keith cottom

Hello and Happy Holidays race fans!

It’s about time to start thinking about getting back to racing.   In this part of the country it seems like the countdown to the New Year is more like the countdown to the new race season.   While Mohave Valley Raceway is not running its Winter Days of Thunder events, they do get back to racing very soon.   February 6, 2010 is slated as the opener and we plan on attending with the 87N.   Prior to the MVR race we  plan on knocking the dust off the car at Pahrump Valley Speedway with two events in January (9 & 23).    I’m looking forward to racing the first five or six races at MVR before determining where to head after that.   Most of it will depend on finances.   I do enjoy racing at MVR as the fans are great, the racers and fun, and the track is top notch.    It’s hard to believe that this will mark the 15^th year I have competed at MVR, and the 3^rd different decade!   My first race there was in street stocks in October of 1996 and my first modified race was in February of 1997 meaning I have raced in the 90’s, the 00’s, and soon the 10’s.   After writing that, it now explains the grey creeping into my hairline.

The car will be the familiar blue with the fluorescent yellow and red accenting graphics.   I actually ran the scheme at the season ending Duel in the Desert race here in Vegas and have kept the panels on for the start of 2010.      While we didn’t run quite as well as we had hoped in 2009, we will be trying out some new things in 2010 hoping to get our speed back.   It may take a few races to work it all out but we are confident we can make it back to being competitive again for our sponsors and fans.  

Enjoy the holiday and we look forward to seeing you all again here very soon.  
Dan Fitzgerald, 87N IMCA Modified
http://www.87racing.com

As a prelude to the car show on November 1st Donovan Wooten is talking about, there is also going to be a match race, four laps, between the Sheriff of Mohave County and the Fire Chief of Mohave Valley on race night on the 24th. The race will be run during intermission.  The Sheriff is driving the 2d mini stock and the Fire Chief is driving the 3b mini stock.  Winner gets a trophy and bragging rights.  50/50 tickets will be sold before intermission with the proceeds going to the Sheriff's Department's K-9's. 

 

We want to extend a huge THANK YOU to Joe and Shane for letting the Sheriff and the Fire Chief practice at the track this past Wednesday afternoon. The track was excellent.

 

Donovan Wooten (mud angel) and Noah Gere drove the 2d and 3b a few laps to show the officials how to do it.  Afterwards, the Sheriff offered Noah a "be free from tickets until he's 21" if he would ride with him and help him. Noah had to think about it

 

A few other drivers also showed up and everyone had a great time. 

Enjoy a fun day. All Drivers are invited to bring your car to a special event to show your support for Mohave Valley Raceway on November 1st from 8:00am to 2:00pm. The event is a car show fund raiser for the Mohave County Sheriff's Department K-9's at the Mohave Market Place on the corner of Highway 95 and Joy Lane. In the past, more than 150 cars entered the show and more than $10,000 has been raised to support the K-9's who are not in the budget. Come out and enjoy the fun, including music,demonstrations by the K-9's and show off your car in a special area in front of Si Motors and meet and answer questions from entrants and spectators alike. Bring the family and enjoy the show.

Monday, September 14, 2009

 

Greetings From The Garage,

 

Well so far it's been alot of fun and a great season, we've been havin a blast up to this point. I managed to get collected up in a wreck during the heat race last Saturday night. Holy Cow!!! What a ride. I saw it coming and could not avoid it. The impact was was bone jarring, so severe the entire side of the car was just caved in. Needless to say I was seriously sore the next day. Anyhow, we managed to get it back to the pits and began repair work to get set for the main event. Chains, cables, pipes and sledge hammers to make it drivable as well as a few pulls from the tractor. We did managed to get it close enough to drive. We don't know how bad the set up is off but we'll give it a try in the main.

 

With a bent car we set out for the main event line up. Vroom-Vroom and away we go!!!

Hoping to just make the start of the race and complete one lap just to get a few points we were pleasently surprised the car was doing pretty good. As it turns out the car was running very well considering what had just happened to it in the heat race. In fact, it ran so well I quickly realized we could win this deal if I could just stay out of the way of the inevitable wrecks and spin-outs, ...and so it goes, I did just that. I managed to put the car in the winners circle again! Oh what a feeling!!! That win was hard earned and worked for.

 

And now the work begins back at the shop, fixing the bent car!  Kinda makes ya go hummmmm!!!! Maybe this deal is not as bad as we first thought. Maybe after starring at it for a few hours it will just fix itself??? Yeah, not so much. It's apart and off to the frame shop it goes. It will take some time and effort but the competition, the racing and the checkered flag make all the work worth the effort. We're havin fun now!

 

Fear not Race Fans, we will be back for the next points race and taking a shot at the checkered flag yet again.  

 

My simple Blog just wouldn't be complete with out a THANK YOU going out to:

 

Metropolitan Marine Solutions

Vessel Assist

Tri-State Hose & Fittings

AllensFASTeners.com

Napa of Needles

 

And certainly a big Thank You to the fans and spectators that come out, support and cheers us on!!! I hope it's as much fun for you guys as it is for us..

See ya at the RACES!!!

 

GOOD TIMES!!!

 

Greg Ewing / Driver 21va

Guys, I had the priviledge to be at one of your races in May this year, and very impressed with your cars. Particuarly the Mini Sport Trucks and cars. Now that you are on your vacation, I want to invite you to come to Hanford CA to the great 3/8 mile dirt KINGS SPEEDWAY with your Trucks and or Cars. We are putting together a Truck class this year and have a committment to next year as well, As Director of the class, I am not connected to KINGS, but am the contact for JON at KINGS for this new class. I want the folks here to see real mini race trucks in action. Your rules are compatable with ours,but we do not have all our trucks ready.. Since we have so few going right now, We are letting other MINI STOCKS run with us. There is camping on the grounds and you can stay in the pits as well for no charge. The kick off for us is JULY 11. Might be too soon for you but will try to plug in more in JULY and thru AUG. There is also a huge race in NOV>5.6.7 for both minis and mod trucks and super 4s. If you need any more info, just contact me at dannyracer6@yahoo .com I will get back to you. We would welcome you, and you would be an asset to us to help us get this off the ground. I personally will bring my truck to your track when I can. You would not have to change a thing accept for your gearing. Depending on the RPM you want to run, you would need to be somewhere in the 700 to 760 final with 15" tires. Tire rule is open except for 8" Most run IMCA type. It is a great track to race on, wide and smooth. Just want to give any of you a chance to travel during your down time.

 

Dan..

Greetings from the garage,

 

It's another race in the books and as it turned out we did'nt fare so well at the last race.

During the heat race start we had some heavy bumping and pushing goin on. Long and short of it is we managed to put a hole in the cooling system and over heat the motor.

 

Between the heat and main event race we got the hole patched and set out for the main.

Quickly the car over heated and ran very poorly. In fact the car ran so hot it melted the oil filter gasket and spit it out coming down the front stretch. We thought for sure the motor would have been destroyed but having lost oil pressure and shutting the motor down, then coasting off the track saved the engine.

 

Needles to say we will be adding bars to the upper front bumper to better protect the new

Afco double pass radiator going in the car.

 

We have been working on the car and motor for several days now and it is coming along.

If the Big Brown Truck (UPS) comes through we'll have the parts we need to be back on track very soon. Hopefully we can do testing on the 22nd and be ready to go for the next event on June 27th.

 

A special thanks to Rick and the crew for the dedication and the hours of hard work makin this 21va deal happen. Teamwork gets the job done!

 

See ya at the RACES!!!

 

GOOD TIMES!!!

 

Greg Ewing / Driver 21va

This is Danny from Short Bus Racing.  We ran Outlaw Kart #75 and Street Stock #19D last night.  Just wanted to say that we had a blast and can not wait for the next race.  Thanks again for setting up a great track with great fans.

 

Thanks,

Team SBR

05/31/09

 

Good afternoon Racers & Race Fans!!!

 

Another exciting win in for the 21VA camp last night. We had some exciting door to door action with the 56 car in the main event and that was a blast! The car seemed to be running well and I have to thank the crew for that. Rick Dirk works on the chassis & set up between races and keeps things pointed in the right direction. I would like to thank Metropolitan Marine, Vessel Assist, Tri-State Hose and Fittings and Napa of Needles for supporting our team.

 

It goes without saying THANK YOU to Perry Misner #20m for his wisdom and experience both with driving skills and chassis design. We would still be chasing our tails without his help!!!

 

As for the track conditions last night:

 

Fantastic! The car would go anywhere and do anything I asked it to do! What a muddy muddy wheel packing session is was however it gave us one of the best Main Event track conditions I've scene so far. While no one likes to clean all that mud and extra weight from under the car, it's what has to be done for a good racing surface. My hats off to the track and operations crew!

 

And finally I'd like to send out a thank you to the families, crews and Race Fans in the grand stands. Your sharing in the excitment and support of our local dirt track racing makes it all worth doing. Thanks for being there!!!

 

The entire 21VA race team encourages you to stop by our pit area after the races, we would enjoy meeting race fans, answering questions and making new friends.

 

 

GOOD TIMES!!!

 

 

Greg Ewing / Driver 21va.