2025 was a year to remember, but not really for any good reasons. A year that began with so much hope and promise, quickly turned into a year marked with personal tragedies and struggles away from the track that really changed the plans that we had for the season. We began with the plan of running weekly at Lebanon Valley. That immediately took a hit when the track suddenly moved their opening day to Sunday only a few days before the race was scheduled, and made it a point race to boot. We had planned a family trip to Pennsylvania that day, so our shot at a good finish in the standings was gone before it even started. We went to the regular season opener on a Saturday night as God intended, and were met with track conditions that were more suited to motocross than race cars. To their credit, the surface improved on each of our visits, and was very good at the last show of the year. We’ll be there a lot more next year I’m sure.
After putting the pieces back together after the opening trip to Lebanon Valley, we changed our focus to the races at Orange County. The Spring ballet show was scheduled for the first race of the season, but that race ended up being rained out after a few heat races, so we made all of the other events at the track. We started off slow as we only had about twenty laps on the new car, but got better as the year went on. We found some issues with the balance of the car that had been plaguing us for the last five years really, and the car responded once they were corrected. We were fast at Orange County and Lebanon Valley at the end of the year, and should be ready to go when 2026 rolls around.
Hopefully there will be fewer distractions next year. In the span of six weeks we lost my aunt, my wife’s uncle, his grandbaby on the same day that he died, and my in-law’s dog. We loaded the dog in the car to be put down just before heading to Orange County. I lived next door to my aunt growing up, and lived in her house for the last 23 years. She gave up her garage for me when we started racing, and my wife and I bought the house from her in 2017. She still lived in the in-law suite in the house. She was diagnosed with Leukemia last July, and it was a real struggle in and out of the hospital and the eight chemo sessions seven days a week. The pain she was in I wouldn’t wish on anyone. There were times that she would tank and everyone knew how badly she was doing, but they kept it from me at the race track so I could focus on the task at hand. She passed on August 11th, and I raced the night before her wake just so I’d be tired and have an easier time dealing with the wake and funeral. Racing is a great distraction, but it’s difficult to muster up the energy to do all of the work that needs to be done, and to be far away from home with all of this going on.
Despite it all, I’m the luckiest guy in the world. I’m unbelievably grateful for the support of my family, my crew, and my partners that allow me to live my dreams. All I ever wanted to do was drive dirt modifieds, and I get to do that because of all of you. Do I wish we could race more? Sure. Would it be nice to have more help? Of course. Do we the best with what we have? Absolutely. Thank you all for your support. We’re going to keep working to make our little team a real contender every time we pull through the gate.