KJ Motorsports Update #21 Race #37 & #38

KJ Motorsports Update #21 Race #37 & #38

07/28/14

Friday we headed to Atomic Speedway for 2 nights of racing. They had a Sprint Car special on Friday along with running modifieds and Street Stocks and Sport Mods. On Saturday was a Late Model special. We took Frankie Hall’s car for the weekend as ours had gotten some new skin and was waiting on the engine to get back. Last year we raced Frankie’s car and set the track record at Atomic. Well last weekend that track record was broken by Kenny Wallace and it just wasn’t broken, it was shattered by 2 tenths. But we can now say we own the track record again after Friday night. Unofficially, I believe we have it with a 15.033. We started on the pole of the heat beside Travis Dickson and Travis got the win and we finished 2nd. Danny did the pill redraw to start us 4th in the feature. Tanner took the early lead and we moved into 2nd. We were following Tanner and stayed within striking distance. . .until. . . I dropped my right rear off the track entering turn 3 and I could not bring it back. I hit the yuke tires with quite a bit of force and came down on my top. 
I need to thank many people, first off Frankie Hall for allowing me to race his car. It is totaled, but I survived the crash and Shaw Chassis did its job. Second, I need to thank the track crew and the EMT folks that were on the scene. They were there immediately and were tending to me, although I don’t make for a very good patient after a wreck, they were doing their job and I appreciate them being there. Gotta thank Tim and Danny for making sure I was ok and not letting me out of there sight. I also want to thank all of the fans and friends that were concerned and either came back and checked on me or were texting or calling me. I apologize if I did not get back to all of you, but I appreciate the concern. I decided to stay at Sean Schobelock’s instead of driving home. The next morning Sean and Stacey fixed breakfast and after that Danny and I decided to head home. We got within 30 minutes of home and I got a text from Mark Bailey #88 asking if I wanted to drive his car. Immediately I felt 100% better! LOL. I rushed home and ran up to see Steve Eddy (my chiropractor) and he x-rayed me head to toe and worked on my back and sent me on my way. Me, Danny and Coop ran back over to Atomic and jumped in Mark’s car. We set 4th fastest time and won the first heat. Mark’s wife drew pill #1 to start us on the pole beside Dan Ebert. Dan took the early lead and checked out on all of us, while we ran 2nd. We had 2nd until 3 to go and Greggie Oliver passed us. But we had a left rear tire going down and it went clear flat at the checkered and as we pulled in the pits, the right rear went flat too. But I was pleased to finish 3rd in a car we hadn’t been in before. I need to thank Mark and his wife for allowing me to drive their car. Especially since they saw what I did the night before.

Please know, that there are dangers in racing and as drivers, we are all aware of them. Every track has their unsafe conditions and none of them are intentional so to speak. I am aware that the yuke tires are there at Atomic and have flirted with them numerous times. Brad or Atomic is in no way responsible for this wreck, it’s all on me. Brad and his crew were as concerned as anybody and Brad spoke to me on Saturday morning and shared some future plans. But like most plans, this cost money and it’s never cheap. He does hope to rectify the issue as finances allow for it. So please don’t be too critical on Brad or any other promoter for that matter. They are all concerned for safety and they definitely don’t want anyone to get hurt. I just need to start running the bottom and it will be all right. . . NOT! LOL

This week I want to give a shout out to Frankie Hall of Hall’s Auto Repair. Not just for allowing me to race his modified, but for all of the service work he provides for me on my vehicles. If any of you need your vehicle serviced, stop in and see Frankie and his guys and tell them I sent ya! I also need to include Steve Eddy of Eddy Chiropractic Clinic. Steve was on vacation when I wrecked, yet still text me to check on me Friday night and Saturday morning. Then came back from vacation on Saturday and mad it a point to make time to see me and check me out. If anyone needs their back or neck worked on or even needs physical therapy, Eddy Chiropractic Clinic is the place to go! Can’t forget to thank Sean, Stacey and George (Kalvin) for their hospitality and feeding us. Great friends and supporters of KJ Motorsports!

This weekend we will be going to Legendary Hilltop Speedway for an AMRA and Renegade of Dirt show. Saturday we will go back to Atomic for $1,500 to win and Sunday we will go to Tyler County Speedway for the Dickson Classic. 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.

KJ Motorsports Update #20 Race #35 & #36

KJ Motorsports Update #20 Race #35 & #36

07/19/14

Our weekend started on Wednesday by going to Atomic to run the UMP Summer Nationals Hell tour, where they had 28 modified’s. We were broken up into 3 groups and we were 3rd fastest in our group. We started 3rd and passed our way to 2nd behind UPM Points Leader Jacob Poel. We were trying to catch up to Jacob and we were balls to walls off of turn 2 and he was able to see a wreck up ahead of him and he checked up for it was a red flag. I on the other hand was not able to get stopped as fast and I turned hard right and slammed his rearend with the left side of my car. It did some extensive body damage to our car, but unfortunately it gave Jacob a right rear flat. We restarted the race in the lead and went on to get the heat win. Each heat winner drew a pill for the feature and of course I drew the #3 starting spot. We ran third for a bit until Dan Ebert passed us, but shortly after that the leader, Jackie Boggs got caught up in a wreck and he exited to
the pits. That gave the lead to Devin Gilpin with Dan Ebert in 2nd and we were in 3rd and that’s how we finished. Not a bad run, but we wasn’t quite on our game.

Thursday we took Frankie Hall’s modified to Brushcreek Motorsports Complex and yet again were we 3rd fast time in our group, but this time we finished 3rd in our heat and was set to start 6th in the feature, but 4th place started Devin Gilpin was unable to make the call, so that moved us up to 4th. We again finished 3rd and just wasn’t quite as fast as we needed to be to be able to run with the top 2. Gonna have to find some speed to run up front at some of these bigger shows.

Friday we went to Legendary Hilltop Speedway and we set 4th fastest time to start us on the outside pole of heat #2. But Mother Nature would win out and they had to cancel and Mother Nature decided to stick around thru Saturday as well. So we didn’t get to race either night.

This week I want to give a shout out to Tom and Pam Lemon. They traveled with us and towed Frankie’s car for us and also gave us a place to stay and fed us. Then even with doing all of that Tom and Layne jumped in and helped us get the car repaired after I ran into Jacob Poel. So thanks to the Lemon family for all that they do for KJ Motorsports!

This weekend we will be going to Atomic for Friday and Saturday where they will have 2 complete shows. 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.

KJ Motorsports Update #19 Race #33 & #34

KJ Motorsports Update #19 Race #33 & #34

07/13/14

Friday we went to Legendary Hilltop Speedway, where we set fast time and won the first heat. This started us on the pole of the feature beside Roy Roush. Roy took the early lead and we ran 2nd. The track had changed slightly and I could tell our car was not performing the way it needed to, to be able to run with Roy. But I almost spun out in turns 3 and 4 and that allowed Jeremy Blake to get by and we wound up finishing 3rd. Not a horrible run, but disappointing.
Not disappointing, was that we also got to run a late model. We were asked to drive the ‪#‎53C‬ by Steve Curtis. This of course has already been a proven winner by Andy Bond this season. We set 3rd fastest time and started on the pole of the 3rd heat beside Steve Weigle. Steve took the early lead, but we stayed right with him until we got in lapped traffic and that played into our benefit as we were able to pass for the win at the line. This started us 3rd in the feature behind veteran and legend Bob Adams Jr. and up and coming youngster Jason Gillian. Bob took the early lead and we moved into 2nd. We raced Bob for several laps and were finally able to make the pass and we were able to go on and get the win! I want to thank Steve Curtis and Roger and Bruce for giving me the opportunity in their late model. It is an awesome ride and I hope to have an opportunity to do it again sometime.

Saturday we went to Ohio Valley Speedway and they had 21 cars and we set 3rd fast time. Fast time setter KC Burdette drew a #2 which started us outside pole of the 3rd heat beside Booger Garnes. Booger won the heat and we got 2nd to start us 6th in the feature. We jumped into 3rd on the first lap and was running 3rd until we got a right rear flat tire very early in the race. So that gave us our 5th DNF for the year. Disappointing, but it has still been a great season thus far. 

This week I want to give a shout out to all of our race fans out there. I appreciate all of your dedicated support and you are some of the very best fans out there! Your cheers and support do not go unnoticed.

This weekend we will be starting on Wednesday night at Atomic running the UMP Hell Tour. We plan to stay all night, thanks to Tom Lemon, then head on over to Brushcreek Speedway on Thursday for another UMP race. Friday we will be coming back to Legendary Hilltop Speedway & then heading back over to Atomic Speedway on Saturday. 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.

KJ Motorsports Update #18 Race #30, #31 & #32

KJ Motorsports Update #18 Race #30, #31 & #32

07/06/14

Thursday we went to Atomic Speedway for “The Night The Stars Comes Out” event. They had 22 mods and we set 4th fastest time to start us on the outside pole of heat #1 beside fast time qualifier, Fireball Pinkerton. We got the heat win, but the pill redraw would start us 6th in the feature. I didn’t even have to tell Coop he was fired; he came back and said he quit! We made a significant change for the feature and our night got cut short by a spinning car. We just barely got clipped on the left front, but that took our tie rod end, spindle, wheel and tire and gave us our 4th DNF on the year. 

Friday we headed to I-77 Speedway for our first visit of the year. They had 24 cars and we set 6th fastest time to start us outside of Booger Garnes in the 3rd heat. We got the heat win to start us 3rd in the feature. The track got real slick and we ran 3rd for most of the race, but was unable to pressure for 2nd. Near the end of the race, I glazed over our tires and was simply hanging on to 3rd, but Bill Pritchard was able to get by on the bottom and I watched him go on to pass for 2nd and then go on and get the win! It was a good race to watch at the end! Of course, I’d rather not have seen it from the 4th position, but as Danny said on the way home, 4th is better than a DNF.
We were also asked to drive Ken Patrick’s late model, which we drove twice last year. It is a 1991 Swartz Late Model. It’s a vintage late model, but Ken has done several updates to it. We set 13th fast time and started 7th in our heat and finished 4th. Started 13th in the feature and was up to 10th on the bottom, but. . . got impatient and went high and got freight trained back to 15th or so. Got back on the bottom and came back to finish 12th I believe. Appreciate Ken asking me to drive it.

Saturday we went to Ohio Valley Speedway and they had 24 cars and we set fast time. At the Valley, they have the fast qualifier come and draw a pill to determine how many gets inverted for the heat races. Yep, I’m fired for I drew pill #6. So we started 6th in our heat race and got the win to start us on the pole of the feature. We went on to lead every lap and pick up win #14. 

Being that this was Independence weekend, I want to give a shout out to all the military service men and women! Shawn Blair is in the USAF and is stationed in Germany and Lexi Howell was in on leave from the USMC and is stationed in San Diego and is scheduled to be deployed soon. Thanks to them and everyone that has and does serve our country!

This weekend we will be at Legendary Hilltop Speedway on Friday & Saturday we will be going back to Ohio Valley Speedway. 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.

KJ Motorsports Update #17 Race #27, #28 & #29

KJ Motorsports Update #17 Race #27, #28 & #29

06/29/14

We started our week off early by going to Atomic Speedway on Wednesday night. They had their turn at hosting the sprint cars for Ohio Sprint Speedweek and they had 62 sprint cars and 27 modified’s. We started on pill draw and started 4th in the 2nd heat race. We raced KC Burdette for the heat race win. They pill drew the top 2 in each heat and chad drew us pill number 1! Now, to go back to the heat race, I did have oil pressure issues at the end of the heat. We changed oil pumps and changed the oil and filter and that appeared to fix the oil pressure. But on the first lap of the feature, #7 & #8 rod broke taking us out of the race. This will be no easy or cheap fix. But, I also know, we have been extremely lucky over the years and a failure like this happens to everyone. These engines are put to the test every time we’re out there. Or I know mine is. . . LOL

We put our spare engine in and went to Legendary Hilltop Speedway on Friday. We set 4th fastest time to start us on the outside pole of heat #2 and we went on to win the heat race. Then we started on the outside pole of the feature and were able to go on and get win #13 of the year. Car performed really well.

Saturday we headed to Skyline Speedway for the Greg Schilling Memorial. 28 cars on hand and we set 6th fastest time. We started outside pole of heat #2 beside Tanner Wilson. We got the heat race win and then went on to the dash where we finished 2nd to Corey Conley. This started us on the outside pole of the feature. Corey took the early lead and we ran 2nd for almost the entire race. At one point Roy Roush got a pass on us, but just as he did, he spun off of turn 2. We continued to run 2nd, but got some heavy pressure from Kyle Bond late in the race. As the laps wound down, we came up on lap traffic and on the last lap I forced it into turn 3 pretty hard to try and get into the turn before Kyle and not be pinned in by the lap car. But I got in too hard and lost the handle and essentially spun out. But Kyle did not panic and he came right on thru and his right side caught my left front and straightened me right out and we were able to go on and finish 3rd. First thing I did was thank Kyle for saving me! 

This week I want to give a shout out to the Schilling Family. What an amazing family and a great thing they have done to honor Greg Schilling by setting up a memorial fund to help others in need in the Beverly-Waterford area and also setting up scholarships at both high schools. Greg was a great friend who I miss terribly. He lost his life to cancer, but not without a fight. I feel like Greg is with me often, riding along cheering me on. I’m not a big fan of finishing 2nd, but I’d give anything to finish 2nd to Greg Schilling! Love ya buddy!

This week’s racing kicks off at Atomic Speedway on Thursday night. Friday we will be playing it by ear and Coop will be letting everyone know on Facebook where we plan to go. Saturday, we will be going to Ohio Valley Speedway. 

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.

KJ Motorsports Update #16 Race #26

KJ Motorsports Update #16 Race #26

06/22/14

Friday we had plans to go to Legendary Hilltop Speedway, but Mother Nature made other plans. So we had a night off instead.

Saturday we made plans to go to Ohio Valley Speedway and I believe several other drivers made plans to be there as well since Mother Nature forced all the other area tracks to cancel. They had 30 late models and 34 modifieds. We set 6th fastest time and the fast qualifier drew pill #6, which inverted the top 6 in each heat to start us 5th in the 2nd heat. We were able to get the heat race win to start us on the outside pole of the feature beside KC Burdette. We jumped into the early lead and was occasionally getting pressured by KC Burdette and then late in the race, was getting some heavy pressure from DJ Cline. At the checkered, we beat DJ by just about ¾ of a car length. It made for an awesome and exciting race and also gave us win #12 of the year!

This week we will be at Atomic Speedway on Wednesday as part of the All Star Sprint Speedweeks. Then on Friday at Legendary Hilltop Speedway and Saturday we will be at Skyline Speedway for the 6th Annual Greg Schilling Memorial race.

I want to give a shout out this week to my crew, Tim Cooper, Danny Sweet and Chad Nelson. These guys are as good as they come. They each have their own thing they do, but can each do it all. I am very thankful to have such a dedicated crew. 

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.

KJ Motorsports Update #15 Race #24 & #25

KJ Motorsports Update #15 Race #24 & #25

06/15/14

Friday we went to Legendary Hilltop Speedway and they had 18 cars. We set 5th fastest time to start us on the outside pole of heat #2 beside Tyler Evans. We went on to get the heat win and that started us on the outside pole of the feature, beside fast time setter KC Burdette. We were able to get the lead from the start and held on to get win #10 of the season.

Saturday we went to Atomic Speedway where they had 20 cars and we set fast time to start us on the pole of heat 1. We got the win, but a redraw would determine where we would start the feature. Coop drew a #6 and that gave us some concerns. The track had a cushion and had a lane above the cushion. I had a plan for the start and it worked. I drove in above the cushion in turn one on the start and that took us to 3rd off of turn 2 and I did the same thing going into 3 and that put us in 2nd behind pole setter, Jess Hartman. Jess ran the high line as well and like me, sometimes could hit it just right and gain a lot of speed and other times hit it just wrong and not know where we would end up. We followed the entire race until about 5 to go and we found a line that worked for us a little better and we were able to pass Jess and go on to get the win, to make it win #11 on the year.

This week we will be at Legendary Hilltop Speedway on Friday and Saturday we will be back to Ohio Valley Speedway.

I want to give a shout out this week to Steve Eddy of Eddy Chiropractic Clinic. I had a little incident weekend before last that required Steve’s help. Steve fixed me right up as he does everyone. Steve has not only been a sponsor of ours at one time, he’s been a great friend and has helped me out on more than one occasion. One night, he even had to work on me at the track. We went on to get the win that night and I give him a lot of the credit! So if you ever need to visit a chiropractor or need physical therapy, call on Dr. Steve Eddy at 304-375-6000.

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.

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