Archived News: 2006 to early 2007

February 17 & 18th
Today was the last race of the 06/07 indoor series. Tensions were high, there was almost a fight in the pits. None of our crew of course. It was crazy. There were many rolled up black flags, even in the pee wee's. We went into the night 4th in points. Bartman's qualifying time was 10.7, one of his best times. He finished his heat in 4th place. Luckily he qualified well enough to go straight to the A main. They did a 6 car invert so he started on the pole. That's were he stayed. Even with other karts jumping the start he held his line. It was a real nail biter for his friends, family and crew. We are so proud of him. Ryan Petty from Petty Racing Inc along with his wife made an appearance at the races to meet some of the drivers and watch them race. Barty's 2nd feature win was a perfect end to a challenging season. Then it was off to the hotel for a good nights sleep so we can have some fun tomorrow.

Today's race is just a play day (no points). After qualifying was the awards presentation. Bartman finished 2nd for the series. The Medford kids did a fantastic job. In the 5hp class, Johnny #21 took 2nd, Jordan #89 3rd. In the 125cc class Marissa # 93 took 3rd and Parker #15 took 2nd. Kristen 16K in 5hp class has shown great improvement. Watch out boys Adam (the promoter) said all the pee wee's can remove their restrictor plates. That was great. When you go from a blue restrictor to no restrictor those little karts move. Bartman is just getting used to driving a shorty. Remember this is only his 2nd week in this kart. New kart plus no plate made for a pretty fast kart to handle. He did a great job. He finished 3rd in his heat. His car is real loose. His pit crew is still learning as well. Wish they learned as quick as Barty. There was only 1 main with all 10 karts. Barty started 3rd row inside and finished 5th. His best buddy Jeffrey #88 (Lightning) has dedication that is to be admired. He was out there racing with the flu. We have enjoyed spending our Saturday nights will all of our friends at the track. We are planning on racing at the Nationals in Red Bluff on March 16-18th. Remember the outdoor series at southern Oregon speedway starts on April 20 with a play day. Hope to see you there.

February 10th
Tonight was Barty's first race with his new Kart. His crew spent all week getting it ready. The set up needs some work but he did alright for his first time driving it. He went from a regular chassis to a Shorty. It's a lot small and a lot lighter. He spun out qualifying so that put him in the B main. We were all proud of him for his first place finish in his heat race. He got tangled up with another driver and tore up his hood. The Bartman wasn't happy about that. The B main was a good clean race. He finished 2nd, that transferred him to the A. The A main was a lot of bumping and banging. Barty got hit again and spun out. He finished 7th out of 8. He is currently 4th in points. This series has been challenging to say the least. Not wanting to be negative I will just say, there has been a lot of question about how legal the pee wee's are. Every week someone has questioned whether a kart had the right restrictor plate or if they are running alcohol or additives.. The promoter said additives and alcohol were not allowed. Yet drivers do it anyway without consequence. There was concern by some of the parents at the beginning of the series about aggressive driving in the pee wee's. As the series has progressed it got worse. There have been 4 drivers DQ'd for being illegal. Is that really what we want to teach our kids. Dirty driving and cheating is not an option for us. We just keep it in perspective. Barty needs the seat time. There is only one more points race left next Saturday. We will finish the season and that will be it for us and the River Arena. If we go back it will be in the open 5hp class. We will not run another pee wee series up there. Good Job to Jeffrey #88 aka Lightning for winning the Trophy Dash. We are so proud of you. We are looking forward to the summer series getting underway in April. Hope all of you can make it to the races.

January 13th
Tonight proved to be one of Bartman's best.. He qualified in the 10's. His time improved considerably from past races. He started in the front row inside in his heat. He lead the entire race and took first. That was pretty exciting. We weren't sure where he was going to start in the main event but we got lucky and started front row inside again. He led the first part of the race with 4D right on his bumper. 4D got by him and led for about 5 laps. Barty was able to regain his position. We celebrated the Bartman's first main event win in Roseburg. It was nice getting to visit with our friends. We were all huddled around the heaters. It was a very cold night. The season is almost over so try to get out there and watch these kids. They are amazing.

January 6th, 2007
The first race of 2007 and oh what a night it was. Barty qualified in the low 11's as usual. He really needs to be in the mid 10's but we are working on it. I guess he just likes having someone to pass. Racing around the track by himself is no fun. He took 2nd in his heat race after some discussion. The rules state pee wee's don't race to the yellow, they maintain the position they had when the yellow flag is thrown. Well, there was a yellow with 2 laps left in the heat and Barty was second. They lined him up in 3rd behind a car that passed him after the yellow. So, he finished 3rd, but they gave him his spot back after a protest from his crew. It kind of makes us wonder how many other times that has happened and nobody noticed. He sure is doing better in those corners. He did equally as well in his B main and transferred to the A. This is where it gets exciting. Bartman had a rough time in the main. He was tired and had to restart after some karts started to pile up. I think all the kids were tired. It had been a long night. Bartman took 5th . However, due to the amount of illegal restrictor plates they've had this season they teched the top 3 finishers and 2 were Disqualified. That gave the B-Man a 3rd place finish. Congratulations to Johnny #21 in the open 5hp for his clean sweep. First in his heat, trophy dash and main event. Way to go !!!!

Let us know what you think. The promoter is allowing an 11 yr old to race with the pee wee's (6-8 yrs) because they have never raced karts before. With a 2nd and 3rd place finish out of 3 races we think they can move to the appropriate class. We feel that kids should race in the class their age requires. Isn't that why they have age restrictions? Leave your feedback on the message board. We are interested to hear your opinions.

December 16th, 2006
We are halfway through the season. It was exceptionally cold out last night, but some of those Medford kids were hot!!!

Barty qualified 5th. He ran 11.1 sec lap. It was an improvement of the past weeks. There weren't as many karts in the pee wee's, probably due to weather. We finally got a rule book, which should make the last half of the season pretty interesting. It has pretty much been a free for all to this point. The night went pretty smooth. Barty finished 3rd in his heat. In the A main he led for several laps, but a caution put his Buddy Jeffrey #88 right on his bumper and again in a drag race he got by us. Barty finished 4th as he got past the flag stand. So close and yet so far.

Congratulations to Jeffrey for his first main event win. GOOD JOB LIGHTNING!!!!!. In the 5hp class, #21 Johnny could not have had a better night, clean sweep. He took 1st in the trophy dash, 1st in the heat and 1st in the main event. Way to go Johnny!!!!! As always we enjoyed seeing all of our friends. Look for some video of tonight's race. It should be available soon. We wish all of you a very merry Christmas and the happiest of New Year's.

See you in January.

December 2nd, 2006
There were 13 karts racing in the Pee Wee's. A lot of new kids on the track. It is always nice to see more kids getting into this great sport. We had a rough start with a 9th place qualifying time. Remember I said that qualifying is everything in Roseburg? Well, 9th in qualifying is not a good thing. In Bartman's heat race he was lapping the field and BAM broke a tie rod. His great crew with help of friends and extra parts got his Kart ready for the "B" main. He drove hard and took a first in the "B" and transferred to the A. Things were starting to look up for the Bartman. He started in the back and with some good driving and quick maneuvering to avoid a few wrecks he made it up to the 4th position.

In the last lap Bartman and his buddy Jeffrey #88 (aka lighting McQueen) were in a drag racing down the back stretch but Jeffrey squeezed by us in turn 3 and 4. Bartman finished 5th overall. It was an exciting race. In the open 5hp, #16k, Kristen started in the back of the "B" main and by some slick driving she finished first and transferred to the "A" main! Way to go Kristen!! #21 Johnny took 1st in his heat and 3rd in his main event - way to go!!! In the 125cc class, congrats to #93 Marissa, for some great driving - she took 3rd in her main!!!

Once again all the Medford kids did awesome!!! Remember our next race is December 16th, see you there!!!

November 11th, 2006
Well, Nov 11th did not prove to be a good night for The Bartman. We ran a new motor and the set up was all wrong. We tried a few different things that obviously didn't work. He did take 2nd in his heat and it was downhill from there. For the first time in Barty's career he had to run in a "B" main and didn't make the "A". Needless to say the Bartman was not a happy kid. We just have to keep it in perspective, it is seat time. There are a lot more races to come. Winning isn't everything but getting beat as bad as we did really sucks. We did learn one thing, qualifying is everything in Roseburg.

On a better note his buddy Johnny #21 in the intermediate class took first in his heat and first in his main. Boy can that kid race. Great job to Kristin 16k for giving those boys a run for their money. She led the heat until her buddy Kalvin #18 passed her with only a couple of laps to go, she finished 2nd. Congrats to Kalvin and Kristen. Way to go! It was a pretty good night for the Medford kids. As always we had a great time and enjoyed seeing all of our friends. We are looking forward to Dec 2nd. See you at the races.

Hope all of you have a safe and Happy Thanksgiving!