   August 30, 2008 Race Report I am truly sorry about the late news but a lot of amazing things have happened in the few past weeks. So, here it is after much delay. I’ll do this in a cliff note/hot point manner so I can make sure you guys get the full scoop. We have had 5 races since the last time I updated everyone. Race 11: I qualified 6th finished 2nd in the trophy dash and 3rd in the race. Race 12: I qualified 11th, made my way up to 4th. I had a pretty bad set of tires but I made the best of it due to some attrition and hard racing with the #25 car of Brandon Loverock. This was also the last race with the VC car. Race 13: The first race with the new full CHP (California Highway Patrol) colored Race Car Factory chassis. With a lot of work by the Race Car Factory shop, we qualified 4th and finished 3rd. We were all pretty surprised as it is extremely uncommon to bring a brand new car to the track with only 38 laps of practice before the race and do that well. Race 14 & 15: I will go into more detail as it was kind of fun. This past weekend was a double header weekend, which means that we had two 40 lap main events in one night. The first of the 2 races we started in the 4th position. I held onto 2nd after qualifying 4th. No worries though in the main event. I quickly made my way into 2nd place by lap 7. The amount of cautions quickly started adding up and with not many green flag stints it made it very difficult to move to the front. In reality, I didn’t have enough to challenge the Huddleston car who led it from green to checkered flag. We were un-pressured until the end for a 2nd place finish. The 2nd place finish was a career high for us in the NASCAR division but to foreshadow the next part, we were soon to set a new career record. The second main event: Starting positions were assigned based on our finish in the first main event. I was starting on the outside front row (he he he… Bobby and Andy, the guys I used to race for, will chuckle at this because they know that I love the outside like a fat kid loves cake). I had told the crew that I didn’t think we had enough to stay in front of Huddleston if we did make it to the front spot. Our team made a camber change and a track bar change for the race, which are minor changes, in hopes to help a front end push that I had on throttle application. The green flag dropped and I don’t know how I did it but, by the exit of turn 2, I had had robbed Huddleston of the top spot on the board. The CHP Racecar Factory Toyota could not be steered wrong. Now that I was in front, for a change, I immediately remembered something from my earliest of go-karting days that my dad had told me: "10 perfect laps. All you need to do is run 10 perfect laps when you are out in front and there is no one will be able to touch you." Well once again, I must admit, he was right. Even though the second race like the first, was riddled with cautions, every time that green flag dropped I instantly strung together perfect laps not giving the #50 car of Huddleston or the #77 of Joanides a chance to even see clean air. We ran from green to checkered in the first position uncontested and was able to lock down the first win for the CHP, Neal Trucking, Great Central Transport, Ti racing Services, Race Car Factory machine. (our team must be getting better cause that sponsor-mention part is getting longer every race!!) I will be the first to admit that not only did my grandma and my grandpa have a tear in their eye, but I also had a slight tear. It can be contributed mainly to the fact that as a team and as a family, we have been through a roller coaster of emotions and tidings. Also, I wanted and needed to prove to myself that I could win again. Even though I was the driver behind the wheel, the people that were behind me are the ones that really deserve the credit: Mark Garrett from the CHP for giving us the opportunity to show what we are really made of, Randy Neal of PCH Motorsports and Neal Trucking and his family because they had no reason to sponsor me the entire year, Jeff Schrader and Jeff Herron of Race Car Factory didn’t know me from Joe-Bob but they saw how hard we work as a team and what we were about so they gave us a chance. Without the expertise and amazing engineering on their side of building our new CHP Toyota car, we would definitely not be in this position. Of course the crew: blood, sweat, tears and not very much sleep has been our recipe for winning. Mikey Martin, David and his dad, Jimmy: These guys have been some of the hardest working and dedicated guys I have ever known. Their belief in me is something that has been with me since last year and I look forward to many more wins and great races in the future. I thank my dad, Bret of Great Central Transport, for his continued support on and off the track. And last but certainly not the least, my grandparents, Ed and Claire. If I could only describe how much they have given up and what they have done to keep my dream drive alive. They are the reason we are racing and they are the motivation to keep me winning. There are probably some I forgot to thank but you all know how appreciative I am of your support and hope you continue to come to the track and enjoy the Saturday racing. We will, once again be on the track next weekend the 13th of September and I hope to see you all there! I definitely have to thank my mom, Dawn, for being my official web-chick and maintaining my website. Proofreading my race reports can’t be easy because I can’t type..... at all!! July 4, 2008 Race Report Hello everyone! I know I have missed a couple of race reports but I will skip the boring stuff and go straight to the action. The July 4th Camping World Series Race was 100 laps in 95 degree heat. We practiced on Thursday for the Friday night race. My sponsor, the California Highway Patrol, was also sponsoring the whole race. I can say that there was a lot of pressure for us as a team to perform at the top of our game. While at the shop preparing for the race, I made only one change to the car and it was a gamble because it was a drastic change but I felt that it could potentially make a huge difference. Thursday night practice was a little frustrating because we just weren’t turning the times that everyone else was. We were about 2 to 3 tenths off. The car felt really good so I started to analyze my driving and after a lengthy conversation with Jeff Schrader of Racecar Factory, we changed pressures and waited for the whole package to cool down. In the last practice session of the night, I immediately start turning times as fast as anyone. By lap 5 of the run we were right there in the hunt with the top 3, but me being..... me, went into turn 3 and ever so slightly, locked up a left rear brake over the entry bump and spun the car slowly into the wall. Yes, I hit the wall, by myself, in practice. I know, smart huh? If you could ask Bobby Oergel or Andy Garvey (the guys I used to race FF2000 with) they would say they weren’t shocked. But I made a mistake and the crew of Mike Martin, David, his dad Jim and I worked late on the car to get it ready. With repairs almost done, we walked away Thursday night with both hope and doubt. With the overall handling of the car being excellent and finding some time in my driving, we knew that we had something for the field but with the late practice crash, we were left with a nervous feeling of the unknown. Even though the crew and I agreed to get to the track at 8:30am the next morning, the crew actually showed up at 7am (what great guys) and by the time I got there at 8:30am, they had the car’s body all patched up and we were ready for the setup. How many times do you go to work early just so you can get a head start on something? That tells you how important the crew really is and how much the guys generally like being there. Without them I would never be able to compete. After double checking the setup and feeling that it all seemed pretty good, we got ready for Saturday practice. I have to admit I was still a little gun-shy going into turn 3 but I knew I had to get over that quickly (get back on the horse, so to speak). Surprisingly, we were 7th at the end first practice and after a little tweak we were 4th after the second practice. Believe it or not, the car actually handled better than it did in Thursday practice. I threw up my hands and said “Clean it, stagger it and leave it alone, cause I know she isn’t happy after yesterday." Qualifying went ..... ok. I didn’t push it 100%, I just wanted to be inside the top ten. We walked away with a solid 7th. All considering, that wasn’t too bad because I knew we had something more for the race. The #85 car loves long, green flag stints and old tires. Oh, I don’t want to forget to mention that during the autograph session the CHP parked a Camaro CHP vehicle in front of my car and I signed at least 300 autographs. There were about 9 uniformed officers at the track and each one of them was nicer than you could ever believe. I was honored to have their sponsorship. I will make this part short and to the point. In the main race I started 7th, and by lap 23 I was passing for 4th when a caution came out. During the caution, the radio went out. So I go into the pits, change radios and it still isn’t working. I come in again and my crew tells me to tap on the hood if I can hear Mike, sooooo..... I start tapping the hood. But I still can’t hear him. I now have to go to the back of the field, 29th, and slowly start picking off cars one by one. With no spotter to help me navigate, I start moving forward like no one’s business. During the 77 lap stint down the front straight, I looked at the leader board and saw that I had picked off most of the field and the 10th place car was ahead of me. After a lot a bumping and banging, mostly by me accidently, I saw that I was in 9th. I was pretty excited because that means I had come from 29th to 9th place in 60 laps. Mike Johnson was the 8th place car in front of me now. I have known Mike for too long and I know there is no way he is just going to give it to me. Even though my car was about 3 tenths faster than anyone on the track for the whole race, I just wanted to turn in some decent points for the night and so I sat in the 9th spot until the checkered flag. With everything that had gone on for this race, I can say that was the best 9th place finish I have ever had. The CHP, Neal Trucking, Nuttall and Coleman Injury Law, and Great Central Transport showed their support on Friday night and we all thought we had a car that could win. Together, as a team, we brought it home. The crew did a great job and, as usual, went above and beyond what it took to get the job done. We will be at the track again this weekend for another race so please join us this Saturday night at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale. Thank you to everyone who has helped and I hope to see you all there! May 24, 2008 Race Report It seems that good things are happening every day with the race team. Believe it or not I actually had the CHP (yes, the California Highway Patrol) come on board as our main sponsor. Mark Garrett of the CHP has joined our family and, with his help, I know that our program is going to benefit greatly. I cannot thank him enough and really look forward to a great racing relationship. With the CHP stickers on the hoop and the rear quarter panels the car was looking great and ready to race. The weather was dismal and I was just thankful that we got to race at all. I made quite a few changes to the car in an effort to try and compensate for weather and had to roll the dice. Practice had not been too useful as the track conditions had been off and on rain on the Friday practice sessions. We didn’t qualify well, 13th to be exact. It was our worst this year so we made a couple changes and went to the racing grid. I got a fairly good start, moved up to 11th and virtually sat there the whole race. No one made any passes. The cold weather made it really hard to do anything as everyone was sliding around a little. We held on to 11th and just stayed out of trouble. Even though the car didn’t feel bad, it wasn’t great. I have already changed it all back and will be practicing this Friday and I am confident our crew will get us back on track. Thanks to our new partnership with the CHP, we are finally able to do some much needed testing and R & D on the car. Even with our mediocre results I couldn’t help but be excited at the prospects of what we can accomplish with the help of all our sponsors: NEAL Trucking, PCH Motorsports, Nuttall and Coleman Injury Law, Great Central Transport, Quick Change Exchange and our new family member the California Highway Patrol. I feel that we now can make things happen and really get this car going at optimum performance. I would like to express how much I appreciate all the work our sponsors and my family does to help make us a winning team and I want to thank them for everything. I hope to see everyone at the next race June 7th. May 10, 2008 Race Report All things considering, we did a pretty good job. A lot of changes were made to the car because our budget does not allow us to do actual testing, so I rolled the dice and learned quite a bit. I made a big mistake in qualifying. The car turned really well but when I hit the gas it just wasn’t ready yet so it got loose. I was just able to make it in the top ten, qualifying 9th. As the main race progressed, I was in love with the car. It handled so well but I just couldn’t get by the 59 car. I did everything I could. On the last lap I threw it in with all I had but the 59 still was able to hold the line. After cautions and the usual attrition we made it to 6th place. A respectable finish. Consistency from race to race moved us up to the 8th position in total points so I guess I can’t complain. I did walk away with a bit more knowledge than when I showed up and I have already made some great changes to the car this week that are going to help me in passing. The best news is still to come… It is a pretty well-known fact that sponsors are hard to come by. But with lots of luck and well, even more luck, 2 sponsors have joined the team this past week. Roger Nuttall of Nuttall and Coleman Injury Law of Fresno and LiveWire Energy Chew have stepped up to the plate to help us become even more successful. Roger Nuttall has known me for quite some time. When I used to race FF1600 I was only 14. We were competing at Sears Point and set track record. It was just one of those amazing weekends. Roger was one of my competitors. After a chance meeting last weekend, Roger was really pumped about my efforts in Late Models and wanted to help. I just can’t thank him enough for his support. LiveWire Energy Chew is a relatively new company that has come on board. They have an energy product that taste like Starburst but in 2 little chews, is equal to 1 1/2 cans of Redbull Energy Drink. Racers and their crew need energy all the time whether it’s racing, wrenching or just driving to the track. I love the taste and the boost of energy I get. I have passed out hundreds of samples and everyone seems to like it quite a lot. If you want to try it out, check out their website at: livewireenergy.com But wait… there is more... I received a call yesterday from Toyota Speedway at Irwindale and I have been asked to take the car and myself to NASCAR HQ in Century City for Nascar Day. There are only 3 cars that were invited and I am quite flattered. I am hoping this will help get our name out even more. Whenever I am asked to help promote racing and our local tracks, I am more than happy to do that. The cool part of the event at NASCAR HQ is that it will be covered by 95.5 KLOS. I might get on the radio.... sweet! The hard work is paying off and the doors are slowly opening. I can’t thank everyone enough including my crew, our new sponsors, Great Central Transport, PCH Motorsports, and Neal Trucking. They have been a big part of my success so far and I can’t wait until next race. See you at the next race...... April 26, 2008 Race Report One of the more eventful races took place last weekend. With some rear end problems and carb issues on Friday night practice, I definitely had my worries going into Saturday. We were able to remedy all the problems on Friday night at the last minute but I knew that the rear end was hurt and might fail come Saturday's 50 lap race . Of course, I need not worry too much. We qualified 5th, .04 seconds behind the leader. The 6th place car was .12 seconds behind me and I knew then we had a car that was capable of taking us all the way through the race. Well, as it turned out, I actually hoped it could take us from 32nd to the end of the race because we were sent to the back of the field after qualifying for "chilling the intake manifold". That meant that we put ice around it to cool it down because it was 101 degrees on that day. It was truly on honest mistake that I can guarantee won't happen again. With the promise that the 50 lap race would be interesting, and the fact I had to start dead last, many of my friends and fans were wondering if I would make it to the end. This was questionable due to the Late Model racers' reputation that says we drivers get a little "intense". The reputation proved true when, out of 50 laps, we had 5 cautions and 1 red flag which ended up giving the drivers only 9 laps of green flag racing. On lap 3 I felt the locker in the rear end break which meant that instead of the rear tires turning independently, they would turn together making the care push EXTREMELY bad. Even with that, we were able to go from 32nd to 10th by the end of the race. All the mayhem, crashes, and close calls did not affect us at all and we made a ugly situation into a good one. We gained 22 positions in 9 laps of green flag racing. I was, and still am amazed, how we moved through the field without a scratch. Even with all the crashes, it was surprising that there were 27 cars running at the end and I was one of them! You know, it is a race like this that puts a lot of stress on myself and my team. I have to give hats off to some new guys that have come along to help, Alex Ipina and Ron (forgot your last name, sorry). I have known Alex probably more than 14 years and this was his very first time working in the pits. He did a great job. Without the assistance of Ron and Alex, we wouldn't have been nearly as organized and precise as we were. Mike Martin once again called a great race as my spotter, keeping me out of trouble at one of our more hectic races. Neal Trucking/PCH Motorsports have been so supportive this year and I can't express how much they are helping me keep the dream and stay on the track. Update: April 22, 2008 No, I have not been signed by a major team/company yet. Actually, Dave Freitas Racing of Fullerton, Ca has asked me to step up into a different role as an engineer/mechanic/driver coach in the F2000 car series Buttonwillow Raceway Park. My driver is veteran, Chris Hunley who I have had the pleasure working with in the past back in my traveling mechanic days. Mikey Martin (the spotter/mechanic on my Nascar Late Model team) and I will be heading to the Pacific F2000 race to compete in some fierce competition and are really looking forward to trying something new. Personally, it has always been my dream to run a team. We will be using all of our equipment and Hunley will be driving under the GCT banner. Our focus on the Nascar Late Model Series has not changed but we are definitely going to take this opportunity to learn some new things that will make us more versatile and improve our Late Model program. Expect an update right after the race. Don't forget, we'll be running Race #4 in the Nascar Late Model Series this Saturday night 7pm at Irwindale Speedway. Hope to see you there! April 12, 2008 Race Report Race 3 has proven to not only boost our confidence, but show that we are a contender. Qualifying 8th kept us in the 6 lap trophy dash. We felt that we were suppossed to be in the top 3 but the car hit the ground in turn 3-4. Even though the car hit pretty hard I knew I had a great race car. It had never felt like that.... ever. Due to the invert, we started on the pole for the dash. With all 8 cars 1/10 apart in qualifying time, it was a guarantee that it would be a tight battle. I had a great start, took the lead easily by turn 1 on the green flag. I just let Mikey, my spotter, tell me what was going on and put my head down and charged hard as I could. We pulled a 3-car gap immediately and then proceeded to keep pulling away...all the way to the checkered for a win. With our first NASCAR Late model award we knew that finally had finally gotten the car where it belongs, in the front. I even got interviewed by Lucas Oil TV. Winning the tropfy dash race, enabled us to start on pole for the main race. Starting in pole position is something that I had been accustomed to in all the other forms of racing I had previously competed in but, when you have the talent that we do in the field at Toyota Speedway, sitting on the pole by any means is something to be proud of. The main event was a great race. Our car fell into 2nd right away and the leader, Mike Johnson and I, pulled away from the field inch by inch. The race contained 5 cautions so it allowed the rest of the field to catch up and regroup each time. A fatal mistake made by our team concerning tire pressures destroyed the right front tire and by the end of the race it was ripped up and ready to explode. I felt the tire wanting to give up mid way through the race so when the back field of racers started to catch up, I held them back all I could but to no avail. The tire was damaged and I had to fight to make sure I fell no further than 5th. This strategy wasn't too difficult since the top 5 cars (which included me for a change) would pull the rest of the field away from the rest of the pack after each green. I had to be concerned with points since we were in 14th place going into this race. We brought it home in the top 5 and now we sit 9th place overall and ready to keep moving forward. 5th place is never a bad place to be when it is this early in the year and points are extremely crucial right now. Even with our little set up mistake (another lesson learned), I was able to show my crew and sponsors that stand behind me, that we are competitive and not holding anything back. Mike Martin (spotter, lead mechanic) is one of the hardest working and motivated guys I have ever had the pleasure of working with. My grandpa, Ed Irving, has been there to support me since the beginning (and I mean since I was was racing at 6 years old) and has worked as hard as anyone looking for sponsors and getting us ready for each race. Great Central Transport, my dad's company, helps when it can and is providing me with shop space so I can work on the car. Randy Neal of PCH Motorsports/Neal Trucking, is my sole sponsor. Randy and his family have come on board this year with their support of our race team. I cannot thank them enough for helping us record our first top 5 and our first trophy dash win. So far, our year has been pretty amazing, and I can gaurantee it is only going to get better. Thank you all for your support and if anyone would like to became part of the team and help us to compete all the races this year, please send us an email and we will get your name on the car! March 29, 2008 Race Report I definately showed up with a little fire underneath me. I worked hard on making some changes to try to get us up there for qualifying and I proved myself right as we were on pole until the last 8 cars. All but one got me so we started a respectful 7th. The race started great with us getting up to 5th in the first 5 laps but in a race riddled with cautions and one red flag for a 7 car pile up, we had trouble at the end of the race when we went 23 laps straight. The car lost its amazing handling and really slowed down which proved the changes we made were good for a short run but not good for a long run. I ended up in 8th after battling the #51 car for the whole race. The car finished in one piece and now we are getting our legs for the championship. The more important thing is that since our budget doesn't allow for much testing, we have to test some of the setups during the race. We walked away from Race #2 with more knowledge about the car and what it takes to run fast. 8th place, great qualifying, good race, and more car knowledge..... not a bad weekend. For race #3 we will be so lucky to have the help of Frank Loverock of QCE. He has over 40 years of oval experience and his son Brandon has made his own mark at Irwindale by winnning many races and setting a reputation for himself as a very fast and professional driver. Myself and our team (dad, grandpa, and little Mikey) are really looking forward to the collaboration with Frank. So we will soon see! See you at the race and don't forget to join our mailing list! March 22, 2008 Race Report Here we go again, with another exciting season at Irwindale Speedway (now Toyota Speedway). Couple of great things have happened in the off-season. My grandpa and I built a shop inside of our warehouse at work so I can make the car even better than we were at last year. Unfortunetly, the team we ran with last year just didn't feel like we were doing what we were capable of. So, once again, just like the old days, it is just me, my dad and my grandpa making it go. The off season testing we have done has proven us to be much faster and more consistent than last year. So we are expecting some great things this year. The best part of all, Neal Trucking and PCH Motorsports have decided to become a part of GCT Racing Team and are sponsoring us for the whole year. I actually used to work on the PCH Motosports Team in Karting, and I am really excited to be involved with such a great family and team. Oh ya the race report.... Qualfying was better than expected. A 19.16 put us in the 6th position which is the fastest we have ever gone and definately our strongest 2 lap performance that we have ever done. The car handled just the way we thought after a lot of guess work in the off-season. I was running in the 7th position for quite awhile and was just bidding my time until the checkered flag came down when bad luck struck. A bolt that holds the sway bar broke. Unfortunetly, I had to slow my pace and run the bottom line till the checkered which was 5 laps. 35 laps of great racing and all I needed was 5 more. Those kind of things sometimes happen in racing no matter how well you prepare. Even though we didnt finish 7th, we sure proved that we are capable of running in the front now. All I can do now is prepare and make more improvements. |
 Toyota Speedway at Irwindale 2008 Calendar for Auto Club Late Models 
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