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 4th 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.
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