Hello Crew!

Just wanted to let everyone know that I am in the process of trying to find out why Nick hasn’t been in the NCTS or the NNS races as of late and see if there is any way to express our displeasure about that. While waiting for an email reply, I did find this information and thought it might be of interest. It looks like a funding issue – when I find anything out, I’ll post it. Hope to see Nick racing again SOON!

Camping World RV Service 300
August 30, 2008 – Derrike finished the race in 30th position. Camping World RV Service 300

Food City 250 Update
August 24, 2008 – Derrike finished the race in 39th position. Food City 250

Derrike updated us with the results from the weekend. He said, "This past weekend went fairly well. I am very excited and optimistic about our operation. We have been working very hard on every aspect including our engine program which seems to be moving in the right direction despite not having any sponsorship to aid in the process. Kevin Lepage is a very talented race car driver and is a very integral part of the success also. Rick and Del Markle are really making it all come together. We had an old friend and past crew chief helping out this past weekend also, Barry Dodson.

“We practiced very well with the #73 car, 12th fastest overall and qualified 13th. The car was a bit tight and we really need a taller gear and we believe we could have qualified better! As for the #78 car with Nick Tucker driving, we were still working the bugs out of the chassis during practice and he had only used tires on before qualifying. This was the first time the car had been on the track and we thought it would have a good chance of making the event, but Nick spun out qualifying and hit the wall. Nonetheless it was a good effort and we know that car has a lot of potential as well. It is an obvious setback for us because we will not be able to take it to California but hopefully we will have it ready for Dover.

“As for myself, you are probably wondering why I am not driving my own car? Well, I have made a commitment to Jay Robinson to drive his car and I do not want to go back on my word. I also know that owning my own team and driving for it sometimes means you do not always pay yourself if the team needs something. But we all have to pay the bills to keep going! We want to build this team up this year and properly prepare for the future and that means having backup cars in case we have a problem like this past weekend.

“This past weekend I only got one or two laps of practice in the #4 car which really put me at a disadvantage. I qualified on the #49 car’s tires that he practiced on in both practice sessions. We were not very good in the couple of laps I ran and they changed a number of things before qualifying with no practice to sort things out. The car was very loose in qualifying, so I just was very careful since the car was locked into the field with a guaranteed starting spot.

“All the cars were going to be starting and parking because of the lack of funding. We continue to search for sponsorship and some relationships that will eventually allow us to actually run the races. But for the time being, this is allowing us to showcase our potential as a race team against the larger and fully funded operations. We are averaging a 22nd place starting spot with the #73 car in the four races that it has attempted. I would say that is pretty good for no sponsorship and a small team!

“We will be off to California next with the #73 car and Kevin Lepage, and I will be back in the #4 car for Jay Robinson Racing. I will keep you updated on our progress.”