February 14th, 2010
Auckland
We started 6th in our first heat Sat. and finished 3rd. We had the car a little too tight and I was having trouble keeping the front end down on the track. After the race though, a NZ "offical" that was sitting in a tower in turns 3 and 4 said I passed a car in turns 1 and 2 with my left side tires in the grass so he decided to "relegate" me two spots. This is the one thing I hate about racing down here. There's always some "official" walking around that can completely change the outcome of a race as he sees fit. Oh well, it's not the first time we've been "relegated" and I'm sure it probably won't be the last either. Anyway, right before our last heat the races got rained out so this coming weekend we'll be running that one heat, then another full set of heats and two feature races. Hopefully we can make it through the night without getting in too much trouble!
Thanks,
Ricky
February 9th, 2010
NZ Nationals
We started the weekend off by going out 7th from last and qualified 2nd. The format was as different as the track we were racing at. The cars were grouped into 6 different groups with each group racing the other once over the two days and the top 20 in points making up the feature race for the National Title. The track was truly the shape of a \"D\" with one corner that was basically a corner cut in half with the piece cut off added to the other end making up the big sweeping corner. The front \"straight\" was really a front \"bend\" with the only part of the track resembling a traditional dirt track being the back straight that was actually straight. Now after all the dust settled from the heat races we ended up starting from the 3rd position. We went out with a little harder right rear tire than most thinking we would be better at the end of the race, but the track crew wet the surface right before we went out spoiling our plan of attack. With the drop of the green the top two cars pulled away from us right away, but after 7 or 8 laps we ran them back down and just as we had passed for 2nd and were getting ready to pass for the lead, the caution fell. On the restart they took off from us again, but once again after a few laps and our tires started heating up we ran them back down, passed Jonathan Allard for 2nd again and as we were about to make our move for the lead, another caution flew. The race was only 25 laps and was almost broken down into 3 equal short heats. After the last caution we only had a few laps left and once again the leader took off but we didn\'t have enough laps left for our tires to get going again before the checkers fell. The Kiwi that won, Rodney Woods, did a good job and the cards fell his way for a huge victory. Congratulations to him and his team, we\'ll just have to try again next year!
Thanks,
Ricky
February 1st, 2010
Christchurch
We ran two races last weekend and finished 2nd in them both. Friday night we had the car off a bit and simiply got out ran. Sat. night the car was about perfect and we were out front the first half of the race, but our driver(myself), made a mistake and ended up finishing 2nd again. This weekend is the New Zealand Nationals and we're hoping to better our recent 2nd place finishes by one spot.
Thanks,
Ricky
January 18th, 2010
Palmerston North Update
For the NZ fans that will be expecting me to drive a Super Stock in the Global World Challenge this weekend at Palmerston North as advertised, there has been a change in plans. We will still be running the sprint car part of the event, but it was a team decision that since I'm not 100% healed from some injuries prior to my NZ visit, I will not be driving in the Global World Challenge this year. I know several stock car drivers that were looking forward to hanging me in the fence again will be disappointed, but there's always next year!
Sorry and Thanks for the support!
Ricky
January 17th, 2010
Auckalnd
We went out 3rd to qualify tonight and the track was very greasy so we really tightened the car up. The problem is the track came in right at the end of the midget race that was before our time trials and we were way too tight. We ended up qualifying 7th. We then started 4th in our heat and won it. We started 5th in the dash, right behind Jonathan Allard. The two of us ran 8 of the 10 laps within a car length of each other trying to get around the two cars in front. Allard managed to find a hole between them and won the dash, but we settled for 2nd. Now with him on the pole I knew we'd have our hands full for the feature. In the first turn we got squeezed up into the wall and did a big wheelie. We got lucky though and managed to saved it but dropped a position or two. We then went to work and raced our way into 2nd but at that stage Allard was already out of sight. After several laps though we made up some ground and had him within about half a straight in traffic, but with 5 laps left we had our first and only caution. Allard got a good start and the two of us were about the same speed in open track so we had to settle for a 2nd place finish a couple car lengths behind Allard. Next week I'll be driving a New Zealand stock car and the sprint car the same night at Palmerston North.
Thanks,
Ricky
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