Always Learning. . .

All the major racing series’ seasons are now underway.  The INDYCAR series finally ran their first race down in Florida, and although it was somewhat less than astounding, it was the first race of the year with a completely new car and engine package.  The turbochargers are back, but we dropped down to a V-6 instead of a V-8.  For me, it will take a little while to get used to the new look, but I am glad the series made the changes.

            We made our announcements last week; we will compete under the NASA Sanction this year in the Pro Touring class.  We are making further strides towards open wheel racing by competing in this series.  Seat time on road courses is needed right now, and this is an excellent way to make it happen.  Also, this marks the first time since 2009 that Onderko Motorsports will field a car, something else to be excited about in 2012.

            The last time we talked about the stock car days, I was getting ready for my second full season of competition.  I had found a new way to stretch dollars, by making some of the tools that we needed- like a sheet metal break.  It allowed me to hang a new body on the car and not spend a lot of money.  I was able to scrape enough money together to get the motor gone over.  I was engaged now, so I really had to justify all money that was being spent.

           

I would like to take a moment in this week’s blog, to thank all of the girlfriends/wives/sisters/mothers that are out there.  Another season is upon us and most of you know all to well how the season is going to unfold.  The lack of time and money, will invariably lead to shorter fuses and hotter tempers.  Still, most of you stand behind us, and support the decisions we make to race.  It makes life a lot harder than it would have to be, and it takes a big toll on many relationships.  I want to thank my family and my wife for all of their/her support, though it takes away from the very reason they love me in the first place.  To all you racers out there, don’t take advantage of that support, let your families know that you appreciate their understanding.

           

That being said, our racecar was just about race ready.  A new coat of paint, some fresh decals and little wax- and it looked good.  I remember standing in the shop and looking at the car, feeling such a sense of pride, I wasn’t a rookie anymore, and this year we were going to compete for the championship.  It is important to note- having the motor gone through was the only real thing that we did to find speed in the off-season.  Hanging a new body and making the car look pretty does not make it go any faster.  I did not do any work with our moment and roll centers during the winter- which were way out to lunch.  We didn’t have the car scaled properly, and nobody knew anything about our front end geometry and dynamics.  All we had- was the same car as last year, with a fresh coat of paint.

            8 years ago this weekend, would have been our first open test day.  Surprisingly, we were turning the same times as last year.  I say that with a little bit of sarcasm, because I was expecting to somehow have picked up a couple tenths.  That was the day that I learned a good looking racecar isn’t always a fast racecar.  Good thing that day was just a test day, because we were able to go back to the shop and try to figure things out.  I guess not being a rookie anymore didn’t mean that I knew everything I had to know about this game.

            I want to say thank you to all who stop by and read this blog.  I want to let everyone know, if you live near Allentown, Pa- you can catch us at the “Steel Stacks” over in Bethlehem on Sunday evening.  “Pretending to be on TV with Glenn Tickle” will have us on as a guest.  Looking forward to a nice evening with Glenn and his bunch.  Check him out- he has a bunch of his material on YouTube- he’s got some funny stuff.  Check in on Twitter “@justinonderko” we’ll have all the info you will need to attend.  We are also close to nailing down all of our race dates for this season, so stay tuned for that as well.  As always, please check out my sponsors here on this page, they are really stepping up for us this year so please do the same for them.  Till next week.

Big Announcements. . .

            For weeks now I have been talking about the racing season starting.  About how all of the teams, from all walks of life, and all types of racing are gearing up for this season.  I’ve also been telling you to stay tuned to this blog, because I had some plans to announce.

            On Monday, we announced that we were entering the NASA Pro Touring Division.  This will mark the first time Onderko Motorsports will field a car since 2009.  2010 saw us win the Sundance Vacations Speedway Late Model championship in a RPM Fabrications backed ride, and 2011 was spent competing in some various open wheel races.

            I am very excited for this new opportunity, and am also very pleased that we will field this car out of our stable.  While it is every driver’s goal to have a funded ride with a race winning team, I have some very talented people that are behind me 100% and they are anxious to get back to the track again.  Most of the work on our cars will be completed in house once again.

            This blog has mostly been about the early years of my career so far.  I have been telling you about these years, because they were very important.  Not only because its how my career got started, but also because it helped shaped me as the driver and person I am today.  Instead of telling you about the past, this week is more current events.  We have been making some big strides in our efforts towards racing full time on the “

Mazda Road

to Indy”.  While this announcement on Monday was a big shot in the arm to our effort, we have been hard at work behind the scenes to make this and other announcements happen.

            Any time you find yourself immersed in a situation that you have had success in; it is always difficult to leave that situation.  However, after looking at where stock car racing has been, and where I believe it to be headed, I felt a need to make a change.  For me, that change meant heading towards road racing, and more specifically- open wheel. That meant leaving behind all that we knew, and built up with the late models.

Open wheel racing, in the United States, is growing into its own again.  While the rift between CART and IRL hurt the sport some years ago, INDYCAR has gotten its act together and is moving forward.  Bringing in the right people and giving them the resources to make the right decisions is starting to pay off.  The teams are soon headed to St. Petersburg, Florida to kick off the INDYCAR season, and with new cars and some new faces, the series will continue to grow this season.

For Onderko Motorsports, this season will be packed with lots of track time, research and development of our cars, driver appearances, and promotion of our sponsors.  Competing in NASA, gives us a chance to gain valuable track time, and it gets us back in front of the Motorsports community once again.  This is not only beneficial for our sponsors, but also for our charity RAD Racing.  RAD Racing, will once again be onboard our cars and promoted through our actions of living drug free and healthy lifestyles as we return to the track to compete. 

            This announcement was a big step in attaining the goals that our organization has set forth.  I thought this week I would bring everyone up to speed on our current competition status.  While we are ironing out the last remaining details of our schedule, we don’t plan on competing for the Pro Touring championship this year; instead we plan on attending the bigger races on the schedule.  Follow along on twitter (@justinonderko) as we get ready to compete in our first Pro Touring race this year.  Check in at http://www.justinonderko.com/, to see updates and results after race weekends.  Now, more than ever, check out our sponsors here on this blog, they will be along with us this year, and are making racing possible for us.  Also, check out http://www.ncprs.org/ to stay current with all the happenings at RAD Racing. 

Making it Happen. . .

            A new year of racing always brings about an optimistic feeling.  All the parts and pieces are new or rebuilt, racecars are updated with advanced clips and suspension components, and last year is just that- last year.  It doesn’t matter if you were the champion or finished outside the top 10 in points.  The start of new year is always exciting.

            Onderko Motorsports is going to be unveiling some new plans for the 2012 season very shortly, and it feels good to be excited again.  Since our Championship in 2010 we have made a big change in how we operate our program, and this year is going to be no different.  I will keep you posted just as soon as the ink dries.

            Speaking of new seasons starting, last week we talked about how the first full season ended.  We clinched ‘Rookie of the Year” and placed 4^th in the Championship points battle.  It wasn’t terrible for a bunch of kids that really didn’t have much to work with.  As happy as I was for the 2003 season to be over, I was equally excited for 2004 to begin.

            I was able to stay busy at work throughout the winter, which helped the financial situation quite a bit.  I also proposed to my girlfriend in early December.  So the pressure was on, plan the wedding and win the championship in 2004.  Preparation started for both soon after we celebrated the New Year.

            I got the guys back in the shop early January, just to shake out the cobwebs and get a schedule again.  I lost a couple of people over the winter, so figuring out who was going to take on the extra responsibility was an added challenge.  We were able to pull the motor and the driveline pretty quick, and we cut the entire body off the car.  In hindsight, I should have priced a new body first.  After figuring out what the motor was going to take, and knowing the transmission was going to need rebuilt, I didn’t have enough to get a body.

            Since necessity is the mother of all invention, I had to figure something out- quick.  I had less that 2 full months before the car needed to be ready to shake down in March.  I did my homework, and was able to get a few sheets of aluminum donated to the team.  My parents helped me out and got me a front and rear bumper cover, so I was able to secure the major pieces- I just need a way to put them all together.

            The tool I lacked the most was a sheetmetal break.  I know I couldn’t afford to buy one, and a break isn’t the kind of tool that you can find used either- at least not easily and never cheap.  So I took a picture of a brand new one, and I went home and put a materials list together, my only option was to build one.  It took me a couple days, but I got it done.  It wasn’t going to bend quarter inch plate steel, but it would do the job for me.

            Grassroots racing is like that, if you don’t have it, or can’t buy it, you have to build it.  That project taught me that, and made a lot of other seemingly impossible tasks possible.  With my crew helping out on our new break, we got the body done, and we hung it by ourselves.  It didn’t look like a store bought job, but it didn’t look bad either.  I was proud of my guys, and it was giving me confidence about the upcoming year.  I could feel the championship in our grasp.

            Next week, we will look at a new season, no longer being rookies.  What should we expect of ourselves, and what are other people expecting from us?  I would like to know if any of you out there are getting ready for this season.  Do you have a car of your own, are you helping a family member or a friend with a racecar?  I enjoy knowing who is out there, doing the same things that we do every year.  Let me know, and tell me what you race.  Check out our sponsors, I know I sound like a broken record, but everyone knows how important they are, and my sponsors are no different.  Check me out on twitter @justinonderko, and we are in the process of rescheduling our San Diego Motorsports interview on 1170 AM, as soon as we nail down the date- I will pass it along.  Thanks for stopping by.

The End to a Long Year. . .

            We are getting closer and closer to the start of the racing season.  Down south, some tracks are opening and the racing has begun.  Up here in the northeast- it’s still a bit too cold.  I am really looking forward to getting back on the track again soon as well.  With the transition to road racing last year, we didn’t get a lot of on track time.  I look forward to traveling around and competing at some of this area’s road courses.

            Last week I told you about my first trip to victory lane.  I have to admit, after I was done writing last week, I went through the old racing pictures and found the pictures from that night.  It seems like so long ago, but I know it’s a memory that I won’t ever forget.  It’s a memory that you pull on when the season is beating you up and you need some motivation.

            We survived the rest of the season, and finished 4^th in the championship as a rookie.  I think everybody was glad the season was over.  No one was more relieved than me.  I was out of money 2 months before the season ended, and I needed a break mentally as well.  The girlfriend and I were on really thin ice, she had her fill of racing too.

            I brought the racecar home after the last race and pushed it into the shop and forgot about it.  I knew there was a bunch of work it needed, I needed to pull the motor out and send it to be rebuilt, the transmission needed looked over, and we needed a new body.  I couldn’t do any of it, though, I didn’t have the money.  So I felt it best to just leave it alone for a while.  The last event I had to worry about for this year of racing was the awards banquet.  It was a time to put on some nice clothes, have a good dinner and get together with the people we raced against- away from the track.

            First things first, unless you are the track champion or are getting a special award, award banquets are one of the most drawn out, boring, uneventful functions you will ever attend.  I can say that, because I have been on both ends of that.  I was presented the trophy for 4^th place in points and as I was carrying it back to my table I thought to myself, “This thing should be a whole lot bigger for the time and effort it took to get”.

            We passed it around the table to all of the crew members and to my parents who also attended.  As we were talking about the highs and lows of the season amongst ourselves, I heard my name being called.  Dino Oberto, the track announcer, had called my name for “Rookie of the Year”.  He was telling the story of interviewing me that night back in September.  He caught me by surprise as he talked about it, I made more of an impression that I had thought.  Most everyone in that room that night was at the speedway for my win, but Dino told the story anyway.  He had some nice words about me, and made me realize that there were at least a couple people that knew my name at the track.

            The evening ended late that night, and we were all tired from dancing and having a good time.  It was nice to blow off some steam.  On the ride home, with everyone sleeping, I remembered the season.  8 months prior I was on my way to the track for the first race of the season.  Here I was, driving home with a real expensive imitation gold plastic and wood composite 4^th place trophy.  I don’t think there is enough space here to adequately explain how I felt right then.

            It was all wrapped up in that trophy, the wrecks, the win, the rainouts, and all the time spent at the shop.  That’s what I saw when I looked at it sitting on the dash of the truck.  When I look back at that trophy today, I see all the things I learned that year.  I remember only the good, and the bad that I do remember- doesn’t seem as bad as it did back then. 

            It was soon Christmas of 2004 and that meant the New Year was soon upon us as well.  It seems racing doesn’t have a real off season, and for me it meant getting back in the shop and back to work for the upcoming season.

            Stay tuned for some upcoming news from us for this year.  We will be getting back on the track and can’t wait to announce this season’s plans.  Thanks for stopping by and reading the blog, I thank you for all the kind words, keep them coming @justinonderko and don’t forget to check out our sponsors.  I appreciate everyone who takes time to come here.

Victory Lane - The greatest place on Earth . . .

           Today is the first day of March, and the weather has sure felt like spring lately.  I do apologize to everyone who reads my blog on a regular basis, we just got back from Atlanta, GA.  We made the trip down to look a racecar that our team might acquire and compete with this year.  Stay tuned for updates on that.  We also didn’t get to do our interview on San Diego Motorsports 1170 AM last week.  Yonah, the host had to cancel on us extremely last minute, but stay tuned for a new date and time.

            That brings you up to date on us, but how about this year’s Daytona 500?  This 500 has to go down as one of the more surreal races I have watched.  The first time is the history of the race that it was postponed, and then big time wrecks 2 laps into the race, stuff blowing up and catching fire, tweeting from the backstretch, it was a wild one.  Congratulations to Matt Kenseth, who raced a smart race and brought the trophy home for the second time.

            Last week we talked about how this sport of racing can send you through the range of emotions.  I earned my first pole, never made it to the green flag, spun through the field, and then ended up winning the race.  The whole team shared in this win. I was glad, and partially relieved to have given them a win - it really makes you feel better about the time and money you spend on the cars.

            I had just taken the checkered flag and I was going nuts, my crew was running out onto the track to head to victory lane.  We were just a bunch of kids, the oldest person on the team was only 21, and we had just won our first race.  I can only speak for myself, but I remember the events of the night, but I don’t remember victory lane that well.

            All my guys were there already when I pulled in, and they were all pounding on the car and yelling.  I remember unbelting and trying to climb out of the car, but everybody was mobbing me at the window.  To that point in my life, it was the best feeling I had ever felt.  It is hard to put into words the rush that comes over you at that moment.  I finally got out of the car, and shook everybody’s hands, gave the girls hugs and tried to let it soak in.

            One of the best track announcers I have had the pleasure to listen to, and to be interviewed by is Dino Oberto.  He is currently working for Mahoning Valley Speedway in Pennsylvania, but that particular night he wanted to talk to me - and I really wanted to talk to him.  The only problem was, I ended up with cotton mouth and couldn’t form my words right.  Couple that with all of the excitement and it was a terrible interview.  Like I said I don’t remember it too well, but my girlfriend got it all on tape - we have joked amongst our team about it a lot.  “How not to act in Victory Lane 101” should be the name of that interview.  I was yelling at the top of my lungs, I forgot to thank everybody, it was a mess.  You can tell on the tape, though, that Dino was getting a kick out of me and just let me go.

            Like I have said before, racing is 80% hard times, 10% tragedy, and 10% wonderful.  This was one of the 10% wonderful moments.  I finally calmed down enough to talk like a normal human being, and Dino made sure that I told my crew thank you.  The track photographer got us all together and took a couple pictures and then it was over.  The track had to run the next race and our time was up.  It was kind of bittersweet, and it is over way too quick, but that’s just life.

            I climbed back in the car and drove it to the scales to be weighed, and for post - race inspection.  We got weighed in and then the head tech inspector came over and congratulated me on a good race.  He also informed me he would be looking at the top end of the motor tonight, so we should go get some tools and take the carburetor, intake, headers, and heads off for him.  My heart sank and I felt like I was going to puke right there.  I was scared out of my mind, I had never really thought about tech before.  I didn’t think I had anything illegal on the car or in the motor, but to be honest- I didn’t really know.  I think it was at that moment the look on my face was too much for him.  He burst out laughing and told me to get out of his inspection area.  A college hazing of sorts I guess, I didn’t think it was very funny, but he thought it was hilarious.  I will admit, looking back on it- he got me good.

            Loading up at the end of the night to go home, is usually a big hassle and really not that much fun.  That night, we didn’t care how long we took to get packed up, we were flying high.  I had a couple of guys come over and talk about the race and say we did a good job.  It was all very nice to be the winner that night, but for me, one gentleman in particular made my night.  Joe Hoffman, who was the points leader at that time - and arguably the best car in our division, came over to my pit area to find me.  He shook my hand and told me he was happy for me and my team and that I ran a great race.  That moment I remember well, and will forever.  I haven’t seen Joe for a couple years now, and haven’t raced with him since our championship year in 2010, but him coming over to me to acknowledge me was a big moment for me.

            The trip home seemed to take 5 minutes and we stayed up all night long at the shop, cooking on the grill, playing loud music and dancing around our winning racecar and $400 check.  That’s right, $400 was all we were racing for, and it didn’t even cover the cost of a new set of tires.  It didn’t matter though, we didn’t do it for the money, we race because we love it.

            Next week, we will look at the end of my first season and start looking ahead to my second full season in the sport.  Our current racing season is starting again soon.  We have some announcements happening soon and will share them on this blog as well as my twitter @justinonderko, my website, and press releases throughout the web.  Thanks for stopping by, and as always check out my sponsors here on this page, and hit me up on twitter if you have a questions, comments or suggestions - I would love to hear from you.   

Sorry for the delay ...

The Onderko Motorsports Team was in Atlanta the past few days looking at the purchase of a new car for the team. We got back in late last night and I didn't have a chance to get this weeks blog out - I will work on it tonight.

Thanks again for taking the time to read my blog I really do appreciate it. Again any questions don't hesitate to ask - my intent is to get a conversation going about racing and making all of you a part of it.

Justin