2014
2014 has been incredibly slow so far. I have been focusing on school (17 hours, 2 science labs, and currently making all A's) and have set racing aside for the time being. At the end of the school semester I should have two associate degrees and, more importantly (to me), I will be getting back behind the wheel in both the legend car and kart. The current goal is to be at Texas Motor Speedway for the Summer Stampede series which begins Thursday, June 19th at 7pm!!!
2013
2013 started off the same way as 2012, brand new experiences. This time was different though. Instead of karts and problems, it was dirt and success! My parents saw my desire to race anything with four wheels and a motor and surprised me big time by purchasing a US Legends Dirt Modified for me to race! I ran a test session one weekend, and three weeks later was racing on an 1/8 mile track in an arena with monster truck jumps littered all around the track and concrete walls mere inches away from my right rear tire. I had similar results in both races I ran that weekend, I would start third, work my way to the lead, get caught on the outside line and shuffled to last place then fight my way back up to second. I had now finished second in six straight US Legend Car sanctioned races! And boy did that bug me! I have not run anymore races (as of 2/12/13) but have the second Texas Lonestar Grand Prix coming up on March 2nd where I hope to redeem myself after last years disasters and fight for a podium and hopefully a win!
On my 21st birthday, April 11, I had a wild crash when Joe Pike and Mark Smith got tangled up and when Joe Pike came up the track, I found his right rear tire with my left front tire resulting in a wild rollover which transitioned in to making good use of the catch fence in turn 4 of 'Lil Texas Motor Speedway. Thankfully no spectators or myself were injured and I would go on to race again the next day in a backup car loaned to me by Cherokee Racing and Lonestar Legends. The very next race in my own car after rebuilding it I had more troubles. This time I threw a rod out the crankcase and caught the entire right front of my car on fire. I was loaned a motor from the Hogans of The Woodlands, TX and would finish the weekend of racing and asphalt legend car racing for the season. The Legend Modified was an incredible experience which provided many challenges for me to overcome and was a great learning experience and boost in my racing career.
On my 21st birthday, April 11, I had a wild crash when Joe Pike and Mark Smith got tangled up and when Joe Pike came up the track, I found his right rear tire with my left front tire resulting in a wild rollover which transitioned in to making good use of the catch fence in turn 4 of 'Lil Texas Motor Speedway. Thankfully no spectators or myself were injured and I would go on to race again the next day in a backup car loaned to me by Cherokee Racing and Lonestar Legends. The very next race in my own car after rebuilding it I had more troubles. This time I threw a rod out the crankcase and caught the entire right front of my car on fire. I was loaned a motor from the Hogans of The Woodlands, TX and would finish the weekend of racing and asphalt legend car racing for the season. The Legend Modified was an incredible experience which provided many challenges for me to overcome and was a great learning experience and boost in my racing career.
2012
2012, was a year of succes and new experiences. The very first race I ran that year was the inaugural Texas Lonestar Grand Prix in Downtown Dallas, TX and Fair Park which was previously host to the Cotton Bowl and the 1984 Formula One US Grand Prix. This was my first race away from North Texas Kartway and my first international race with drivers from 17 different countries. The first day of the event was brutal. If my memory serves me correctly I ran a grand total of 2 complete laps out of the 20 possible laps I could have run between four different practice sessions due to chain failures. The day of the big race started out no better, the second lap of morning warm up would be a turning point in my career as well as my life. Kevin Crowe (fellow NTK driver) and myself were going through a 65mph left right sweeper/chicane that required the ever so slightest light off of the throttle. We both were trying to find the last few tenths that the fastest driver had on us and attempted to go through this corner full throttle. We hit every mark throughout the turn that we needed to hit bit as we were exiting the turn we ran out of track. Kevin's kart hit first and the barrier he hit turned right into my path causing me to hit the wall head on at 65mph. Kevin was ejected from his kart landing about ten feet away and I was ejected from mine and landing in Kevin's kart on the exhaust. Our karts were torn up but we still had one more race to go. We both got our karts repaired well enough to run the race but would start 20th and 21st of the twenty one kart field. I was involved in a first turn incident dropping myself many, many seconds behind the rest of the group. I was able to get going again and began running the other drivers down. After 4 of the 8 laps I had made my way back up to 4th place and had my sights on 3rd. I began feeling a slight vibration and as I worked my way through turns 1, 2, and 3 my motor decided it was time to be done and fell apart. I wound up 11th that day but knew at that point I was a driver capable of winning races and possibly even championships. Between March and June I ran six races at NTK picking up one win and the series championship. I finally did it! It was a hard fought battle between two other very fast drivers.
After winning the series championship I decided I wanted to drive something bigger and faster. I wanted to race Legend Cars the day I saw them unveiled at Texas Motor Speedway in the late '90s. I had to put off racing for a while and ended up working 80+ hours a week over the summer to save up enough to purchase a Legends Car. And in mid August when I went and participated in the Legend Car driving school at TMS I knew I wanted to buy a car right then and there and sure enough there was a team owner with a car right in my budget that he was selling. One of his crew guys went back to his shop, cleaned it up, filled it up with oil and brought the car to the track with enough time to run my first race that night! I started last in the feature but refused to finish last. Every lap was a learning experience, brake later, turn in later, get back on the gas sooner. After 25 grueling laps of side by side racing I ended up finishing second in my class. The very next day had the same story, start last, try new things every lap, finish second. The next time I would race the Legend Car was at TMS during the NASCAR weekend. I was still new to the car and learning new things every lap and for the third and fourth time I would start last and work my way up to second both days of racing. I ended 2012 off by watching the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race from the Speedway Club at TMS for the Lonestar Legends year end awards banquet. A very successful year and one that I will remember for a very long time!
After winning the series championship I decided I wanted to drive something bigger and faster. I wanted to race Legend Cars the day I saw them unveiled at Texas Motor Speedway in the late '90s. I had to put off racing for a while and ended up working 80+ hours a week over the summer to save up enough to purchase a Legends Car. And in mid August when I went and participated in the Legend Car driving school at TMS I knew I wanted to buy a car right then and there and sure enough there was a team owner with a car right in my budget that he was selling. One of his crew guys went back to his shop, cleaned it up, filled it up with oil and brought the car to the track with enough time to run my first race that night! I started last in the feature but refused to finish last. Every lap was a learning experience, brake later, turn in later, get back on the gas sooner. After 25 grueling laps of side by side racing I ended up finishing second in my class. The very next day had the same story, start last, try new things every lap, finish second. The next time I would race the Legend Car was at TMS during the NASCAR weekend. I was still new to the car and learning new things every lap and for the third and fourth time I would start last and work my way up to second both days of racing. I ended 2012 off by watching the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race from the Speedway Club at TMS for the Lonestar Legends year end awards banquet. A very successful year and one that I will remember for a very long time!
2011
I began racing karts in May of 2011 in the chonda light class at North Texas Kartway in Denton, TX. That year had many ups and downs, mostly downs though. I struggled with power all year running on a three year old motor that was worn out, and in a class with only 11hp, every little 1/10 of a horsepower hidden somewhere needs to be found and made the use of. I have worked on cars all my life but never worked on the motors, especially not creating power in one. The next thing that made being competitive extremely difficult was the fact I had never been behind the wheel of a race car before and I was racing against people who had been racing most of their lives or at least had family who raced. This became one of the best problems I could've had. Everyone I raced against was extremely friendly and always willing to help get my kart setup and show me the fastest lines around the track.
I ran eight races in 2011 racking up one win, one second, and multiple third place finishes. I finished 3rd place in overal points for the year.
I ran eight races in 2011 racking up one win, one second, and multiple third place finishes. I finished 3rd place in overal points for the year.