Should Have Known Better

          This week the only series that was running was NASCAR.  My heart breaks for Martin Truex Jr. and the MWR Team.  Denny Hamlin was leading when they paid out the money but Martin led more laps this past Sunday at Kansas, than any of his season totals since he started running the Cup Series.  I’m glad to see Michael Waltrip and his group finally seeing the fruits of their labor.  Many people thought when Michael and Buffy put their money on the line, it wasn’t a good move, but with the right people Michael has come a long way- I admire him for that.

            I came across something yesterday, and I didn’t know how to feel about it right away.  Evidently, Josef Newgarden, an INDYCAR Driver, writes a blog for the SPEED Channel, and this week he was reviewing the Long Beach race.  Now, being a driver myself, I have put myself in situations on the track that did not yield positive results, but after listening to Newgarden’s post, first turn of the first lap, accident interview- I was left wondering what I would say if I were him.

            For those of you who don’t know, Dario Franchitti and Josef Newgarden ended up on the front row for the Long Beach race.  Dario got a huge initial jump but Newgarden tried to pass him on the outside going into turn 1 on the first lap- a move usually reserved for the last lap.  I am certainly not trying to bash Newgarden; I just thought he would have used better all around judgment.  Lets, for a minute, forget what happened on the track; it is pretty much standard procedure to be interviewed after you are involved in a wreck.  He proceeds to tell us (in a way that makes me question if he should have the ride he does) that he should have used better judgment and that he thought Dario should have given him more room- that Dario ran wide and forced him into the tires and ended his day.  Then in his blog yesterday, he stands up for his first lap debacle, saying he learned a lot about one particular INDYCAR driver this past Sunday and he “will not shy away from moves like that in the future”.  *Note to Sarah Fisher Racing employees*- long nights lie ahead.

            I find myself having a big problem with this, not because he wrecked- that happens- it’s why he wrecked and what he is using to justify it.  He was never going to beat Franchitti to turn 1.  Not because Newgarden doesn’t have the talent or the resources- it just is not going to happen.  Do you think, for one minute, Dario is going to let some rookie embarrass him on national television?  That he will get passed in a very bold way, on the outside of the first turn of the first lap?  Never gonna happen, not in a million years.  Not in INDYCAR, not in NASCAR, not even on your local short track.  It’s a “paying your dues” thing not to mention pulling stunts like that often have a very high failure and embarrassment rate.  He would have gained much more out of tucking in behind Franchitti and following him and LEARNING.  Who better to follow than last years champion?  What a shot in the arm it would have been to Sarah Fisher and her organization to run up front and get some TV time battling for the lead.  Instead, they end up loading a wrecked racecar in the hauler and now have to spend time and resources fixing a racecar that had the potential win the race.  I have filled just about  every position on a race team, sometimes I have been the race team, so I know what it takes to put racecars on the track.  If I’m the crew and my driver brings me back a wrecked racecar, there better be a real good reason- and not stupidity.

            This kind of stuff drives me crazy, because I have had to race my entire career for the next race.  I had to bring the car home in one piece, because I needed it again next week.  Now, Newgarden has more resources than I do, and he makes more money than I do, but he should also be held to a higher standard than me, right now.  I have followed Sarah Fisher since she was in Sprints, and especially when she was a low budget team racing in INDYCAR trying to make it.  I believe she is a tomorrow kind of racer as well, so I would like to believe that this doesn’t sit well with her either.

            There is a time and a place for all kinds of racing, and bravery should only be shown with less than 15 to go, if at all, because otherwise it leads to disappointment or worse.  Sometimes, the best thing you can do is sit and ride, just make laps- earn the respect of your fellow drivers and let them know they can trust you.  Tucking in behind Franchitti and running the first stint of the race would have done all of that.

            I didn’t mean to get off on a tangent about him.  I believe that this kind of stuff should be learned early on in your career, when someone isn’t making lots of money to race these cars.  It is frustrating to see this kind of stuff happen, when I know how hard we work to try and attain the same level of racing.  It would seem in other sports, like baseball, some time back in the minor leagues to think about what you could do different might be in order.

            I have spoken about Bobby Gerhart often in this blog, and there is an infamous quote that I give him credit for- “Some people just don’t know that they don’t know”.  I would have to think this might apply in this case.  In the top tiers of our sport, all the drivers that compete can all wheel racecars very well, that’s not in question.  It’s the choices we make, that separate us from the pack, that make champions or “also rans”.

            I have spent too much time on this topic, but I needed to vent about what I read Tuesday.  I will talk next week about the last races of our 2004 season, and the events that followed.  I learn just how high the prices are for certain mistakes made in life, and how some of that changes who you are.

            On a much higher and positive note, we finally got to talk with Dave Stall from San Diego Motorsports this past Sunday.  I had a blast with those guys talking about racing, and our work with RAD, and our future plans.  Tune in 9pm (PST) Sundays to catch them- http://www.kcbq.com/ for those of you who can’t pick them up on 1170 AM dial out in San Diego.

            Our first race has been changed to June 16-17 down at Summit Point Raceway in WV.  Check us out @justinonderko during the weekend for updates, or plan a road trip and see some exciting racing from guys who love their machines, and are passionate about the racing they do.  We will be talking more about that weekend in the weeks to come.  Check us out on www.peerbackers.com (search “Onderko Motorsports”) and become a part of our race team.  We bring you in and show you the nitty gritty of the sport.  Feel free to comment on the blog too, I love the fan interaction.  I can’t wait for our season to finally get started, it seems like it’s been to long since I’ve been in a race, and I am ready to get going.  Till next week. . .

Camouflaged Positive's

            This was another excitement filled week in racing.  The Cup series was at Texas this weekend, with current point’s leader Greg Biffle taking the checkered flag.  The Truck series was back at Rockingham Speedway on Sunday; congratulations to Andy Hillenburg and his wife for returning this speedway to competition in NASCAR.  The INDYCAR Series traveled to Long Beach’s temporary road course.  Will Power took the victory while racing on strategy but I have to say I was very disappointed in Newgarden’s lack of judgment on the first turn of the opening lap, and also in the altercation between two of the series younger and more privileged drivers, Andretti and Rahal.  The incident resulted in Marco displaying, that no matter what we do, we cannot eliminate all the dangers from this sport; and Rahal receiving a 6 race probation.  All in all though, Viewership was up 45% on NBC Sports Network.

            Last week I was telling you about how the season was turning out.  Although I was sitting second in points, we had not won yet, and racing was starting to take a very real and heavy toll on my relationship with my fiancé.  I was struggling to once again find the money in the latter part of the season to finish the year, and this year we had a wedding to pay for as well.  The track took away our only weekend off, and I started a new job working for Bobby Gerhart for significantly less money than I was making before.

            I know it seems as though there isn’t much that is positive about these last couple of weeks.  In looking back at my early years of racing, there weren’t many overly joyous moments.  The problem was that I didn’t have any real racing experience to pull from to make my situation any better.  Most of the guys I was racing against had been in the sport longer than I had been alive.  I guess that is something to be proud of, in and of itself.  We were hanging tough with the fastest guys in our class.

            I was introduced to Bobby Gerhart the beginning of the summer 2004, and over the summer hung around enough to be offered a job by August.  I took the job and was instantly immersed in one of the best ARCA programs at that time.  Bobby was working very closely with Hendrick Motorsports at that time.  He was part of Hendrick’s Driver Development Program, back when ARCA and NASCAR were using the same body templates.  I had no idea what I was in for.

            One of the guys that Gerhart had working for him at that time was Karl.  Karl is a very smart guy that knows his share of the racing world.  As knowledgeable as Karl was, he was not very student friendly.  It was very rough working under Karl, but it was one of the best learning experiences I have ever had.  You learned how to listen very carefully and not screw anything up, because he would send his wrath down on you, in front of the whole shop to see.

            I was learning so much of what I thought I knew all over again, and I was learning how to do it the right way.  The 2 years I spent with BGR was undoubtedly one of the most beneficial things I have done for my racing career.  It might not have been the best financial decision at the time, though.  My fiancé was putting the finishing touches on our wedding, and the bills were starting to come due.  We were having some real trouble juggling all the finances at the time.  We were going to be married the weekend after the season was over, and that was only a month away.

            Although the championship was still mathematically attainable, by all accounts we were out of it.  Less and less cars were showing up at the track, so that meant it was harder and harder to gain ground on the point’s leader.  I was pretty far ahead of 3^rd place in points, so I wasn’t really worried about falling in the championship.  Some hard decisions had to be made, and I couldn’t be totally selfish anymore, I was going to have a wife to worry about soon. 

            Next week we look at the end of the season, and the tough choices that have to be made sometimes.  I will have some updates on our season up on our website soon, and stay tuned on twitter @justinonderko for the very near future at track updates as well.  Check out my peerbackers.com page too.  Type “Onderko Motorsports” in the search bar for opportunities to become involved in our race team.  Check out our sponsors on this page as well.  Till next week. . . 

Unanticipated Costs. . .

             This weekend was one of the first few “off” weekends in our sport.  I got to spend a very nice day with the family celebrating Easter.  As usual I ate too much, and hated to drive back home, but the down time was a bit of a recharge.

            Our season took another step forward this past week.  The licensing board over at NASA (National Auto Sport Association) granted me my provisional competition license.  It was definitely weird to be told I’m a rookie once again.  I’ve been racing for 15+ years, but its true I guess- I will have to run the dreaded “rookie stripe” on the back of the car.  There are worse things though.

            Last week I was telling you about how the season was progressing.  Although I was sitting second in points, it was due more to the fact that we were consistent instead of battling for the wins.  I just needed a little bit of guidance to get back on track.  My crew was getting tired of all the work and not really seeing the spoils of success.

            I was in the shop the other day, and I was digging through some of my old notes.  I wanted to see where I was at back then with the car.  June 19 2004-  It was a perfect day for racing.  Sunny and warm- it was 73 degrees when we went out for practice.  From what I can tell- I wasn’t happy with the car.  I remarked the car would not turn on corner entry and then I was really loose coming off the corner.  This condition only got worse as practice went on.  There were a couple of all capital letter words that might not be appropriate for this setting.

            I would love to be able to go back and tell myself what I should be doing to the car.  I guess thats all part of it though.  We ended up leading a part of the feature that night and finished 2^nd to the guy who was leading the points.  It was a good run, but I still lost points in the championship.  That is one of the most frustrating things in racing, when you just get out and out beat by your competition.  I was not a happy person on the way home that night.

            I started reading all I could about set-ups for asphalt racing.  I was determined to figure all this out.  By all accounts I was having a decent season, but I had set a goal of a championship before the season started.  I was trying to sort through all that I was learning, and trying to pick out the things that I thought might work for me.  The only problem was that I had to go to the track to try different things out.

            It was getting to be the middle of July, and it was getting hot now.  Still second in points, but still no wins either.  We were coming up on a weekend off, and I think we were all ready for the break.  After Practice was over, we had our driver’s meeting and the nights activities were discussed.  At the end, we were told that we would no longer have the next week off, and that due to a rainout earlier in the season, the track management was going to use next week as a make up race.  I went back to the trailer and told my crew about not having a week off.  My crew took it pretty well, but my fiancé just about lost her mind.

            She told me she needed next week to meet people about the wedding.  She had scheduled her meetings around the racing season, and that she needed a weekend to take care of details.  As you can imagine, it was not a pretty sight as we discussed (a term I use loosely) what to do about our new problem.  I was mad at the track for canceling our week off, she was mad at the track for the same thing, I was mad at her for taking it out on me, and she was tired of being dragged to the track to spend a Saturday night watching me get aggravated and spend more money we didn’t have.  Without checking- I think we led some laps and finished 3^rd that night, but it didn’t matter.  We were going to the track next week and nobody really wanted to; we had invested too much time and money to throw it away now.

                Racing is tough on so many levels, and it can take so much out of you sometimes.  I still enjoyed getting in the car, and being out on the track.  It was just coming at such a cost, a cost I hadn’t really anticipated on when I got involved in the sport.  I started spending a lot of time at the shop, which really didn’t help the home life all that much.  It was 2 months till the wedding by that time, and I still didn’t really know where I was going to get the money to pay for that and finish out the season.

            It was about that time that I was introduced to Bobby Gerhart.  As far as I am concerned, Bobby is one of the best restrictor plate racers I have ever met, and he did it on his own.  I took the job; though it was cut in pay- I thought it might help my racing effort.  As you can imagine, it did not go over all that well at home- not that I blame her looking back at it.

            Next week we continue with the season, the new job, and the wedding.  If you get a chance, take a look at www.peerbackers.com.  Type “Onderko Motorsports” in the search bar and check us out.  Forward it around to those you know who might want to be a part of it.  Check me out on twitter @justinonderko and all of our sponsors on this page.  Our season starts in May, so the countdown has begun for us, stay tuned for updates.  Thanks for dropping by this week- till next week, stay safe.

Knowing Enough. . .

           What a week it has been.  On Sunday I was on “Pretending to be on TV with Glen Tickle”- had a blast with those guys.  It was set-up just like a late night talk show, and Glen is a really funny guy.  Thanks to him and his staff for having me on.  We will have the show up on our youtube account very soon for everyone to check out.

            The racing world was busy this weekend as well.  On Saturday, the Rolex Grand-Am series was at Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama.  The race was exciting enough, but they had a 3 lap sprint to the finish after a late yellow in which The Spirit of Daytona Team gave Corvette its first ever Daytona Prototype win as well as their own first win.  On Sunday the INDYCAR series was also at BMP and we saw a much better race than last week.  The passing was fantastic, with many overtaking attempts which actually led to some contact.  Will Power made up for some bad luck in qualifying to win a very solid race.  Team Penske is 2 for 2 this year.  I also thought the race was broadcast much better as well.  The teams of NASCAR were down in Virginia this week at Martinsville.  Jeff Gordon was the class of the field ever since they unloaded on Friday.  He led over 300 laps, but failed to win after a green-white-checker disaster.  As a driver, I have always disliked this rule; I shouldn’t have to run 503 laps of a 500 lap race to win it.

             Last week, we learned how fresh paint and fancy looking racecars do not necessarily go fast.  We hung a new body over the winter, and did all the right stuff to the engine and transmission, but devoted little time to the geometry of the car.  Over the next week, we tried to cram 2 months of deliberate measuring and adjusting into 5 days.  As you can guess, that is just not possible.  I think we made the car worse than it was when we went to the track for the first practice.

            You may have heard a saying that racers use- “Races are won and lost in the shop”.  I can’t tell you how many times I have heard this before; I have even said it to people myself.  There is another saying that I learned from Bobby Gerhart- “Sometimes you don’t even know, that you don’t know”.  This was absolutely the case once again.

            The first couple of weeks, we were chasing our tails at the track.  I was able to get a couple of good finishes, but I was not happy with the car.  We were certainly not capable of competing for the championship.  I kept making changes on what I though the car needed.  The only problem was that I never had a good baseline to start with.  I was too busy making the car look good, that I never spent the time I needed to, to get the information I needed from the car.  I kept making changes on feelings, and whims instead of good data.

            Once again, I was throwing money and time at this sport and was getting nothing but discouraged.  My fiancé was planning our wedding and spending money as well.  It boiled over on more than one occasion.  I was getting frustrated with the racing and trying to deal with her needing extra time from me.  It was getting further and further into the season, and I seemed to be getting further and further away from where I needed to be.

            My crew was starting to get unsettled as well.  I can’t say I blamed them, who would want to keep spending their weekends banging the heads against a wall.  I just kept throwing changes at the car, and at this point I was just hoping they would work.  I have a feeling that Chad Knaus (5 time NASCAR Champion crew chief) would be very disappointed in me.

             I needed something to get me back on track.  I needed someone who had some experience, someone who had been around the sport for a while, to guide me in what to do.  I also needed someone to help me out in planning a wedding- or at least help her plan a wedding.  I think at this point in my life I was to young to understand what was happening to me and how to effectively deal with it.  I was having less and less success with my racing, and it was taking a heavy toll on my relationship with fiancé.

            Thanks for stopping by this week and checking in with us.  I appreciate all of the support and all of the positive comments as well.  My email is justinonderko@verizon.net, drop me a line if you have any comments, either on the blog, or about racing in general.  I love all kinds of racing and would love to hear what you guys have to say about it.  Follow me @justinonderko on twitter, we will be hitting the track soon, so we will have lots of updates coming.   Justinonderko.com is also a place to catch up on us as well, don’t forget to check out our youtube account (accessible through our website) we will have some race footage up when we get back on track.  Don’t forget to check out my sponsors on this page as well, their help in very important to us.  Let them know we are worth partnering with this season.