, Iglesia Bautista Jehova Yireh, Willy’s Carburetor’s, KSE Pumps, KRC, Gibby’s Dirt Track Racing Nation and Weekley Electric

KJ Motorsports Update #33 Race #58

10/19/14

This past weekend was the Dirt Track World Championship at Portsmouth Raceway Park where they had 84 modifieds and 89 late models. Our weekend started off on Thursday night, where we were challenged with a rough race track due to rains on Wednesday night and Thursday morning. We set 4th fastest time in our group to start us on the outside pole of heat #4 beside Evan Taylor. Evan got the early lead and we fell to 4th. We passed our way back to 2nd and Evan got into a lap car and had to go pit side. We took over the lead and held on until the last lap. I caught a rut and it threw the car up the track and Joey Kramer was able to get by us. But this locked us into the show, starting us 10th. We were supposed to run our feature on Saturday night, but Mother Nature thought differently. So we had to race on Sunday afternoon in the day time. History has proven, that most day time races I don’t fare to well. I feel like this race proves that I have more work to do on daytime races. We started 10th and were passed by a few cars and we passed a few cars and we also had a few drop out. But in the end, we finished 7th and although I am pleased we survived and we didn’t tear anything up and we had some stiff competition, I’m not happy about not advancing further up than we did. But I don’t run Portsmouth Raceway Park but once a year and I just don’t seem to have a good handle on the set up I need there. But it is a really nice facility and a lot of good people running it.

This week, I want to give a shout out to Joe and Jeff Schilling for providing the camper for us to stay at the track. Tim Cooper and Danny Sweet for their efforts on working on the racecar. Also, Tom & Pam Lemon & the race teams of Seth Daniels, Mikey McPherson, John Burdette & Kevin Dulaney for providing a great time.

This weekend we will be at Atomic Speedway, Thursday thru Saturday for $5,000 to win. So we hope to see you there!

Remember, to make this work, support those that support us!
K-Graphics, Hall’s Auto Repair, Schilling Truss, JS Enterprises, Zemba Bros., Coughlincars.com, Steve Balderson Construction, Sheet Metal Local 33, Octane Race Products, Poske’s Performance Parts, Out-Pace Race Products, Racers Edge Supplements, Phantom Racing Gear, Hypercoils, Tom & Pam Lemon, Carr Auto Glass, OVDTR.com, Billy Joe & Wanda Hammett, Bill & Patty Welch (RIP), Keyser Mfg., Shaw Race Cars, TSM Enhanced, Bazell Race Fuels, Hoosier, Aero Wheels, Wrisco Aluminum, Lubeck Community Baptist Church, Iglesia Bautista Jehova Yireh, Willy’s Carburetor’s, KSE Pumps, KRC.