May 27, 2010

It was a great weekend again!  However, it was a disappointment that Kil-Kare was rained out Friday night.  It was to be the bus races at Kil-Kare which are rescheduled for this weekend and we really wanted to try the new gas from Estes Oil in Franklin. 


            Saturday we went to Pisanello’s for pizza and headed to the shop around 1 p.m.   We got to Motorcar Auto Body just in time to help get the car loaded.  Gary and some of the guys had already been working on the car since 9 a.m. We are trying different racing fuels from Estes Oil.  We are also trying different staggers to try to get the Koehlke GreenPro Landscaping #4 faster.   We got a new 12 volt battery this week with 1300 cranking amps. Ok I’m not sure what that means either but it more then the diesel truck we use to pull the trailer so starting the car should be easier. 


            At Columbus, we unloaded the Rebel 105.9 car and went out for the first practice.  It had been raining and the track was still green.  They also have a weep hold in the track in turn four where ground water can seep onto the track.  They were trying to get it dried up.  Our second practice, we found that we needed to make some chassis adjustments because our tire temp was off.  By the third practice, we were right in line with most of the other cars.  Just my luck, we drew 4 and was to be the first to qualify.  I qualified at a 13.44 which was third fastest. In the dash race on was on the outside pole and as I described earlier there was a wet spot on the track on the outside of turn four.  I was unable to get on the gas as hard as I like to come to the green flag.  I ended up finishing the dash race in third.


            It was privilege to go over to the fan section to sign autographs before the intermission.  It was exciting to meet all my supports and answer questions.  I had a great time greeting each one of them. The look on the girl face as she skipped off says it all.


            In the feature, I started in the outside of row four in eighth In the Green Pro landscaping Koehlke components NASCAR Whelen LM .  Just like playing checkers, you need to know what the other players could do.  The guy leading my row was not great on the outside and was having problems with his car earlier.  As I quested it I got pushed back to the tenth position it should have been ninth but a guy came in to my line and I choose to let him in because it was early in the race, I did leave the door open a little so it was somewhat my faulty.  Unfortunately he hit me and we going to have to do some bodywork and paint. ( no Mirrors or radios in these cars) I had to wait for the right time to start passing.  The opportunity to start passing came late in the race.   I quickly moved up to the fifth position in just a few laps to go. 


            We have been doing a poll on Facebook with our new t-shirt designs.  We hope to have a few of them available soon for purchase.  We hope also have some exciting things to announce next week so be sure to tune in! 


            We are still hoping to get a tire sponsor so we can do some more testing.  Dad is meeting with some people at Sport clips and we still waiting to hear from some others.  I still need an anchor sponsor to finish out the year.  Have a great week!  Sloan and crew!!  Follow me at http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#!/pages/Sloan-Henderson-Motorsports/122508936584?ref=ts   and sloan-henderson on twitter for race day updates

May 24, 2010

Qualifying Queen Sloan set fast time again

The weather was perfect Friday night. I was so excited about getting out on the track after so many rain cancelations. It was demolition trailer race night at Kil-Kare so there would be no heat race. We would only be qualifying and then the feature race. I was really happy with the Rebel 105.9 NASCAR Whelen Koehlke GreenPro #4. I went out and got fast time again! Kil-Kare inversion was a 7 so I started on the inside of the 4th row just behind Gary Estes in the Bond Machine Weiler Welding car. I was going to have to try to get to the outside row as soon as possible hopefully between the Oakley asphalt car and the Estes oil car if I had a chance to get to the front. This was going to be tough with no mirror or radios.

We did our two warm-up laps in the Rebel 105.9 Late Model and I thought something was wrong with my car. The green flag dropped and my rear end was hopping. My rear axle cap broke. In order to explain that in a little more in detail, the engine spins on a drive shaft through a Bert clutchless transmission. It then goes to the rear end where the spinning action is split between the two axles by a ring and pinion gears. Next, the 600 plus hp is delivered to the hubs by the axle. The point where the power is transferred to the hubs is where the axle caps is located. The axle caps are a small piece on aluminum that would fit in to your hand and weight around one pound. We check these regularly but stuff happens. I was done for the night. I was not a happy but those things happen in racing. My crew does a great job each week and it’s very frustrating for them and me when equipment fails. We were also grateful it was not as more expensive problem.

I would like to thank Classic Style Barber Service and Chips and Clips Lawn Services for becoming one of my new sponsors this week. Hunter Water Conditioning and Cox’s Service Station and Repair are considering being a local supporter. We are also still working with some local Chevy dealers and hope to fill our short fall in the co- anchor partnerships for this season. We are truly blessed by Green Pro Landscaping, Koehlke Components, The Rebel 105.9, Dempster Tire in Middletown, Estes Oil, First Command Financial, Line-X on Conover Drive, Miracle Welding, Shannon McGuire at Salon 122 in Hunter, Springboro Hardware, Larry and the crew at National Coating Systems Inc on Shotwell Drive, and Dayton Christian Schools. I have to also thank Miller printing and all of you for buying the paper. Dad gets so stressed out about the other sponsor we need but I know God will provide just like in the past.

Saturday, I got up and checked the weather. It looked like it was going to stop raining at Columbus long enough to sign in. We talked to Gary and headed to the Motorcar Shop in Spring Valley. We then got the call that Columbus was cancelled due to the pending rain. If I could make money on betting on the weather, I would be betting on rain on Friday and Saturday! Nothing can take away the bummed out mood like a pizza so I called Mom and Chase. We met at Pisenello’s for a great pizza. We got to meet some fans that were eating there. I would rather be racing but it ended up being a great. Sloan and Crew

Thanks, Steve
Sloan Henderson Motorsports, LLC
"Today Is Tomorrow's History"
www.sloanhenderson.com
Phil 4:13
937-533-6271

I realize we are short on rainfall for our area but does it have to always rain on Friday?  Once again, scattered showers came to town on Friday night!  Kil-Kare officials decided to brave the weather and try to get a race in.  It looked promising when we first arrived.  It looked like the rain was going to hold off.  We were able to get our practice in.  We then had our driver’s meeting-more on that later in the article.  We finally lined up to qualify.  A few cars qualified and then came the rain.  It was just enough rain to cause the track to be slick.  It finally stopped and they dried out the track.  At last, I got to qualify.  The track was very green.  However, the NASCAR Whelen GreenPro #4 was just fantastic!  I got fast time 14.51!!    And you guessed it!  The rain came, again!!  Kil-Kare officials called it a night.

                At the driver’s meeting at Kil-Kare, the track officials announced that Impact Racing Appareal had been declared below standards for SSA.  SSA tests all the racing suits etc. to meet safety standards.  Every piece of my equipment is Impact-my helmet, race suit, gloves-everything!  They told us that they highly suggested we replace all that equipment.  We have decided to just wait a little while to see if more information comes out concerning the safety of my equipment. If there someone that would want to help pay for it or part of it, the cost is around $1400.

                Saturday I got up and went to check the weather.  If it was 100% chance of rain, I was planning on going to the JS (prom at Dayton Christian) then have some friends over for a bonfire and cookout.  But it looked like I was going to get to race, I was excited because we were so fast Friday night at Kil- Kare.  We unloaded the GreenPro Landscaping late and it was good right out of the box.  To help clear up some confusion from last week, the first practice is about learning the track.   Just like the NASCAR teams, you can bring your best to the track just to find out the track conditions changed.  It is no different for us.  This process is called getting “dialed in” and that is what Gary is great at. 

                Practice went well at Columbus.   We fueled the car up with racing fuel from Estes Oil in Franklin.  We set out to qualify.  I was hoping to get the fast time again but could do it.   We did qualify in the top 4.   The top 4  put me on the pole.   I would like to thank Link Burgess, he calculated that I would start on the outside of row two after the seven car inversion.  Link is a World War II veteran and is 87 years old and so smart.   He has been on several championship teams over his 45 plus year in racing!   I went to Dad who writes down the lap times of my competitors so I can figure out how the start of the feature MAY be. Tonight it was perfect.    The outside pole car most likely would get around the pole car.  It would give me the opportunity to go for the lead early in the race.   I could then save my tires.  The rain came and it got called. 

                 We do not talk much about business but I still need an anchor partner.  I need two more co-sponsors if I’m going to have the resources to make NATIONAL NASCAR Whelen history this year. We know with God all things are possible but even David had three stones in his pouch when he went to do the impossible.

Thanks Sloan and Crew