September 27, 2009

Friday's All Star show at Lernerville Speedway saw 39 of western PA and Ohio's best sprint car drivers try for the 5000 dollar pay day. Carl timed 25th, as he was one of the last cars to make his qualifying run, putting him one postition short of making the invert. That lap time put him 7th in the 1st heat, and he ended up 6th, leaving him one spot shy of making the feature field. We started 6th in the B, with a strong run to 3rd behind Sam Hafertepe and Chris Andrews. Carl and the crew overtuned the car for the feature, and we ended up 22nd after the 30 lap main.

Saturday, The Bullet made his first trip of the season to Sharon. Carl started 4th in his heat, and ended up in third, putting him outside row two for the 25 lap feature. The Bowser Motorsports team wouldn't make the same mistake two nights in a row, as Carl was quick in the feature.

On lap four, leader Mike Kekich was collected by a car stuck in the turn 4 fence, as Carl was quickly running down he and second place starter Chris Shuttleworth, and had just claimed second, which was relegated by the caution. Carl wasted no time, advancing into the top spot by lap 6. The Bullet continued to lead, until coming off of turn 2 on lap 16, when Rod George passed Carl after slight contact. The two then went on to an epic battle for the lead after Carl caught Rod on lap 22. He dashed back to the lead off turn two on the final lap, but a soft brake pedal allowed Rod to beat the black #10 to the checkered.

Carl entered the final Friday at Lernerville 5th in points, but a poor finish in the feature dropped us to 6th in the final standings.

The next night, Carl entered the Western PA sprint championship at MRP, for $2000 to win. After starting 5th, Carl reeled in the leader to make a dramatic last lap pass through 3 & 4 to steal the victory. The win gave Carl his 3rd win of the 2009 season, and the 5th of his young career.

Friday the 25th of September saw the return of 410 sprints to Conneaut, Ohio's Raceway 7 after a six year hiatus, and Bowser Motorsports first trip to the 7/16 mile oval. Even though it was Carl's first time to the track, the car was fast right out of the trailer. In hot laps and his heat race, Carl was flirting with the 2003 track record set by Troy Preston on a heavy race surface. The track wasn't exactly tacky for our first visit, as there was a slight cushion on the top side of the track, with turns one and two slicking off by heat race time. Carl started 4th in his heat, and drove hard on the outside to take the lead going into 3 on the first lap. He quickly broke out to have over a straight away lead, while reeling off laps within 4 tenths of the track record. After his dominating heat win, Carl ended up with a 12 pill for the feature start. He moved forward at the drop of the green, but quickly began to fade on the super slick surface after losing his brakes around lap 5, ending our season with an 11th place finish.

August 29, 2009

After failing to make the pill redraw on Friday night on a rough, fast Lernerville track surface, Carl started 14th in the feature. With the feature going green straight through, Carl managed to make his way to 9th at the checkered on a narrow racing surface. This finish ended points racing for our season at Lernerville, leaving us 6th in the final CTT sprints points rundown.

With rain Saturday morning, Mercer Raceway Park didn't end up having a very forgiving surface either. The track was once again extremely fast, allowing Carl to advance from his 12th place starting spot, after last week's Bill Emig Mermorial Race win. A red flag on lap two for a flipping Chris Best didn't slow The Bullet down, as he ended up with a fourth place finish, as the last 18 laps went straight through.

August 24, 2009

For the second Friday in a row, Carl was pulled an 11 pill for the feature lineup, after running 2nd his heat, via a 5th place start. An early race incident this week did not allow the CBR #10 to continue as he was able to last week. Early in the race, Carl began to move forward from his 11th place starting spot, scored in 9th on lap 6. Coming through turns 3 & 4 on lap 7, Carl was attempting to advance to 6th when he got tapped in the left front wheel and was sent into the front stretch wall, knocking the front axle out of place, and breaking the w-link, ending our night. Friday's DNF, resulting in a 15th place finish, ended our streak of 9 straight top 10 finishes.

After making repairs to the race car Saturday morning, it didn't take long for Carl to redeem himself. Saturday afternoon, Bowser Motorsports towed to Mercer Raceway Park to run the Bill Emig Memorial. A few weeks back, during the first attempt to run the Emig Memorial, Carl won his heat in dominating fashion, which was negated by a rainout, but looked to duplicate that performance as Mercer attempteted to complete the event for the third time.

Carl started 5th in his heat, and managed to finish 2nd to Rod George when the race ended. This effort garnered him the pole position for the 25 lap main event. Carl beat outside polesitter Jason Dolick into the first corner and never looked back. There was an early restart after a lap 2 flip by Chris Best. The green stayed out until a lap 19 caution, but this didn't slow down the Boggsville Bullet. He used the 6 lap dash at the end of the race to finish with a half track lead. Carl nearly managed to lap up into the top 10, besting the 30 car field, and collecting the Bill Emig Memorial $1,500 paycheck for the second year in a row. He finished nearly six and a half seconds ahead of second place, giving Carl his 4th career 410 Sprint Car victory, and second of the 2009 season.

In his post race interview on the front stretch, Carl stated, “the new clay made the top so much better in (turns) one and two as you could really get around up there against the wall. All the crew guys did a really good job- I could put it anywhere I wanted really. You don’t want to climb out of a car when they are that good. The extra money helps pay the bills.”

The Bowser Motorsports #10 will be running this weekend at Lernerville Speedway, as the Bud Points race comes to a close. As points will end, Carl sits in 5th in points. With only 2 races left in the points championship at MRP, Carl is in third behind Rod George and Arnie Kent. We will wrap up the season with these points races, along with the All Star Sprint Series Race and World of Outlaws Commonwealth Clash at Lernerville.

August 17, 2009

After a fourth place run in heat race #2 on Friday at Lernerville, Carl was scheduled to start 11th in the CTT sprint car feature. However, a red flag on the initial start allowed Carl to line up 10th for the complete restart. The next green didn't last long, as the #10 and Todd Bauer got together on the front stretch, after Bauer made contact with Bob Felmlee. The black 10 and 45 were stuck together, causing the two to go out over turn 1, relegating Carl to the rear with no laps down.

Carl wasted no time once the green was back out, advancing back into the top 10 by lap 11. He then managed to get by Rod George and Kevin Shaffer in the closing laps, propelling his way into the top 5, and finishing a hard fought fifth at races end. This strong run from the back of the field makes the 3rd straight week of top 5 finishes at Lernerville Speedway.

Thanks to all the fans who signed our special wings and donated so generously for Thursday's Charity Race at Lake Erie Speedway. We collected nearly $500 dollars for Auto Racers For Kids Charities. Thanks again!

Bowser Motorsports would also like to offer our prayers and condolences to John, Michelle, and Taylor Flinner after the loss of their daughter and sister, Tanya.

August 10, 2009

The first rain-free Friday in two weeks allowed for an exciting night of racing at the Action Track. Lernerville's first sprint heat race had the black 10 starting last, and Carl wasted no time advancing from the back of the pack to finish 4th, in the final transfer spot to make the feature pill draw. This finish garnered us a sixth place starting spot for the feature.

Carl got the Bowser Motorsports Maxim rolling mid-race and made moves towards the leaders, getting up to third place with leaders Rod George and Ed Lynch out in front nearly a full straight away. Carl reeled in the 2L and the 4 with the laps winding down, and made a pass on Lynch coming out of turn four coming to the white flag, which only lasted into turn one, and went on to finish third with the top three finishing within nearly a second of each other, giving Carl consecutive 3rd place finishes at the Sarver oval.

Rain forced Mercer to cancel Saturday's races.

Thursday, August 20th we'll be going to Lake Erie Speedway for the Auto Racers For Kids charity asphalt race, and Bowser Motorsports needs your help to benefit the children's charity. We lettered a pair of new wings for this special race, and with your donation, you can put your signature on one of the wings, which we will run at Lake Erie. All of your donations will go straight to Auto Racers For Kids Charities. Please come sign the CBR #10 car this Tuesday (8/11) at the School Bus and Kid's Bike Races at Lernerville Speedway, or this Friday (8/14) at Lernerville. Thanks for your help!

August 1, 2009

Rain wins for the second night in a row. After Lernerville rained out Friday, yesterday Bowser Motorsports headed to Mercer Raceway Park to try for the $1,500 dollar payday at the Bill Emig Memorial race. As luck would have it, the rain cancelled the event after the sprint heat races were over.

Carl was scheduled to start 3rd in heat #3, but the outside polesitter 7b of John Beaber had problems, allowing the #10 to start shotgun. He wasted no time adjusting to the fresh batch of clay layed down on the track surface this week, taking off to a sizeable lead, and taking the checkered with nearly a half track between Carl and second place. No sooner did we pull off the scales when it began to rain. The feature will be made up before the end of August.

Next weekend, we'll be racing Lernerville and Mercer, and the following Thursday, August the 20th, we'll be tightening down the slicks in a return to Lake Erie Speedway for an ashpalt track event benefiting Racers for Kids.

July 26, 2009

The Silver Cup feature was ever so close to seeing the black and white #10 make the field. A mediocre qualifying time left Carl in a hole he tried to dig out of all night. He finished 9th in the first heat of the evening, relegating him to a starting spot up front in the C Main. Carl lead the C until being passed by Outlaw regular Sam Hafertepe mid-race, and went on to finish second, advancing him to the B Main, where he made it to the 11th position. Being 8th in points, Carl was one position shy of receiving the Lernerville provisional for the race.

After the struggles on Wednesday night at the Silver Cup, the CBR team worked hard Thursday to prepare the car for Friday night action at Lernerville, along with making a motor change to try to address the issues faced at the World of Outlaws race. The efforts paid off on Friday, as the Boggsville Bullet was looking for redemption at the Action Track. Carl didn't let the 6th place starting spot in his heat race slow him down, as he quickly made his way to a 3rd place finish, and after the redraw, was to start 5th in the feature. The slick surface was primed for Carl's fancy footwork as the sprints took to the speedway for the night's second feature. After eventual winner Ed Lynch Jr. passed Carl at the start of the race, The Bullet got into the groove and raced up to third place. A late race caution allowed Carl to challenge for the runner up spot, but eventually settled for a strong third place finish, behind Lynch and defending track champion Kevin Schaeffer. The finish pushed Carl from 8th to 5th in points.

The Bowser Motorsports team would like to congratulate Ed Lynch Jr. on his 100th career Lernerville sprint car feature win. Saturday, the threat of rain postponed the Bill Emig Memorial Race, so we'll see you at the track next Friday!

July 21, 2009

Last Friday at Lernerville, Carl fought a tight race car in the heat race, relegating the #10 Maxim to a 20th place starting spot in the feature. The track became fairly slick by the time the sprint car feature was pushed off, with very little cushion on either end of the track. With the track changing to the 10 team's liking, Carl moved forward in a hurry, able to advance to 8th place when the checkered waved.

Saturday at MRP, Carl took off with a strong heat race win in heat race 2. The winner of the first heat race drew Carl a 9 pill to start the feature. For the 3rd race in a row, Mercer's feature went green to checkered with no break in the action. Carl made his way to 7th in the main, and passed for 6th coming out of turn 4 on the final lap, however after a car spun in 4 on the final lap, Carl was put back to 7th in the final rundown, and the race ended under a checkered and yellow condition.

With Lernerville having rained out on the 17th, Carl will look to make the feature against the big boys of sprint car racing as the World of Outlaws come to Lernerville for the Don Martin Memorial Silver Cup tonight!

July 9, 2009

The 4th of July weekend saw the CBR 10 pick up a pair of top tens, including a 3rd at Mercer Raceway Park.

Friday at Lernerville featured a stout field of 27 sprint cars. Making the redraw through his heat, Carl started 3rd in the feature. Running 7th for most of the race, Bowser passed Andy McKisson on a lap 21 restart for 5th, while McKisson's right rear Hoosier was quickly deflating. Coming out of turn four to the white flag, Carl bobbled enough in the slick to allow Rod George and Kevin Schaffer to slip by, relegating the black and white #10 to a 7th place finish.

After starting on the pole Saturday, Carl ran second until giving up the spot on lap 9 to eventual winner Rod George, finishing with a strong 3rd over Arnie Kent and Danny Holtgraver. The season best podium finish at MRP pushed Carl to 3rd in points, with only 5 races to go at the Mercer oval.

This coming weekend we'll only be racing at Lernerville on Friday, as Mercer has no race scheduled for this week. See you at the track Friday!

June 18, 2009

After a tough start to the season, a motor change or two, and the assembly of our new 2009 Maxim Chassis, the fortunes of our team have begun to turn around. On the May 22nd, Carl picked up his first feature win of the season at Lernerville Speedway, his second career win at the Sarver oval, and first there since August 18th, 2006. Check out the onboard video from the night of our feature win, from StivasonPhotos.com, here http://www.vimeo.com/4811282. This season's first victory came early in the year, after last season's only win occured late in the season, September 5th at Mercer Raceway Park.

Since heading to Lernerville's victory lane, the Bowser Motorsports #10 has grabbed five top 10s, including a pair of top 5s.

We'd also like to take a chance to welcome our newest sponsor, Ithaca Gun Company, on board, as well as thanking our current sponsors for their continued support, including Terry Bowser Excavating, Shellhammer Atwood Nationwide Insurance Agency, Dlubak Fabrication, and Reesman Body Shop.