Participated in the Little 500 last night - pics will be up soon.

..My crew chief Skip Honaker is also a driver.  On Saturday, November 2nd, 2007, Skip entered his 2 Modified in a 100 lap race at New Smyrna Speedway.  I was flattered when he asked me to serve as an additional crew member.

This was my first trip to New Smyrna Speedway, and I can say - it is a REAL racetrack.  I'm comparing this to Speedworld in Orlando, which is a small oval track surrounded by pits.  At NSS, the pits are in the infield, and the track is very well kept, with high banks and high walls all around.  Reminded me of Bristol.

..Skip went out 13th for qualifying, had a time of 18.35 secs which put him in 4th.  Unfortunately, during post-qualifying tech it was discovered that the required weight of 50lbs on the front of the chassis was only 47 lbs.  Three pounds short.  The exchange I had with the tech inspector was interesting:  "Sorry guys, you're only at 47.2 lbs, need to be at 50."  "Three pounds short?  That's all?  Heck Skip could SPIT three pounds on those weights.  Come on, give us a break."  His reply (with a guarded smile), "Sorry guys, I don't make the rules but I have to enforce them."

So we were sent to the back of the field.

..Jason and Chuck went to work reinstalling the weights.  They are a great crew.  You may recognize them as the same guys that help Skip out when he Chief's for me.  They know more about cars than I will ever learn, that's for sure.

After a quick NSS burger for dinner, we had two driver's meetings, one for overall drivers (7 classes - about 3 too many) and one for the Modifieds.  It's obvious that these drivers are a tight knit group.  They discussed the season this year, the season next year, and had many suggestions and discussions for improving the turnouts and events next season.  It's going to be a touring season with at least 12 races, not only at the FASCAR tracks, but also tracks such as Inverness, Lakeland and others.

Skip had troubles with the handling for most of the race.  The car was very loose in to the turns and his brakes were very weak.  Still, he pulled away from everyone out of the turns, and that's where he did most of his passing.

Slowly working his way up the field (and with some help from attrition and cautions) he clawed his way up to 5th place (19 starters) by the time the checkered flag flew.  Not a bad outing!

The rain held off all afternoon and most of the evening at Orlando Speedworld as we prepared for the 50 lap special Sportsman race.

We bought new tires, went out for one practice to scuff them up, and I pulled some mid 15 laps, a marked improvement over the last time out.

Since this was a special race, we actually got to qualify for our starting positions and no heat race.

My heart was pounding as we waited in line for qualifying.  I was very nervous, knowing I was going out there on my own for 2 laps with cold tires.

With a lap time on the second lap of 15.28, I qualified 10th (out of 18) which is ok, but not that impressive when Andy "Dr. Boom" Nicholls qualifies on the pole with a 14.72.

After the other classes had their heat races we all went out on the track and parked on the front stretch for an autograph session.  It was kind of fun signing the kids programs, but I was still stressing, knowing we had 50 laps to run and there was rumor of rain in the area.

Finally we loaded in to the cars and started warm up laps, just as drops started to fall.  We were hoping it would pass by, but eventually the red flag came out as the visibility was horrible with the wet windshield.

In we went, to wait for it to pass.

Around 10:15 I climbed in again to go out and give it a second try.  This time we got the race started.

I didn't race so well.  I think I got some water in the carburetor or something, because it sputtered for two laps on every restart.  Not good when I decided to slide to the back and watch the wrecks on the wet track.

And wrecks there were!  Many!  Soon I was up to 8th or 9th, just by passing some slow cars and attrition.

Then I hit a guy trying to pass him, messed up my air intake, and the car started getting hot, so I retired in 12th place, out of 17 starters.  I lasted 39 out of 50 laps.

It was fun though, but I'm glad I have a break now.  That was my last Sportsman race of the year.  I may run a Late Model race next month, but that is TBD.

Thanks to new sponsor Beef'O'Brady's of Avalon Park for helping out this week.

Also thanks to:
EOSun.com for T-shirts
InsightMG.com for the coverage
JamesFyffeCPA.com for support and the video camera
PaysourceUSA.net for financial support
and as always, my wife Katheen for putting up with my midlife crisis :)

Hi everyone,

What could be my last race of the season, is scheduled for 50 laps at Orlando Speedworld this Friday.

I am entered in the annual Homer Gordon Memorial, a 50 lap Sportsman race.

On the car as sponsors this week, introducing:

DSKGroupInc.com - one of my friends and also a PEO owner, Jeff Connelly

Also continuing to be great support:
InsightMG.com
EOSun.com
JamesFyffeCPA.com
Platinum-Signs.com
and PaysourceUSA.net

The car is in great shape, new tires, and I've been practicing.  Should be a good race and hope to see you there.

Heats start at 8pm

Well tomorrow I am testing the Late Model at Orlando Speedworld.  Hope to get in at least 100 laps of concentrated, serious testing, working on speed and control of the car.

Friday night, we have a guest driver in the 31 Sportsman!  That's right, car owner Gary Muglach will be taking the wheel for the night and I will be serving in a crew position, learning all I can.

It would be a good night to come back and catch me in the pits.

Gary will be carrying the sponsor logos for all of my sponsors (thank you Gary!)

InsightMG.com  Insight Marketing Group
eosun.com   East Orlando Sun Newspaper
paysourceusa.net   Paysource USA PEO
jamesfyffecpa.com  James Fyffe, my CPA
platinum-signs.com   Platinum Signs
peopros.com   PEO Pros

Come out and join me as I support Gary in his race.

I can't blame it on the car.  Car was great.

I can't blame it on the weather.  Track was dry as a bone.

I can't blame it on another driver - nobody hit me.

I guess it's ME.

I had a "case of the slows" last night.  I could not keep up with the other cars at all!

I avoided a few accidents and moved up in the pack a few times, only to get freight trained at the first corner each time.

I ended up 11th out of 13, as two cars went off the track.  Even though I passed a car on a restart I just didn't have the "stuff" to keep them behind me.


I have three weeks off now, and I hope to get in a few tests to work on hitting my marks, picking up a few tenths, and just getting more comfortable with the car.

On October 19th we will be entering the Homer Gordon Memorial 50 lap Sportsman race at Orlando Speedworld, which will be my final Sportsman race of the season.

This will be six races this season, one short of the minimum to lose Rookie status.


My plan is to race for the Sportsman Championship next year, and also be Rookie of the Year.


In the meantime, I will be at the track every Friday night supporting the local racing and my sponsors.  Look for me there!

johntenneyracing.com

Sponsors:
Insight Marketing Group
East Orlando Sun Newspaper
James Fyffe, CPA
Platinum Signs and Graphics
Paysource USA (PEO)

Got to test a Late Model last night in addition to the Sportsman.

In order to maintain my rookie status in the Sportsman for next year, I am only entering two more race this year, tonight and October 19th - a 50 lap special.

I will be testing the Late Model for some possible races also.  I drove it for the first time last night and I never knew 100 more hp could make such a difference.  That car is fast!

I only got in about 10 laps before a tire went down, but at least I got to drive it.

This car will also be sponsored by:

insightMG.com
eosun.com
jamesfyffecpa.com
paysourceusa.net
platinum-signs.com

Thank you to those sponsors - not only are you great business partners, you are great friends as well!

Races start tonight at 8pm - Orlando Speedworld
See you there I hope!
John Tenney
johntenneyracing.com

I had a great time tonight. 

 Another rookie, Whitney Poole, has a little more experience than I have, but not quite as good equipment, so we are often near each other on the track.

Whitney was getting really tight in the center in front of me and I was rolling thru the corners GREAT, but because I couldn't get a good angle on her out of the corners I could never get up along side her before the next turn. Finally she got a little push out of turn 2 and I got under her.  Going in to turn 3 I lifted a little early so I wouldn't push up in to her but I couldn't keep the car down low enough.  She gave me (barely) enough room, but hey, as Andy Nichols (driver of the 66 Sportsman) told me later. "One car width plus 2 inches is all you'd have gotten from me!"  Whitney told me later that she was enjoying the real "door to door" racing.  Anyway, I tried to complete the pass after the contact, but got loose and spun around.

It was great racing hard against each other.  I ran up to her after the race, shook her hand and said "that was fun!"

I got her to pose next to the donuts she gave me (see pic above)

Here's a video that her mom took of the race (note: like a good mom, she keeps the camera on Whitney's car the whole time, but you can see me in my High Visibility Orange Who Needs Rookie Stripes With A Paint Job Like That 31 Sportsman):

By the way - Whitney and I ended up 5th and 6th out of 10, respectively.  Whitney moves up to 7th in the points, and I am now 15th.

The 31 car is back in shape and RUNNING GREAT.


Hey everybody,

We finished 9th at Orlando Speedworld in the Sportsman division on Friday the 14th of Sep.

Sounds good doesn't it? A top ten! Well only 9 cars started ha ha.

The good news was that the car is in great shape and was handling very well. I was able to keep up with the pack no problem, but was a little worried about passing on the rain soaked track, so I was being VERY careful.

I knew that Skip and the crew had done an excellent job of repairing the damage from last race, but still, we wanted to take it easy and get "back in the saddle" so we asked to start at the rear. Nothing to worry about as the car was PERFECT.

Had a great time, took a lot of pictures on pit row, and they are all posted in the photo gallery at my new venture website - http://FLAutoRacing.com

Most of them are also posted on the myspace page as well.


We'll be back in the hunt on Friday at OSW! Races start at Friday night - more info at http://OrlandoSpeedWorld.org

See you next week.

John Tenney
http://johntenneyracing.com

Race fans:

The newly repaired car is loaded and we are headed for Orlando Speedworld tonight for the Sportsman race.  Skip says practice starts at 5pm so BE READY TO DRIVE AND GET UP ON THAT WHEEL!

We have a new nose section, new fender, new door piece, a rebuilt air box, and lots of that metal tubing all re-welded and painted.  The paint shop was also very busy this week with the nose and the fender.



The schedule right now shows us going out as the second event, so get there early to get a seat.  Heat races start at 8pm and they go fast.

Sponsors on the car this week are:

InsightMG.com - Insight Marketing Group
EOSun.com - the East Orlando Sun (weekly paper)
JamesFyffeCPA.com - Jim Fyffe, our CPA
Platinum-Signs.com - Hey Jay!  Thanks for the stickers!

New sticker:
PaySourceUSA.net - one of our best clients, PaySource USA, a national PEO, has earned our "featured client of the month" spot on the car.

Hope to see you all in the stands after the race!

John Tenney
JohnTenneyRacing.com