2008 RACING SEASON
RESULTS WILL BE POSTED AS THEY HAPPEN.
ENGLISH CREEK SPEEDWAY, KNOXVILLE IOWA
FRIDAY APRIL 11TH
PLAY DAY
GET YOUR CARS OUT, TUNED, DIALED IN, MEET NEW FACES, HAVE A GREAT TIME WITH THE RACING FAMILY !
*cancelled*
English Creek Speedway will open for practice, weather permitting, Wed and/or Thurs
*also cancelled*
still too wet ... Practice next week
FRIDAY APRIL 18TH
MONEY RACE
*cancelled*
rain and cold, try to practice mid week and race next week
SATURDAY APRIL 25
POINTS RACE
Schedule mess up, actually should read
FRIDAY APRIL 25
schedule has changed, now practice scheduled for today, and racing
* RAINED OUT*
SATURDAY APRIL 26
*RAINED OUT*
SATURDAY MAY 3RD
POINTS RACE
Windy and cold, but we haven't raced yet , so we go ahead and go. The high today will be in the mid 50's and the wind is COLD. Racing at Newton tonight, but we decide not to go, we are just going to English Creek.
We get to the tack early, Josh draws a pretty high number for his starting position, and we start last ( of 5 cars ) in the heat race. A few laps in, and Joshua comes to the 9 and the 5 racing away, and has a fair amount of trouble getting around them. They are really racing and driving well ! Finally, he finds a line around, and he winds up leading the race with Katelyn Smith running 2nd ! (these two kids are friends are race very well together) Joshua leads the rest of the laps, and wins the 1st heat race of 2008 !
Starting last in the heat race puts us starting 1st in the trophy dash. Joshua and the other 4 run a nice clean race, Joshua "The Rocket" Moffitt led flag to flag for the win.
The day's results put Katelyn Smith and Joshua in the front row together. The green flag fell and the racing was on ! Katelyn jumped ahead a little bit, and the two sorted out positions .... Joshua eventually jumped into the lead, and spread out the distance quite a little bit. There was also a great race forming behind with the 9 and the 3 cars. With 7 laps down of a 10 lap feature, Joshua came into lap traffic. Turns 1 and 2 presented him with the 3 car of Maggie Leavitt. He went to pass her high in turn 2, and the two cars got together. That sent Josh to the tail with just a green/ white/ checker to go. He was able to finish 3rd in the feature. A great finish, but still a disappointing finish to what was going to be a perfect day's score.
Katelyn Smith went on for the win.
YAYYYYYY JOSHUA !
click here to see video from today's action
today's results
NEWTON
Next, we decided after all to go to Newton. The track was VERY VERY wet, about one lane of racing was smoothed. 4 cars there, Katelyn Smith that won earlier, Joshua, Maggie Leavitt that we came together with in the feature, and a new driver we hadn't met yet in the 11 car. That driver was Nathan Tremel. Good driver, looked good in the kart, especially considering how new he is to the sport.
We started last in the 1st heat, and had some trouble getting around the 11, he was racing away, going very wide out of 2, and we would just about get past him, and there he was, with just one lane to race in, things change.
We started in front on the 2nd heat. on the inside of Katelyn Smith. She got the lead at the start, and we finished 2nd to her.
I wanted to change my gear, but I couldn't. Too much mud in the motor mount bolts. We started 2nd behind Smith, and chased her the entire race. The 2 were bumper to bumper the WHOLE time. Josh would tap her bumper to let her know he was there, but even though the usable track had widened, he just dint have enough to get around her. This was easily one of the best races I have seen in a long time, lots of fast, clean racing by 2 kids age 8 and 9. VERY impressive. These two cars and drivers proved to be very near equals on this day.
finish was Smith, Moffitt, Tremel, Leavitt
FRIDAY MAY 9
POINT RACE
Another GREAT night of racing. We arrived at the track ready to go with very little time left to prepare. We had been short a couple people at work and were unable to slip away early. But we had plenty of time. We went out for Hot Laps, and the car and driver looked pretty good. We decided to leave it alone, as the track was still wet and really couldn't tell a lot. But the car was running and working good.
1st heat found us starting in the middle of the pack. This is decided by a number draw at sign in. The start of the trophy dash is an inversion of this start, so I personally kind of like starting in the middle. You aren't in the front for either start, but more importantly to me, you aren't starting on the tail of either race. The start of the feature is determined by the finishing position of these two events.
There were 7 cars and drivers present in our class tonight. We ran a clean 1st heat, and eventually Katelyn Smith in the 5 car and Joshua in the 53 car were allowed to compete, with Joshua winning and Katelyn finishing 2nd.
The trophy Dash found us starting in the middle, and the 5 car, which had started in front in the 1st heat, on the tail. Were able to obtain an early lead and stayed in front until the checkered flag, winning the trophy dash. We were scheduled to be in the infield for the trophy dash presentation, as it wasn't done the week before and we had won it, but since we won today, one presentation worked for both weeks.
We started in the front for the feature, and ran a pretty good race. Joshua spun out in turns 3 and 4 fairly early on, and was sent to the tail. He worked his way through traffic, and finished 2nd. He was closing on 1st, but simply ran out if time. This race will be posted on You Tube.
today's results
FRIDAY MAY 16
POINTS RACE
1st heat: During hot laps we decided that we were fairly close on setup and gear, so we left that alone for the start of the heat races. During Hot Laps, there is some extra moisture in the track, and it isn't really a true indicator of what the track will do after there has been some traffic on it. We started in the front 1/2 for the 1st heat, and after several laps of REALLY good racing, we were the 1st to the checkered flag. During the heat race, the car seemed a little "loose" and the cylinder head temp on the engine never really came up, so we made a couple adjustments based loosely on that information and went out for the Trophy dash.
Trophy dash, we started in the back 1/2, the 5 car of Katelyn Smith started in the front. We found our way to the front, but were unable to overtake the 5 car. We finished 2nd to them.
The feature started us in the front next to the 5 car of Katelyn Smith. A few laps in, Katelyn was passing Joshua, Josh got a little loose, and Katelyn got into the back of our car, causing her to spin. That sent her to the tail of an 8 car field. As she made her way through the field, Joshua maintained his lead, and there were a few other cautions. Prior to the start of the features, there was an announcement that it was getting late and each feature would be limited to 1 minute per lap, meaning that if your feature is 12 laps, as ours was, at the 12 minute mark the feature would be waved off and the cars would finish in the position they were in at the 12 minute mark. At the end of 12 minutes, we were lining up on the back straight after a caution flag. By the TRACK'S RULES for the night, at this point, we won the feature. NOT SO QUICK, though. They determined instead of following that procedure, they would go ahead and run us a green/white/checkered finish. That means, they would throw the green flag, the next lap by would be the white flag, then they would come to the checkered flag. The 5 car was very close to us on the restart, actually pushing Josh a little bit. Josh was able to obtain and maintain a bit of a lead, but she was coming after him. It was clear that on this night, she had the slight performance advantage. These two are VERY competitive, and its usually very close between them. Josh held onto the lead, then in turn 4, coming for the checkered flag, the two were dicing for position, and Katelyn bumped Josh a little, the 2 slid a little, and they squared off for a drag race to the finish. Katelyn got there 1st, by less than 1/2 a car length. This was a VERY good race. I feel like it may have been a little unfair having Joshua have to work for something that was already his, but it was a nail biting, white knuckle finish !
Joshua finished 2nd, again just outside that elusive feature win. It's coming, though, and coming soon ... we are SOOOOO very close !
At the completion of the races, the top 3 cars go to a Technical Inspection Impound, where, at random, a part on the car may be checked for legality. Tonight our Restrictor plate was inspected, and deemed to be legal. It was kind of a neat experience. I don't want to do it every week, though
results
SATURDAY JUNE 7TH
POINTS RACE
We had some problems getting TO the track this week. We are, as a city, or more appropriately, a state, experiencing some severe flooding. Having moved recently to a smaller house, we have a lot of stuff stored in our basement. The basement took on some water, destroying quite a bit of stuff. We decided to go racing and have some fun.
We took off with plenty of time to spare, and got about 10 miles into a 50 mile trip when the trailer was making some noise. I thought a wheel bearing had given up, but got out and found that the right fender had became displaced and stopped the tire from turning. I moved the fender and resumed our trip. about 20 more miles, and it happened again, only this time it caused the tire to skid and blow out. I didn't have a spare, so we drove to the next town, about 7 miles on the shoulder with the flashers on at about 10 mph. We arrived at a Casey's store in Pleasantville, and asked where to buy a tire. I was instructed to "find Lonnie" ... as luck would have it, I KNOW Lonnie. So I know how to find him. He owns the auto parts store in sleepy Pleasantville. He didn't have a tire, and told me that it was unlikely I would find one. I had dropped my trailer back at the Casey's General Store, so I drove about 15 miles to Knoxville to find a tire. WalMart in Knoxville doesn't have trailer tires, but there was a farm supply store across the street, so I went there. They had the tire, but it was more than double what I had paid for one at Menard's back home. So I bought a smaller one. My thoughts were, I could buy another smaller one back home and use my tall one for a spare. I went back to Casey's and replaced the tire. I also removed the fender so that wouldn't happen again.
I arrived at the track about 1/2 hour prior to the scheduled start of racing. With all the moisture, they were a little behind working the track, so it all worked out well.
Joshua had drawn a pretty high number for the start of the 1st heat, so he started at the tail of an 8 car field. Our strongest competitor, Katelyn Smith, stated at the front. At the end of a 6 lap heat race, Joshua had worked his way to 2nd and was working on Katelyn for the lead. The race ended with Smith in 1st, and Moffitt in 2nd. a GREAT race.
The trophy dash is started in exactly the opposite order of the 1st heat race, so Joshua started on the front and Katelyn at the rear. Joshua led the entire race, finishing 1st,and Katelyn finished deeper in the pack, 6th. The 25A car belonging to Alexis Mills was being driven by the always strong Kelby Watt, and he finished 2nd to Joshua.
That lined Katelyn and Joshua up on the front row for the feature. Katelyn led flag to flag, finishing 1st, being challenged occasionally the Joshua "the rocket" Moffitt. A couple times, it looked like josh got the lead in the corners, but the 5 car was getting a great run from higher in the turns, and was able to regain the lead each time. ANOTHER GREAT RACE !!!!!! These two really are fun to watch.
When it all shook down, Joshua had closed the points gap for the season by 2, to just an 8 point margin. This is a VERY close points race, MUCH closer than any other points battle at the track. This should be fun to watch as the season progresses. We hope we can keep this chase alive. stay tuned.
RESULTS
FRIDAY THE 13TH OF JUNE
POINTS RACE
Joshua couldn't race today. English Crek Speedway allows 2 times a year to use a substitute driver. We were only 8 points out of the lead spot, 461 to our 453. So I decided to track down a driver that would fit the car. We found Logan Gunderson from near Marshalltown Ia. Logan races a Jr1 Animal (OHV Briggs and Stratton) at NEwton Iowa, and was about the right size for us.
Logan hadn't ever driven one of these before,but he adapted quickly. The clutch on our car is set up differentlythan most. It is set for VERY rapid engagement. Most clutches are set up for a gradual lockup, so, much like the car you drive to work, it provides a smooth takeoff. Our does not. The engine gets to my preselected RPM, and the clutch goes from not moving at all to 100% locked up within about 100 engine RPM. Josh works well with this, but to someone unfamiliar with it, it is hard to not bump the car ahead of you. Logan hung back quite a bit to stay out of the car ahead of him on the starts. That is understandable. Once underway, He drove like Josh, running the low side a lot, coming don the back chute about mid-track, must be where the car likes to run.
Logan made an impessive run, and collected us some points we wouldnt have gotten otherwise, maintaning our 2 place points standing, but we finished a little farther back than we do with josh, so the amount of points spread changed considerably.
results
SATURDAY JUNE 21ST
POINTS RACE
track was VERY dry slick. Lots of incidents, spin outs and accidents. We ran a heat, the Trophy Dashes were cancelled, and the features were started. Josh spn befor 1 lap was completed, and within 2 laps was leading the feature when teh decision was made to cancel the races for safety reasons. The feature will be added on to another program, and run DOUBLE features on 6/27/08
features were run 7/11/08 and the results of the night are as follows:
RESULTS
6/27/08
rained out. Schedule conficts for the 4th of July weekend make the make up date move to July 11/2008
FRIDAY JULY 11TH POINTS RACE SPONSORED BY PELLA CORP DOUBLE FEATURE NIGHT !!!! tonight we made up the feature from 6/21/08 and ran the weekly show. By the good grace of the track owner, Dan Ebright and his team, our pit passes were good from the original event. That saved u some money, a much needed boost ... racing is expensive, so it helps to get a lil break once in awhile. The make up feature was the 1st to run. Track was a little dry slick. We ran in 3rd position several laps, eventually passingthe 9 car of Clinton Van Helton. The 21 car of Devin Wignal hot on our tail.The 5 car of katelyn Smith and the 9 car of Clinton VanHelton were involved in an incident, leaving Josh and Devin to move to 1st and 2nd. Joshua did a fine job of holding off a hard charging Katelyn Smith for his 1st feature win in the Outlaw Karts. Wignal was 2nd, Smith 3rd. The 1st heat found Katelyn Smith moved to the front row to start, with Joshua at the tail. The 5j car had decided to start at the tail, opening up the # 2 spot, and the 25 car couldnt make the start, opening up the #4 spot. That moved the car from the #6 spot to the # 2 spot ??? why didnt 3rd start position move to 2nd, 5th to 3rd, 6th to 4th ?? Oh well. It didnt work that way. Also if the parents of the 5j car want him to start in the back, why isnt the grid sheet already taking that into consideration isnstead of making changes on the grid ?? Anyway, Josh finished a VERY close 2nd to Katelyn Smith. We had made a couple changes that seemed to be working. Trophy dash .. again, Katelyn Smith starts in the front row ?!?!?, with Josh on the pole. A VERY good race all teh way through, with a very close 1-2 finish, smith followed by Moffitt. Pella Corp Feature Smith on the pole, Moffitt on th outisde. These 2 had a real fast, clean race going. Moffitt could get a little advantage in the corners. down the chutes Smith could get a little back. If there was no incident, this race belonged to either of them, You could have put an EZ up over both of them at any point during the race. In turns 1 &2, around the 10th lap or so, they went in hard and fast, Joshua Low, Katelyn high, and came up on a lap car, the 5j of Scott "Swooper" Johnson. Josh went Low around Swooper, and Katelyn went high. Josh came out of the corner with the advantage, something like 2 laps to go ( or so) and the race was back on. Turn 4, last lap, a little contact from the 5 car of Smith, both made it through with out losing a position or spinning out, nd they drag raced to the finish Moffitt 1st, Smith 2nd 1st FEATURE WIN IN OUTLAW KARTS AND THERE WERE TWO IN ONE NIGHT ! CONGRATULATIONS JOSHUA !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (video temporarily removed ... link to YOUTUBE willbe added) video of the double feature wins 7-11-08 ! RESULTS FRIDAY JULY 18TH POINTS RACE *rained out* rescheduled for 7/25/08 FRIDAY JULY 25TH POINTS RACE rained out .... some areas in southern Iowa got up to NINE INCHES of rain in a 24 hour period. the track has standing water, and we simply cannot race. The races have been rescheduled for Wednesday, July 30, 2008, as a kick-off to SpeedWeek. SpeedWeek is 11 days straight ( now 12) of the best Open Wheel Racing in the USA. It is an honor to be a part of this incredible experience. IOWA SPEED WEEK IS: Wednesday July 30, 2008 ... Outlaw Dirt Karts at English Creek Speedway, Knoxville Iowa RESULTS Thusday July 31 and Friday August 1, 2008 ... 18th Annual Vermeer Knoxville 360 Nationals preliminary ASCS sanctioned Saturday, Aug 2, 2008 ... Knoxville Championship Cup Series 410 Sprint cars Sponsored by Casey's General Stores. Saturday Aug 2, 2008 ( also) ... 18th Annual Vermer Knoxville 360 Nationals finale' ... $10,000 to win Ascs sanctioned show Sunday Aug 3, 2008 ... 10th Annual Brodix Tournament of Champions $5000.00 to win at the Knoxville Raceway Monday, August 4, 2008 Oskaloosa Iowa ... 13th Annual Musco Lighting Front Row Challenge ... 410 Sprint Cars. $5000.00 to win, $50,000.00 to win from back. Tuesday, Aug 5, 2008 ... Oskaloosa Iowa ... 7th AnnualSearsboro Telephone Ultimate Challenge ... $30,000 to win 410 non-winged Sprint Cars Wed Aug 6-Friday Aug 8, 2008 (daytime) ... English Creek Speedway ... Knoxville Iowa ... Outlaw Dirt Kart Nationals RESULTS Wed Aug 6- Saturday Aug 9, 2008 ... 48th ANNUAL SUPER CLEAN KNOXVILLE 410 NATIONALS $ 150,000.00 TO WIN !!!!!!!! august 9th going to LASOSKI SPEEDWAY ! Joshnson County Fairgrounds, in Warrensburg Mo. they will be racing Outlaws and POWER WHEELS !!!!!!!! maybe Josh's youngest brother can get in on the action. AND, I hear this track is
FAST FAST FAST !
see you there
FRIDAY AUG 22ND
POINTS RACE
SATURDAY NIGHT AUGUST 29TH
POINTS RACE
SATURDAY NIGHT SEPT. 13TH
POINTS RACE
3RD ANNUAL ARLO GOFF MEMORIAL
"SPECIAL"
Sunday, Sept 14th
LUCAS OIL SPEEDWAY, WHEATLAND MO.
this promises to be a HUGE show that we just CANT miss !
( But we have to convince mommy that Josh can have the day off school Monday)
SATURDAY NIGHT SEPT 20TH
MONEY RACE, POSSIBLE POINTS MAKE UP RACE
SATURDAY NIGHT SEPT 27TH
POINTS RACE