Why We Race. . .

            It’s the third week of February, and the racing season is growing ever closer.  Daytona Speedway was full of activity this past weekend, with Bobby Gerhart winning a record 8^th Daytona ARCA 200.  Bobby has been a big influence in my life and racing career.  I worked for Bobby during the ’04 and ’05 seasons, and learned a tremendous amount.  I know how much the superspeedways mean to him and want to congratulate him on another awesome performance.

            Last week we visited the highs and lows of the sport once again, and for me at least I was starting to lose motivation going to the track.  I had earned my first career pole, and was on point to lead the field to the green flag, but inexperience played a crucial role in keeping me from doing just that.  I spun off of turn 4 coming to take the green flag.  Somehow I spun through the entire pack and wasn’t touched.

            I don’t believe I have ever had a more embarrassing moment in my life than what had just happened to me that night.  I had stalled the car during the spin, and to add insult to injury the engine was flooded, so it wouldn’t start.  A push truck finally came around and got me going again.  My crew would stand just outside the fence off of turn 2.  They were all lined up at the fence as I came around and I couldn’t have felt smaller.  I knew they were upset and I knew I had let them down.  All of their hard work, the countless hours in the shop, all those Saturday nights spent at the track.  I didn’t even want to look at them- I was too ashamed.  I rejoined the field at the back of the pack and waited to go green again.  The view at the back of the pack was certainly not as nice as up at the front.

            The green flag was waived and again I brought the car up to speed.  I made up a few spots over the first couple of laps and was sitting 15^th at the end of lap 6.  We had a caution and bunched the field back up; the track crew cleared the accident and sent us back to racing.  I passed a couple more cars and then 2 cars tangled in front of me.  I missed the wreck, but the yellow flag flew again.  I was 10^th now, and we were 1 lap shy of halfway.  My crew was starting to come back to life and was standing up at the fence again.  The green flag was once again displayed and racing resumed.  I had a great restart and was able to pick up another spot right away, followed by another 2 laps later.  With 12 laps to go, 1st and 2nd place was battling hard and made contact.  It sent those two cars hard into the fence, along with the rest of the field trying to get through the carnage.

            There was nothing but smoke in front of me, and everybody was going low to miss the wreck.  I saw each car in front of me make contact with the car ahead of them.  The bottom of the track was becoming a mess of twisted sheetmetal and wrecked racecars.  I figured I could go low and add to the accident, or I could try the high side and play the odds.  As I was trying to find a path to drive, a car came rocketing past me from the bottom of the track and bounced off the outside wall.  I missed him (or maybe he missed me) and a space just big enough for a racecar opened in front of me.  I steered towards it and punched the gas.  The next thing I know I see nothing but clear track in front of me.  I MADE IT THROUGH THE WRECK!  All of the sudden I was sitting in 2^nd place.  From the highs to the lows, back to the highs again.

            I came around turn 2 and my crew was jumping up and down and giving me the “thumbs up” sign.  If only I could bring this thing home in the top three, they might forgive me for what happened earlier.  It took a while, but the track was cleaned up and we were ready to go racing again.  My crew was motioning to me to take my time and be smart.  The green flag was waving and we were racing once again.  Coming off of turn 2, the leader got loose and wiggled up the track a little bit, that was all I needed- I got a great drive off the corner and pulled to the inside.  When we got to turn 3, I had the inside groove and the position.  As we came across the line, I was now the leader, and leading my first lap in my career.  I cannot describe to you the range of emotion that I was feeling at that very moment.  My crew was going out of their minds as well. 

             I got the “10 laps to go” sign from the flagger, and I started praying to the racing gods to keep this race green for the rest of the night.  Time seems to go backwards when you are leading races, even today- it’s easier to chase someone for a whole race and win it with 5 to go than lead it flag to flag.  That night an eternity seemed to pass until I go the “5 to go” signal.  My crew was telling me through the use of hand signals that I had a decent lead over 2^nd place.  The head flagger showed me that there were only 2 laps to go and my crew was telling me I had a big lead now.  I was going out of my mind.  I could sense that this could actually happen, and I just needed to keep hitting my marks.  The white flag was waving as I came off turn 4, and I just had to keep it together for one more lap.

            Now as I came off of turn 2 and looked at my crew expecting to see them telling me my lead was safe and that the race was in hand.  Instead they are all jumping around motioning for me to “GO GO GO” as if someone was right behind me.  I freaked out and dropped to the bottom to guard against getting passed.  I came off turn 4 and saw the most beautiful sight a racecar driver can expect to see.  2 checkered flags and nobody in front of me; I put my arm out the window and started screaming my head off.

            I couldn’t believe it- we just won a race and I was headed to

Victory Lane

.  I stopped at turn 2, and waited for my crew to come out as they headed to the winners circle; I revved the motor and did a little burnout as I drove away.

            Winning a race sure does cure a lot of things in racing.  That was a good night, and next week we will touch on how you can lose all ability to control yourself in victory lane.  I want to ask everybody to check me out on San Diego Motorsports Radio this Sunday (Feb 26 2012) night at 9pm PST on KCBQ.com or for those of you who live in San Diego- 1170 AM.  We will sit down with Yonah the host and talk racing.  As always please visit my sponsors, they make doing interviews like the one on Sunday night possible.  Thanks for stopping by.

Turning Point. . .

            Here in the United States we are 3 weeks away from daylight savings time, and only 4 short weeks away from the start of the Spring season.  Gone will be the days of snow and ice, although here in the northeast we have had a pretty mild winter.  Soon, the garage doors of the shops’ of racers will be open and the warmer air will be blowing in onto the new racecars.  The 2012 racing season is just about here, and if you are like me, its about time.

            Last week we had hard contact with the turn 4 wall, and pretty much used up the right front of the racecar.  We did catch a break, though, with the rest of the racing that night being rained out, so we had an opportunity to take the car home and repair it for the next week.  It was actually worse that it looked at the track, and with the aid of my credit card and freakishly high overnight shipping charges we had the parts to fix it by Wednesday of that week.  What I didn’t realize was the mounting points had been bent when I hit the wall, so it wasn’t until raceday that we had everything fixed.

            I hadn’t gotten much sleep that week, and some Ritz crackers and peanut butter was all that the budget allowed for eating that week.  I was exhausted that next Saturday, and would have much rather stayed home that week.  I’m not sure if it was stupidity or dedication that sent me to the track, and I have no idea what kept me awake on the drive to the track that day- I was just glad I made it.  I don’t really remember much of that next weekend, except it was the hottest day of the year, I had to run 2 features that night, and everyone was miserable.  That was one of the roughest nights we had been through, we were all short on patience with each other and my girlfriend knew I was spending money I didn’t have and my buddy’s girl was losing her understanding and patience with racing in general.  Ahhh. . . The good old days.

            Without looking back at the stats from that year, I don’t know how we ran- it must not have been a standout performance; but we made it through.  I think its nights like that which create bonds that last lifetimes.  My buddy (Adam is his name- just in case you were wondering) and I are still close to this day, and his girlfriend (now Wife) understands what racing means, and knows how big a part it plays in my life.

            I once read a quote, “Racing is 80% hard times, 10% tragedy, and another 10% wonderful”.  I don’t know who said it, or if that is the correct quotation, but I know enough about the sport first hand to tell you- its true.  September 20^th  2003 was one of those nights.

            After July, I had been mostly going through the motions, I had no money left, no real desire to even go racing, and my crew was feeling pretty much the same way.  Thankfully we were able to stay out of trouble over the next 5 weeks, and kept the car pretty much in one piece.  Although it was still hot, September brought a break in the weather and it was more bearable to be at the track.  We loaded up that Saturday much the same way as the previous 15+ other racedays.  This day didn’t seem any different, and I had no real reason to believe otherwise.  At this point I was just trying to save my “Rookie of the Year” status and stay in the top five in points, and not destroy the car. 

            Practice, the Driver’s Meeting, our heat races- it all went pretty much according to plan.  There was no drama, no wrecks; it was as if everyone was just trying to limp to the end of the season.  During intermission the starting grids of the features are posted, and I remember that day the girls went up to get the line-up.  5 minutes later they came running back screaming their heads off.  Now- picture this- in a pit area full of greasy, sweaty, smelly guys, these 2 teenage girls come running screaming at the top of their lungs.  “We got the pole. . . We got the Pole. . . We got the Pole”  It didn’t register at first, but eventually we were all yelling and carrying on.  That was a 10% wonderful moment.

            19 cars were starting that night, and I was going to lead them to the green flag.  18 cars would all be chasing me to turn 1.  Wait. . . 18 cars would all be chasing. . . Me!?!  I look back at that moment of my life and I have to laugh out loud.  In reality I was 19 years old competing in this substandard division, in what was a less than stellar speedway in nowhere Pennsylvania.  In my head, I was sitting on the pole for the Daytona 500- and I was on top of the world. 

            I got ready for the feature and my stomach was in knots, I felt like I was going to throw up, I must have checked my lug nuts 5-6 times, cleaned my windshield 3-4 times before I belted in.  FINALLY the call came for us to line up, and for the first time in my career, I was on point.  My crew was pumped up, and I mean, pumped up.  They were riding this high just like me, and they all wished me good luck and out onto the track I went.

            I remember being so nervous on our pace laps, that I didn’t do any of the pre-race warm-up things that a driver has to do, like warm up the tires and clean out the carburetor.  I didn’t do any of it, and while I was ready for the green flag to been shown to me, the car was not ready to go racing.  I was given the 1-to-go sign by the flagger and coming off turn 4 the green flag was out.

            When I saw the green flag, my foot hit the floor and the car started coming up to speed, and then it happened.  The rear tires broke loose and the rpm’s went through the roof, and around I went.  I didn’t even get to the freaking start/finish line to take the green flag and I was spinning through the entire pack of cars.  I can’t really say what was coming out of my mouth at that moment- but I’m sure you can imagine.  To everyone’s credit- no one hit me, not even a little bit- everybody got by clean.  I sat there in disbelief at what I had just done- that was not a 10% wonderful moment.

            Next week I will let you know what happened during the race and how, for me at least, it was the turning point in my career.  A BIG thank you to everyone, I hit 1000 reads last week, and that’s because you guys come here and read about me and my career.  It means a tremendous amount to me, and I appreciate all of the positive feedback- keep it coming- justinonderko@verizon.net is a great place to reach me.  Check out my sponsors on this page- they really do make it possible for me to be here living my dreams.  Check me out on twitter- @justinonderko and check out my site http://www.justinonderko.com/ for updates- hopefully we have some news about the 2012 season soon! 

Paying Rookie Dues. . .

            I’m starting to get excited about this racing season.  Not only about my plans for open-wheel racing, but just for racing in general.  This is the first year since we have entered the economic recession that it feels like things could be turning around.  That means more cars and hopefully better racing.  While I am not your typical race fan, as a driver, I do like seeing a lot of cars at the racetracks.

            Last week we traveled to the speedway for the first time that season for our first test day.  We unloaded our freshly rebuilt racecar and got ready for our day.  The day went without incident, but it did show me that I wasn’t the only one that was hard at work in the offseason.  There were plenty of teams with shiny new racecars, and they were faster than me too.

            The season started later that year in the end of March.  The first race was a little rough for me, I didn’t qualify all that well and was only able to muster a 7^th place finish, a far cry from battling for the win like I thought we would be.  The next couple of races went quite the same way.  I was really starting to get frustrated, I thought I would be running up front and contending for the win each week.  I look back now, and I find that so arrogant.  I was 20 years old, no real experience with stock cars and had a bunch of kids working on my race cars.  The average age of my team was just over 19 years old.  We were actually doing better than we should have been.

            Half way through the season, I was sitting 4^th in points, leading all the rookies, and had a season best 3^rd place finish to my credit.  It was near the end of July and it was particularly hot and humid that summer.  As everyone knows, thunderstorms are just a normal part of a hot summer afternoon.  This night was no exception.  We had gotten practice completed, and we were getting ready for the heat races.  They had just called us to get to the staging area, when the skies opened up.  This was before we had an enclosed trailer, so we pulled out the tarp- covered the race car and sat in the truck waiting for the rain to stop.

            I remember it was about 7pm when we pulled the tarp off the car and tried to dry our pit area up.  The track had a wonderful rule *much sarcasm inserted here* for all of the racers, if you didn’t use your racecar to help dry off the track, you didn’t get any points or money at the end of the night.  So, like everyone else, I climbed in and burned $7 a gallon fuel in a race motor that cost me a couple thousand dollars to go dry off the track.  It didn’t take real long to get the bottom groove dried out, and we had just about all of the top groove dry.  It important to state- “almost dry” is very different than completely dry.

            My heat race was called up, and I was starting 4^th.  We took our customary pace laps and got the “1 to go” signal from the flagger.  Coming off turn 4 we got the green flag and they turned us loose.  I held strong on the outside through turns 1 and 2.  Down the backstretch and into turn 3 I was still running 4^th.  Now remember that “almost dry”- turn 3 was dry up top, turn 4, however, was not.  I hit the damp part of the racetrack and the car plowed with its front tires.  I got out of the throttle and tried to get the car to turn.  I was now almost 2 ½ lanes up the track now, and there was no coming back down.  I tried with everything I had to get on the brakes to slow down, but it was too late.

            I remember saying to myself- right before I hit the wall- This is probably going to hurt, so get ready.  I hit the wall with the right front tire and it felt like all the air tried to exit my body.  The steering wheel spun out of my hand and I rode the wall down the frontstrech while I tried to start breathing again.  The car came to rest at the entrance to turn 1, and I pulled the window net down.  I climbed out and walked over to the right front.  As bad as I felt when I hit the wall, I felt worse when I saw what the car looked like.  The right front tire was gone- I don’t mean flat or shredded- I mean gone.  The upper and lower control arms were attached to the chassis, but the spindle had been ripped from them.  The radiator had a hole punched in the side of it, and the door had been ripped open.

            Just like my first race I declined the ride in the ambulance and walked back to my pit area.  I saw my guys walking over to me, and asked me what happened.  I told them the track was damp in the upper groove off of turn 4, and I tried to take down the wall.

            The rain came and canceled the feature races for the rest of the night, which was a lucky break for us.  We already had the car loaded up by the time the rains settled in for the night, and headed home.  Just like my very first race, the drive home was long and rough.  I was stiff and sore, and very upset at what happened.  We had a lot of work to do this week, and I didn’t have a lot of extra money.  Looks the credit card was going to get a workout again.  This wasn’t going to be fun.

            I appreciate the followers of the blog, and want to thank everyone that comes to read about it.  Let me know who you are, any racing you have done.  I enjoy talking racing, and I’m sure you guys have a few stories of your own.  I’ve also been in touch with our sponsors this week, and they said they have seen a rise in traffic through this blog.  I want to thank all of you for checking them out after you read the blog.  They make this dream possible for me, so continue to help them.  Next week we look at what it takes to get back on track, and the impact it has on the rest of the season.  Check me out on twitter @justinonderko.

Starting Fresh. . .

            The 2012 racing season has officially gotten underway in North America.  The Rolex 24 hour at Daytona was just completed this past weekend, congratulations to Mike Shank Racing for their overall victory.  Lots of hard work and dedication brought that group the spoils of victory- and an awfully nice Rolex watch.

            Last week we left off during the offseason, and I was hard at it with the remaining guys I had left.  Things were beginning to turn around and we were starting to see some light at the end of the long tunnel.  We were able to reduce the number of people we had in the shop- yet increase the amount of productive work that was being done.

            As the start of the season got closer and closer, the car was returning to form after being rebuilt.  The motor was pulled at the end of last year to be sent out and gone through by our engine builder.  After long weeks hoping nothing was wrong with the motor, we got it back- with a clean bill of health, and it was being put back in the car, along with a new transmission and rear end gear.  We were hanging a new body on the car and trying to button everything up to get the car painted before the beginning of March.

            For those who have raced on America’s short tracks, the end of February is a bit of a wake up call.  The Daytona 500 is the start of the NASCAR season, and traditionally the jumping off point for most late model drivers as well.  You take stock of your team and car around this time, and find out how much still needs done before the start of your season.

            We were right on schedule, and the car was done being painted the first week of March.  One of our sponsors at the time was a company that created vinyl signs and lettered vehicles.  So we had all of our vinyl cut for us and started putting that on later that week.  I was really proud of my guys and all that they had accomplished.

            The first test and tune day at the speedway we were running at was the first weekend in April, and the weather was going to cooperate to give us a nice warm day at the track.  I remember being at the shop that Tuesday night before our test day.   I remember feeling such a sense of pride in that racecar and in my team, such a sense of accomplishment.  It gleamed bright red and white, the colors of our team, and sat there in the shop just looking fast- begging to be released on the track.  The smell of the paint was still heavy in the air that night as I wondered how many other people were doing the same thing all across the nation.

            I remember loading up for that Saturday and just knowing in my heart that we were starting the season off on the right foot.  Knowing all of the hard work that was done this past winter was going to pay off, and we would be one of the quick cars this afternoon.  The trip to the track was quiet and uneventful, no one really wanting to talk about the day.  When we got to the track, we unloaded and got into line for Tech inspection.  I looked around, and I soon realized that we weren’t the only team that was hard at work this past offseason.

            In our class I had counted 18 cars that were in line for inspection, which meant that there were probably another 5 or 6 that would show up on the first raceday.  Looking around at all of the machines that looked just as good if not better than mine- I thought to myself, “I wonder where we are going to stack up with these guys”.  My seemingly endless confidence not more that 6 hours ago, had faded, and in its place was a knot that had my stomach tied tight.  Many things became clear that day- Lesson #1- A shiny racecar is not necessarily a fast racecar.

            Next week, we start our quest for “Rookie of the Year” and realize that in order to be fast- you have to be knowledgeable.  Speed does not just appear, and great drivers are made- not born.  Feel free to leave comments, or email me directly at justinonderko@verizon.net for any questions.  Let me know what you guys think, I appreciate the emails I’ve gotten so far, it means a lot that you guys take the time to write in.  As I’m sure you are used to by now, and its something all of us racecar drivers do- I want to plug my sponsors.  As always they continue to help us and make what we are doing possible- please check them out- we have a couple of them up on this page as clickable links.  You can also follow me on twitter- @justinonderko.